An Apple Today

Is Applesauce, Apple Tart, Apple Pie, Apple Butter.......tomorrow.

I grew up on a farm and there are so many memories associated with the seasons and one of my favorites (I say that alot...) was always Fall. The colors of the leaves, the way the horses started to settle and the change in crops...empty fields from summer crops and acres of dry cornstalks...Homecoming Dinner and applesauce....pounds and pounds of applesauce! I have been dying to take the kids to pick apples and can some homemade goodness!

Sunday was our day. We woke up to the most beautiful day after the terrible rain the day before! We hit the road and headed to a pick your own farm... It was about an hour drive for us and we got to see the most beautiful fall foliage. The trees were just alive with color!

Lily of course donned her Princess Dress and 1" heeled dress up shoes...what else do you wear to the fields?...


And after we purchased the biggest bag of popcorn I had ever seen we headed out to the orchards.


There were rows and rows of apples....Red, Yellow, Green and every color in between. We made our way home with over 70lbs of apples and I can't wait to eat every bit of them!

The Princess tired of walking and rode for a bit.

Bree is so proud of this apple - it was HUGE!My kids were like speed pickers! My husband and I joked that if our kids were around when my uncle was farming our land he would never have had to stop!

And for a little more nostalgia.....

My first job at the ripe old age of 13 was at my uncles produce stand just like this. I get a little sad when I see them empty at the end of the season because as much as I love Fall, an empty stand means all those delicious summer vegetables are gone!

Bewitching

Our Bewitching Hour came on Saturday night, and along with it came some HORRIBLE rain!! I have always professed my love for Mother Nature but on Saturday I decided that she really isn't my friend and is a "Mean Girl".....

Normally our party is outside under the moonlight but this year the rain drove us inside!! None the less we had a really great time. This year we went with a Diva Divine Witch theme...more Sparkle than Scare!

My girlfriends always look fabulous and my mom pulled out all the creative stops with the hat designs this year. She sold them at our shop and they literally flew out the door as fast as she brought them in.

Over the past four years I have made a collection of silverware, plates to go with our theme. This coming year I think I am going to make goblets for the evening. This year I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning working on my dress....I had a last minute inspiration and worked furiously to get it done. Old bridesmaid dresses come in handy after all! I discovered some really great tips along the way for working with lace and 13 yr old models....they don't go together well! I need to invest in a "real" dress form!

One step further..

...than usual! I have already professed my love for Halloween and showed you some of my prep for the upcoming Witch Dinner party...but last night, last night I went one step further!

I died my hair Midnight Black to go with my party theme! I had been thinking about dying it darker as I normally do in the Fall. Black Cherry was the suggestion of my stylist, they didn't have Black Cherry, but what they did have was....Midnight Black, with a tint of blue undertone.

I went for it! Out with the Red and in with the Midnight Black. I know you might think I am crazy...but it is only hair and quite frankly...I realllllly enjoy my Witch Dinner Party! It is a new look for me - for sure - I kind of dig it! I have had many a discussion today over my hair...so funny how attached people are to their own look and yours... lol.

Tonight I was reading one of my favorite blogs and she was talking about her hair and I busted out laughing. Hair was a popular topic today!

Spooktacular...

Halloween is by far one of my favorites! I have boxes and boxes of decorations!! Not scary Halloween, just fun and fanciful pumpkins, witches, ghosts and a spider thrown in here and there!

Every year right before Halloween I hold a dinner party for some of my girlfriends...the theme being....a night among the moonlight as Witches. Now we are not "witches"...but we sure do love to dress up in fancy hats and long eyelashes...

The invitations are just the start for me! I went with a little "fancier" because I wanted to be fancy witches...if there is such a thing!?!? I chose glitter, roses...and skulls. Skulls are not my first choice normally but, for the invitation, I bent the rules! Skulls are a bit scary in my book....

I thought I'd share with you....

(My flash realllllly stinks....)

I bought paper skulls from Michael's, painted them with black spray paint, then hand painted them with a glossy black acrylic paint and sprinkled fine black glitter all over.

I bought a few bouquets of black roses and glittered them up....

The leaves were not safe...they were glittered too.....I am not a big fan of the glue that I used...I am sure you can tell from the color which "name brand" it is. It is WAY too clumpy!

I put a few gems around the eyes and used a sparkly spider on the head...almost like a bow on a few. I hand wrote the invitations on this really cool paper....it had great fibers through it and was really wispy. Loved it!


I rolled the invitations up and put them in the mouth with the rose. Then I packaged them in a brown paper bag with ribbon and sparkly leaves. I was behind the eight ball this year with getting the invitations out so I sent out a save the date ahead of time. I rolled down the tops and ran ribbons and string through the top so I could hang them on the door handles. Getting your invitation is like getting "ghosted"..... only when you open the door you get a fancy surprise!

I completed a BIG project the other night....

TOO BIG! I made my first attempt at a hat and it went fairly well...until I tried it on...then I realized that I needed a very large pile of dreads on my head to fill it out or a GINORMOUS HEAD. I can't even see the camera. The darn thing comes down like 4 inches over my face! Quite a silly look and not effective if I actually need to see something.

It was just madness....and now it is just another ball of yarn in my bag! I had to make like a frog and "rip it...rip it..."

On the first day of October they announced on the morning news that it was "the coldest day of the season so far...".

Then my favorite little 3 1/2 year old waltzed down from her room in a red-white-blue bikini and announced that the sun was shining and she was going swimming so could I please fill up her pool.

My answer was "NO"...I am such a mean mommy....She settled for swinging...flapping her arms like a little bird.

Watching her swing so happily was beautiful....and it warmed me from the inside out.

Holy Matrimony

14 years ago This guy and I got married....it has been an adventure, not always a joyride but certainly a ride..one that we have committed to finishing together.




No fancy dinner, no fancy dresses or suits, no sparkling beverage...we spent the day doing the same thing we have been doing for 13 of 14 years..taking a kid to the doctors for a hospital followup and running in different directions. The past 14 years have been treacherous and challenging but we have been in it together.....Happy Anniversary Honey!!

Yesterday was our anniversary but today is the day that we had 5 minutes with each other. I was snapping some pictures outside and he was laying in the hammock watching the puppies run and our girls swing. It was one of those rare moments of chaotic serenity....

I got in the hammock with him and we snapped a few pictures of "us" just like we did in one of those boardwalk booths on our honeymoon. I have to say...we don't look like we did 14 years ago, and I don't have a lick of makeup on today so it isn't my best run of pictures but here we are...all married and exhausted....but still in love and young at heart!

This is our serious face....

And a silly face....which made us laugh pretty hard and after which my lovely proceeded to tell me that if the hammock snapped we would kill the puppies and break our backs! Right...love you too honey!!! I think he was trying to imply that he might be a little bigger than when we got married...only him though.....lol.




POST EDIT: I came back and read this post and realized how me being so tired when I wrote it made our anniversary and my appreciation of our marriage seem a little lack-luster. That makes me a bit sad.... I am going to try again...after I get some rest....