Our Happyween!

Hey, Happy Halloween!

or

Happy Fall Festival!

Whatever you choose to call it, it is the time to dress up and get candy from strangers friends.

This year Miss Norah Jayne was a.... you guessed it... Lil' Pumpkin!

I did not make her costume. I was so blessed to find it at TJ Maxx last year for about $15. 

She loves wearing it around the house while playing dress up so, 

I think we have gotten our money out of it. 

The only thing I added to the costume was the green and white bow that I made, 

and the curly orange and white ribbon (that I did not make).

I thought it made the hat look a little more girlie. 

We celebrated at Kenwood Bible Methodist. They had a Trunk or Treat get-together. 

Norah Jayne was able to collect one bag of chips and two pieces of candy. 

I don't think she really understood what was going on... :) 

She just enjoyed seeing everyone and playing with her little friends in the nursery.

Kirk and I also dressed up... from the neck up. 

I was a Kitty Cat complete with whiskers and ears.

Kirk was a Pirate complete with fake hair extensions, eye patch, fake skull teeth, and do-rag. 

(He wouldn't let me do his eye make-up.)

I could kick myself for not getting any pictures of Kirk. We were in kind of a mad rush to get everything together, get in the car, and get to the Church on time... 

Oh well, I have my memories.

But, of course, I got some photos of the cute little pumpkin.

Norah Jayne wanted to wear her "punkin" to lunch with daddy, so I let her and took the opportunity to get some shots.

I love Kirk Marshall. He is a super awesome daddy.

Norah Jayne thinks so too...

  

And, I love my little baby, Norah Jayne. 

This is happiness.

Let's Go Bananas!

Norah's birthday party was this past Saturday. We had a monkey theme with purple, yellow and pink accents. I made the cake. It was vanilla cake and icing (Mr. M. requested this flavor). 

For the food I decided to do it sack lunch style. Originally we were planning to have her party at the park, but the weather did not cooperate so we had an indoor picnic instead!

The Menu:

PB&J

Cinnamon Applesauce

Goldfish

Bananas

Milk

Water

Sweet Tea

Games:

Pin the tail on the monkey

Freeze Dance

Both seemed to be a big hit!

 ❤ Little friends to help Norah celebrate! ❤

Birthday girl eating her indoor picnic surrounded by loved ones. 

 Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! 

Gifts:

Wooden Puzzles

Eric Carle Book

Baby Doll

PBK Quilt

Calico Critters and Cozy Cottage

Gingham Dress

Curious George Book and DVD

Janie & Jack beret

Gymboree cloche hat

Plush Eeyore with Eeyore book

Purse and sticker book

Molding Clay

Doodle board

Tricycle

(Thank you Jennifer Waits (my sister) for taking the photos below!)

Unfortunately she was not in the best mood while opening her gifts. 

I felt bad because I didn't want everyone to think she was ungrateful. 

Sometimes I have to remind myself that she is just TWO... ❤

After her nap, she was in much better spirits and enjoyed playing with all of her toys. 

It was a great little party. Very low key and so much fun for Norah. 

Norah Jayne's First Birthday

We celebrated Norah's birthday on Saturday, October 15, which was EARLY... So, in order to bring balance back to the universe, I am posting her party pictures LATE. 

And (of course) that is the ONLY reason. It isn't like I forgot about it or anything...

Norah's first birthday party was so much fun for me to plan. It was surreal though. I kept thinking, I can't believe I am planning MY child's first birthday party! 

As far as the theme and decor goes, I looked online for inspiration; the www did not disappoint. I saw this lovely strawberry themed birthday party and fell in l.o.v.e. with the idea.

I decided to go cheap and make my own decor, so I set to work. 

I wanted to try my hand at making a custom pennant banner. I bought my fabric and then went online and printed off the alphabet letters: N, O, R, A, and H to use as templates. I traced each letter onto the pink and red gingham fabric, and then, I cut them out and sewed them on to the burlap triangles. After that, I took alternating strips of the red and pink gingham and tied them onto a piece of twine. Then, using mini wooden cloths pins, I attached the burlap pennants to the twine. Ta-Da! (Sorry, Jeremy!)

I found a free strawberry template online and used it and some cute paper from the craft store to make strawberry cutouts for the banner and table decor.


I bought plain labels from Michael's and then personalized them for treat bags and drink bottle labels.




Another project I worked on was this little dress. 
It was my first experience making a dress of any kind. It's sort of like a pillow case dress except that it was not made from a pillow case and I didn't use a pattern. I did consult this tutorial for a general idea of where to start.

Oh, and I also learned how to do shirring! 
It is not as difficult as I thought it would be. Here is a great tutorial.

No dress is complete without the appropriate head gear...

So, I made this BIG red, pink, white and green strawberrylicious bow! I used this tutorial to make the ribbon strawberry that is in the center of the bow.

 

We decided to have the birthday party at Sharon Woods. We love that park and Norah and I go there often. It is just a beautiful place to spend the day.


The Menu:
Grilled Hamburgers with fixin's
Baked Beans
Chips
Strawberry Crush
Water
Annnnnd.... Strawberry PIE! ♥


My mother in law, Sherilyn, makes the BEST strawberry pie in the world. Not joking.
Sherilyn made 12 mini pies and one large pie for the party. They were scrumptious.

Funny story... neither Kirk nor I had ever used a charcoal grill, so we had a bit of trouble. (I nearly lost my eyebrows.) Thankfully Uncle Scott saved the day with his mad grilling skills! 

Norah really enjoyed her pie. She even "shared" a little with mommy (she smeared cool whip all over my face). 
She was not too fond of the balloons, however. She had a bit of a meltdown over them. So sad, but kind of funny too. ♥  

And of course there were gifts... thank you all. ♥ 
She loves EVERYTHING.

 

The PEOPLE that came to help us celebrate made the day extra special: Nana and Papaw Marshall, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Scott and Cole, Aunt Jennifer, Zach, Jake, and Ellie, Beth, Jon and Aviah, Liz and Ava, Emilie, Jeremy and Annabel Leach. Thank you all for coming!

Speaking of the people, I failed to get pictures of everyone.
I should have at least got one with all the kids... 
Oh poop poughkeepsie! 
However, if it were not for Aunt Jennifer and Aunt Ashley, there are many of these pictures that I wouldn't have.  
So, a hearty Thank You to Aunt Jennifer and Aunt Ashley for helping take pictures!


It was a fun day, glitches and all. 
Happy Birthday, Tootsie!

Carmen Miranda and Bowspiration

 Hello, Everyone!  

Happy Monday Tuesday.

I just thought I'd share a little bit about what is going on these days in our house. Chaos. That is all.

Ribbon everywhere. 

I've been making bows. 

BIG bows. 

I think of Carmen Miranda as my big bowspiration. (That's right, I coined a new phrase.)

When I make a bow, I say to myself, "Is this Carmen Miranda worthy?"
Seriously. ☺

 

I was out shopping with my MIL and SIL recently and they found this iron decal that said:

 

Perfect!
I bought two (and some extra ribbon- one can never have too much of that).

Below is my most recent creation.
Now, not only do I feel superior to everyone else, but Carmen would be proud, also!
Norah, however, is not impressed.

Speaking of Norah...
The other day, I went to get Norah up from her nap. This is how I found her.
No, my child is NOT wearing a bolero shrug... that is her shirt which she managed to get half-way off.
She was pleased with herself as you can see.

Norah and Daddy have been spending some quality time together since quantity isn't really an option some days.

Her favorite word is still, "Dada." 

♥ I'll just throw this one in for kicks... and because I think she is a cutie.  ♥

 ♥XOXO♥

Tiny Blossom: Tutu Couture

Remember this tutu  I made before the little lady was born?

Well, we finally got some pictures of her in it.

I didn't get the newborn pictures that I thought I would- but that is ok.

Every moment is special.

So in remembrance of 4.75 months...

"Each leaf,
each blade of grass vies for attention.
Even weeds
carry tiny blossoms
to astonish us."

- Marianne Poloskey



Roadtrip!

OK... I am not crazy. I just want to make that clear.
Yes. I did indeed make a special roadtrip hair bow for Norah Jayne... HOWEVER, it came about quite organically. I was in my sewing kit looking for a needle and I noticed this ribbon I bought a couple of years ago for a scrap booking project I was working. (I think I got it out of the dollar bin at Target.)
ANYWAY... I noticed the ribbon and the thought struck me, "I should make this into a korker bow for Norah and then blog about it so everyone knows how AWESOME I am! .
So I did just that.
I think it turned out well.
She shall be wearing it on Monday with her yellow polka-dot bikini leggings.

If you are interested in making a korker bow... check out this tutorial from The Ribbon Retreat .

It super easy and fun!