Happy Halloween!

Our town's Trick-or-Treat night was actually last night, which means our Christmas tree is up in full force! Well, half force I guess. I'm short two strands of lights and Menards is a solid 55 minutes away. It still is cozy having the half-lit tree up! Has anyone else noticed how you can't mix and match lights from different stores? Once you commit to a brand of lights, you have to keep getting that same brand. Colored lights at Walmart don't match the colored lights at Menards, and no two white lights are the same anywhere, unless you can find the same brand!

I was super bummed this year that the boys actually wanted to decide what they were going to be. Ryne has told me for quite awhile that he wanted to be Superman, which led Reed to being Batman. He has wanted to be Batman for months, but you betcha when Trick-or-Treat night rolls around, he 100% does not want to be Batman. After bribing forcing his Batman outfit on him, he refused to wear his mask. Ryne begged and cried and begged Reed to put on the mask but he wouldn't budge. Luckily you can't tell any of that in these pictures. :)

Sometimes it is so hard being a parent. I literally was tackling Reed on the ground trying to put his costume on. Pretty sure I even broke out in a good sweat from it. These are supposed to be nights that are enjoyable so I try not to lose my shit, but the energy that it took for me to not lose it made me exhausted. But look at the pictures I got for keeping myself together. Mom 1 Lost Shit 0. 

They seriously are both so sweet and ornery. I'm always exhausted by 10 in the morning, but I feel so lucky to be their mom. Sometimes it's a blessing that I'm tired by 10, because then the rest of the day I'm just too exhausted to break up fights, care that they've eaten pop-tarts for lunch for the third day in a row, or that they've been walking around in their underwear.

I had bought Rhett a Flash costume to go along with the superhero theme, but we decided to have Derek got as The Man in the Yellow Hat and Rhett go as his little monkey, Curious George. Apparently newborn in monkey size is completely different than newborn in baby size, because the newborn costume was huge on him! I ended up just being able to use the monkey mask, but I think he still made such a cute little monkey! I also think Derek made a perfect Man in the Yellow Hat since he is so tall, is a man, and wore a yellow hat. :) 

Since they didn't have Trick-or-Treating today, I let them hang out in their Halloween jammies all afternoon! I'm obsessed with Peanuts and love Hanna Andersson's Charlie Brown pajamas! They didn't have them in Rhett's size, so he got to be a cute little pumpkin instead!

 This is usually how pictures turn out. I am pretty sure I take 50 pictures before I maybe get one decent picture! Sometimes these are the best ones though. Rhett crying because Ryne gets all up in his face, Reed begging me to let him have his binky back..this is reality!

Not pictured: five more binkies in a stash that Reed is waiting to grab. Note: Santa is taking Reed's binkies this Christmas. Important note: I will be in hiding for a couple weeks after!

I love this time of year because of all the holidays. I can't wait to indulge in some delicious meals in November as we give thanks for so many things in our life. All my Christmas decor is up, Christmas music has been playing, and Christmas candles are burning. I swear I saw a few snowflakes over the weekend and the cold makes me so excited for this holiday season! 

If anyone is doing any early Christmas shopping, Target has a great deal where you can text TOYS to 827-438. They will send you a link with a coupon code for 25% off a toy online or in store! I texted so many people to ask them to send me the code so I could buy multiple toys! Ryne has been asking for the kid-sized Paw Patrol tower for forever. It was on sale for $84.99 (had been $99.99) With 25% off I ended up getting it for $63.74 WHAT!? I also used my Redcard and saved 5% more and got free shipping! So exciting! I love deals. :) 

What was everyone for Halloween this year? Does anyone else have their Christmas tree up yet?!

xoxo

J

Camping in the Toy Room

I am still adjusting to life in a 1930s home. It isn't a bad adjustment. It's nice living in a home that had great previous owners. They lived here for 40 years which is just crazy to me. It was so hard leaving our house after 3 years, so I can't imagine leaving after 40. The previous owners left us a bottle of wine when we moved in, pictures and history of the house, and just recently sent us a baby card. They cared so much about their home and I want to make it a priority to do the same. 

Since we do live in a 1930s home, I have realized it is extremely hard to get a picture that makes everything look even..because our floors are a little lot slanted in places. Derek has used this to his advantage in an intense game of Hungry Hungry Hippos with Ryne! All the little red balls would go in his hippos mouth without even getting his hippo's head out there to munch them! 

Our toy room is just off of our main living space. It's quite a bit smaller than their toy room in our old house, so their table and bookshelf actually sits right outside of their toy room. It's also the same area our Christmas tree is going to be, so I'm going to have to figure out something different to do with their table and bookshelf..soon, really soon!

Book Shelf

I decluttered this shelf before I took this picture. Honestly, there were so many books on the shelf I'm not sure how my kids even knew which one they wanted. It made it so much nicer organizing it and taking out some other books. I mean, does anyone really enjoy reading Berenstain Bears? Those are practically chapter books! Definitely too long for a four year old to sit through, let alone a two year old! Their favorite Halloween books are The Hallo-Wiener, Pete the Cat: 5 Little Pumpkins and Little Blue Truck's Halloween. I swear I've wanted to take a picture of their Halloween books for so long, and then when I finally do it's raining all day and I have no natural light. So here is the shelf with the ceiling lights shining on it, taken at an awkward angle trying to make sure that most of their mess is out of the picture! I actually love the lights in our living room because you can dim them and they're on two switches, one for each side of the room! They also are like mini spotlights shining on all the food crumbs that have been left behind and on the toys that are always on the floor!

Pumpkin Garland

When I first chose a theme for our toy room a few years ago, it was space. I really liked it except it was so hard to decorate and find fun things. I ended up changing the theme and I think it's made a fun little getaway for the boys. I am far from an outdoorsy person and I honestly will only go camping if there's an air conditioned camper, but their wilderness-themed room has been fun to decorate! We move around the teepee (usually to the living room) so that they can lay in it and watch a movie, take a nap, etc. We are actually on our second teepee because apparently you aren't supposed to wash and dry real canvas. Oops!

Teepee / Sleeping Bag / Plaid Pillow Cover

Bear / Log Pillows

Pennant Flag / Fish

The other part of their toy room that is my favorite is their little play kitchen. They got it from my mom for Christmas last year and it's been a huge hit. Reed is my little chef and he is constantly playing with the kitchen. He burnt his fingers on the stove at our old house, so it's fun listening to him say that his stove is hot! There's currently ice cream, ketchup and pizza in the oven and I am smiling thinking about his little imagination. At least one of those things was right!

Kitchen / Bear Rug / Jack-O-Lantern

The little antler ornaments I got for their trees I just came across at Walmart! I was excited. They were in their Christmas section, but when I saw them I instantly thought they'd be perfect for their wilderness trees! Also, the squirrel on top adds a nice touch. :)

Wanderer Pillow, Plaid Blanket (Similar), Fox Pillow, Camping Accessories

There's more wilderness decor in their toy room. Once I finally get everything where I want it. I will have to take more pictures of the wall decor and the baskets and decor on the built-ins in the room. The campfire set from The Land of Nod is definitely a must have for a wilderness-themed room! It was also my splurge item! Pottery Barn has sales all the time and I've never paid full-price for anything from there! They have days where they have a one-day sale and their prices are so much more reasonable! They also do 12 days of Christmas in December and have great deals then too! My other favorite place to shop for decor is on Amazon. I love that you can get it so quickly and the items are inexpensive. The fox pillow is one of my favorite items in their toy room and it was only $9! 

When we moved in to our house, I said I wanted the boys' bedrooms and toy room completed so that it felt like home to them. It's so hard sometimes, but I didn't want them to feel the stress of moving. Their toy room still has some work to do, but for the most part it's complete and they have a spot for everything! I love the paint color we used from Sherwin Williams called Amazing Gray. It seriously is...amazing! We painted the whole main floor in Amazing Gray and everything upstairs will be painted in it also, except for the boys' bedrooms which is a blue-gray color. There's something about a fresh coat of paint that makes a house feel more like your own.

Note: The toy room never looks like this. I picked up so that I could take pictures and make us look like "normal" humans. Tomorrow there will be stuffed animals camping, food spilt all over the floor, the tree will be knocked down from someone trying to grab the squirrel, and there will be a million trains on the floor because Ryne is obsessed. 

xoxo

J