Snow White and the Little Monkey

Last night was trick-or-treat in our town and my mom and niece, Juliana, joined us.  We fed the kiddos dinner and then it was time to put on the costumes and head on out.  I was glad that the weather cooled down; trick-or-treat when it is humid and 70 just doesn't feel right!  I was beginning a cold {which is in full swing today...poo} but I welcomed the crisp autumn air.

Matty wasn't too excited about getting dressed:

Once we were outside though, he was all about trick-or-treat:

My beautiful niece Juliana makes a lovely Snow White, don't ya think?

Cousins...♥

Matty was handing out his own sweets...he was full of kisses last night!

Matty and Juliana lasted about an hour and 15 minutes before he started to get cranky and she got tired. {Dada appeared to be a bit disappointed in the size of our candy collection...lol.}  There was a lot of "when I was a kid" stories...haha! After I persuaded Dada, we went home, the monkey went to bed, and Snow White enjoyed pizza and chocolate milk. The End.

Friday is surely fabulous.

I am participating in a new hop this week. Won't you join me?

Upcoming Review: CSN Stores

Recently I discovered CSN Stores which houses over 200 online shops. That said, you can find items such as trendy shoes for your toddler, stylish luggage for your business trips or a classic dining room table for entertaining your guests. Honestly, I am a bit overwhelmed at the plethora of merchandise they offer!  I'm thinking Matty just has to have this shirt:

In the coming weeks, I am excited to announce that I will be completing a review of a CSN Stores product, so stay tuned.

My Monkey

I finally got my act together and bought Matty his Halloween costume.

We really had no clue as to what he should be, but Dada suggested Superman and I saw that Old Navy had them, so we headed there. Being that it is only a few short days away until Halloween, the choices were slim, but on the bright side, they were 40% off! We ended up with a monkey costume, basically because it was the only boy costume left in Matty's size. 

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When we put it on him, he took off, darting in and out of clothing racks, full of joy!  We knew it was the perfect costume for his personality and he barely seemed to notice it, which means it is comfortable, a very important factor!


Trick-or-treat in our town is on Friday night, so pictures of Matty the monkey will follow soon!

The Perfect Pumpkin

Matty is a lucky boy. He got to visit the pumpkin patch not once, but twice: once in Missouri and again here in Pennsylvania this past Sunday.

My perfect little pumpkin:

Cousins choosing their perfect pumpkin:

Music Monday

He loves country music!

Autumn Morning Palette

7 a.m.

sunday morning walk in the manor.

i admire the unkempt path:

vibrant dreams,

orange, red and gold

spiral to my feet.

let's reinvent the tree;

glue leaves against the sky,

breathe in the sun, turn shadows into life.

Sweetness

Mama, I mean Matty {wink, wink} wants this saaaaweeeeet jacket from MySweetMuffin in preparation of those impending nor'easters! Fingers crossed that I win over at Bleubird to defray some of the cost. As much as it pains me to tell you about it, because it decreases my chances of winning, I just had to share this super awesome giveaway for two $50 gift certificates to MySweetMuffin.  Hopefully you and I will both win! Go here to enter :)

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Strawberry Shortcake and Music Monday

I want this:

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Definitely thinking if we ever have a baby girl, it's going to be vintage Strawberry Shortcake for the nursery. Let me just take this moment to scold my parents: why did you throw away my Strawberry Shortcake toy box?! And there are probably many other Strawberry Shortcake items of which you disposed!! Haha, I love you anyway, but as punishment, you have to assist in my search for vintage S.S. shtuff. Yes, yes, I know I should wait and see if we decide to have another child, AND make sure it's a girl first...ssshh...these minor details will not burst my bubble. Besides, I could always just have a Strawberry Shortcake bathroom, right? This fridge would be perfect for holding towels or toilet paper ;)

Mine and Matty's song for the week is Frank Sinatra's The Coffee Song.  My friend Mary introduced me to it and she used to sing it to her baby boy who is all grown up now, so I thought I would keep the song alive by introducing it to Matty. Besides, I need a whole lot of coffee to keep up with him! It's such a great little tune and how can you not love anything Sinatra?  I dare you to try to not dance.

"What's for Dinner?" Wednesday

Well if you really have to know what was for dinner last night, it was a bag of spinach and cheese raviolis from the freezer. And not homemade raviolis that I froze. They were of the store bought variety. :p

Tonight, I wasn't much more motivated. It was sandwiches.

But on Monday I made this:

Source: ReadyMade Issue 49 October/November 2010

You can find the recipe here.

It was simple and so tasty!

Music Monday

Tonight's song, Paper Bag by Anna Nalick, is dedicated to any child who has ever been bullied.

Those of you who are familiar with Blind Melon's No Rain will understand Anna's references such as "fly little bee away" and "no more rain", but even those of you who do not know it, will get her point.

If you have a child who is being bullied, hopefully this song will comfort and if you have a child who is a bully, maybe he or she will feel compassion after hearing it.

I thought I remembered there being an official video for this song, but I couldn't find it, so this one will have to do.

Be Kinder Than Necessary...

It's hard to imagine that kind of pain, especially on a beautiful day like today...

This morning, I found out that the 11-year-old son of a friend of a friend, committed suicide last night. Why? Because some of his classmates were bullying him. It breaks my heart to know that such a young child felt so beaten down, that he thought the only way to feel better was to end his life.

I pray that we are able to instill enough love, faith and strength in Matty, so that he never ever carries that kind of burden; that he'll always know that no matter how badly he feels, things will always look up.

And I pray we know how to raise a boy who will always be kinder than necessary.

"Be kinder than necessary, because everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle."

"What's for Dinner?" Wednesday

No cooking for this mama tonight! That's right, because it's my 30th birthday! My wonderful parents had us over for dinner and my dad made me authentic Chinese, which we washed down with birthday cake. Well, I enjoyed my cake after I gave Matty a bath:

Not only was today my birthday, but it was also my first day back at work after a two week vacation; however, it was not nearly as painful as I had imagined...haha.

I had a lovely little day, but my favorite part occurred around 2 a.m. which I guess technically wasn't my birthday yet because I wasn't born until somewhere between 9 and 10 a.m. I think, but close enough...you see, my lil monkey's sleep patterns were off a bit while we were away ( a few nights in KC, he ended up in bed with us in the middle of the night). That said, this morning, he woke up around 1:45 a.m. We brought him into bed with us hoping he would fall asleep, but he thought it was playtime. After a few minutes though, he settled down and wedged himself between us and rested his head on my chest. Dada put his arm around the both of us and we lay like that for a few minutes. I thought to myself, "I couldn't ask for anything more..."

It didn't last too long because Matty became restless again, but it was the perfect beginning to my 30th birthday :)

Also, today I share my birthday with one of my favorite blog hops:

Music Monday

Greetings from our hotel in Greenfield, IN!

We left KC this morning around 8 a.m. Tomorrow we will finish up the last leg of our trek home to PA. We had a wonderful trip and we are sad to see it come to an end, but eager to sleep in our own bed!

We decided to split the road trip home into two days because it would be easier with Matty, and also, the Dolphins are playing the Patriots tonight, so hubby couldn't miss the game! So I am blogging from bed, watching the game. Go fins!

I know I missed Music Monday last week so I wanted to be sure and do it today. Tonight I bring you Gavin Degraw's I Don't Wanna Be. Gavin is a soulful artist who mainly plays the piano. This particular song has a rock edge to it, and delivers a great message to youth and adults alike: be yourself despite the influences trying to change you :)