The One with Halloween 2011

I love Halloween. I love love love love love love love love love (love) it. Always have. Always will. And now that I have a child to live vicariously through, my love for it has magnified a hundred fold. Here's how Halloween 2011 went down:

We started off by going to Disneyland early in the morning. Rather than post all 28 pictures individually, I've made a collage and will explain our trip below:

1) The park opened at 8am and we were there shortly thereafter. 2) It was so empty! Just how I like it! 3) We stopped and looked at the flowers, 4) then walked under the castle to get into Fantasyland - you have to knock out all the kiddie rides first because they get super crowded as the day progresses. 5) First stop: Peter Pan. We only waited like 5 minutes, hooray! 6) Then Mr. Toad's Wild Ride 7) Alice in Wonderland 8) Storybook Land Canal Boats 9) Casey Circus Train 10) Pinocchio 11) Snow White 12) The walk through Sleeping Beauty's Castle 13) We went into Mickey's Toon Town for the very first time with Fox and went on the Roger Rabbit ride. 14) Then we went on Finding Nemo for the first time. 15) Astro Blasters (I got to level 3) 16) Jungle Cruise 17 + 18) The Enchanted Tiki Room 19) Winnie the Pooh 20) The train around the entire park 21) We saw some characters from afar: Cinderella's wicked stepmother and stepsister (I've never seen them before!) 22) Jack Skellington and Sally 23 + 24) They're starting to decorate for Christmas already and New Orleans square looks so lovely 25) We ate lunch at a place I've never eaten at before and got a kids meal with chicken fingers and fries. 26) Fox loves fries. 27) We ended the morning with The Haunted Mansion - appropriate for the day right? 28) Fox was wide awake when we entered The Haunted Mansion and fast asleep when we exited. That was our queue to leave!

And that was our morning at Disneyland on Halloween! The only other rides I wish we could have gone on but couldn't cuz they're closed are Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World. Other than that, we pretty much went on everything little ones can go on - all within a few hours!

We got home and Chris came home so I worked and then the festivities began! I think I've started a new tradition: reading The Berenstain Bears Trick or Trick to Fox before we go out trick-or-treating:

My brother and I LOVED reading the Berenstain Bears books growing up. I could dedicate an entire post to the subject. I hope to pass the same love of reading along to Fox. He seems pretty into it thus far.

Then we got Fox dressed up as Clark Kent and Joey dressed up as a bee.

Too cute to spook!

The very first house Fox ever trick-or-treated at!

It's a big milestone in my book. He wasn't quite sure what was going on. He put his hand over the candy bowl but didn't take anything. I put a Milky Way in his hand which he happily gnawed on for the next several minutes.

I FINALLY got a peak inside my very favorite house in all of South Pasadena.

There were so many things I wanted to say and ask but I got too flustered and just took the candy and ran. Next year...

We stopped at lots and lots of houses.

THE street to trick-or-treat on in South Pas is Milan. It's so populated with children running amoc that police cars patrol up and down the street all night. It's straight out of Halloween movies and makes my heart do flip flops! It's the epitome of what Halloween should be. I couldn't get great pictures of it cuz it was dark, but trust me, it's crazy!

We were only out and about for an hour or so. Fox sure hauled it in though!

By the end of the night he knew exactly what to do: he'd walk up to the door, wait for it to open, grab a treat right outta the bowl, then turn around and leave. We'll work on the "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" part for next year. By then he'll be running and we won't be able to keep up!

Best Halloween yet!

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The One with Trunk-or-Treat 2011

Last night was our ward Trunk-or-Treat. (Trunk-or-Treat: When people gather and park their cars in the church parking lot, open their trunks, and decorate them. Then they pass out candy from their trunks. The event provides a safe family environment for trick-or-treaters. Some kids don't get to go trick-or-treating because of the fear of tainted candy (isn't it sad we have to worry about things like that?) so this is their only opportunity to collect sweets.)

Fox was only two weeks old at least year's festivities, my how he's grown!

We dressed Fox up as Clark Kent. We couldn't even get one picture with him wearing the glasses he'd take them off so fast! Oh well, you still get the gist of the outfit without 'em :)

We showed up at 5 and decorated our car a bit with leftovers from Fox's party.

I didn't get very many pictures of other people's trunks, but there were some awesome ones!

Dessert table, mmm.

The first hour or so was spent playing games.

There was a candy ring toss.

Bean bag toss.

Another ring toss. Lots of tossing games!

I donated the Pin the Hat on the Skeleton game I made for Fox's party and didn't end up using. It was fun to see it in action!

Daisy, Andy, and baby Jordan.

Jordan was a little sushi, haha!

Some of my favorite kid costumes: a beautiful handmade tulle witch skirt by Emily and The Joker. "Why so serious?"

Chris and Jenny with their chick magnets!

Face-Book! Love it.

The skeleton crew: Kate, Pehrson, and baby Beck and Russell and Mandy + baby girl.

Fox just wanted to walk around and check out everything. He said wassup to his babysitter, Saige. (It's fun when I call her to babysit: "Hi Saige, it's Paige!")

This is what trunk-or-treating looks like:

After trunk-or-treat the youth had a dance in the decorated gymnasium.

Fox was so cute walking around with his candy bag.

Next year Fox will be a walking machine and will totally have the hang of this trick-or-treating business. I can't wait! Bring on Halloween tomorrow!

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The One with the Elle's Studio Forever Grateful Project Kit (+Giveaway!)

When Elle of Elle's Studio asked if I'd like to play with their Forever Grateful Project Kit I responded with a yes, yes, a thousand times yes! (Okay, I don't think I said those exact words in my email reply, but I sure thunk them!) I am so grateful to have been apart of Elle's Studio's very first design team from January to June 2010 - how I miss it! So it was fun for me to delve right back into all things Elle.

Project kit coordinator and extraordinaire Jenni Hufford created the altered tray seen above.

Here's a bit about this project kit:

Capture those moments you’re most grateful for in 7Gypsies newest printers tray! With papers, buttons, embellishments and more, from popular manufactures, along with your limited edition Elle’s Studio tags that were made just for this kit, you are set with all the supplies you need to put together the perfect tray for yourself, to give as a gift or both! And don't forget, the limited edition Elle's Studio tags will never be sold or printed again - once this kit is sold out, they are gone. You can even use the instructions provided to put together your tray. Sit down with a cup of hot chocolate – all you need to grab is your photos, scissors, and glue - we’ve provided the rest! Bonus: Save the leftover exclusive Elle’s Studio Tags to use on your other layouts, cards and more!

THIS KIT INCLUDES

31 Elle’s Studio journaling + embellishment tags

Photo Shadowbox Tray (7Gypsies)

Graphic Paper (Crate Paper)

Heirloom Paper (Studio Calico)

Buttons (Crate Paper)

2 Veneer Houses (Studio Calico)

1 Doily Flower (Jenni Bowlin)

1 Wooden Spool (Jenni Bowlin)

1 Pin (Maya Road)

1 toothpick

2ft cream ribbon

So here is my pile'o'stuff before:

And here is the finished project:

(Yes, I know I've used these pictures a lot recently, but they match the kit perfectly so that's that!)

My goal was to use as much of the kit as possible and no other supplies besides adhesive.

On the bottom right section, I wrapped the wooden spool with the ribbon, tied a bow with the ribbon, attached it with the stickpin, cut out a banner and glued it to the toothpick, slid it inside the spool, then added it to the tray. There was a "3 tags" printed on one of the sheets of tags, so I cut off just the "3" part and set it on the wooden house. Cuz there are three of us Evans's :)

The only "fancy" thing I did to this section was I trimmed off the black scalloped tearaway strip from the bottom of one of the patterned papers and covered the red scalloped strip under the sentiment. I wanted to tone down the red aspects a bit cuz there's no red in our photos.

My favorite part of this kit: the buttons! I wanted to use them all and I think they look so pretty together so I just glued them all in one section.

I made photo corners from patterned paper, cut out a few elements from the patterned papers, and added them to one corner for a dash of whimsy.

This section was fun. There were just a few tags that I didn't incorporate so I cut out individual letters from those tags to spell our names. I love the ransom look and am glad I was able to stick to the kit exclusively. There was even an "x" on the "xoxo" sentiment strip for Fox!

It's true, I'm so thankful for my little family.

On the largest section I cut out most of the tags and adhered them with either a glue dot runner, one foam square, or two foam squares stacked together for double the pop!

Want to see even more altered trays using the Forever Grateful Project Kit? Your wish is my command! The current design team each got to play with a kit and here they are:

Top left to right:

Allison Waken

Keshet Starr

Laura Kurz

Leslie Ashe

Marcy Penner

Stephanie Klauck

Waleska Nerris

Jenni Hufford

Because Elle is amazing, she's offering to give away a Forever Grateful Project Kit to one lucky person! Alls you have to do to enter to win is leave a comment on this post by Tuesday November (NOVEMBER??!! Time is flying!) 1st 2011 and I'll post the winner that day.

Have a happy Friday!

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The One with My CRAFT Beach Retreat Class Layouts

Today's post is all about the three pages that I'll be teaching how to make for my class at the CRAFT Beach Retreat which is in just 14 days, 21 hours, and 26 minutes!

Here's a blurb about my class:

3D Vision Workshop

Paige Evans’ workshop will help you process an important life experience by looking at it from the vantage points of before it occurred, while it was happening, and after it was over. You’ll gain clarity, perspective, and inner vision in this most enjoyable workshop. Featuring Garden Cafe from American Crafts and paper layering techniques.

So the pages I made are all about becoming a mom. From the anticipation felt during pregnancy, the first moments after Fox was born, and how I feel 1 year later.

ANTICIPATION

Journaling says: Nine months is such a long time! Oh how we long to meet you and cuddle with you and get to know you! Your clothes are all washed, your crib and nursery is all set up. Now we just need you to make your grand entrance! I hope I'm a good mother to you and that you'll love me. I hope for a lot of things for you. So much anticipation! May 2010.

ELATED HAPPY JOY

Journaling says: At last you arrived! All 8.3 pounds and a full head of hair of you! Now the real fun (and worry and unknown and fear...) begins! I can't wait to watch you grow and learn. I hope I'm a good mom to you! I love you so much! October 2010.

THRIVING

Journaling says: You are one year young. I think we're finally getting a hang of this thing called motherhood. Looking back just warms my heart. I love being your mom and I love you more than words can describe. Thank you for teaching me so much and for making me a mom. I think it's safe to say we're thriving. October 2011.

I'm so excited to be teaching at this event. Putting my teaching degree to good use :) (Yeah, it's kind of an oxymoron to have anxiety and a fear of crowds yet be able to stand in front of people and talk their ears off. It's a mystery.) Hope to see you there!

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