A Fabulously Flawed Life

I've been debating on this post for a while now and I've decided to just go for it. ;) I think it's a completely fun topic and let's be honest Ladies, we all have girl crushes. It's the topic over on Tip Junkie's Talk To Me Tuesday . Right now, my blog crush is Heather over at Unwrapped. I say right now because once I get to "know" the person better my silly crush turns into respect and admiration. From what I can tell, she doesn't read my blog so I can gush about her all I want. ;) I've been excited to tell you that last week Heather commented on TipJunkie for the first time! Yeah for me! Does it make your day when a blogger you read daily makes a comment on your blog? Heather is completely fabulous! She's obviously spiritual, she was just called to the Historian for the General Young Men's Presidency in my church. She's crafty and talented. She's a Mom- prenuer ! She has a thriving photography business . I love it when wome...

WOW! 63 new members to Executive Homemaker last week!! I want to thank all of you for your help in spreading the word about my site. I can't thank you enough for your kind words and promotion. It means the world to me. Thank You! I'd love to send each one of you my latest addiction . However, it would melt in the mail. {{bummer}} Go buy yourself one this week, you've deserve it! Speaking of addictions, thanks to my sis, Lisa , I also have another one. However, this one is a bit healthier. Simply cut cucumbers and add Italian dressing in a bowl. Delish ! It's crunchy, tangy, filling, fast, and truly delightful. Thanks Lisa! What's your favorite quick snack?

We are lucky enough to have some of the coolest (and craziest) friends ever! We all plan pretty much year round for the annual Halloween Party. Not only is the competition stiff for a great costume but the party has a mandatory skit clause. Last year Jason and I won Best Performance as Neo and Trinity from The Matrix. We did a fighting sequence with about 12 guns hidden in our costumes as well as some acrobatics. ;) This year, we went as Earl and Joy from My Name is Earl . Jason and I had a great time! I got to be sassy and loud and boss Jason around all night - needless to say we had a blast! ;) The pressure was off since we won last year and went ahead and picked a theme we would like, even though we knew the majority of the people hadn't watched the show. (fyi: Earls eyes are always closed when he takes a picture and Joy is usually telling someone off.) Where do I begin with Rochelle's costume? Can I just tell you that they didn't break character until AFTER all the sk...

We've been celebrating Halloween all weekend! It's my favorite holiday. Here are the boys with their carved out our jack-o-lanterns. We finally decide that Drake should be a little devil. It's completely appropriate! ;) He loved dressing up and poking everything with his pitchfork. Boys will be boys! Here's Jason (I mean his name is Earl ) handing out candy at the trunk-or-treat. Our friend, Brian, is a dentist and made himself and his wife vampire canine teeth and came as " Belle" and Edward . They looked so great! I wish I had taken a picture. All you Twilight fans would have loved it.

We went camping on Friday and had some serious outdoor guy time. Jason grilled us some yummy stakes, he has seriously perfected them! Salt Grass Steak House watch out! We had a great time with some fun friends. I called it a night and took Drake home at bedtime. Chasing a toddler in the great outdoors all night isn't my kind of fun. Jason stayed with the older boys and I slept like a baby in my own bed.

I just signed up to Bloglines and I want to give a shout out to my 17 Bloglines Sisters! Imagine my surprise when I realized so many efficient ladies subscribe to my blog. {{squeal with delight}} I've been having operating systems issues, so over the weekend my tech savvy honey un-installed then reinstalled everything on my laptop. I'm no longer having issues, well those issues anyway ;), and the first thing on the docket was to sign up for Bloglines and get regular feeds. Thanks to Camille for the motivation! If you haven't signed up with some sort of "feed" you will be amazed at how this streamlines the blog reading process and saves soo much time! I was at Starbucks with Katri , Katrina , and Rochelle last night bearing my testimony of this efficient little service. After you register and paste in all the blogs, you simply log on and all the blogs that have a new post are bold! No more clicking on every name on your side bar and wasting all that time waiting...

It was a big day for us, Davis is now a Wolf Scout. {{applause}} He's just a little excited about it, can you tell? So excited, in fact, he jumped in the car and forgot to put on his uniform. ;) (I totally look pregnant in that picture, hmmm , I'm not.) Drake, on the other hand, barely lived through the night. He biffed it TWICE! Poor little guy. Meanwhile... My sweet little Dylan is having some problems at school. For 7 days in a ROW he has gotten in trouble. Nothing I seem to take away has motivated him to change his behavior. Dylan is a right-fighter and feels completely unjustified in his red marks. {{sigh}} As for me, I've also received my punishment. Dylan's teacher sent home hundreds of little images and words to cut out and glue onto construction paper. I've got carpal tunnel in my wrists and I consider myself in time out. ;) Have you felt like there's something going on with your child but you just can't figure out what?

Here's yet another variation on the "What Color Are You" quiz; this one is easy and quick. Thanks Jessica for the quiz. "You are darkviolet - #9400D3 Your dominant hues are blue and magenta. You're the one who goes to all the parties but doesn't quite fit in at every one... you know what you want, but are afraid of what the world might think of it. You're a little different and that's okay with them, and if you're smart it's okay with you too. Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right. Your outlook on life is brighter than most people's. You like the idea of influencing things for the better and find hope in situations where others might give up. You're not exactly a bouncy sunshine but things in your worl...

... Oh there they are! Last week just wasn't the same with out my fix of suspense, plot twists, and MacGyver antics.

Thanks Jessica for the link. Cartoon by Dave Walker . Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons . This is how I've been feeling for a while now. I've been feeling like I'm a week behind on everything! So, I spent all last week trying to organize my To Do List, Christmas Lists , go through my 45 unread e-mails in my In box, organize my Tip Junkie ideas, update the Executive Homemaker store, etc. Needless to say, I wore myself out and am now feeling a little under the weather. Jason let me sleep in Sunday and I played hookie from church to rest and relax. I can't remember the last time I had the house to myself. Ahh, it was so peaceful. Today, I'm just kicking back in my pink jammies (Thanks RO & Katrina ) and being inspired by on all you blogging ladies! Check out the Blogtique Challenge - Part 2. Don't miss these great finds!

It's been a fun filled family weekend. Friday after school we went to the school's fall festival. We all had a great time! Drake discovered cotton candy. ;) One of my personal favs . Saturday morning, I went to Katri's Super Saturday and had the best time! She came up with some amazing crafts. They were so easy and fun to make. You'll have to check out her blog to see everything. Yeah! Saturday brought baseball games and then lots of yard work. We had some mulch delivered and I pruned a bunch of plants. Finally my yard is back in shape. Yeah!

I found this post in my drafts, I typed it up a long time ago but I thought it was cute. My oldest son Davis is very creative and comes up with over the top creations. Here Davis turned his CD player into "King Turk". Notice the gold bling around his neck! They got so into it Dylan made him dollars "because a king is rich". LOL ! For the end of the school year party, Davis' class did a readers theatre. Davis was prince charming and came up with his costume by himself it included: his batman cape and knight armor. He was so proud of his costume - can you tell!?! I came home and Davis had made this rocket pack from a wipes box, 2 water bottles, and colored paper. I swear this kids got creativity oozing out of him!

You Are Cameo You are understanding and very empathetic. You don't tend to have acquaintances. Everyone is your friend. And all of your friends tend to be friends. You have a knack for bringing very different people together. What Color Orange Are You? Make sure you comment and tell me what Color Orange you are. This will help us all bond in flavors of orange. Totally kidding - I'm making fun of my "You have a knack for bringing very different people together." ;) Also, check out Part 1 of the Blogtique Challenge on TipJunkie.com! There are some seriously talented women out there. Keep the referral's coming on bloggers who sell a product.

Monday night we started baking our treats for our Phantom goody plate. Every year we print out one of our Phantom poems on orange paper, and start the fun tradition of delivering treats to 3-4 families in the ring and run fashion. I always let the boys pick who our victims are going to be. ;) This year I was a bit ambitious on our cupcakes. The directions sounded easy enough. Oh well, ours look more like m ohawked zombies but we had a fun time making them. Davis always has a plan of attack, start on the side of the house! It took us a couple houses, but by the last one Davis waited to ring the doorbell until Dylan was ready to run. Crazy kid! ;) Meanwhile, Drake had a chocolate pretzel stick dipped in red sprinkles. This is what I saw when I looked back to check on him. My 13 year old turned into vampire!

I told you Drake is 18 months going on 13 years! ;)

I'm putting my Christmas List together and I've decided that I'm going to purchase the majority of gifts from my fellow bloggers! I would love to support each of you any way I can. Here are some products I'm considering: Christmas Cards from Aslhey ! I can't wait! For Mom or Grandparents: Generations of Love Necklace from Tabetha . She has many products that would work for almost any female. ;) Including Christmas ornaments. Post it Note Holder from Christy For my Nieces: Tutu from Bethany . Pixie Bands from Sharon For my Friends: 4 Groups of Chocolate from Lauralee Other Cool Products: Sassy Camera Strap for the digital scrapbooker or photographer. Of course there are a lot of products created by women on Executive Homemaker as well. **Blogtique Challenge** I'm going to be posting all products created by women on my blog and on TipJunkie.com. Leave a comment and let me know about your product, a friends, or fellow blogger! Let's get the word out and...