Monster Mash & A Healthy Halloween Snack

Healthy Halloween???  Is this even possible?!

I decided that it being Halloween week and all we need to really do it up this week.  Trevor said last night he felt like Halloween this year is anticlimactic so I am really hyping up spookiness everywhere...including their lunch boxes!!  Their snack today was jack-o-lantern orange cups to go along with their ghostly sandwiches.  It was pretty much a snap!

Tonight we got all decked out in our costumes and threw ourselves a monster mash.  By we I mean Carter and me!!!  Ethan wanted to save his costume for Friday and Dax is teething (molars - - YIKES) so Carter and I danced and danced and giggled until we couldn't anymore.  

If you look closely you will see Hocus Pocus in the background...oh yes my children are just as in love with that movie and I am!!!  And Carter thinks it's hilarious when I sing "I Put A Spell On You"

It was very fun just playing around with this little pipsqueak tonight!!

xoxo

S'more Halloween Fun

Friday was the start of fall break for Ethan, and we spoiled his teacher with home made chocolate chip cookies.  Carter and Daxton are still in school this week, so I needed to come up with a really a fun idea for their teachers.

Inside of the trick-or-treat bag is 2 chocolate graham crackers, 2 Hershey bars and 2 pumpkin shaped marshmallows - all the fixin's for some really spooky s'mores.

Last year we were on our way to Vegas, so I didn't get to do anything fun for the kids' teachers or friends.

Now on another note, Ethan received a perfectly glowing report from Mrs. B and Trevor and I couldn't be prouder.  He's reading above grade level and is a little math whiz in the making.  He also seems to be making lots of new friends, and is helpful to his classmates when they need extra help with instructions.  We will be enjoying a special trip out to dinner and maybe some ice cream this coming week!!

Fingers crossed we have many many more report cards like this.

xo

A Fun Poulakidas Halloween Tradition

We have so many traditions in the Bradshaw Nook.  We have created some really fun things we do from year to year that I look forward to continuing on.  So y'all it's a crying shame that I didn't know about this fun Halloween tradition Trevor's grandpa did with his mom, aunts & uncle when they were growing, and then with Trevor and Tara when they were young!!  My mother-in-law is one of the most talented and creative people I have ever met, so it doesn't surprise me that she carried it forward...ok so what is this fun tradition???

Every year Trevor's grandpa would take a pair of his pants and button down shirt and stuff it full of wadded up newspaper, add some straw coming out here and there and a garbage bag or pumpkin for a head...sit him on a law chair on the front porch and wha la a life-size scarecrow.

I am for sure renewing this long standing Poulakidas tradition next year!!  Thank you Elaine for sharing it with me!!

xoxo

Wormy Halloween Dinner

This wonderful little Mommy Witch cooked up a sensational wormy dinner tonight for the little monsters' delight.

Wiggly worm dogs, squiggly wiggly beans, and "rotten" apples comprised a very not-so-fancy Sunday supper.  Ethan and Daxton thought this was the best dinner all week, while Carter Bug slept through it.

Ten minutes was all it took to throw this fun Halloweeny dinner together.  We have been non-stop go since the end of August so it was all I had in me to get everyone around the table.

Happy Sunday!!

xo

No Junk in the Trunk Challenge

I do love every season, but fall definitely starts the beginning of my favorite time of year.  There is just something about the baking, the smell of pumpkin spice everywhere, and chocolate that gets me every time.  Well not this year...

Starting tomorrow I will be embarking on a two week challenge.

I am so excited!!  Last Monday I said I have 4 months until I turn 30 and want to be super fit...this is the jumping off point!!

xo

Patio Love

Trevor and Kevin worked their little behinds off today getting the majority of the pavers down on our never-ending porch/patio project!!  I'm getting so excited that it's nearly complete!!

In just 2 short weeks this little ball of energy is joining The Nook and becoming another Bradshaw Pipsqueak (furry of course)!  Awe I'm so excited and happy and nervous.  

We are just chipping away at our to do list and believe me we have more up our sleeve!!  This place is a never ending work-in-progress!!

xo

The 1st Quarter of 1st Grade is Over

Two Fridays ago the first quarter ended and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to show more appreciation to Ethan's wonderful teacher, Mrs. B.  A jar full of homemade chocolate chip cookies seemed to be in order for a sweet "thank you" to Ethan's kind, no-nonsense  teacher.

I think this woman will be sainted, I mean with a couple dozen six/seven year olds keeping her company all day, she needs it more than anyone I know.

Have a great week y'all!!

xo

Nook Craft Time

Normally Ethan loves to do craft projects and is so careful when it comes to his attention to detail.  Today, I thought the pipsqueaks would jump at the chance to add to our Halloween decor with some fun projects I bought.  Well just think again...the only pipsqueak I could get to pay any attention to me was Daxton!  So crafting we did!!

Perhaps the other two will give me and my craft projects a chance next time!!

xo

Star Wars Room Transformation Continues

I'm still chipping away at the boys' Star Wars room makeover.  The furniture that was in there before it became a shared room is white, so I thought it would be fun and cute to add a vinyl decal or two to the night stand.  The nice thing about vinyl...it can be removed!!

This fun little decal will be making its way into the boys' room shortly...

We are getting closer all the time with checking projects off our list.  I think this will be the last bedroom update for awhile.  I'm really expecting someone to hold me to that!!

xo

Halloween Inspiration...for Next Year

I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that the outside of The Nook doesn't get as much decor love as the inside.  I searched the wonderful world of the internet and found some pretty awesome inspiration for the outside of The Nook for 2016...

I definitely have some stepping up to do, but I think I will be ready as much on the outside as the inside next year, lol!!

xo

Ferrari Farms

We wrapped up our weekend with the Thomas Family doing what we do best - having fun!!  We kicked off our Sunday at Ferrari Farms picking the perfect pumpkins.

After we had picked our perfect pumpkins the pipsqueaks were awfully tired.  It was a fabulous time with some of our very best friends.

We love you big!!  Happy Sunday!

xo

The Nook Porch

I just want to thank my dear husband for not being too upset at me for coming home with 2 more hay bales, an owl and a R.I.P stone.  Especially after the first words out of Ethan's mouth were, "Mommy bought us a $30 R.I.P stone, don't be mad Dad."

It's definitely a work-in-progress but I'm excited about it!  First year in the 7 we have lived here that we have decorated the porch!!!

xo

The Pumpkin Walk

We kicked off our weekend with a 2 hour wait, lots of running around and enjoying lots and lots of Jack-O-Lanters!

After waiting in quite a long line we finally made it in the Wilber D. May Museum and the Arboretum we toured an extensive amount of pumpkins.  The Halloween decor was so much fun and we only lost the kids a handful of times in the pitch black!

Tomorrow will be spent picking pumpkins at the pumpkin patch!!

xo

Football Day

We have arrived at our midway point in the 2015 high school football season.

This week Reed played the North Valley's Panthers!!  After quite the bus ride through Sun Valley we arrived to find that the freshman game wasn't even at halftime yet.  We spent a portion of the freshman game talking about wanting to do more team bonding and about how excited they are to start working on competition!!

They did an amazing job cheering on the JV Raiders to a 40-0 victory!!

xo

Bradshaw Halloweens of Past

As I have mentioned over and over we celebrate holidays around here all month long.  In preparing for the 2015 Halloween season I enjoyed looking back on Halloweens past.  I couldn't find our family photos from every year, but I found some fun ones...

Mickey Mouse - 2010

Nook Pumpkin Patch - 2011

Toy Story Gang - 2011

Pumpkin Patch - 2012

Pumpkin Patch - 2014

1. October - 2015

These are just some of my favorites!!  Happy October!!

xo