Alabama + Graffiti

I always hate Halloween ending – I love when my house is decked out all in Halloween.  I have one turkey that must make his appearance before the house becomes a Winter Wonderland.  This weekend was a really good one, despite my favorite holiday now being over.

Friday at school, Sheff had his fun run.  His teacher took the below picture – that little dude looks so determined.  He ended up running 78 total laps, and came home with an armful of plastic bracelets.  So very thankful for a teacher this year that takes pictures of the kiddos during the day.  It’s so nice to see what Sheffield is up to.

Saturday was a bum around the house kind of day.  It was sort of drizzly and dreary all day, so it was a great day for it.  I did get to go out shopping for a bit solo, so always love that.  I picked up some organizational bins to try to bring some order to my bathroom drawers.  Sheff and I also did a deep clean on his room – and we finally cleared out some old toys and books that he was willing to part with.  So at least our morning was somewhat productive, because after that, we all slugged around the house, watching football and the World Series.  We ate appetizers for dinner, stayed up way too late watching the Braves and finally got to bed.

Sunday – Halloween!  B got out and got us some Shipley’s for breakfast, and again we got to cleaning the house a little bit since we were having guests for Halloween night.  We  got all of that done, and headed to Sheff’s last fall ball game of the season – he had some amazing hits, and even ran down a guy to get him out.  His stance has improved exponentially throughout the season, and we will really really miss his coach – he was great with the kids, and he really knew his stuff.  We hope to see him down the line!

After the game, we came home and got into our costumes!  B smoked some wings, and our friends brought over their amazing buffalo chicken dip.  The adults enjoyed some adult beverages while the kids were running around.  We fed them some pizza before heading out to trick-or-treat.  We ran into one of Sheff’s classmates while we were out, too, so they stayed with us for a little bit.  The kids got soooo much candy, and they had so much fun.  We all stayed up probably too late and definitely ate too much candy, but all-in-all, it was a really great night.

I’m not sure when I’ll force myself to take down all of my Halloween decorations – I may try to drag it out as long as I can.  Hoping for a really fast week since I fly out to KC on Friday and am spending the weekend with my dad to head to the Packers game on Sunday!  So excited!

Hope you all had a great Halloween and a great start to your week!

Hello spooky people!  T-minus two days until my most favorite holiday.  I’ve been extra tired this week, but not because of work.  Because of sports!  And all of these games being at night.  The Braves are back in the World Series for the first time since 1999, and the Packers had the Thursday night game last night.  Of course, Aaron Rodgers and crew give you a heart attack down to the last seconds, so I was pretty wired even after the game last night.

It’s been a fun week full of Halloween stuff – it was Red Ribbon week at school, and the Fun Run is today, so Sheff has had a good week too!  Let’s get into the Friday things!!

|| I very rarely re-buy any body wash.  I haven’t found one that I can’t live without, and I like trying new ones.  I love this St. Ives exfoliating body wash – and the way it smells.  It’s so clean and fresh!

|| Crying in H Mart isn’t the type of book that I normally would pick up – meaning non-fiction,  but I am loving it so far.  I saw it at the library, and it was a librarian pick, so I figured why not?  Glad I grabbed it.

|| I am a sucker for anything pink and cheap sunglasses, so put the two together, and it’s a no-brainer.  Hoping for good weather out in KC next weekend, so I can wear these babies to the Packers game.

|| I don’t know why on earth I would need a disco ball cup, but it’s so cute and fun.  And I feel like Sheff would get a kick out of it as well.

|| These earrings had been in my cart on Amazon for a really long time.  I finally pulled the trigger and am glad I did.  They are so cute, and unbelievably comfortable.  They’re the perfect amount of sparkle.

|| I love wigs.  I don’t know why – but they’re so fun.  You can put them on and become a different person for a little bit.  I love wearing them at Mardi Gras and on Halloween.  This purple sparkly one sold out super quick last Halloween at Target, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it made its way back this year.

We’re having a Hocus Pocus screening tonight, Auburn game tomorrow, and Sheff’s last fall baseball game on Sunday, as well trick-or-treating and hanging out with a few friends.  Looking forward to a great Halloween weekend!!

If you know me, you know that Halloween is my favorite holiday.  I love decorating the house, watching scary movies, eating candy, dressing up – all of it.  It’s just the best.  I’ll normally scour some local pages to try to find some other activities to do in the weeks leading up to Halloween.  Sheff and I have had some really good ones this year:

|| Hoover Public Library ||

Sheff and I have always loved going to the library, but I didn’t really pay that much attention to the kid’s activities, because they were mostly during the day, and we couldn’t make those.  So I was really pleasantly surprised to see they had a bunch of Halloween activities taking place after working hours!!  First was a pumpkin-palooza, where we made inverted pumpkins and got to make a pumpkin patch marble maze.  I think we’re going to end up framing the inverted pumpkin, because it just turned out so good!!

The following week, they had a whole bunch of Halloween activities.  They had a maze where you had to find storybook characters, a scavenger hunt that took you all throughout the Kid Zone, and  fun props to get pictures with.  Sheff loved the scavenger hunt the best – he loved following the clues and figuring them out to be able to get the treat at the end.  And I’m thankful for about two hours of non-screen time after school.

|| Rice Krispie Ghosts ||

During my first ever trip to Aldi’s (thanks to Nadine’s nagging!! 🙂 ), Sheff and I found a Rice Krispie ghost making set.  We bust it out one night when B was traveling, just so we could blast Halloween music.  I haven’t made actual Rice Krispie treats in forever and had forgotten just how easy they were.  After that part, Sheff pretty much took it over.  He pressed the mix into the molds and did the icing on the actual ghosts.  It was a fun activity, so I know we’ll be searching for the same kit next year.

|| Volunteering at School ||

I did something so out of my comfort zone that I still can’t believe I actually went through with it.  I volunteered to help during Pumpkin Investigation Day in Sheff’s class.  This entailed working with a group of four kids (one was Sheff) while they guessed how much their pumpkin weighed, how big around it was and how many seeds were inside.  Which means I had to carve a pumpkin – with a Target-bought carving kit.  In front of six year olds who just wanted to get their hands inside the pumpkin.  To be fair, the whole table was pretty well-behaved, and we all came to a compromise on the jack-o-lantern face – the girls wanted a friendly pumpkin, and the boys wanted a scary one.  We gave it scary eyes and a toothy smile.  I think he turned out pretty great, even though it did take a really long time to get it carved out.

I just learned of a 1200 pound pumpkin nearby – we are definitely going to check that out, and probably a huge trunk or treat this week as well.  What fun things do you like to do for Halloween?

This past weekend, we headed to NOLA for some Halloween fun.  New Orleans does Halloween right, and we couldn’t wait to get down there.

We left after work and school on Friday, and we ate at one of my favorite places in New Orleans, Cochon Butcher.  I got their bratwurst special, and it was so good.  Sheff really enjoyed his root beer and getting to read while he ate some of their homemade chips.  After that, we stopped at Rouse’s for some supplies and made our way to the hotel for the night.

Saturday, we got up pretty early and all got ready for the day.  We had breakfast po’boys at Two Chicks and then caught the street car to head up St. Charles.  We, of course, had to stop by the Skeleton House to get pictures.  Definitely my most favorite Halloween house.  Unfortunately, the street cars had gotten all bunched up, so we ended up walking to the pumpkin patch.  Which wasn’t too terrible, because the weather was beautiful, and we got to check out all the houses on St. Charles.  After dropping our pumpkins back off at the car, we headed down into the Quarter.  We stumbled upon Boo Carre, which was perfect for the kiddo!  They had store to store trick-or-treating, live music, a place where you could color and make your own button, and of course balloon animals.  Sheff got a ton of candy, and was just all-around super excited.

After that, we headed over to the Jazz Museum for Riverfest.  We sat and watched a little bit, before deciding we were starving, so we headed over to Dat Dog for a bite to eat.  The food was so good, but the coolest part of all?  Two guys from the Rolling Elvi were sitting at the bar.  They asked if we were heading to the parade, and Sheffield said he was, and the Elvi went out to his scooter, and got Sheff a whole bunch of Elvi loot.  It was so sweet of them.  On the way to the parade route, we got to stop by a glitter booth, and Sheff and I both got all sparkled up.  We went and got set up and waited for the parade.  We were so  lucky that another family had a kid around Sheff’s age, and they stood up really close and racked up from the floats.  It was so nice to see how excited they got when a float came rolling by.  We were obviously all very tired after the parade rolled, and hit the hotel room around 9.  We had walked a total of ten miles since the morning, and we were all beat.  It was definitely one of those NOLA days that I didn’t want to see end.

Sunday, we went to another one of our favorites for breakfast – Bywater Bakery.  They have the most amazing bacon,egg and grit go-cup, and I’m obsessed with it.  Plus the best pastries – Sheff inhaled the chocolate croissant.  Another one of those only in Nola stories for us – the lead singer of B’s favorite band (they’re from New Orleans) was sitting at one of the tables eating breakfast.  B didn’t want to bother him, but if you look closely in that close-up picture of Sheff to the right, you can see him back there.  After breakfast, we loaded back into the car and headed home.  Sheff had a baseball game at 430, so we wanted to make sure we made it back in time.  Sheff made some really great plays at first, and still has yet to need the tee.  Super proud of how consistent that little guy has been in baseball during fall ball.  We’ve got him all signed up for YMCA basketball for winter, so sports-mom it is for me.

B and I ended the weekend with sushi and watched Sunday Night Football – we were in bed super early and talked about what a great Nola trip that was.  We’ve got a few things going this week – first of all, the Braves are back in the World Series – the first time since 1999!  Can’t wait to watch this team hopefully win the title!  Plus, to put an exclamation point on the weekend, one of my best friends just took a job in Birmingham.  Which means, she’ll be moving here, and we won’t have to go MONTHS in between seeing each other – and our sons will get to grow up together!!   We’ve also got a few Halloween things sprinkled in – carving pumpkins, watching Charlie Brown and maybe hitting up a huge trunk-or-treat.  I hope y’all have had a great start to this spooooky week!

This past weekend was a lot of fun – we did a lot of fun things and got to hang out with some friends, which is always always a welcome distraction.

Friday night, we headed down to the Greek Festival – Bennett and I have gone every year that we’ve lived in Birmingham, and it’s always such an amazing time.  Sheff surprised us and inhaled the Greek chicken and the cheese pitas, and he really wanted to go and see the Greek dancers.  Bennett and I both got gyros and salads and split a bottle of wine.  Plus it was such a treat to see Sheffield’s daycare director.  She couldn’t believe how big he had gotten, and she took a picture of him to show all of his old teachers.  I was so glad to be able to get a picture of the two of them before leaving.  And I’m still so so thankful that Sheff went to that daycare.

Saturday, I got up and got a quick ride in.   We had breakfast, and all got showers and headed over to hang out with some friends.  The girls and the kids headed to the Birmingham Zoo for Hoots & Howls.  It was actually a really fun time.  They had little candy tents, the kids got to wear their costumes, and of course we got to see alllll the animals.  We rode the carousel and the train, and finally headed home.  We spent the rest of the afternoon watching football and letting the kids play.  It was a really really good day.

Sunday we got up and got the house in order – did all the laundry, cleaned up.  Bennett’s parents were coming in to watch Sheff’s baseball game.  And Sheff did so well!  He hasn’t needed the tee since he’s started, and he’s definitely their first baseman.  Him and the pitcher have been getting into a good rhythm, so it’s really nice to see.  After the game, we headed over to get some Mexican for lunch.   Sheff was super cranky, so he took a nap while we watched some football.   When he woke up, we popped a ton of buttery popcorn and watched The Muppets Haunted Mansion – Sheff loved it.  We’re definitely going to be watching it quite a bit.

We’ve got Pumpkin Palooza today after school at the public library – not really sure what that entails, but it should be lots of fun either way, but aside from that, maybe a few more Halloweeny things to do this week and taking it easy.  Plus the weather is supposed to be gorgeous, so we will definitely be taking all sorts of advantage of that!

Hope you all had a great weekend!