Halloween Carnival

We  love Halloween!  We had a carnival this year for the kiddos.  We just got back from the beach last week, so this was a little of a rushed last minute affair.  But it was fun all the same!  Vivi is a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader this year and Boo Bear is a Dallas Cowboy.  We are die hard Cowboy fans and they are not doing so well this season.  Maybe this will help their team spirit (Twelveth Man, anyone?).

Here are the fun pics!

We made monster face cupcakes! 

This was my favorite cupcake.  He says, "Meh".



Vivi, our little Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader

Sweet Andrew and Vivi waiting for carnival fun

The Berry Fam

Mickey and Minnny! (Side note:  My friend, Teri made Minny's dress from SCRATCH with NO PATTERN!)

We did a cupcake walk. I would say it was semi-successful.

I seem to be excited by something here.

This will now be referred to as the "Beer Crab".  Chase was pretty creative!

She's always hiding.

Why so cute, girls?

All in all, it was really fun!  I learned some things that I can improve for next year's Halloween Carnival.  Planning has begun!

i totally made this!

You all know my obsession with Pioneer Woman.  I would like to say that I have loved her for a year and a half, way before the Food Network show.  I was introduced to her by one of my besties, Katie (who will be guest blogging soon - ahem).  I resisted for a few months because I thought, "Why would I want to make Pioneer Food?"  Katie persisted and finally convinced me when she regaled me with stories of the Pioneer Woman's love of butter.  I was never the same.

Anyway, I TOTALLY made her new recipe - Pork Chops with Apples and Creamy Bacon Cheese Grits. 

It was so delicious I could cry.  I don't even eat pork but it looked so delicious I thought I'd give it a shot.  It was tart from the apples but sweet from the maple syrup - a perfect combo.  Now I want to eat pork for every meal.  The best part, though is the grits.  The salty bacon flavor and the creaminess of the grits and cheese.  So creamy, so delicious.  I realize that I've said delicious three times so far in this description, but it is TRULY delicious. 

Try this recipe - NOW. 

cupcakes

I'm really impatient.  I love to bake but I find that my lack of patients often times impedes my abilities.  I've never been good at decorating, frosting, plating, or anything like that where patience is necessary.  I was always envious of my friends who could come to functions with perfect looking pastries. 

When I came across this post from Glorious Treats, I decided that I was finally going to make some perfect cupcakes if it killed me. 

I made a trip to Ace Mart, our local restaurant supply store and bought an ice cream scoop, a real pastry bag, and a jumbo open star decorating tip.

I mixed up her Vanilla Cupcake Recipe and put it into cupcake liners with an ice cream scoop to make them even. 



I somewhat succeeded in making them even.

 Then I let them cool for a few hours.  I chose her American Buttercream Frosting to frost the cupcakes because, well, it sounded delicious.  Two sticks of butter, sure, that sounds delicious!

I put the frosting in a pastry bag and folded it down.  This is the moment of truth.  Do I have what it takes to perfectly frost a cupcake?



 NOT BAD!!  I was pretty excited!  I read her techniques and followed them with the correct tools, and imagine that, it worked! 


Here's an action shot:

Now I'm just bragging - aren't they perfect?



I totally meant to put food coloring in the frosting, but I forgot.  So I bedazzled them with sanding sugar. 



AND, they were delicious.  The cake was moist and not heavy like most homemade cakes.  The frosting was to die for  - smooth and sweet. 

Ok, so truth be told, I made one mistake.  I was feeling too lazy to get the 1/2 ts out when it called for the salt for the cake and I eyeballed it with the regular teaspoon.  It was too much and they were salty.  But we still ate them.

this is winston churchtail, our hound dog

Meet Winston Churchtail, our bloodhound.  I've had dogs my whole life and I've never met a dog with a sweeter nature.  He loves to play hide and seek with Vivi - it's really cute.  She will hide and then call for him and he will use his bloodhound sniffing skills to find her.  He is her "CiCi" - that is what she calls him because she can't pronounce Winston.  He's always up for some cuddling, which I love.  Oh, and the wrinkle face.  Too much.

He is also the stinkiest dog I've ever met.  In fact, the stinkiest I've ever even heard of.  Whew!  That hound smell is something else!  He needs a bath every week to curtail it. 

But we love our Snorgles.  Here's some more of sweet Winston.



Winston is never one to turn down food.



A girl and her dog.

This is the most alert you will ever see this dog.



this week, i think i'll post fun fall projects

Yes, I'm obsessed with Everything Etsy's 101 series.  They recently put out 101 Festive Fall Tutorials.  I'm going to go through them and pick my faves and post them for you guys near the end of this week! 

enjoy some delicious food

I've been on a diet.  Let's just say that two babies in two years has not been kind and it's time. But I still enjoy the torture of looking at all of the food blogs I follow.    Enjoy this food porn.

PS. I promise to have some orignial content soon!




Someday, I'll make these... they won't be as pretty though!  Mon Cheri cookies by Bake at 350. 




I'm totally making this cake for Vivi's birthday!  I think I'm going to need to start practicing!  Pink Ombre Cake from Glorious Treats.




How to make gumdrops.  YUM.  By Bakerella



Yes, please.  Corn Cakes with Tomato Avocado Relish by Annie's Eats. 



And shut up about these wasabi cheese crackers.  From Raspberri Cupcakes.

 Enjoy! 

this is chino, our hound mix

Meet Chino, our loyal dog of twelve years.  We got him as a puppy from the pound in College Station when we were seniors at Texas A&M.  He was born in a vacant field and he had alluded dog catchers for two weeks so he was really on his last leg.  When I saw him, he still had an IV because he was so dehydrated.  His best friend was Shiner, our lab mix that died when I was pregnant with Vivi.  They were two peas in a pod.



I still miss her every day.

He is sweet and loyal and protective and just a fabulous dog.  He's old and grumpy sometimes, but we'll keep him!  Here's more Chino...

Chino with Vivi when she was a year old.

Chino as the King.

I love this dog.

home

I totally L.O.V.E. this video! It makes me so happy everytime I see it! I spend alot of time singing with little Vivi and I want her to grow up in a musical house like this father and daughter duo. I also really love this song - and I think its so true! Download it - you won't regret it - Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magentic Zeros.

In fact, Vivi and I just watched this video like 10 times and sang as loud as we could. Tonight is a memory I will hold forever.

Home is wherever I'm with you.

here are some of my favorite things this week

Here are some of my favorite things this week from the blogs that I read!  Enjoy!

Make a map for the places you've visited!  So cute!  From Lil Blue Boo

This circle punch photo collage is a super cute and easy way to display your favorite pics.  From Eighteen25. 

Make a shag pillow.  I don't know how to sew but maybe I'll teach myself so I can make this pillow.  From V and Co. 

I love these!  Make a 5 strand braided heaband.  Tutorials from Make it and Love it. 

oh beau berry!

Oh sweet Beau Berry, my precious baby boy.  I love him so much, handsome and sweet - flat head and all. 

Yes, Beau Berry has a flat head.  We really didn't know this could happen but it did.  When he was an infant, he really loved his swing and we let him sit in at all the time.  Not like neglecting him, but he is a second child.  Here he is in his favorite swing.

Well, believe it or not, I can't find a picture of him in that swing.  But here he is flattening his head in the car seat:

We were hoping that he would grow out of the flat head in time.  We even held him upright and didn't let him lay down except for sleeping in hopes that his head would round out.  As much fun as that was, it was to no avail.  We were sent to the head specialist who said he needed to wear a baby helmet.  Ugh.  It will only be for around 10 weeks but we are promised a perfect head.  And since Beau Berry is going to be QB1 for the Dallas Cowboys, he needs to have a perfect head. 

So Chase took him in to get fitted for the helmet.  We were told by my friends and family who have had to have the helmet for their kids that there would be a big plaster cast made of his head and the helmet would be fitted from that.  Well, times have changed!  All they did was put this beanie cap on him and scan him with a barcode type laser.  That's it!  Here is the pic of Beau in the beanie:

Cute, no?  These days, they offer helmets with a decorative print and we chose one. He gets his helmet next Monday - look for pics for the big reveal!

this week, i think i'll not do anything!

Well, this week is a crazy week!  Vivi went the lake with my parents so we only have Beau this week.  We are super busy at work. 

So this week, I think I'll do nothing! 

But, I AM working on Vivi's artspace.  I'm pretty excited about it!  I was inspired by this post over at Childhood 101.  Here is a pic of my inspiration:

I really like the idea of giving the kids a creative space.  My mom always did creative projects with me as a kid and I'm really happy to be getting to the point with Vivi that she can do crafts, too. 

I'm going to start with this table from IKEA:

I love that it has the storage unit instead of legs on one side.  I have a whole laundry list of other things we'll be getting from IKEA this weekend.  Keep tuned in for the details!

pardon our dust!

{Please pardon my dust while I work on formatting this site!!}

this week, i think i'll finish looking at 101 free printables from everything etsy

Ok, so here are the best of the rest of the free printables from Everything Etsy's 101 Free Printable List!   



I totaly love these!  Go to Oh My Handmade and download these cute cupcake toppers and stands!  Oh and there
is also the recipe for raspberry lemonade cupcakes!

 

Love these printable shower decorations from Hostess With The Mostess!

 

So sweet for a little girls room!  Que Sera, sera!  Download this free printable from Making It Lovely



How sweet is this card?  Go to The Green Gal and download is free card!



I always love inspirational sayings!  This download is from Thirty Handmade Days. 



Super cute bookmark and gift tag from Simply Modern Mom.

  What a fun project for this week!  I hope everyone enjoys these finds!

this week, i downloaded a bunch of printables!

OK, so I couldn't wait!  I'm only on #54 of Everything Etsy's 101 Free Pretty Printables and I had to share these!  



What can I say, I'm a sucker for love.  This origami free printable is from
Eat Drink Chic

  



Vivi is OBSESSED with cupcakes!  I'm going to print out this
free printable from vol.25 and let her make as many cupcakes
as her little heart desires!

 



Shiver me timbers a free printable
birthday bundle from Cottage Industrialist

  


Oh my goodness!  Free printable paperdolls from
Paper Thin Persona

 



With Vivi starting preschool this year, these
lunchbox notes from illustrator Fresh Picked Whimsy
are a must!  SO cute!!

   



Here is a really cute free printable card set from
Do It Yourself Invitations

  I'm going to finish going through the list this week!  An added bonus of going through that list is that I've added a ton of new blogs to my Google Reader!  And that means more crafts!