A Halloween Treat---Creme de la Gems Giveaway

I'm excited to share my latest giveaway, from Tracy at Creme de la Gems, and since I can only imagine that today is a busy day for all, I promise to keep this giveaway post short and sweet!

Tracey has a passion for art and design, and creates beautiful stamped jewelry, as well as, polymer clay goodies. Tracey is generously offering a $40 gift certificate to one lucky Webbisodes reader!

Here's how to enter:

{Mandatory}

Leave a comment telling me about your Halloween plans or your favorite candy.

{Extra Entries}

-Visit Tracey's shop, Creme de la Gems, and leave a comment telling me what you'd purchase with the gift certificate. (5 entries)

-Grab one of Tracey's buttons. Post about this giveaway anywhere on your blog. (10 entries)




-Become a follower of Webbisodes (or let me know that you already are).

-Tweet about this giveaway or post on Facebook.

-"Like" Tracey on Facebook.
{Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry, including all extra entry options. Giveaway ends November 7th!}













{And don't forget to enter my Fall goody giveaway through midnight tonight, by leaving a comment on Friday's post! Click here!}



{Pumpkins and witch hat are part of design elements purchased from JW Illustrations.}

Happy Halloween!

And since I'm wishing y'all more treats than tricks this Halloween, one lucky reader will be randomly selected from today's comments to win a Halloween goody bag, courtesy of moi, to get a jump on next year's holiday!







  {Pumpkins and witch hat are part of design elements purchased from JW Illustrations.}

Ding Dong...Surprise!

With all of my infinite spare time (she says with a smile and sarcastic tone), I thought it would be nice to surprise some of my favorite neighbors with a few Fall goodies, a painted monogrammed pumpkin, and home-made spiced cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

After seeing pictures of monogrammed pumpkins in magazines, I just knew this would be so simple. I mean how hard could it be? It's just some stencils and paint, right? Well, four hours and several conniption fits later, I was tying my last made-from-scratch bow around the ninth, and my final, monogrammed pumpkin! The genius that I am, I was about an hour into my Mission Martha Stewart before it hit me---stencils on round, uneven objects work about as well as a napkin in the rain! And just so we're clear, that means, NOT AT ALL!

Luckily, the stencil fiasco wasn't anything that a paintbrush couldn't fix; and since my expectations were about as low as a last round limbo stick, my monogrammed pumpkins all turned out better than anticipated!

But, I'll let you be the final judge! (And don't go all Judge Judy on me, please be kind!)









Mommy's little helper in her new Radio Flyer! Daddy brought this little surprise home for Sweet Bean! There's a chance she might be spoiled!


As for my spiced cupcakes and cream cheese frosting---Well, I couldn't help but laugh after hanging up the phone with my neighbor whom called to thank me profusely for the cupcakes that in her words,  "were gobbled up" by her apparently picky foodie, her four year old daughter. In fact, she thought they were so delish that she requested the recipe.

Teehehe...

Um, that would be Betty Crocker's Spice Cake Mix and Pillsbury Cream Cheese Frosting! See what a difference a professional icing bag and decorator tip makes? Everyone thought I'd put a lot more work into those cupcakes than I actually had. But we'll just let that be our little secret, now won't we? (Wink! Wink!)

Almost Wordless Wednesday---Pumpkin Patch

No one ever said that finding just the right pumpkin...


would be easy!


You can't be in a rush, you've got to stop and smell the hay...

get down low, for a closer look...


and, always remember to point and wave at all passing airplanes...


before narrowing your decision down to...


the one...

 perfect pumpkin in the patch!
 




This year's trip to the Pumpkin Patch was a lot of fun, despite being nearly 90 degrees! Gillian Grace found a perfect pint-sized pumpkin and has since been carrying it around the house with her everywhere she goes. And after butchering a few too many pumpkins during Halloweens of old, this year the knives are staying where they belong (in the block and out of my hands), and instead I'm getting crafty with paint. I'll share my handy work later this week, but remember to be kind. I'm certainly no Rembrandt!




Then (October 2009)

 And, now! (October 2010)


Have you found your perfect pumpkin? It's almost Halloween, what are your pumpkin plans?

Too pooped to participate

Honestly friends, the title of this post could be my slogan lately. Regardless of my day, I find the hour growing later and later with each passing night before I'm finally able to give into the yawns, groggy eyes, and annoying glances from Hubs and call it quits.

As for what's been keeping me up way past my bedtime, well let's just say you'll have to wait until Monday to learn all about the little secret I've been keeping.

And despite comments left on a previous post that may get you thinking otherwise, I don't want any of y'all to be disappointed---I promise there's no bun in this oven!

But speaking of being tired, the other weekend I caught this film of Gillian Grace as we made our way home after an outing to the Eastern Shore. I'm not sure if it was all the fun she had earlier that day, or the fact that we were listening to the Florida vs. Alabama game on the radio, but our Sweet Bean was just too pooped to participate!





What's keeping you up late these days?



{Stay tuned for a new feature next week: Home Tour Tuesdays hosted by Flip Flops and Pearls and me. Get your cameras ready, ladies! I'll announce next week's theme shortly!}

Something to think about...

Even with so much randomness cluttering my mind, I've decided to swerve off the road of predictability and my usual Miscellany Monday posts, to share an email that I received a few weeks ago. The email was from my mom, and since she knows to pass along only the truly worthy reads, when I receive one, I know that it's something she thinks is worthwhile and important enough to share.

With most of mom's forwards being lighthearted in nature, with funny pictures, jokes, or political jabs (at what administration I'll keep you guessing), it's not everyday that an email arrives giving me pause and a little something to think about...

"Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your private account for your use.

However,this prize has rules, just as any game has certain rules.

The first set of rules would be:
Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken away from you. You may not simply transfer money into some other account. You may only spend it. Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules:
The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say, Its over,the game is over! It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted right?
Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?
Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?

ACTUALLY This GAME is REALITY!
Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just can't seem to see it.

The MAGICAL BANK is TIME!
Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us. What we haven't lived up that day is forever lost. Yesterday is forever gone. Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time....WITHOUT WARNING.

SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds? Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars.

Think about that, and always think of this:
Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.
So take care of yourself, be Happy, Love Deeply and Enjoy Life!"


Life is short and in this scenario, there are no filing Chapter 11 do-overs. You get one chance, one chance to do it right and leave your mark as either a success or a failure. You can revel in the absurdity of life and drown in its unfairness, or you can see each day, as the blessing that it is, and double your profit by making the most of the time you've been given.

With each turn of the calendar page, I'm constantly reminded that time seems to pass much more quickly now than it ever has. Everyday I will work hard to spend each of my 86,400 seconds, living in the moment---not looking in the past to yesterday, or ahead at what's to come. I will be at peace knowing that God will take care of all of that. I will spend my time holding those I love just a little closer and for a little longer; and I will spend it being content, and unquestionably happy.

And just to make sure that you leave with a smile after spending some of your 86,400 seconds reading this post, here's a sneak peek of our trip to the pumpkin patch.




Attention Pumpkin Patch Organizers: Is this the kind of family picture you were hoping to inspire with your larger than life upside down bottom-half only cutout of Mr. Scarecrow?
Not sure the church ladies would approve!

Start spending, y'all and have a blessed week!