Last week at the check-out line in Trader Joe's, after about a hundred "No, we cannot get that, or that or that..." I totally caved to Drew's request to purchase a bag of gum drops. It was a small bag & they look pretty in a candy jar on the kitchen counter. Since then, it has been an easy way to say yes to the kids & let them have a little treat every now & then...and I do mean little, I usually only dole out 1 or 2 at a time. {I'm a candy scrooge like that!}

Yesterday afternoon, Jack asked to have a couple & I said yes. A couple quickly became, "Can I please have 3, a yellow, an orange & a white? I want to make a candy corn." So I said okay, and I'm glad I did. Making one "candy corn" turned into a fun little creative activity for Jack seeing what all he could make out of the gum drops. It was somewhat challenging, as well, because our package only had 4 colors: red, orange, yellow & white. {And I totally have to give Jack his props, he wasn't even doing it so that he could eat more gum drops, he gave each of the little creations to one of his siblings...spreading them out so everyone got one!}

Here's a little look at Jack's cute Gum Drop Creations...He said to me, "Mom, we should pin these on Pinterest!" {I love that kid!}

Any guesses as to THE thing that is the pinnacle of Autumn in our household?

As an added bonus, we got to keep Bosley with us for an extra day since Monday was a school holiday. It worked out pretty well for me because Bosley mentioned to Darcy that he thought it would be a good idea for her to make Mommy breakfast in bed...so they served up some yummy waffles loaded with syrup (I'm sure that was Bosley's influence!) and a tall glass of milk! The rest of Monday was pretty busy with lots of playing & snuggling & taking Sophie to riding lessons & taking a meal to some friends with a new baby...but Bosley is one energetic bear & was able to keep up with our rigorous schedule! 

We decided to have a "Favorite Things" theme for the shower & try to incorporate as many of Aja's favorite things as possible. Her wedding color is purple, and her favorite color is red, so that set the color palette. Purple is such a fun, rich color to work with, it made decorating easy.
For the food table centerpiece I used a purple ribbon topiary that I made several months ago for another party (Yeah for recycling!)  On either side I placed a pretty little cyclamen plant with deep red blossoms. (I used two kinds of purple scrapbook paper to make a little "box" to cover over the green pots.) I love the look of tissue pom-poms for a shower. They are always so festive & easy to make to coordinate with any color scheme. I made several from various shades of purple & lavender tissue paper with some silver tissue thrown in to give them a wedding-y feel. I hung them in the big window alternating with purple balloons.


For the food itself, we had a table full of delectable treats, including many of Aja's favorites like brownie bites, chocolate covered strawberries, pimento cheese sandwiches, baked Brie, Paula Deen's pumpkin bars, a beautiful fruit salad, cheese & crackers & more. (A HUGE thanks to my sweet & awesome friend Celia who made the chocolate strawberries, the brownie bites & the pumpkin bars! And she came over early to get everything set up. She was an essential part of making this shower a success.) 
My mom made a delicious Southern Living Caramel Apple Brownie Cheesecake that was utterly decadent!
To wash down all that yummy food, we had a pretty purple punch & also served coffee, water & Italian sodas.
When I ordered the invites, I went ahead & made up some coordinating thank you notes & had the envelopes ready for people to self-address...this is always a nice time saver for brides (or mommys-to-be!) I also had a pretty little red scrapbook & papers out for guests to write a special message to Aja. We asked that they share a treasured Bible verse, a favorite bit of marriage advice or anything that might be useful to Aja as she starts this new chapter of her life as a Mrs.!

After we finished eating, Celia shared a wonderful devotion on marriage. (I wish we had recorded it because she was amazing!) Aja listened intently as Celia pulled out one-by-one a variety of unique gifts from her big bag..a strainer, a rolling pin, chili sauce (spicy!), a measuring cup and more...each item represented an important Truth to remember in marriage & was tagged with a corresponding Bible verse. Celia's last gifts were a candle & a salt shaker...as Christians we are called to be Salt & Light, so not only should our marriage bring us closer to God, but our marriages are truly a ministry opportunity to the world around us. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we were all so blessed & encouraged by Celia's wisdom!
After Celia shared with us it was Aja's turn to share her heart & tell the story of how, in God's perfect timing & wisdom, He brought Daniel & Aja together. It is a wonderful story that exemplifies God's faithfulness to us & shows how much He loves to give us the desires of our hearts when we are fully seeking Him. Aja chooses a word for each year & this year her word was JOY! And what great joy God has given her...to find her soul mate & look forward to a life shared with the man He has had prepared for her since the beginning of time! She mentioned a Scripture that has been so special to her & Daniel over the last few months is Ephesians 3:20-21...

Remember when I mentioned that during my blog silence we ticked off a few of the many projects on our (rather lengthy & somewhat wishful) To Do List...Well, here are a few pics of the "afters!" Unfortunately, for some sad reason (probably I was so excited to see the projects get started) I didn't take any "before" photos, so you will have to take my word that both pieces were old & brown & really not very attractive...

First up is a very old, six-drawer dresser that I remember being part of my grandmother's bedroom suit when I was a little girl. It has been sitting in our garage for at least 2 years now & has had various intended purposes. We ultimately decided to put it in our home office as a place for me to organize some of my crafting supplies stash.
Now I cannot really take any credit for the actual refinishing of this piece of furniture, I owe the beauty of its finish all to my dear husband. He worked for several days painting & applying the rustic finish & I think he did an excellent job. I love the results! In addition to moral support & encouragement, my contribution was discovering & researching the kind of paint he used for the project, Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. I had read about this paint on a couple of blogs & was instantly intrigued because it claims that you do not need to sand or prime your pieces...and we found that to be true! The paint is fairly expensive (about $40 per quart), BUT Jeff painted this entire piece with one coat of cream paint AND he only used about 1 inch of paint from the can! Pretty amazing stuff. The great patina comes from adding in a layer or two of the special wax, which Jeff found to be pretty easy to work with.

Ah, it felt so nice to have a project completed & useful in just a few days (not counting the 2 years sitting time in the garage!) My other contribution on this project was the total overhaul of our office...moving furniture around, sorting, throwing away, clearing out piles of stuff in the corners, organizing. It has been a few weeks now & the office still feels much neater & looks much prettier with the addition of this piece. I still smile every time I see it! And here is one more pic of it as it stands now with the addition of a pretty lamp my mom bought me for my birthday last week (thanks, Mom!)

The great results we had with this project quickly spurred on another one...
A new bedside table for Jeff. For the last 2 years he had been using a small pedestal table that was prone to tipping over if one of the kids leaned on it. Or when Drew & Lucy were learning to walk, it would tip if they tried to pull-up on it...not good. It also looked quite cluttered with a stack of magazines, a lamp, an alarm clock, a photo & the phone pretty much covering the entire surface.  This table was what my family used for a TV table way back in the day, but it had gotten some water damage that caused the top to split & buckle. Jeff's dad (amazingly gifted woodworker that he is!) had worked some time ago to repair the top & sand it smooth, but after that it languished in our garage for months. Jeff chose a blue shade of the Annie Sloan paint & again used the dark wax to give it a rich patina. He also lightly sanded the edges for a bit of a distressed look. He stained the top of the table a rich walnut, and once again, I love the results! Not only is the table wonderfully functional (no tipping over & it has a handy drawer to keep the TV remotes,) but it also looks beautiful in our room. Whoo-hoo for another completed project & that much more free space in the garage!
Speaking of which, ever since we moved into this house almost 2.5 years ago, our garage has been--Oh, how can I best describe it...I know, a hot mess! So probably the most significant project to date has been getting it under control. We accomplished this in bits & pieces over the summer, but we finally got rid of stuff that had been needing to go, we organized most of the rest into labeled bins, and now we have removed two large pieces of furniture...that's what I call progress! I dare say, with a few more little improvements (an ad-hoc gift wrapping station & some way to corral the herd of ride-on toys) we may be able to park our van in the garage this winter. Can I get an amen?!!

Drew was obviously a little thirsty & couldn't find his sippy cup, so he resorted to filling with water an old Almond Extract bottle that the kids keep in their play kitchen. Ah, I'm sure that was refreshing! And Sophie is proudly showing me her after school snack, 3 carrots she peeled herself...my little bunny!

Two years ago...Drew was the exact age that Lucy is now & Darcy was the age that Drew is now...
Later that evening we celebrated our niece, Mallory's, 16th birthday! She is such a lovely young woman & I can't believe we will be celebrating her 18th this coming weekend!

And six years ago...aw, look at these two cuties, our only two cuties at that time!
Jack (nearly 5) & Sophie (almost 2 1/2) were enjoying a sweet moment of sibling love & cooperation coloring together. I need to carry these pictures around in my pocket to pull out as a reminder of their true affection for one another for the days when they are on each other's nerves!

You may now happily return to the present...hope that you've enjoyed our little trip back in time!

I've had the refrain from that Elvis song floating through my head all weekend in regards to my blog...It's now or never...It's really not now or never, certainly the fate of nothing hangs in the balance over whether or not I get to churn out a few blog posts. But I do have this feeling of really missing writing, really missing recording our life, really missing having this little creative outlet. I am also a bit crazy though & like things to be all chronological & I realize at this point a good 9-12 months of life has gone by unrecorded & that bugs me. I'm not sure I'm able to just pick up now & leave that time unaccounted for. So I waver, I waffle, I wonder where to begin. I've had several false-starts, as the half-finished drafts saved in the queue will bear witness to. A whole lot of life & living & fun times & everyday times has happened. And this has been the constant greeting/reminder/thorn in my day planner for the last few weeks months...
This time last year I jumped on the 31 Days challenge that so many bloggers do & I actually posted a blog every day for the month of October! Whew, it was hard work, but it was great & I felt such a sense of accomplishment (which is a nice wonderful feeling for a mom who always has so many things "in progress.") I don't know if I can post 31 blogs in October this year, actually, in my mind I haven't even solidified if I am really going to try. Some things have been a little nicer without blogging...like the laundry stays done better, the house stays a bit neater, I've been going to bed a little earlier, we have actually finished a couple of little home improvement/organization projects, & I hope I've been a little more devoted to my kids. But I think there is a balance in there waiting to be reached, that ever elusive balance, and that's where I find the now or never feeling coming into play. The life stuff will only keep happening, I will only get further behind, the need to "catch-up" will only grow stronger, so for me it's now or never...once again I'm going to give it a try...hoping to find that balance.

And I still don't know where I'm going to start...with today or make up for lost time? Your guess right now is as good as mine! But hopefully I will find some balance there, between memories old & new, as well.
For now, here are a few random pics from the last few weeks...