Wednesday 31 October 2012

Happy Halloween!

It's finally here! We've been having so much fun this month getting ready for Halloween. Only problem is, all three of us came down with colds :(. We had such high hopes to get all dressed up and take Anders out in the neighborhood in our costumes. Instead we settled for a quieter Halloween, but we definitely had some fun!

Derek knows that I love caramel apples... my mom used to make them for us when we were kids, and I will probably do the same when Anders gets a bit older, but this just wasn't the year for me to make this treat. Caramel apples seem a little finicky because double boiling anything just seems complicated. So instead Derek surprised me with this caramel apple from the store. It was the perfect treat to bring the Halloween mood on Monday.



On Tuesday Derek started to get sick and looked pretty deadly when he came home from work. But after some apple pie (one of his favorite treats) he was happy to carve pumpkins and even got a little creative!

I was pretty excited to see how Anders would handle the pumpkin goo. Anders was a little tentative at first patting the seeds but before we knew it he was squealing away and had the bowl of seeds dumped all over the table.
As for our pumpkins, Derek carved his own and I did one for Anders and I. Derek decided to carve a scary pumpkin and I did something fun. I found a cute idea online to use your baby's hands for eyes and I was so excited to use this idea to involve Anders. The little fingers were a hassle to cut out, but I'm happy with the result.



 Derek ended up staying home from work today and I was not even sure if we would get out of bed since we had an awful night. But with some major rest throughout the day I was able to get up and put up a few decorations and get caught up in the Halloween excitement.  It was so fun to see everyone out and getting ready for the night. By 6:00 pm we had our first "Trick or Treat!" and we were able to hand out some candy. Anders got involved by greeting the kiddies at the door and was sad to see them go. Instead of walking outside we decided to go for a drive to see all the decorations and excitement. It was a nice compromise for our sickly house, but I am so excited to get out next year. Fingers crossed that we don't get sick again!:)







Sunday 28 October 2012

Right Now...

I'm taking a little mommy hiatus and snuggling in a cozy bed full of blankets while listening to Derek tinker on the piano and Anders  playing in the cupboards. Our house is warm and outside there is a light dust of snow that brings a feeling of Christmas. Love these quiet and peaceful morning... thank you for the time off husband; now it's time for some pancakes!

Saturday 27 October 2012

A Pumpkin and Some Sandwhiches

With Halloween just around the corner we decided it was finally time to buy our pumpkin. There are some local farmers that sell pumpkins so decided to go pick up one. We found a pretty big one and I can't wait to get a carving :)

After picking our pumpkin we decided to go into the city for a mini date with the little guy. We ended up going to a little sandwich cafe. They made everything fresh and it was so delicious. It was also the first time that Derek and I ordered the same thing! After almost 7 years of being married that has never happened. Maybe our tastes are beginning to merge? It was probably the only time that I didn't sneak a bite off Derek's plate to try his food.

We also got some Italian soda; Derek had blueberry and I had Kiwii. Funny, with the red and green coloring it looks like Christmas is just around the corner too!




Monday 22 October 2012

A Little Sunshine


The sun is hiding again under a blanket of rain clouds.
That's ok, I can make my own sunshine.
This banana sucker was probably the best tasting sucker I've ever had.
Along with those oatmeal cookies and crockpot chicken noodle soup.
Those were fun to eat too.
With watching those little fingers and toes that come along with a big personality.
And lots of random cuddles.
But what I'm most grateful today is for my loving husband.
Also known as Derek.
Who got up with our baby boy last night after I tried and tried and tried to get him to sleep.
He just seems to have that magic touch and extra patience.
That makes our baby boy fall asleep.




Sunday 21 October 2012

A Maze in Corn


We had such a nice weekend filled with Fall fun. I've been wanting to go to the corn maze since the beginning of October (where does the time go??) and we finally made it out on Saturday. I almost called it off because it was raining a little and was pretty chilly (hence the winter gear) but Derek convinced me to try. And I'm so glad he did! We had so much fun running around the maze trying to find the various posts, going to the petting farm (I got to pet a calf!), and looking at all the huge pumpkins. We topped it all off at a hot chocolate bar; who wouldn't love a nice hot cup of cocoa with vanilla and hazelnut? 






Saturday 20 October 2012

The Boo Came Early


We got our Halloween on a little early this year with our ward Trunk n' Treat. It is a fun time to dress up, get some candy, and wear costumes out from the cold. Living in Canada it is not uncommon to have snow by Halloween, so when deciding on a costume you must always take into account how it'll look with a snow suit underneath. Pretty frustrating for me as a little girl who always wanted to be a beautiful princess. So an indoor Halloween party is always a must!

This year we decided to go as the circus... Derek was a bunny out of a magician's hat, I was a clown, and Anders a ferocious lion who would do tricks (mostly just crawled through a hula hoop). We had a lot of fun dancing to Thriller and the Monster Mash and Derek even faced off with the missionaries and the bishop in eating a donut off a string. All in all a pretty fun time.





Little party animal was completely pooped when we got home.




Friday 19 October 2012

Thrifted Fashion: Colour Blocked




What a day, what a day! I tried to baby proof my house a bit more today and I can't believe the time it took! And, sad to say, but most of the corner pads (to prevent head bumping) have either fallen off or Anders pulled them off. So I gave up for today in the hope that tomorrow will be a bit better (I'm gonna bring out the hot guns, specifically, hot glue guns!).

I'm also right in the middle of putting up some pictures after being in this house for about 6 months. The nesting urge has kicked in! But again, this turned into a longer task than anticipated, so I stopped for the day without much really accomplished.

On the plus side, my sister came over to "study" (more like tickle me to death) which was so nice. It's always great to have the little goof around. And tonight we are going to a trunk n' treat! F-U-N!

But onto the clothes... it's still drizzly outside so I wanted to be comfortable and warm, hence the hat, button down, and leggings. I felt like the clutch and bangles snazzed up the pretty low key threads which I liked.The hat also had the added benefit of keeping my "bangs" out of my face since they are such a weird length. All in all I was a very comfortable and warm home destroyer today. Smiles all around.




Hat: Thrifted
Button down: Thrifted
Necklace and Bangles: Thrifted
Colour Blocked Clutch: Burlington Coat Factory
Shoes: Spring
Total Cost (approximate): $42.00




Thursday 18 October 2012

Get to Know Me and an Award




A big sweet thanks to Meg the Cool Girl for the nomination!

The Liebster Blog Award “is all about discovering blogs, and helping those with less than 200 followers to get recognized."

The Rules
·         Each person awarded must post 11 facts about themselves.
·         Answer the 11 questions the nominator has set for them.
·         Create 11 more questions for the bloggers they will nominate.
·         Choose 5 bloggers to nominate.
·         Let the lucky bloggers know.


 Eleven facts about me:
·          I met my husband when we were 5. I had a crush on him then, but we didn't start dating until we were 18.
·           I’m a sucker for children’s stories. Now that Anders is here I have a good excuse to build my children’s book collection. One of my favorites is Peter Pan illustrated by Robert Ingpen.
·         I love the feeling of being out in the sun all day, coming home, having a shower, and getting into comfies (i.e. sweatpants or the like).
·         Sad to say, but I don’t like the Simpsons.  Derek’s been trying to turn me, but has failed miserably.  
·         Some of my favorite smells are pie baking, Derek’s aftershave, chili cooking, Anders’ hair, and vanilla.
·         I love mixing a spicy herbal tea with hot chocolate to get different flavors.
·         One of my favorite dates was going for a midnight roller blade on a warm night and finding a small pond. We sat and watched the stars. So simple, but perfect for me.
·         My favorite times in university were the days we got our organizers. I just love to get organized… nerdy I know, but I just function better.
·         Sometimes I like to drink juice in a martini glass. It just tastes better that way.
·         There is nothing better than the feeling of a new pair of socks on my tootsies.
·         I have never broken a bone, but I did tear my ACL in my left knee.

Meg’s Questions:
1.      What is your favorite song at this very moment?I really need to update my playlist, but right now it’s “Under Your Spell” by Desire.

2.      What is your favorite perfume?  “ Versus” by Versace when I want to relax, “Play” by Givenchy  when I’m feeling flirty.

3.      What is your favorite quote? I really appreciate quotes, but I don’t surround myself by them. But I love the statement “Be present every day”. It is so simple but it can have a huge impact on your life if you live it. It is the small things in life that bring the greatest happiness and excitement; but you need to notice them to savor them. There is nothing worse than living your life in a fog of routine and reaction instead of action and appreciation.

4.      What is your comfort food? Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Always, and forever, chocolate.

5.      What is one thing that can make you laugh, no matter what mood you're in? Slapstick and the Despicable Me 2 movie trailer (probably because of the slapstick).

6.      What is something that you are afraid of? To not find my passion in life. I want to do something that matters. I just need to find it.

7.      What is something most people don't know about you? I like toast with jam and cheese. All together in an open faced sandwich.  Some people find that combination disgusting, but it is quite delicious.

8.      What is one thing you wish was a trend in fashion? All out ballerina get up: the tutu, the makeup, the slippers with ribbon. This is probably my greatest regret in life; that I wasn't a ballerina.

9.      What is the story behind your blog url? My grandpa’s name is Swaney. It actually wasn’t his given name, he changed it but that’s another story. My grandpa Swaney loved to go garage sailing to find deals. In fact, he had antiques all over his yard, house, and garage. He’d buy anything from an old car to watches to tractor seats to dolls (my grandma loved them). He has always been one of my favorite people that I admired because he was passionate about something and he found his niche. This love for thrifting and antiques rubbed off on me and is a big part of who I am.

10.  What is your favorite movie? Never let me go (this is where I fell in love with Andrew Garfield, not Spiderman).

11.  Do you have a favorite constellation?  If yes, which one?  If no, you can have mine, Cassiopeia! It is Cassiopeia! Derek and I randomly chose 2 stars one night and Cassiopeia was right in the middle of them so we settled on that. I would look at that constellation when Derek was in Honduras and send him a wish that he would be safe.

Nominations and Blogs I love:
Brittany from Brittany’s Notebook
Jillian at Faith that Laughs
Alexandra at Svetusvet


Questions for the nominated:

1.                   What is your favorite soft drink?
2.                  What is the one thing you cannot live without?
3.                  What is your comfort food?
4.                  What is one thing that can make you laugh, no matter what mood you're in?
5.                   What is something that you are afraid of?
6.                  What is something most people don't know about you?
7.                   What is your favorite fall fashion trend?
8.                  What is the story behind your blog url?
9.                  What do you do if you can’t sleep?
10.               Who is your all-time favorite person?
11.                What was the best gift that you have either given or received?

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Squirmy Worm


Anders is our little squirmy worm right now. He just won't sit still! He is crawling, scooting along furniture, going up and down and sideways. He is just moving ALL OF THE TIME! I think we see this especially when we are trying to change him or get him dressed. It's like one leg goes in, one leg comes out, repeat.

Here Derek is just trying to get Anders' belt on. Took awhile but they got 'er done.

Sunday 14 October 2012

Five to Ninety


It's come... our birthday/ anniversary/ holiday season. October is dedicated to Lana's family (Derek's sister), November is my dad and Derek's birthdays and my parent's anniversary, December is Anders and my mom's birthdays, our anniversary, and the regular holidays (Christmas eve, Christmas, boxing day, and New Years), and January wraps up with my birthday (on the 3rd) and my sister's on the 15th. Whew. I'm dizzy just thinking about it. But it is such a fun time of year!

This weekend we had my grandma's 90th birthday and my nice Casey's 5th birthday. We had so much fun seeing relatives all weekend long.









Memories from the weekend in no particular order:

Birthday cake- 3 pieces
Numb toes and a colorful skirt
Mittens for a gift
Tires because we needed 'em
Midnight cuddle with Anders; he tried so hard to stay awake
An eight year old cousin who solved a rubik cube-amazing!
5 generations in one room
Got to know my brother a bit better
Signing silly songs
A newborn 4 pound baby girl so sweetly dressed in pink
More raisin bread than I care to count
along with cheese and pickles I might add
Lots  of hugs and smiles
A drive to help Anders have a nap and catch up time for Derek and me
My sister has the best dress and I want it
Surprise laundry getting done
A car full of Chinese take out
A car full of cake and I was the driver-yikes
Learnt that my grandma had a wonderful singing voice and loved to dance;
she put everyone first, even the family dog who got a piece of buttered toast before bed
what a gracious and lovely woman
I love her so much
Knowing that my baby boy has a wonderful, helpful, loving daddy
Children's presentation
Hiccups during a speech and getting the giggles
Seeing a daughter give blowing kisses to her daddy 
Pizza party
Happy Happy Birthday!




Friday 12 October 2012

Thrifted Fashion: Knit

It's been a little bit of a slow week- I felt like I was coming down with something and Anders was teething so we canceled all our appointments and became hermits. I hated it but I just couldn't get the motivation to do anything but attend to our basic needs. On the plus side, Derek is home with us today and I'm feeling a bit better. Looking forward to that flood of energy that should hit any day now ;).

I was able to pounce on this sweater (and pounce I did) after a lady looked at it for a good 5 minutes... I probably held my breath and tried not to stare the full time she debated. But she let the sweater go and I was right there within milliseconds to grab the comfy goodness. And so glad I did; it is perfect for the windy fall weather outside.










Monday 8 October 2012

Giving Thanks



I love Thanksgiving... it is one of my favorite Holidays. After all, you get to eat turkey/chicken with all the fixin's which is my favorite. Definitely still feeling quite full after two dinners. Sunday we went to my parents and Monday we headed out to see Derek's family. Some highlights:

  • A game of tile rummy
  • Anders' favorite toy being grandpa's Perrier bottle
  • Carrot cake, my mom's stuffing, Clyde's potatoes, and pumpkin cheesecake
  • Ninja fruit assassin or something like that on the iPad
  • Teething Anders, poor boy!
  • Derek dressing in layers thinking he would be freezing and having to stand outside to cool down
  • The smell of sweet potatoes, apples, and cinnamon cooking
  • Chatting on the couch
  • Smiling across the room
  • Opening our Thankful Jar and reading special moments over the past month