Halloween after work hours

I still had a lot of running around to do after work, let's just say I was on a 3rd cup of coffee before I got home. I rushed back to the house to meet up with the family to get costumes together for trick-or-treating. The sun goes down early so within 30 minutes it was already time to hit the street. We started off with the little ones, Audreys cousins just around the block. It was a little chilly tonight so we cut it short. After regrouping we headed over to our friends party in another part of town. Audrey got to see all her friends for a few. I was just exhausted and i have another busy day tmrw so we cut the night short and just in time for the rain ;)

Happy Halloween! Going MAD in wonderland

Happy Halloween everyone and welcome to our wonderland! As you can see we used ALICE in Wonderland as our office Halloween idea and it was such a fun concept to put into play! I put the whole presentation together: props, picture ideas, the final photo manipulations and even made most of the costumes from scratch (except queen of hearts, alice, mad hatter and Tweedle dee/dum). We focused the concept behind who we are at work, seeing how fun and playful our branch Is it made perfect sense! The region (5 other offices) have a contest aand I really hope we win this year. I stayed up real late putting final touches together and woke up early to set everything up at the office and help with costume setups. I Invested a lot of time but I love seeing my ideas come to light. Totally worth it in the end!  

Individual Character pictures:

Alice

Roses (in the movie were painted red by the deck of cards)

Deck of cards

Cheshire Cat

White Rabbit

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

Mad Hatter

Queen of Hearts

Of course we needed some character selfies ;)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Friday!

Monday Motivator: Be Your own Hero

My life story is pretty interesting and most people don't really know all of what I've been through. Most people would probably wonder how I've made it through, but I refuse to be a product of my environment. Another statistic. Each and every day I become stronger....I let each negative situation mold me into a better person. Above all I let God lead me in the direction I am meant to be. I have faith. Most people see me as a strong, independent single mother who doesn't need the help of anyone. Strong minded, always right and self sufficient. I am who I am because I have always been let down. Trust me when I say I would absolutely love for other people to help me, lift me up when I'm down or correct me when im wrong. But when you cannot find a hero, you become "The Hero". I'm a mother. An example. A role model. With love in my heart and a positive attitude, I can and will conquer all.

Someday someone will come along and show me that I'm not the only one who has to be the hero. And maybe then we can both be a force to be reckoned with ;)

Gymtastic Saturday

Im so proud of my little girl! All of her hard work and conditioning has paid off! She did so well in class today that we were approached by her coach who wants to bump her into the next class that is meant for 5 yr. olds. He complimented her on good manners, maturity and skill. She has her assessment this Saturday for an open slot. Below are some videos I took of her excellent skills in Back Handstand Walkover and the Bar (her favorite). I love her coaches and appreciate their patience and sincerity with her in developing her skills.

Sunday Funday: Halloween Party at MyGym

                   

Audrey had her Halloween Party at MyGym this Sunday and proudly showed off her Sailor Moon Costume that my mom hand made for her. It came out looking amazing! My mom has some major talent with her sewing skills...yes, creative talent does run in the family ;) And no, those are not red boots that we purchased, trust me I looked everywhere, they are painted and detailed with white trim. She took pictures with all of her instructors at MyGym, she has such a fun time with them and you can tell by their interactions with her that they love her so much! They had a lot of free play and ended the night with fun games. I highly recommend MyGym, she has been in the class since age 2 and it has definitely improved her social skills. It's so fun to see her blossom each and every day.

All of her Instructors at "MyGym" all dressed up for Halloween

The kids playing games, all dressed up.

Fishing Fun

 

Yesterday we had so much fun fishing up in Mt. Baldy. We found a really good spot stocked with Rainbow Trout, very family friendly. Audrey caught her first fish within 5 minutes. Each fish you catch you have to pay for, no throwing back, and each fish ran $12/each. We stopped at 4 fish, there wasn't much of a challenge but it was definitely a good idea for Audrey because she loves to fish. She didn't want to leave :(

I love being out in the mountains. The view, the fresh air, hiking, the streams-It's just so beautiful. I cant wait until the Snow hits so we can go snowboarding and stay in the cabins.

 



Look at that View!

Audrey's first fish!

D.I.Y : Starburst Mirror

 This was such a fun project for me and i originally saw it on Pinterest and fell in love! Starburst Mirror frames usually run $35+ which is the cheapest because the one I wanted was at Target for almost $50. Let's just say I can make 5 mirrors for $24. What you'll need:

Pack of 5 circle mirrors for $19. Metallic gold spray paint for $3. Paint sticks are free. Luckily I was being helped by a really generous person at Home Depot who hooked me up with lots of paint sticks. They can give u a couple since they're free but I left with a huge purse full.

All mirrors in the package come in frames. The trick is to unscrew the back and detach the frame. See below.

Unscrewed back

The mirror is attached to a board which is perfect to hot glue gun the strips to. 

Once you've counted out how many strips u need, spray paint them with whatever color u fancy. For me, it was metallic gold.

I hot glue gunned all strips around the mirror and added small strips, that I cute, to the inside which filled the gap. The final result is the picture at the top. I have it hanging in my bathroom ;)

Shopping Day:IKEA

There are a few stores I absolutely love to shop at for Home Decor/DIY inspiration: Home Depot, Hobby Lobby and Ikea. I wanted to see what new items were at Ikea because it's been a while since I've last visited.  I also have to admit, I like to walk through the entire store and sit in every room because I'm obsessed with interior design and the different styles in each room. Audrey was so funny, she pranced around with their checklist and pencil and pretended it was her map, as she showcased each room to me. Anytime there was a computer she just had to type away on it. "Mommy, I'm working." I also like having lunch there, the kids meal is only $3. 

I purchased a few items for Audreys new room decor change I'm in the process of completing. Once again, nothing for mommy, lol. Below are some of the items I purchased and absolutely love:

  

Flower lights to hang behind her curtain

Paper hanging stars in the color white to hang from her ceiling. These would also look beautiful for Christmas decor.

Beautiful frame I'm spray painting metallic silver which will hold the disney castle photo to hang above her bed.

These cutout butterfly curtains were simply irresistible

Oh, the places you'll go...

As summer has come to an end I am left to reminisce on the wonderful times I had, most importantly, with my Audrey. Just this Summer alone she has gone to many places and has experienced more than I have within my combined 28yrs of living. The trips we've made, the sights we've seen. Staying in Villas and Suites.  I can honestly say we are truly blessed. Even though I'm sad to see summer go, there are still new adventures that await us. Let's look back on some of the places we've been this Summer.....

I absolutely loved staying in the Villas at Palm Springs, they're so beautiful. The activities they have for the guests there, the many pools and beautiful landscape. They have movie night at the pool and we got to see Frozen while swimming at night. This is definitely a place u wanna stay a week with family and friends.

Vegas has always been a favorite place of mine. In college I was out there every other weekend, so I've had my fair share. Going with Audrey was for relaxation and sight seeing purposes. We went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, played in the pool, walked the strip and looked at all of the beautiful casinos. Had dinner at Rain Forest cafe. It was a blast staying 2 nights.