Wordless Wednesday...Halloween Extras.

November Book Basket...

November is off and running and Thanksgiving is less than three weeks away! Goodness me. I have so much to do in the next two and a half weeks. Anyways, since Thanksgiving is literally around the corner I went ahead last week and put out Thanksgiving themed/November books on the first day of the month. I also left out the fall books that we had out since the kids were enjoying them so much and they all tie together.

I also decided to pull out a few presidential books/history related books since this year is an election year. My personal favorite being John, Paul, George, and Ben! It's hysterical and the illustrations are amazing. AG had his first real lesson in civics last week when I went and voted.

The Story of the White House by Kate Waters
John, Paul, George, and Ben by Lane Smith
Arthur Meets the President by Marc Brown
The American Flag by Patricia Ryon Quiri
Presidents of the United States by Christopher Chant
The Thanksgiving Surprise by Peggy Archer
Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation by Diane Stanley
One Litt;e, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims by B.G.Hennessy
'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey
The Magic School Bus at the First Thanksgiving
Turkey Bowl by Phil Bildner

I went ahead and pulled the Christmas books this morning and they are currently sitting in a massive stack on the dining room table. And I'm quite sure there are probably a few more that will find their way in to the stack before it's all said and done. Books have a way of hiding out depending on where the kids 'relocate' them to. Ha.

I have lots to blog about this week so I will be checking back in very soon. I'm off to get a much needed shower while AG is at school and Avi-Kate is asleep.

It's Saturday in the Classic City...

It's Saturday in Athens and that means that the Bulldawg faithful will be gathering for another meeting 'Between the Hedges'. AG and Avi-Kate will be cheering the Dawgs on in their UGA gear with Nanny while we'll be at the game. Andy and I are excited to be back in Athens after a month away. (This year the Dawgs were either off or traveling the month of October.) Here are some pictures of the kids from last weekend before the Dawgs beat Florida. And since they knocked off the Gators we are now in control of the SEC East. If the Dawgs can beat Ole Miss tomorrow and Auburn next weekend we'll be headed to ATL for the SEC Championship in December. We're excited...

 And the bulldawg the kids are sitting on is actually from Athens. My best friend growing up, David, went to UGA and this bulldawg use to sit on the steps of his fraternity house. He gave it to us as a wedding present when we got married. He sits by our back door and greets us every time we leave/arrive home.

And this will be our view today. Oh, how I love Athens, especially, in the fall. 

Glory, glory to Ole' Georgia...

I'm in love with burlap...

...so like most people these days I love, love, love Pinterest. I joined waaaaay back when they were first starting and have enjoyed making it a place to save things that I want to do and remember. I will say that I don't pin every single thing that I see. I really and truly only pin things that I love or want to do or need to remember. If you would like to follow me you can find me here.

Now before Pinterest was around I discovered a wreath on a blog that I knew I could recreate. This was almost two years ago but I was pregnant at the time and then last year I had a small baby...who has time to craft when you have a new baby?! Anyways, this year I set about to creating a burlap wreath for the kitchen door for the fall. And while I was at it made one for my dear friend, Ginny.

Here's what I ended up with:

I'm in love with it. I have a TON of leftover yarn and I'm hoping that Ginny can show me how to knit/crochet some flowers to add to it for next year. But for now, and the craziness that is my life with two small kids, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. 

To make your own burlap creation you will need:

~Burlap--Any color. I did mine in chocolate and Ginny's is a neutral with a green tint to it. I used a full two yards on both wreaths. I wanted them to be really full. I bought all of my burlap at Hobby Lobby.

~Foam wreath form

~Scissors

~Hot glue

~Time! While this project isn't hard it does require a chunk of time to get it assembled. I watched one of the presidential debates while assembling mine.

~Letter--If you want to do a letter you'll need a wooden letter, yarn, and more hot glue.

Here we go:

Cut your burlap in to strips. You can be precise and make them two/two and a half inches each or you can eyeball it. I prefer to eyeball it and with this type of craft it won't matter which way you did it. 

 Cut your strips in to squares and stack them together. I would cut and stack in to several piles to be able to grab and go from.

 Next, fold your square in to a triangle and then fold it in to another triangle. You can put a dab of hot glue on the inside to make them hold their shape better.

 Wrap the point in hot glue and then stick it on your wreath. You can do this two ways you can make a bunch of triangles at once and then apply hot glue to the tip when you are ready to attach OR you can make them one at a time and attach as you go. I did it both ways and they both took about the same amount of time. Pick your preference and go with it.

Then, go to town and begin filling in. I wrapped/covered mine all the way around because I wanted the whole thing covered. Do it however you want. Also, heads up burlap sheds like crazy when you are cutting it/working with it. Once it is finished you won't have issues with it. 

Now for the letter...originally I had chosen big, thick, blocky type script for both my letter and Ginny's. However, I quickly realized that I was going to have a hard time getting it covered in yarn and looking 'clean' the way I wanted it to. I didn't want it to look tacky after all the time I spent on the wreath. I then picked up a smaller letter with thinner font and it was MUCH easier to cover. Take time and play with the yarn and the letter before you begin covering it for real. Once I got a section the way I wanted it I quickly unwrapped it and applied small dabs of hot glue in spots and quickly re-wrapped it. I did this section by section until it was finished. Here's what the 'E' looks like up close. 

I then took some craft wire and slipped it through the back of the E and then secured it to my wreath. I did it in such a way that I can easily remove it and change it out for something else if I want. 

 Hang and enjoy...and get lots of compliments on your handiwork. I've had several family members put in requests for wreaths now. :) I also wanted to hang mine with a satin ribbon but I couldn't find a ribbon that matched the yarn I used. I'll keep looking for next year. If I had had more time I was planning to make a red and black UGA wreath with burlap I picked up at Hobby Lobby...but I was doing good to get Ginny's done in September and mine done by Mtn. Day weekend. It's going on my to do list for next summer so it's ready in time for football next year. What craftiness have you been up to lately?

Halloween Fun...

This year for Halloween one of our sweet college students came over with her boyfriend for the evening. Chris and McKenzie came over and had dinner with us beforehand. Then we got the kids dressed and while we went trick-or-treating they hung out at our house passing out candy. AG loves it when Chris and McKenzie come over...he even asked at the end of the night why they weren't still at his house and when they were coming back. Can you tell he loves his college family?! :)

 After a successful loop around our neighborhood we loaded the kids up and made our way up and over the hill to GrandMary's house like we do every year. AG was so excited to see GrandMary, Jack, and Grace Kelly (Mary's pug). AG and GrandMary chatted at length about school and what AG is learning. Avi-Kate was her normal busy self walking and exploring all over GrandMary's office.

 Clearly they don't mind making themselves at home in GrandMary's office. 

GrandMary--Thanks for letting us come visit each year on Halloween. We love spending time with you and Jack. (And Gracie Kelly!) Thanks for loving us and our kids so much. Thanks for being our family in town...you help make Rome feel like home to us. We love you and can't wait for Kindergarten in 2014!

Happy Halloween and a quick update...

Peter Pan and Tink are ready to Trick or Treat!

I'm glad we got to do some trick or treating while at Disney because the weather was perfect. Tonight the weather will not be perfect and the kids will be bundled up. (Our low is projected to be 30 this evening the last time I checked.) The latest plan is to do a few houses on our street and then make our way to GrandMary's house like we do every Halloween to see her and Jack.

And I'm sorry for my lack of updating since last week. It's been nutty this last week...here's a quick recap:

~Thursday night Girls Night with my college girls...dessert and tv time.
~Friday AG had a Trike-Athon at school. (Post and pictures coming up), AG had his last soccer practice of the fall, and we hosted our annual pumpkin carving Family Dinner with all of our college students. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed a low key evening with lots of faces around the dinning room.
~Saturday was dedicated to regrouping from Family Dinner and work around the house. We also spent the afternoon watching the Dawgs knock off the Gators. It was an intense game and Andy was pacing all over the house.
~Sunday was church and I had to do hospitality set up. We also both did long runs that afternoon for half marathon training.
~Monday and Tuesday were filled with school, errands, and normal weekly chores. In addition, last night we had family movie night and watched 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!' together before the kids went to bed.

I have lots to do today around the house. Originally, I was planning to meet a friend downtown to do Trick or Treat on Broad Street but AG has a cough that kept him up most of the night so we are laying low today. I kept him home from school today so that he can rest in hopes he can trick or treat this evening for a bit. I'm hoping to blog some today and tomorrow but we'll see if it happens. We are headed to the farm for the weekend to see Andy's mom and extended family. Saturday will be spent in Athens cheering on the Dawgs against Ole Miss. (If they win this weekend and next weekend at Auburn they'll be headed to the SEC championship in ATL in a month!) Lots going on these next few days but I promise to get things up to speed and soon. I have lots to post. I made a fabulous fall wreath and have pictures to share with a How-To. Plus, tomorrow we start our annual thankful tree activity with the kids and I need to share the holiday plans we have already lined up. (And a sneak peek of my holiday planner if I can get it finished ...at the moment it's a jumble of paper, magazines, post-its, and bits all thrown in a binder.) I feel like I say it every month but I can't believe this month has come and gone. We are heading in to my favorite time of the year. Happy Wednesday and I hope everyone has a good Halloween. I'll be back soon. I hope. :)

Words for Wednesday...6 under the age of 4...

One of my good friends in college was Evan. She was a year ahead of me and we were both Early Childhood majors. Since college we have kept up with each other via fb, our blogs, texts/calls, and when we can get our crazy schedules to overlap the occasional day together. Evan and I also share a love for Disney and it just so happens that they were there the week leading in to our trip. Well, the day before we left I received a text asking me how long our trip was because she was considering extending their trip by a few days. We both got really excited about the possibility and our husbands just smiled/laughed at the two of us so excited to be at Disney together with all of our kids. So, their last full day in the parks was our first full day and we got to spend the whole day together. We had a great day at Animal Kingdom, shopping the outlets, and closing down the Magic Kingdom. The kids had a blast riding rides, playing, and eating together. And the adults enjoyed plenty of sweet moments with our kids and great conversation. I hope at some point in our future we can plan a full trip with the Hopkins crew to Disney because this one day, while perfect, just wasn't enough for me. :)

Plus, it was fun to tote around 6 kids under the age of four...which is quite fitting...Evan and Stephen get countless questions about their triplets the way we get countless questions about our kids red hair.

TONS of Disney pictures and posts coming up next...