so, this past summer, i was all about making some s’mores. well…summer came and went and i had not made any s’mores. well, i think fall is a great time to make some. heck, anytime is a great time to make some s’mores!
i grabbed this recipe from a site called the bean town baker. it is super easy and quick to make!
[some of the ingredients]
i started out with beating together the sugar and {room temperature} butter. then i whipped in the vanilla and eggs. in a separate bowl, i mixed together the dry ingredients {flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powered, and salt} and then mixed it into the butter mixture. i separated the dough and lined a glass pan {8×10} with it. i then broke apart the hershey’s bar and placed it all along the dough. i also spiced in some godiva’s salted caramel chocolate {it added in some yummy goodness}.
[graham cracker crust]
after i placed all the chocolate, i then spooned out the marshmallow fluff and spread it across the chocolate {be careful to not pull up the chocolate pieces}. i then took the leftover dough {roll it into a ball and then flattened it out with your hands…it makes it easier to spread} and evenly spread it out over the fluff. i popped it into the oven for 30 minutes and ta da! we had ourselves some delicious s’mores bars!
[marshmallow fluff layer]
i definitely recommend to use more graham cracker crumbs than what the recipe suggested {maybe a cup or more} and i only used one king sized hershey’s bar peppered in with a few of the godiva squares. it perfectly balances out the taste. it wasn’t too chocolately, which is my preference…i like more crust and fluff.
we had a grand ol’ time consuming this sweet, delicious, decadent dessert. it goes perfectly with a tall glass of cold milk! i am super happy to have crossed off a fun ‘to do’ from my list! it was so easy to make and i see another batch of goodness coming into fruition in the near future!
olive received another gift in the mail! the beautiful carol, ted, and kids sent olive such a cool gift! we were super excited to open the package when it arrived and it was…a little push van! the toy is from plan toys…a wonderful company that manufactures sustainable wood toys. they use organic rubber wood and non toxic paint {safe for baby, since they put their mouths on everything!}.
i have mentioned this before and again, i love wooden toys for miss olive. this van is so stinkin’ adorbs. hc immediately put it together for her and she stood up and started rolling the van along. she was a bit wobbly {she fairs better with heavier items} but nonetheless, she wibble wobbled her way across the floor with the van. it was too cute to see.
my girl carol is obsessed with vw’s. obsessed. so anything in a form of a vw van, is game. i chuckled when we opened the package, it seriously put a smile on my face to see the present. now every time i look at it, i think of my dear friend carol and that’s a very good thing. it was the perfect present…a combo of my love for wood toys, olive’s love for pushing things, and carol’s love for vw’s.
[amazon’s quirky gift wrap]
[i got super excited when we unwrapped the gift!!]
[so stinkin’ cute]
[olive checking out her new toy]
[annnddd there she goes!]
well, as you see above, olive was loving it. success! plus, it’s like a cart, so little o can put stuff inside and push it around. and lemme tell ya, the little babes loves to put things in bags, boxes, crates, you name it! she puts stuff in, she takes them out, she leaves toys everywhere she goes. the joys of having a little one and a messy place {well, we keep neat here in the household…natch!}.
thanks carol and famille! we love you guys, we miss you and we hope to see y’all soon!
we were so excited. we started out the afternoon by heading over to my parent’s house. we undid the bags of candies to get ready for the trick or treaters. olive helped. actually, olive loved taking all the candy out of the cauldron and throwing it everywhere! the faster i picked them up, the faster she grabbed for them and tossed ’em all around the floor. it was quite the amusing game for her.
oh, how i love halloween. it has always been a favorite of mine. i love decorating for it, i love watching fun programs celebrating the holiday {hello…charlie brown’s it’s the great pumpkin anyone?!}, my favorite movie by my favorite director: tim burton’s sleepy hollow, lots o candies, and trick or treaters! i love trick or treaters. i love, love to give out candy. it’s so much fun for me. it’s hard to explain. hmmmm, maybe it’s because i loved trick or treating so much as a kid, that i find it gleeful when they come to our door. how excited they get, how fun it is to drop bundles of goodies into their treat bags, the smiles that they give, the cool costumes that they have on. there is so much coolness about it and every year, every single year i look forward to it and have the best time every time.
[helping momma get the candy ready // gap baby one piece]
this year, being mostly a new family of three…i wasn’t as creative with our costumes as i should have been. or lack thereof. i love themed costumes for families but this year, it’s kinda been hectic leading up to that point, i totally let it slip. it wasn’t a priority in the moment but looking back, hc and i should have farmers with olive being a lamb! pshhh, c’est la vie!
anyhoo, so we got olive all bundled up {oh em gee it was soooooo cold and windy}. did i mention that it snowed that morning?! yes, it snowed! so, with that, we dressed olive in a onesie, footed pj’s, and her fluffy lamb costume over it all. we put {sock}mittens on her hands and then socks over her footies. she was ready to go! she seriously could not move. she was so thick with layers she was literally the kid from a christmas story!
[all bundled up! momma, i can’t move my arms!]
we put a cushy warm blanket under her in her brand new wagon and her cute little cat trick or treat bag from pbk. we were ready to go! we rolled on out to the next door neighbors house. my nephews were so excited, they ran from door to door in lightening speed.
[ready to go!]
[trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!]
we pulled olive along. she was quite content. people in their houses were so sweet, most doors, we couldn’t get up to because of their stoop. so we rolled up close, my nephews would ring the bell, and we would say hello and roll away. most people would actually run out to give candy to olive, knowing she couldn’t come fully to the door! they were so thoughtful!
we probably hit around five houses. we were lagging behind. my nephews were running and plus, it was sooo cold out. the wind was so strong and her hood kept on blowing off her head. so, we called it quits for miss olive. she had candy in her bag, she had on the cutest costume, and i’d say it was quite an awesome first halloween for the little babes. the boys all went ahead and i turned around with olive.
as i was heading back {a short little walk}, i had to pull her hoodie back on at least five times! the wind kept blowing it off and i didn’t want her to get cold. so i would stop the wagon, pull up her hoodie, and then begin pulling her again. so, the last time i did it, i was almost in front of my parent’s house. i pulled up her hood and proceeded to pull the wagon. i must have not noticed how hard i pulled the wagon, because baby girl totally fell back. oh it was too funny and cute. she was so layered with clothes, she couldn’t move! so she just laid there. i got to my parent’s house and turned around and laughed so hard at how cute she looked. she couldn’t get up but seemed so content. her look was kinda like ‘mom, i fell over and i can’t get up. help me’.
[my little lamb fell over in the wagon and couldn’t get back up.]
once we got back inside, we just chilled. my sisters were actually cooking up some chili for dinner while olive and i played around upstairs. i tried to put her down for a nap but that was a no go. after a bit, the boys came home and reveled in their loot. we all played around and had a lot of fun giving out candy to the trick or treaters. bennett was my partner in crime, we were stalking all the trick or treaters through the windows upstairs. if we saw any coming, he excitedly ran downstairs to hand out the candy {awww, a little mini me}.
[the boys did a wardrobe change]
all in all, it was a wonderful first halloween for miss olive and a fantastic halloween for us all. it was a spooky, cold, treat filled holiday! muwahahahaha!
the famille got together to take some fall photos. i now sound repetitive but for reals, the weather was ah-mazing!! it was sunny, beautiful, and the temperature was perfect.
we met up at the ‘red barn‘. the famille was already there, olive and i came a little bit later than them. we drove through the narrow and very long parking lot. i pulled up to the barn {also, after seeing their cars} and parked. from afar, i saw a little figure by the barn {call it intuition} and i knew it was the clan. i pulled olive out and we started walking towards the barn. yup, from around the corner they all appeared and came towards us.
from there, we started to pose, take pictures, and get creative with the photos we wanted to snap. we definitely wanted cousin photos and it was such a challenge to get little o to sit still. we would get a few snaps in before she boogied in some sort of direction. overall, we were pretty successful!
we just played around. posed. enjoyed the weather and captured some great memories. it was short and quick but fun. i tried my best to match olive to me and to the boys. i knew they were going to sport red, so i had a bit of red on o. we both wore the same colored jeans and both our shirts had some sort of print and little tabs that held our sleeves up. she’s my mini me!
[super auntie thuy]
[hanging out]
[look closely, we almost having matching shirts…natch]
[where’s waldo]
[cutie pies]
[olive! look at the camera…um, nope]
[olive giving bennett a kiss!]
after lollygagging around some more, we called it a wrap {that’s a wrap!}. we all popped into our cars and skedaddled our way home. as you can see above, we got some great, sweet shots in {although they would have been sooooo much better if my brother huy took them!}. happy fall y’all!
today takes us back to 2012. the family took a trip to bengston farm in homer glen {where?!}. it was a fun, fall event. there were plenty of pumpkins, rides, and greasy food to nosh on. we had a swell time exploring the place, there were plenty of fun activities for the kids like train rides, carousels, petting zoo, and haunted houses.
we played around and had a great time with the family. there were so many people there! it was a beautiful sunny day and it was perfect weather for us to hang out outside. i really do love going to a pumpkin farm, apple farm, any type of farm in october. it’s a tradition, it’s a must. it adds to the festive mood of the season. it totally gets me happy.
here, reagan and i snuggled onto the big wheel bench. look how small he was. so adorbs and cute. i love this pic because it’s sunny, cute, and sweet. i love this little guy and he is so wonderful to olive, such a caring cousin he is! what a cutie patutie.
i hope you have some fun, exciting plans for this halloween night! we sure do. we can’t wait to experience olive’s first halloween. we are ready! what is she going to be?? shhhhh, it’ll be a cute surprise {something fluffy, furry, and adorbs…of course}!
haphaphappy hallow’s eve! oh my gosh…i can’t believe it’s heeeerrre! well, we decided to have a pumpkin carving party the other day. it was so beautiful out; it was a perfect time to get messy outside!
hc set up a carving table outside {after he blew all the leaves away and cleaned up the driveway} and set up all of our ‘tools’. he cleaned off our pumpkins and we proceeded to dream up some cool designs we wanted to do.
[hc with his jigsaw and us with our old fashion carving kit]
[our pumpkins…all clean by hc and ready to be carved!]
hc took his drill and cut out all the tops of our pumpkins, to get us started. on a whim, i drew out the words ‘oh baby olive’ and started carving. like water, i rush with my actions and kinda messed up the carving of the word ‘baby’. oops. but no worries. i recovered, as you will see down below!
[here we go]
[oh!]
i love carving pumpkins…it’s a must do every season. it’s so much fun, it brings back such fond memories, and i always love the finished product. no matter what design we carve. there is just something magical about candle lit pumpkins at night. it’s so festive, spooky, and cool.
while we were carving out our pumpkins, olive was having the best time in her new radio flyer wagon! hc and grace set out that morning to find her a wagon. we wanted one because you just have to have one of these! but really, it’s a great item to have for any place you go to {kids love riding in it} and we thought it would be a perfect ride for her when she goes trick or treating. well, they came home, successful, with this awesome wagon! hc put it together right away and he took olive for a spin in it around the house. she was totally digging it.
so, we covered the bottom with a fluffy, comfy blanket and added in her toys, books, and stuffed bear. she was super duper happy! she played with her toys, she ‘read’ her book out loud to us, and she snuggled with her bear. she happily sat there and played the entire time we carved our pumpkins. it was too sweet to see. she is so darling.
[olive enjoying her brand new radio flyer wagon // we got her comfy with a cozy, fluffy blanket and toys]
hc used his jigsaw to carve his pumpkin {pshh, cheater!} and grace and i did it the old fashioned way…with the cheap pumpkin tools you can buy at the store. they both did funny faces and i ended up carving out my words. they all turned out lovely! i couldn’t wait until it was dark outside to light our fabulous creations!
[not lit]
[lit]
[family selfie]
ahhhh, loving our pumpkins! they turned out fantastic. i love the eerie glow. happy halloween eve everyone!
honestly, i don’t think i have been back to downers grove north since i graduated. maybe once? i really can’t remember. high school was quite meh to me. i liked it, i was very involved but i was so beyond the conventional mentality of the student body. buuuttt, i was a very different person back then {weren’t we all?!}, so insecure, so waifish, so melancholy. i was trapped in a stereotype and desired to break free. i knew there was so much more to life, people, and experiences waiting for me out there. i wanted to live it, find it, and have fun.
anyhoo, life’s journey has been a good one. i did {and still do} experience some amazing things. i think back and giggle at the little girl i was in high school and appreciate my life’s twists and turns that have led me to where i am today. being married to an amazing husband and having a beautiful daughter.
hc mentioned to me that hinsdale central and dgn were playing each other on a friday night and asked if i wanted to go. of course! hinsdale happens to be the school my brother in law, terry, had graduated from and obviously, my sister kim graduated from north! so it was going to be a fun rivalry!
we met up in downtown downers grove to have dinner at a place called another round. it was alright…it was a dirty bar with bar food {not my kind of place} but it sufficed in stomping out our hunger. olive was fast asleep {amongst the crazy noise}. we perused the menu and i finally decided on fish and chips.
it actually took awhile to receive our food. by that time, olive had woken up and was a bit grumpy. we tried to feed her dinner but she was not having it! she was more interested in what the kids were doing than consuming any of her baby puree!
we were finally served our food and we noshed away. olive preferred to eat my fish and dirty rice off of auntie kim’s plate! so, i fed her so. after we ate, we were finally on our way to the game…woo!
[reagan, grace, and bennett entertaining themselves]
[someone is awake]
it was interesting to see the newness of the school and nostalgic to see everything old and still the same. the north side was buzzing with excitement and chock full of peeps. it was super crowded and exciting to be there. there i was, with my husband, my baby girl, and my stepdaughter…a bit surreal and cool.
we were waiting for the rest of my family to get there. kim text us that her and terry were on the hinsdale central side. as we were walking over, we bumped into thuy and walked our way together. it was a bit more quiet and less crowed over there, which was much easier with having olive.
[football!]
[love the boy in the cubs hat]
[dgn vs. hinsdale central]
we watched the half time performance, we played around, and we socialized. it was great being back. it brought back a lot of fun memories! i was really glad to be there and it was funny to see how small and young all the kids are. the super cray cray part?? olive will eventually attend dgn! just like her momma! the kicker? she would be the class of 2031…whaaaaa?!!!
[olive doing pull ups on the fence]
[that’s all folks!]
once it started to drizzle, we were out. besides that, it was getting very, very, veryclose to olive’s bedtime, so we had to scadaddle!
i had a wonderful evening with my famille and a fantastic time visiting my old alma mater!
i can’t wait for halloween! it will be olive’s first one and she will be trick or treating! of course, i got the little one a lovely little trick or treat bag. i couldn’t refuse a cute little black felt treat bag with her name emblazoned on it!
i spied this treat bag on pbk. i thought the black kitty cat was adorable and i loved the idea of personalizing it. i stopped by the store to check out the bag. i was sold! i purchased the bag and left it there to get embroidered. i was excited i could choose from a variety of colored thread and whether i wanted to place her name on the front of the bag or the back. i felt the back of the treat bag looked better. i didn’t want it to interfere with the cute cat face in front.
i was super excited when they called me and told me the bag was ready! yay! i swung on by and picked up the cute bag. i was totally happy. the pink thread was perfect and her name looked so cute on the back of the bag. i couldn’t wait to show little olive. to commemorate the showing of the bag, i dressed her up in an adorbs halloween outfit and presented her first treat bag. she was quite happy and you can see in the photos down below!
we played around for a bit, i snapped a ton of photos, then we decided to move on. or at least miss olive made that choice! i hung her bag up on her dresser; i’m sure the kitty cat is eagerly awaiting to be used and abused this upcoming halloween! bring on the sweet treats or tricks 😉
i made some caramel apples! so easy peasy. annndddd, i was able to finish out the bag of apples we had from our apple pickin’ outing. woot. woot.
i had to only pick up a few ingredients. i really wanted to use branches for the caramel apples but, honestly, i wasn’t about to go into the yard and hunt for sticks. although, i am really digging the aesthetics of it but not enough to treasure hunt. hmph.
so, lollipop sticks it was. i purchased a bag of sticks, a tub of marzetti’s caramel sauce, and sprinkles. i washed and dried the apples, then removed the stems. once that was done, i took a lollipop stick and tried my best to center them into each apple. i pulled out a sheet of parchment paper {what i had on hand} but you could also use wax paper if you have it.
[stick it to ya!]
i then warmed up the caramel sauce in the microwave. i did it in ten second increments because the sauce heats up quickly. between each interval, i would stir the sauce to even it out. once that was complete, i took each apple and dipped it around and around in the tub, evenly coating the apple. i then placed each apple on the paper to cool off.
i decided to do a variety of toppings. i crushed animal crackers, i crushed nuts, and i had halloween colored sprinkles. i then pulled out another sheet of parchment paper {it’s easier this way and neater!} and would pour the toppings onto the paper. i rolled each apple around and around over each topping. i covered the base first and then slowly rolled each apple until i got to the desired coverage.
i did tricolored toppings. just sprinkle toppings. mixed toppings. simple toppings. all sorts of yummy flavored toppings. i had a lot fun decorating each apple! i then cut out little squares for each apple to settle on.
[pummeling some animals…crackers that is!]
[walnuts and almonds]
after i decorated each apple, i then placed them all in the refrigerator to harden. after that, i wrapped each one in cellophane and finished it with a black ribbon. woooo! i was done and super happy with how they turned out. it’s so easy to make, totally festive and fun, and of course….yummy to eat! sweet and tart. a perfect combo!
not that long ago…hc and i celebrated our six year anniversary. six years of being together! not long compared to some folks i know but six years sounds like a long time but, honestly, it’s been a blink of an eye for me. it feels like we just met! which, i guess, is a good thing!
here we are in our hotel room {i can’t remember which hotel it was?!}, in chicago. we were celebrating our one year anniversary. we were so excited. one whole year together! hc planned for us to have dinner at le colonial. i love that place. it’s so yummy good. i love the ambiance and the decor.
we got ourselves ready and headed out the door. we walked to the restaurant and enjoyed ourselves a yummy, delicious meal. it was a wonderful time. after dinner we strolled back and enjoyed the bustling avenue. i love chicago.
it’s been a fabulous six years together. oh my, how eventful it has been! we have hit soooo many milestones in our short six years. so many wonderful milestones. i am thankful for all that i have been blessed with and i am fortunate to have this man in my life!
