Perfect Sunday!

What a weekend!  We had perfect fall weather...not too hot or cold...just perfect.  We slept in a little bit this morning and realized that we never turned our clocks back.  No worries because we weren't on any kind of schedule today.  We just took our time getting ready and had some fun in the process. 

When we finally got out of the house, we head over to the PX to see if Malu and I could get some Halloween costumes at the last minute.  All the local stores are closed on Sundays, so the PX was our only option.  No surprise...we got there and got stuck with the leftovers.  The good thing--my too-big pirate costume and Malu's executioner costume cost under $10. Everything was 50% off!

After the PX, we rode over to the library.  A friend who works there told us to stop by to make duct tape halloween bags.  Apparently, duct tape crafts are all the craze these days, so we wanted to see what all the hoop-la is about.  Who knew that duct tape comes in a million colors and you can make just about anything with it?  Sina wasn't too entertained...she had just woken up from a cat-nap.  She preferred to watch her mom, who was more into it than she needed to be.  Hey, what can I say...I'm a kid at heart!

Check out our candy corn duct tape bag!

When we got home, Sina and Malu took a much-needed nap.

Meanwhile, I got to work on Sina's Halloween treats for her daycare's Fall Harvest celebration tomorrow.  Since Sina is going to be an owl this year, I thought it'd be nice for her to give her little buddies some owl cookies!  To my disdain, I kinda hit roadblocks along the way as I tried to put these together.  I ordered candy melts online and they didn't make it in time; I ordered clear plastic bags for the cookies, but they ended up being too small; and I totally forgot to get ribbon to accent the tags I made.  So...I improvised.

Take a look at these...

Who needs a Cricut, right?  Um...I do.  After cutting only a dozen of these, my hands were in a world of pain (I think I suffer, to some degree, from carpal tunnel syndrome).  Christmas present, maybe?  Anyhow, in case you can't see, each card says "Happy H"owl" oween!".

Since the plastic bags I ordered were too small, I used ziploc bags I had onhand.  Then, I used some kitchen string as ribbon.  They didn't turn out so bad after all.

When Malu and Sina woke up (yes, it was a late afternoon nap), I had dinner ready (Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps) and we spent a few hours relaxing and playing around with our little girl.  Here she is enjoying a few clementines with Malu.

Yum!

Now, Sina is asleep and I'm enjoying the Twilight series marathon that is on TV! I'll be dragging Malu over to watch it with me.  I'll be using some ice cream to bribe him.  He can't stand these "silly vampires". 

What did I tell you?  A perfect Sunday.

I honestly can't wait for Halloween tomorrow.  I'm excited to see Sina in her cute little costume.  I'm excited to see her paint some pumpkins at school and share her owl cookies with her friends.  I'm excited to see her and her executioner daddy out there trick-or-treating.  I can't wait to share all of it with you guys.

Stay tuned for some more Halloween fun!

Down & Dirty

We didn't really have any big plans set for this weekend, despite it being a 3-day.  We kinda just assumed a "go with the flow" stance and it's been working rather nicely.  The weather hasn't been especially great so it's been nice just hanging out at home.  We've also been logging a lot of nap-hours and catching up on some movies (old ones).  I mean, we haven't been in a theater since Sina was born.  We don't even know what's playing in the movies these days.

In any case, yesterday we finally made our way to the mall not too far from here.  I haven't been in much of a shopping mood, at least for myself.  Anytime I go anywhere, I'm buying stuff for Sina.  Yesterday, I found her her first pair of Nikes.  I figure since she's getting a lot of mileage on those cute chubby feet of hers, she might as well get some good support.  Later in the evening, after putting Sina down to sleep, Malu surprised me with a dinner by candlelight---leftover homemade macaroni and cheese, some wine (it surprisingly went well together) and some Dave Koz, which we even danced to for a little bit.  It was all so sweet...we closed the night by watching Dinner for Schmucks, which was hilarious!

Today was much of the same, just doing little things around the house.  It was cold and rainy out, so we didn't feel much like doing anything.  When the weather started looking up, we headed out to Panzer to change the oil in our car.  Since this installation is small, the car care center is always booked weeks out.  So instead of waiting, Malu thought it best to change the oil ourselves at the auto crafts center--and he was determined to have me learn how to do it.  Yup, that's right...we got down and dirty over there. 

And my mom will probably kill me for posting this picture of Sina just hanging out with us in the bay, but what the hey.

We had her out of the car and set out on the garage floor and was as curious as ever.  Don't worry mom...the bay door was wide open.  Fresh air all around.

Changing oil is just messy work.  I can't say that I promise to change the oil myself from here on out. I guess in case of emergencies......and don't tell my husband!

Anyway, we just finished watching When in Rome (yup, finally getting to it), which we both enjoyed.  We enjoyed some freshly-baked brownies while watching it!  Yum.

Thank goodness we have one more day to chill out.  What a special day it will be...

It's Father's Day,

our 4-year Anniversary,

and Auntie Jewel's birthday (as well as my darling cousin, Wenonah's birthday).

Again, no big plans.  Sometimes those are the best kinds of days.

~~~~~~~~~~

On another note...I just wanted to share two pics of the custom framing I had done on a picture that I'd won from Maria over at Personalized Sketches and Sentiments.  I won the drawing of my choice months ago and I naturally chose a ladybug for Sina.  Well, I went over to the arts and crafts center on post to have it framed.  The framing shop has been backlogged for weeks and after waiting over a month, I finally got it back and Maria has been waiting for me to show her the results.

You can't really see it, but the entire bug is drawn out using Vaiosina--our daughter's full name (here's the story on her name).  It's amazing!

Here's another view of the picture hanging up in Sina's room.  She's got this cozy little nook in there where we've put the hideaway couch.  Malu usually reads to her here.  Don't make fun of my dyslexic placement of her alphabet wall art.  I was trying to copy what was on the package to the decals, and then realized I should have just put them in alphabetical order...duh.  Still looks neat though.

Well, I loved how the picture turned out and it fits so nicely into her room.  I only wish that I didn't hang it so high.  Realizing that she has something new in her room, Sina practically broke her neck staring at it.  I think that means she likes it.

If you haven't seen Maria's work...go to her blog and website and check it out.  Not only is she talented, but she's got a beautiful family and is one of the sweetest bloggy friends I have.

A million thanks to Maria!