Overhead Photobooth

I LOVE this trend. It is so fun for all involved. Ok maybe not a baby but they are sleeping so they don't care right? And they'll love it later. A couple years ago I fell in love with Mila's Daydreams she had a book coming out soon!(When My Baby Dreams) and it's been fun to see different takes on this photography angle.

 Anyone can do this superhero photo booth and the perfect timing is now when they have their costumes ready to go! I also really really love the buildings made from cereal boxes and duct tape done by the talented Merrilee of Mer Mag! These photo booth was featured on One More Mushroom for her son's superhero party - check out the rest of the fun photos on their site!

I'm SURE we have some Superheros in this community for this Halloween! A great place to do these photos (lighting wise) is right next to your big back door or even on your patio. Turn off those flashes and have fun!

Room Inspiration

I haven't shared any room inspiration for a while and I am in desperate need for some! If you're like me and trying to organize/finish up/re-decorate rooms before the holidays here is some inspiration for you!

from Ikeafamilylive.com

from The Selby

from ladyreynolds on Flickr

from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar

from Traveling Mama

from design sponge

I feel like there is no room in my boys' new rooms to fit a desk but everytime I see one I want to make room from Fantastic Frank

from Mokkasin

from Nib

from Weekday Carnival

If you'd like a dose of reality check out our "Real Blogger Kids Rooms" post. 

How Many Licks?

I consider myself pretty nostalgic. I think I've passed that down to my boys, too, because they like to ask about my childhood. You know, because it was so long ago. We like to watch "old" movies together, read the same books, and make the same recipes.

There aren't too many things left I can buy that are the same but Tootsie Pops are one of them! Tootsie Pops are one of those treats I like to keep on hand in my purse. They don't melt, they don't squish, they won't go bad, and they are a simple gluten free, 60 calorie treat for both the boys and me.

(If they can be a part of the military rations since WWII they can probably last in my purse in the AZ summer.) They are also one of the few treats I used to eat as a child that still taste the same. Am I the only one that thinks that? Why mess with a good thing?

Anyway, I love that they are a quick, easy treat to keep on hand for whenever the need arises. It has been a while since we've had one so we got some out the other day while doing some yard work and watching the dogs outside. Then we had an interesting conversation:

Me "Boys how many licks do you think it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?"

Boy2 "Like 1,000."

Boy1 "Mom how much did Tootsie Pops cost when you were a kid?"

Me "I don't remember. I was a kid and my mom or grandma usually gave them to me."

Boy1 "I think they were a penny because I read that there used to be penny candy."

Me "It cost more than a penny. I wasn't a kid that long ago."

Boy1 "It was probably a penny."

Me "Fine it was a FEW pennies - so how many licks do you think?"

Boy1 "Apparently 3 because that's what the owl says on that commercial." (That commercial first ran in 1970, and the same exact one still runs today!)

And then we went on to discuss more of my childhood and how safety precautions were a bit different back then and more about how much things cost way back then in the 1980s when we only had 5 channels on TV, and we had to get up to change them.

Tootsie Pop is running a video contest in October about that very question "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" You can enter through the Tootsie Roll or Tootsie Pop Facebook page - click "Like" and go to the "How Many Licks" Contest page. Submit your entry (a video with your answer to the question) for a chance to win weekly prizes as well as the grand prize!

There will also be a viewers' choice winner. I know I have some clever kids (readers') and would love to hear their answers!

The Contest begins October 1, 2012 at 2:00 a.m. PT and ends on October 25, 2012 at 11:30 p.m. PST so your kids have a bit to ponder. Plus we all know there will be Tootsie Pops around this time of year!

I'd love to know, have you had this fun discussion yet with your kids?!

*Tootsie Roll Pops are produced in a facility that does not use peanuts, tree nuts, eggs or gluten. (yay!)

Candlelit Dinner Date!

The boys and I had some fun this week preparing for a candlelit dinner date for just the 3 of us. We've done dates together but never at home like this. We spent a while shopping at one of our (yes all 4 of our) favorite stores World Market! I've shopped at World Market since before we got our first house and it has always been one of my favs. The boys love the fun toys, food, awesome decor (and have a little list going for their rooms too) furniture, and kitchen items.

We went shopping for our "fancy" dinner talking about how we'd set everything up. If you follow us on Instagram you may have seen some of the fun things we were looking at.

We decided on soup for our dinner (ok the boys did they are soup crazy lately) so picked out some soup crocks, the candles were a MUST, and my favorite was this stand (seemed to be a fav on Instagram as well!)

We also got a few things to finish off the centerpiece, a cornucopia, some felt scatters, the cute acorn twigs, a snack to eat while we wait for dinner, and some Torani syrup for italian sodas in fancy glasses.

I loved how involved the boys were and it really gave us a fun project to do together! I love World Markets food selection and that they have plenty of fun gluten free items for me and things that you can't find easily anywhere else!

Here is our table setting (that the boys were SO proud of)

The cornucopia was fun and special because we are writing things we are thankful for, people we love, or notes to each other on the back of the felt scatters and putting them in the cornucopia to look through later. I love interactive tables! (My youngest taught me all about cornucopias which is why we ended up with it lol!)

LOVE this stand - we'll be making some fall treats to display on it for sure! It's a fun centerpiece in the meantime. Will be on our winter holiday table too!

These soup crocks are going to get LOTS of use in this house.

When it was finally dark enough to start the boys were excited to light the candles (the larger candles aren't in glass so will need something under them when lit to be safe!) and get started. I love this one on one special time with my boys. Phones and computers are put away and attention goes to them.

I love these times with my kids and hope that these are the memories they remember and hold on to. Some of those special times with me that they'll carry with them forever!

Speaking of World Market (if you have not been you MUST check it out and if you have you'll love this) they are currently having an HGTV Passport to Style Sweepstakes!

• Grand Prize package includes: A $10,000 World Market shopping spree and design consultation with an HGTV Designer
• There will also be 3 runner up prize winners that will each receive a $1,000 World Market gift card!
• The HGTV Sweepstakes runs from September 22, 2012 until October 26, 2012.
• If you share the sweepstakes with 5 of your friends (via FB share or email) you can receive 5 additional bonus entries. This is part of the registration process when entering. Users can also enter daily for more chances to win.
• Enter online at WORLDMARKETSWEEPSTAKES.COM or FACEBOOK.COM/WORLDMARKET

If you want to keep up with World Market (I do!) you can find them on their Website, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram

Do you already shop at World Market? Do you love it as much as we do?

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™, but all my opinions and this post are completely my own. We love promoting shops and products we really love and use!

Photoshoot Inspiration from Pretty Little Pictures

I thought you all might enjoy seeing this fun photoshoot put together by Jena from Pretty Little Pictures. Such fun inspiration for your own little photo shoot, playtime, costume photos, party decorations etc. How fun would your kids have playing with this, OR making a stop motion video with the fun props!

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Hi! I’m Jena from Pretty Little Pictures!
I love to get creative with photo shoots and this session was no exception! This session was so much fun; I planned for months and made all the props myself! I kept coming up with new ideas and getting inspired to make more props, up to the very last minute before the shoot.

The buildings that make up the city and also the telephone booth were made from cardboard boxes and the cheapest paint I could get my hands on at the craft store. I found tall boxes, and some short ones that I just attached to each other to make them taller. I masked areas off with painters tape and brought my little city vision to life! I made the superhero action signs from poster board and ripped a bunch of pages out of comic books to make a big comic book backdrop. I even made his shirt! I designed the image in Photoshop and simply printed it on an iron-on transfer and ironed it on!

Everything was relatively cheap to make and lots of fun! It was a bit time consuming, but if you want awesome decorations for a party or something similar for a shoot, it’s well worth the effort! It was so much fun to do this session. This little guy LOVES superheroes so he was thrilled to get to be a superhero for a day!

See more photos of this little superhero at Pretty Little Pictures and you can also follow along with their adventures on their Facebook page.

Thanks so much for sharing Jena!

Our Backpack Station & A New Favorite App

Today I'm sharing our "backpack station" for this year. It has slowly evolved over the last 5 years starting with the chalkboard calendar (which I highly recommend) and then adding backpack hooks and this year the addition of the wall file holders (bought these at TJ Maxx). 

I HIGHLY recommend having a calendar for your kids. My goal for them is to be better organized than I am! Even in 3rd and 4th grade it is their job to know to wear tennis shoes for PE day or bring in supplies for an upcoming party etc. There are no surprise dentist visits or dinner dates. It's all there for them to see at all times (the things that they need to see).

The backpack hooks keep the backpacks off the ground (where the dogs like to carry them around) and the addition of the file holders this year gives them a place to drop off their binders.

Weekly homework gets stored in the file folder until Friday when they need to go back, papers I want to save stay in there until I have the time to file them, and signatures needed go back into the binders and into their backpacks for the next day. So far this system has been working great for us!

This last week I went through piles and piles and piles of schoolwork papers. (photo from instagram)

I photographed all the ones I wanted to save and loaded them into my new favorite app Artkive

 It stores all your kids' artwork by name (grade and date if you want) and you can then have them printed in a book (or just keep them on your iPad/iPhone). I have made a book before and love this system. This app just makes it that much easier!

Do you have a system that has been working great for you? Share it for all of us in the comments or on Facebook!

Super Easy Pumpkin Memo Board

Are you ready for the easiest Fall DIY you've ever seen?

Are you sure? I don't know that you can handle this step by step. Ok here it is. Go to your favorite craft/multi purpose store - Michael's, Joann, Target, Walmart and buy a black craft pumpkin. They have them at most all of these places now! Buy some chalk while you're there. 

Write on the pumpkin with chalk

Wipe off

Repeat

Yep, it's that easy! lol! I had an idea to paint a pumpkin with chalkboard paint but then I saw these black ones and thought maybe I'd try chalk on them first and guess what. It worked! Best DIY ever

They have big ones and little ones. I'm thinking a little display of these with faces the boys draw on out front would be super cute for Fall.

Think you can handle this one? ;)

If you decide to take one in the car for road trip fun, you might want to wipe it off with a damp cloth now and then. You could also get fancy and use the Chalk Markers to make a little more solid design. I'm not sure how long the paint will last on these with constant wiping off, but we've done it quite a few times now with now problems!

A New "Fall" Tradition

As some of you might know we live in the desert so while the weather man says it's "Fall" we don't see a big change in weather quite yet. It still is in the 100's (F) here and swimming is still on our list of activities. However I thought this seemed like a good year to start a new family Fall tradition of apple picking. About an hour north of us we can drive to a little ranch and pick our own apples and a few pears.

The crop was pretty low this year and they weren't even charging people when we got up there because of it. We weren't going to let that stop us though! We found some good ones still hidden in the leaves. The boys' favorite part was the animals I think. Both warm and cold blooded animals. I swear my boys could find the tiniest most camouflage bugs anywhere!

(a treat for the road)

For those in the Phoenix area we went to Date Creek Ranch just north of Wickenburg. Unfortunately they only had one apple picking weekend and are now sold out (we only heard about it the morning of) but definitely keep an eye on it for next year.

We'll go to a "pumpkin patch" here in a few weeks but that's about all I have planned. I'd love to add some new ones though. What are your family's Fall traditions?