Sunshine on the Inside

Monday, September 26, 2011

A Perfect Fall Day!

After our Blues Clues Scavenger Hunt/Acorn Making in the morning on Saturday, we worked a bit in our garage filling our new shelves:

And then we headed to an apple orchard for some apple picking fun.

Tractor Time!

We happened to be there when a hot air balloon was being inflated:

Lucky announced that she would like a hot air balloon ride for her birthday. She actually said that she'd like a hot air balloon ride AND a dentist kit (She has a doctor kit that she can't put down since being home from the hospital, and she happened to go to the dentist on Friday. She realized she didn't have a dentist kit, and she would really like one.)

I heart this picture. I think he was worried about the caramel stuck to his teeth:)! Speaking of dentist...we brushed thoroughly when we got home!

We also picked a 1/4 peck of apples from trees but my camera battery died (I need to carry around a spare!) after I took 1 million hot air balloon pictures so I didn't get any apple picking images. Next year! It was such a pretty day. The crisp fall air is simply the best!

Acorns for Fall

A Saturday morning 'Blues Clues' scavenger hunt ended with this clue:

Which was inspired by this image from a Disney Family Fun Magazine: (Lucky likes to read these before bed and we rip out the activity pages that we'd like to try.)

I love recipes that can be followed by looking at a picture rather than reading ingredient lists and quantities!

Hard at Work!

The yum-yums.

Not too messy, all things considered!

The Final Result. Aren't they lovely? I can picture them on a plate with frosted cut out cookies in leaf, pumpkin and tree shapes! Maybe we'll make fall cut outs next!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Day that Duke Died

I absolutely loved my Duke Deer for one week and 3 days (5 days of which I spent at the hospital with Lucky). On Saturday night, a loud boom resulted in this:

How sad and scary is this?

The bracket holding the deer to the wall broke off the deer and remained on the screw we placed in the wall. I think this guy was a truly defective deer destined for a life of dump-dom. Sorry, Duke. He is now in a million tiny pieces that I will not be adhering together. His antlers did fall down in 3 pieces (1 of them is entirely intact), so I'll be hanging on to those.

I was in the room when he fell, and after my heart rate dropped back to normal...I realized that I wasn't that upset. A little bummed, but not devastated. Maybe it's because I have a spare deer to work with, or maybe Duke falling was the crappy exclamation point on an otherwise crappy week. Or more likely, maybe I didn't get too upset because it's just a silly fake deer (that I loved like a real deer:), but a deer nonetheless). After going through something so traumatic, your perspective really does change. So maybe Duke the Second won't be a Duchess (and bright pink) after all. Ah well. Duke the Second has a nice ring to it, right?:)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Today is a Big Day!

On our agenda today are the following activities:

book reading
hand washing
game playing
movie watching
cuddling
popsicle eating
more hand washing
a bit of play-doh, paint and coloring fun.

No errands, no big projects, no cleaning, no laundry (okay, maybe a little laundry:)).

I couldn't be more excited to have such a relaxing day at home with both kids for the first time in several days! Lucky girl gave us a scare on Friday, and after a five day hospital stay, which included many tests, needles and tears, we are finally home again! She is recovering well at home after a nasty viral infection. Charm was so excited to have her back! And we are so grateful for all the prayers, calls and emails that were sent our way during this scary time! And we are especially grateful for the family and friends that provided care for Charm while we tended to Lucky at the hospital. Not worrying about Charm made it so much easier to focus on Lucky.

I'm telling you there is nothing like having a sick child to rock you to the core and remind you of the importance of family, of faith and of love. As for all the projects I had planned for the week...those will have to wait for another day:). My priorities have suddenly shifted...in a good way.

Here's hoping you all have a healthy and relaxing week and weekend! I'll return next week with some posts about my shopping trips last week and some projects we completed last week too.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Duke is Finally on Display!

Remember this post from July, when I wrote about my eight pointer:

My Duke arrived shortly after that post, but he arrived damaged, with several cracks around one ear and a crack along its neck and side . There were chips of resin missing from the deer. I was sad. I contacted the seller about the damaged deer, and I was shipped a brand new Duke in short order. The new Duke arrived in perfect condition. Oh Happy Day!

The seller told me that he didn't need/want my damaged Duke back, so I decided to try to fix him.

Here was the crack on his neck:

See the big hole?

There was another hole on the side of his head, and then this huge crack by his ear:

I used an epoxy adhesive to fill the cracks and holes:

He's healed!

And then I grabbed a can of Krylon Dual spray paint in glossy white:

And here's the finished product:

If you look closely, you can see where the adhesive was placed, but I still think he's definitely worth keeping!!

And here are a couple pictures from further out in the room:

He's hanging above the tv and dresser in our master bedroom. (Kiki, your second guess was right...you get to give Duke a middle name!) I think he's amazing!! And since I have 2 usable deer now, his cost dropped in half to $20 plus $4 in spray paint = $24 total. So much cheaper than the other options I posted about here!

I should also note that this project was 100% inspired by this image created by the very talented Bower Family:

Nursery Deer

Bower Power

Now, since I have a second deer, I need to decide where it will be hung. I'm thinking of making the other one bright pink and naming her Duchess. She could go in Lucky's room or the basement...or on my single precisely placed nail in the sun porch:). The options are endless:)!

Have a good weekend, and if you're local you might want to check out the Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, MN this weekend. I went yesterday and will write a post about my experience next week. Also, Target marked down a good chunk of home bedding, bath and rug merchandise yesterday to 75% off. I picked up a few things (including the new comforter set we talked about for you Mom...$25 for a king sized set!) that I'll post about next week. I missed out on this rug:

5' x 7' on clearance for $50!!

I actually saw a woman pick up the last one and put it in her cart. I had been stalking this rug for weeks and was just a few minutes late. B U M M E R! Win some. Lose some.

Have a lovely fall weekend!

Linking up to Home Stories A to Z.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Missoni Madness

Perhaps you heard about Missoni's collaboration with Target that hit the stores on Tuesday, the 13th? I thought some of the items in the collection were fun, especially this bike:

Originally $399, but it's sold out online from Target. You can buy it online through Ebay for 2-3 times the original cost, though:)!

I also loved this suitcase set:

Large suitcase $129.99 originally, now much higher on Ebay.

And finally, this ottoman which is still available online via Target for $99.99:

Most of these pieces sold out fast and the traffic to Target.com crashed the website for a good chunk of the day on Tuesday. I've also read blog posts about individuals who filled several shopping carts with this merchandise with the intention of selling items on Ebay. If you search Missoni for Target on Ebay, you'll see that there are a few listings right now:). Craziness, I'm telling you!

I checked out the collection myself yesterday, and there was still inventory on some of the pieces at my local Target. My favorites were the clothing pieces for little girls, but I'm used to paying Target clearance prices for clothing, so a $30 dress for Lucky did not hop into my cart. I also liked the floral vases, but the quality wasn't great...as in the paint was chipped and smeared on several pieces.

Here is what I did pick up:

2 Milk Crates for $9.99 each

1 Make Up Bag for $24.99

I'm still trying to decide whether or not I'll be keeping both milk crate containers or not. The blue and green one is a keeper, but even though the coral/brown/yellow/blue chevron fabric has taken the nation by storm, I'm not sure I love it for the home. I love it on the bike and the luggage, but I'm not sure if I love it on anything else. The color combination is just weird to me. Am I crazy?

I picked up the toiletry bag because I actually needed a new travel bag. The tag says $29.99, but the shelf said $24.99 and it rang up the lower price. I took it as a sign, especially after I looked at the prices of similar sized non-Missoni toiletry bags at Target and found them priced between 20-30 buckaroos.

I think I got caught up in the hype a bit. I think I'm not alone. I'd be willing to bet that there will be more than a few returns going on in the near future throughout the country...and you never know when a random Missoni piece will end up on a clearance endcap:).