Boo to You!

Happy Halloween, my friends!
(and a Happy Reformation Day to you as well, thanks to the reminder from the Prairie Home Companion broadcast this afternoon...)



Let me just say, I'm lovin' this Halloween season!

Here is my boy dressed in all his Halloween finery...




You may not recognize this costume if you're not from around these parts, but if you know anything about our little neck o' the woods, you might get it. My boy is dressed up as the Golden Driller statue, a Tulsa icon. You can read all about this iconic giant here.




The pants and workboots are from Wal-Mart; the shirt is from our local Goodwill thrift store (it was a woman's shirt that my mom and I completely deconstructed to make a new shirt from, impressive!); the belt was also from Goodwill and I made a new buckle for it out of a glitter gold foam sheet glued to a piece of wood and then cut out black foam letters that I stuck on the top; the hardhat is from our friends B.J. and Lauren that I spraypainted (gold, of course), the kids' work gloves are from Atwoods, and the oil derrick is painted on a piece of wood from Home Depot. I actually had the guy at Home Depot cut the big plank into that long piece and two short pieces, one at the top and one at the bottom for a base and a place for my boy to rest his hand on the top. There is also a drawer handle drilled into the back so he can pick it up and move it as it trick or treats.

I'm pretty darn excited about this costume!

While we're on the subject of Halloween, here are the "punkins" on our porch:





I used the idea from the October issue of Country Living Magazine. I had trouble downloading the images and then enlarging them to the right size, so I just eyeballed 'em and drew them on myself as best I could. Then I painted them black, carved out all of the windows, and we've been lighting them up at night. Pretty darn cute! And the paint seems to be keeping the critters from gnawing on them, so that's a double win in my book.

I also decorated our mantel for Halloween and forgot to post a picture until now:



We're off to a fun "trunk or treat" event followed by our annual family Halloween get-together and trick or treating. Hope you all enjoy a great evening with your own little spooks as well!

More Music Monday...

As if The Secret Sisters' debut album wasn't enough to make this music-loving gal happy, check out these two Christmas albums that just came out from two of my favorites...

the Indigo Girls!!!



Hello, Indigo Girls + Christmas music = AWESOME. (Or at least it should be awesome, I'll have to give the album a listen and let you know.) And, of course, listening to the Indigo Girls brings back hilarious memories of the concert a couple of years ago where my girls and I found ourselves in a sea of lady love. I'll never forget that concert! I couldn't leave until I heard them play my absolute favorite, "Galileo"...

And how 'bout those Puppini Sisters!!!



Oh, I expect great things from this Christmas album. GREAT things!

And then a new album from Brooke Fraser?



Seriously, I FINALLY have reason to spend my iTunes gift card from my birthday (hello, it's been a dry five months musically for me, nothing to buy on iTunes in awhile)...

Any new tunes rockin' your world lately?

Download, Baby, Download.

My Fall Music Mix is a bit overdue, but never fear, it is in the works. And you can bet your bottom dollar that these lovelies will be a part of it...



Have you checked out The Secret Sisters yet?

Seriously. I'm in love with their whole package -- looks, undeniable talent, backstory, the whole works!

Wacky Wednesday, indeed!

What a crazy and fun day. First, the earthquake.

Then, an email from my girl Michelle telling me I won something.

Say what????

Something fabulous. Fab. U. Lous.

I clicked over to one of my absolute favorite and most inspiring blogs -- Grosgrain. (If you haven't checked out Kathleen's amazing creations, you've been missing out. Girlfriend's got more talent in her little pinkie than ol' Martha Stewart's got craft supplies and Chow-Chows. Seriously. I've been a longtime fan.)

Sure enough, there's my name! I won the Reporter Frock Giveaway!!!




Kids, I cannot wait to wear this. It's funny because I've been drooling over the dresses at Anthropologie that look like blouse and skirt combinations, and that is just what I won. An utterly gorgeous and one-of-a-kind frock. I can't wait to wear it, especially to work! And just knowing it was made by such talent -- that makes it extra awesome.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Kathleen!!!

4.3

That's the magnitude of the earthquake that struck my state this morning.

Crikey.

Most of my friends and family didn't feel it. But I sure did. And let me just say, experiencing an earthquake wasn't exactly something I wanted to be able to say I've experienced in this lifetime. But now I can check that off the list!

I was upstairs in my son's room, putting a new lightbulb in his lamp, when the whole room started shaking and the bed was creaking like crazy. It lasted maybe about three seconds or so, although, of course, when you're experiencing something like that it feels like a lot longer. My husband was mowing outside in the backyard, and I remember thinking, man, why is he ramming the lawnmower against the side of the house??? I ran outside to ask him if he felt it. He looked at me like I was crazy, but he noticed that a neighbor's house alarm had just gone off seconds before. Sure enough, when I jumped on Facebook, other statuses were reporting the same, so I knew I wasn't crazy.

It rattled me so badly (literally) that my legs felt woozy for a good hour afterwards.

Let me just say this:

I'll take tornadoes any day of the week over earthquakes. Any day.

Here's hoping for a quieter rest of the day...

Hypnotized and Mesmerized

...by this song.

Holy beautiful.

If there is any song that could encapsulate my feelings right now about life and how fast it flies through our fingers and how much I love my beautiful boy and wish he could stay little forever,

THIS IS THAT SONG.

Oh, how this is that song.

Lately I've been feeling so much nostalgia and bittersweet feelings about how quickly that little man of mine is growing. Kindergarten is in full swing, he's learning to read, and a few tears fell the other day when I was folding the laundry and noticed one of his little shirts with a "size 7" tag in it. How could he be growing up so fast? There isn't enough time in the world for me and little him. I even made it a point to burn the memory in my mind this morning of walking hand-in-hand with him down the leaf-covered sidewalk to the front door of the school when I dropped him off. Of knowing that he might not always want to walk hand-in-hand with me in public, kiss my goodbye in plain view of his friends, be so little with his giant backpack strapped on. Oh, how I wish I could freeze these moments in time.

Read these gorgeous lyrics while you listen to the video:

Hourglass

Mindy Gledhill
© 2010 Blue Morph Music (BMI)

Little boy, when you speak
I can't help but kiss your cheeks
I love the way you grab my hands
And tell me all about your plans

Rocket high, comets fly
You and I could take a ride
And fly away to Neverland
And give our best to Peter Pan

When you reach for the stars
Don't forget who you are
And please don't turn around and grow up way too fast
See the sand in my grasp
From the first to the last
Every grain becomes a memory of the past
Oh, life's an hourglass
Life's an hourglass

Stories read, prayer is said
Close your eyes sleepyhead
While angels linger in your dreams
And hold you in their feathered wings
Just like you, I was small
Not that long ago at all
I wish you all the happiness
That God gives freely if you ask

Chorus

Bad blogger, bad blogger.

It's been nuts around here, ya'll.

I'm just now coming up to the surface for some air, so maybe I can scrounge up a lil' blog post for you real soon. Until then, get out and enjoy the bee-yoo-ti-ful fall weather. It's gorgeous 'round here!