Boo!

Did these little guys scare you? Here's our turn out from our family home evening activity....

Mini Boden Must-haves

I've got a list going...little boy sherpa, baggie cords, dinosaur t-shirt. Little girl footless-tights, jersey dress, slim fit jeans.

Dry Shampoo

I must admit--I do not shampoo my hair everyday, and shamefully to say, sometimes I'll go two days in a row without shampooing. Oooo, I know--nasty! Well if I did, my mane would be dried out for sure, and not to mention it takes forever to do. So, I'm thinking about picking me up some hair powder, or shall I say dry shampoo from Lulu Organics. Besides degreasing the roots, it helps keep up the second-day texture and volume.

Wall-hanging Kit

I'm always on the lookout for neat, reasonably-priced works of art to hang in my house. I have a just a few pieces that I love. I think the stretched fabric wall-hanging kits from Textile Art are really cool. All you do is pick out one of their artistic fabrics and size, and they include the picture wire, stretchers and eyehooks with instructions. Instant art in under an hour!

{via Domino}

Clothing Line

When I use to go to the city every day, I would take advantage of all the great sample sales. One places that I got some goods was Clothing Line--it's a huge warehouse in the Garment District. If you sign up on their mailing list you can see what new arrivals they have. Right now they have Kooba bags. I need to start going again. It's just so hard with kids. Sample sales aren't kid friendly.

Colorful Letter Wall

This little girl room is so adorable, and one of the things that makes it so cute is the painted colorful letters on the wall. This is something I would want to do in one of my kids room. And it could work for boy or girl. Click here for instructions on how to do it.

Raising Sand

I heard a few songs on NPR from Raising Sand, an album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. A very different collaboration, I must say. But the music is really good and it's on my list of must-haves. Hear the complete album here.

Testing the Costumes

This past weekend was our church Halloween party, and we got to test out the costumes while having a good time of course. Did I mention that I have a bad camera? Bad. Almost every picture I took, eyes were closed or images smeared. Anyway, I went with the lion costume for Lucas--he looked like a cutie poop when he had his lion hoodie up, which was very infrequent since he did not like it on his head. I do, however, wish we went with the Peter Pan costume from the Disney store (I tried, I tried. The Disney store closed at the mall I went too), especially since there were about five other little boys who were also lions. Stella costume was adorable, although most people thought she was a fairy and not Tinkerbell (wait, I think Tinkerbell is a fairy--whatever). Anyway, we will have to bobby pin her headband since it didn't stay put and do her makeup a little better. Maybe a little lion nose on Lucas too. All for the big night, huh? The party was a lot of fun...for kids. I think most of the husbands were chatting with each other (I know mine was), while the moms were chasing after their kids. Lots of fun booths, and Stella even participated in the "donut on a string" booth. And of course, the best of the night is the trunk or treat!

"Donut on a String" Booth. Stella ate very sssllooowww.

Stella with her other fairy friend Lila.

Holiday Self Control

It's that time of the season. Yup, by the time I'm done with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and all the in betweens I'll have gained 10 lbs. Guaranteed. You see, I have a love/hate relationship with the holidays. I love all the traditions, the family get togethers, the festivities, the decorations, the parties, the spirit of the holidays, and of course all the great food I'll be eating. But I hate that by the end of it all, I can't fit in my jeans; and I have to go on a major detox diet. And the fact that I permanently look three months pregnant doesn't help. I admit it, I have a major sugar self control problem. MAJOR! If candy, ice cream, cookies, pies, muffins, cupcakes, caramels, chocolate, christmas-tree shaped rice krispie treats with red hots are in front of my face or anywhere in my house (even if I do hide it), I'll keep eating it and eating it without stopping. Maybe this all stems back from growing up with 8 brothers and sisters. So, Halloween is here, and I have already opened up the bag of treats to give away and started munching. Niiiccee (thanks Holly for the slang). My friend told me that next time I should get treats that I don't like (for instance gum or lollipops). Why didn't I think of this before??? Great. I'm screwed. Oh, well.

Silly Girl

Holiday Dress

I've been eyeing this dress from Anthro--it's so darling. It would be perfect to wear to a holiday party. This weekend I went into the beloved store and the dress looks even better in person. This is when I wish I still had my discount...

Wool Peacoat

I know where I want to get Stella's winter coat this season...

{via Crewcuts}

Hiking in Uintah

I forgot to post these pictures of one of our hikes we went on when we were in Utah. Steve (Seth's Dad) took us on this hike that he said would be an "easy" couple miles. Well, I forgot that when you hike with Steve you are usually bush whacking--no trails. He's got a niffty GPS unit. This did not go well with Stella, especially when we were hiking up to a ridge, getting caught in branches, jumping over fallen logs. And the fact that I didn't dress her warm enough played a factor. She was screaming the whole entire time and was traumatized. Not until we were hiking down she begin to calm down, and a little mention of some hot chocolate and she begin to smile. The view was beautiful.

Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway

Head on over to Design Mom or Sk*rt for a chance to win the Francesca cuff bracelet. This Darleen Meier piece is apart of the Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway--and it's a HUGE jack pot with lots of goodies. Basically, you leave a comment here (of how much you love the bracelet, of course) and you're entered to win. That easy! So, show some love and go support. Also to all those Austinites (I know you're out there), stop by the Sk*rt booth at the Maker Faire this weekend and give a shout out to your home girl.

New Orleans House

Did anyone read about the New Orleans house in Cottage Living? Basically they built a new cottage house that looks as if it had been on its lot all along. The thing that amazes me is that the house is modular, but it's beautiful with lots of detail. I live in an area where there are a lot of cottages, so I did a good amount of drooling as I watched the video tour.

Love the monogramed linens--looks like a bed of sweet dreams.

I want to pick up a few of those tall pastry stands

Walk-in closet. I love the black chandelier.

Welcome to the World, Baby Emma!

Congratulations to my long-time friend Jen (she's a Renoite) and her husband Rufus on the birth of their baby girl--Emma! I'm just so ecstatic for her! I'm so happy that she is now a mommy, and we can talk mommy talk. She'll be a good one too. I've been begging for a picture of mommy and baby, but you know how it is adjusting to a new way of life. I can't wait any longer, so here's the little one just fresh out of the oven. From what I can see, she's got her Mommy's eyes and mouth. There is definitely something about newborns--they are just so precious.

Stella Loves Nora

Stella loves her cousin Nora. And one of the things she loves to do is boss Nora around, probably because Nora is a little younger. Stella is always grabbing her by the arm, demanding her to follow her, telling her she has to play with this or she can't play with that. Poor Nora. I think she tolerates it because she doesn't see Stella everyday. Nice finger pickin' good, Lauren.

Wicked Waite Women

When my sister and I ran the race we had our fan club cheering for us on the sideline. It was great! They had posters, foam #1 fingers and t-shirts with our names plastered. Here's a picture of my nieces with their t-shirts--"wicked Waite women". I loved it!

Costume Boo-tique

This year for Halloween, Stella is going to be Tinkerbell (very popular, I know.) Right now in her life she is really into all the Disney princesses. She asks me almost everyday if she can go play with Cinderella at her house (looks like a trip to Disneyland is in the near future). Today the conversation was about why did Cinderella's mommy die, where was Cinderella's mommy and why doesn't Cinderella live with her mommy. As you can see, she's very concerned about Cinderella. Anyway, I couldn't find a Cinderella costume (okay, I didn't try very hard and only went to one store), so she's going to be Tinkerbell and she's fine with that. So, I thought Lucas could be Peter Pan, but I don't know if I'll be able to find a costume for him in his toddler size. Then I was thinking he could be a lion because he LOVES lions. I saw this really cute lion costume at Babystyle that I'm thinking about popping over to get. Actually, Babystyle always has the best costumes for newborns and toddlers. Right now, they have a few on sale. I'm really considering this lion...

Winter Coats

There are so many winter coats that I have my eye on this season. I saw quite a few that I liked from Alloy. Not sure about the quality since they are pretty cheap. I used to work for an outerwear company, so I'm use to spending a little more on coats since they last from season to season. I saw this Burberry cashmere trench in Lucky that I love. It's a little bit out of my price range.

Happy Birthday Julene!

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to my sister! Wow, I'm behind. Okay, Julene is the oldest of the Waite clan; and therefore has patience and strong motherly traits. She has four beautiful blonde-haired kids (two boys and two girls) and pregnant with her fifth. Her kids are very obedient, smart and sweet. She loves to clean. Well, I don't know if she loves it, but everytime I talk to her on the phone she is cleaning! She actually fired her cleaner because she wasn't cleaning up to her standards. I think this stems from being the oldest of a household of nine kids--and we were dirty. Julene has a gift of teaching. She actually is a teacher. She has very unique ways of teaching children (and it shows with her own kids). I call her frequently when I need new ideas. She puts on really fun kid birthday parties. Everytime I see her she makes me yummy salads--I go home and try to replicate what she does and it never comes out as good. She's a huge fan of Harry Potter books. She was really sad that she couldn't run the marathon with me and Christine. But we hope to do it again together. Love you Julene!

Julene prepping me....

Julene and her honey. Photo courtesy: Heather Gibb

Pumpkin Centerpiece

My mom made these pumpkin centerpieces--I thought they were so cute and are perfect for Fall decorations.

Julene's Baby Shower

This past weekend was my sister Julene's baby shower. I was bummed that I couldn't go, but did what I could to help out. My other sister Marleen did a really good job putting the whole party together. She put together an amazing menu and made most of the food. Actually all the food was homemade (unlike me who usually goes out and buy it). The party was held at my friend Ashley's house.

Here's what was on the menu: beef and asparagus negimaki, Cuban sandwiches, bacon-wrapped dates, apple and avocado salad, fresh fruit, Stephanie's yummy dinner rolls along with homemade jams--apricot, fig, pomegranate jelly and loganberry. For dessert: coconut cupcakes, red chocolates, and carrot cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting! Holy cow--my mouth is watering.

Party favors--vegetable seeds attached to a bag filled with homemade red flower chocolates

Family Horses

We finally got to meet Seth's parents horses--Boss and Mischief (aka Puff Daddy). They also refer them as their babies, kids or boys and even moved to a different house with more land for their "children" to roam around. Stella and Lucas were intimidated by the horses and demanded to be held while near them. But they also enjoyed going out with Grandma Jane each morning to feed them apples.