Halloween Pics

Happy Halloween!

To be completely honest, I am not a Halloween girl. 

I LOVE the fall but I am not into the witches and goblin kind of stuff.  

We do go trick-or-treating and the kids love that.  

We only for a couple of blocks and then give out all our candy.  

I always buy the "good candy" from Trader Joe's and the kids eat that instead.  

I hate all the sugar and artificial crap the put in stuff.  

Kids do not need that junk!

They actually have no problem swapping out candy.  We do it every year and they are used to it.

Do you go trick-or-treating?

How do you feel about the holiday?

How do you feel about all the candy?

What did you do tonight?

I wanted to share some photos of our night with you!

Grace was a sailor girl!  (I couldn't believe all the inappropriate girl's costumes in the stores.)  I thought this was cute and modest a different than the usual "princess" that she has been the past couple of years.

Michael was a Star Wars guy and Matthew was a little rocket.  He freaked out when we found that costume because currently he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.   

And Andrew was a little monkey!!  I just love when babies are animals!

Baby's first Halloween!

 Matthew was always the last one to get the candy! :(

The kids loved racing house to house!  

He also got easily distracted. Lol!

We had our cousins come over and trick-or-treat with us.

I bought costumes for us to dress up but we ended up not using them so I will just save them for next year.  Did you dress up?

Yup, the candy is still there....just checking though!

One of our neighbor's had a jumpy out and were handing out hot dogs and hot chocolate!  They are so nice!!  

Andrew loved his stroller ride!

The kids loved everything!

Trying to catch up!

Happy Halloween!

After we went out, we came back home for chili and hot apple cider!  We ate with our cousins and talked with them until 8 or 8:30, did homework, got ready for All Saint's Day tomorrow, read books, and put the kiddos to bed!

Scott is studying for a mid-term tomorrow for his MBA so I decided to hop on the computer to catch up a bit.

What did you do tonight?

Bonnie :)

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Christmas Decoration: Ideas for White Christmas trees!!

Decorating Christmas tree is uniquely special! It brings together the entire family, putting up the tree, selecting ornaments, choosing a theme and the final display. Love everything about it, except maybe the effort in putting it away ;) So get bookmarking your inspirations, pin the ideas you love and when you have a theme marked, the rest will come easy.

White Christmas tree is non traditional, a very modern fun interpretation. They are available everywhere, and the ways you can decorate is amazing! Its the perfect foil for even your pastel and mercury silver ornaments. Anything on a white backdrop literally stands out!

Perfect apartment size and super cute! Match the ornaments to your wall color. White Christmas tree can be decked up in any color and look gorgeous each time.

Subtle elegance of white on white. The simple decoration is serene and the stair banister has the touch of fir and pine in sync with tradition. Love!

Match the decoration to your upholstery. Unique combination of brown and purple. Love the pine cones hanging on the tree. Choosing a theme really helps!

Vibrant colors! A sweet setup for holidays. Bright pink and green are the theme colors, in the wreath, wrappings, and table centerpieces. Cover gift boxes in matching paper and use it to prop up the trees.

A very contemporary Christmas decoration. Black and white is a popular combination and the white Christmas tree fits in perfectly. Tres chic!

Teal and white Christmas tree. A simple tree, which looks amazing in the living room backdrop. The upholstery adds so much to this look. Exceptional choice!

My favourite! Love the rainbow theme. If you love colors as much as me, just display all the colors, with a little scheme. This is a good scheme of colors and looks fantastic!

via here

Neutral colors are a good canvas for bright accent. White tree plays off the little hints of red and green beautifully. Those who love minimal and contemporary this is a good alternative.

If you have a sweet spot for a certain color, chances are its present all as home accents. Decorating your faux tree can't get simpler. Choose some ribbons, tinsel and baubles in your fav color. Done!

Traditional pale gold tissue Christmas tree skirt, with strings of light around frosted Christmas tree. It has a very natural and simple sophistication to it.

Add a few accent in the same color theme to make it festive. Very quick and absolutely complete. Spray paint thrift store ceramics in the same color to match the decor. Easy!

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8 Tips for a Simple, Fun Holiday Season

Let it all hang out this holiday season!

“Good Enough IS the New Perfect”

Is the mere thought of the upcoming holidays making you feel exhausted, overwhelmed, guilty and quite frankly stressed the hell out? Does the idea of escaping it all and landing in a remote island appeal to you? 

In a world jammed with cutesy DIY projects, photos of gift wrap themes and scrumptious recipes that are posted all over the internet it’s no wonder our holiday To 

Do lists have gotten out of control!

Professional organizers, Grace Brooke and Jennifer Ford Berry are known for their tough love approach to simplifying, organizing and being more productive in less amount of time. 

Here is an inside peak at some of their favorite tips for keeping it real and maintain your sanity during the holidays:

1.    Get real about your expectations.

Turn off the HGTV channel and hide your Martha Stewart subscription until January. Design your own holiday experience without the pressures of the media.

2.    Quit being a grouch and start being grateful. 

Stop complaining about what still needs to be done and start being grateful for all of your blessings and accomplishments. 

3.    Develop a holiday vision that is unique to your family.

Sit down as a family to discuss the things you want to do during the holidays and more importantly the things you don’t want to do.  You may include: movies you want to see, old traditions, new traditions, places to visit etc. Write up a list and post it where your family can be reminded of it daily.

4.    Stop cluttering up your friends’ and family’s homes!

Give them the gift of an experience, a memory that they will enjoy and cherish forever. It can be anything from gift certificates to memberships to services for your home.

5.    Opt out of the “Perfect-Holiday-Card” contest.

Do you notice how everyone is trying to come up with the designer holiday card (you know…the one that is professionally shot, where the family is in coordinating outfits, the hair is perfect and everyone is full of holiday cheer).  A snap shot from last summer’s vacation is good enough! (The NEW perfect).

6.    Stop being Martha Stewart and start getting drunk with the rest of them!

This holiday season pass on the sit down dinner and plan a fun, simple cocktail party with appetizers.  Make it more about getting together and less about weeks of 

preparation.  Good food and good company is what it’s all about.

7.    Let the “Fifty Shade of Gift Wrap” go and just get it done.

Keep it simple.  For example: recycling your kids’ artwork to add a personal touch to your gift wrapping. (And this is a great way to get rid of more crap).

8.    Cut down on your holiday storage and decorate your tree with natural ornaments.

Make clean up and storage a snap by using popcorn, berries, cookies, pine cones, bird nests, oranges, candy and other disposable items.

For more great ways to organize and simplify your holiday season check out Grace and Jennifer’s 65 Day Holiday Organizing Challenge that begins on October 29^th.

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Hall Bathroom Home Tour

Hello! :)

Thank you so much for all your Home Tour comments! 

I am exciting that you are enjoying this.

I changed my facebook page....

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As you can probably tell by now, my style is SIMPLE!!  

Yup, that's how I like it.  

I have so much "busy" everywhere else that I like my home to be relaxing and stress relieving!  

I hate clutter!!!!

I only keep the a few things on the counter.

That door is to our linen closet.  It is pretty small but it works because I have a lot of cabinets and keep our towels and toilet paper out.

The shower curtain is from Target.

I love this old Longaberger Rack for my towels.  

Since, this is the kids' bathroom, I added some photos of them for our family trip to Florida!

I like the green springs for a fresh look!

I bought these towels at Target.  The pictures are off in color but they are blue and white.

Here is another view.

I added another plant and family photo!

I love this photo. :)

The clock is for looks only,  I am not even sure there is a battery in it, hehe!  Am I crazy???

That is my simple hall bathroom!

I love the space.

I am extremely happy with the turnout.

What do you like about your hall/kid's bathroom?

What is your kid's bathroom theme?

Have a great day!

I changed my facebook page....

Please follow my NEW FACEBOOK community now!

Bonnie

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Home Tour Kitchen

Good morning! :)  

You might of noticed that I have been MIA around here and that's because I have been moving. Things have been moving way faster than I can blog about, lol!  

We actually sold our house today!!!  

It is hard to believe.  

I will share the whole story with you but I have so many older posts in my drafts and I want to blog in order so I will just be a little behind.  I am okay with that.  

I am exactly where I am supposed to be. :)  

You can follow all my day to day happenings on Facebook.

Well, onto the tour...

Today is my Kitchen!!

I really love our kitchen!!  

I love how functional it is for our family.  There is plenty of space and room to cook. 

I also really like the layout because I like being right by the kitchen table and to be able to look into the family room while cooking.  (I spend most of my day in the kitchen and the kids spend most of there day in the family!)  

My absolute favorite thing about our kitchen is our island!  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!  My kids love helping me cook so it is the perfect set up for my little helpers!!

When we added the granite countertops, we had them design the island top to curve.  I think that adds more interest.

Our kitchen is pretty centered in our home and it is my favorite place to be.

We have a butler's pantry on the side of our kitchen which is great for extra storage.  I mostly use it for the kid's arts and crafts.

It looks pretty clean and clutter-free in these pics because I took them while we had our house listed for sale and I removed everything that I could. (I didn't have too much because I hate extra stuff.)

We also installed a ceiling fan in our kitchen because the kitchen can get hot from the oven and I hate sweating while I cook.

I really like the dark cabinets but I dream of white ones, lol!

We had a heavy duty oven/stovetop because of all my cooking.

Here is another view.

Oh, when I was searching for new stools, I found these last year from Target and I have been extremely happy with them.

We have a sliding door off the eating area so I can keep my eye on the kids which is important to me.

Here is a peek into our dining room.

Well, that is my little kitchen tour!

I hope you enjoyed it!  

What is your favorite feature about your kitchen? 

Tell me in the comments.

Have a great day!

Bonnie :)

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