warm with a side of toasty...

I just put the finishing touches on this!!!

~YAY~

weekend re-cap...

Trick -or- Treat to you!!!

This weekend was packed to the brim, full of birthday fun

(Josie turned 2 last week, and we did a family celebration this weekend)..

It was a great chance to hang out with Brian's family and mine as well...

we all came together for a PAR-TAY!

Prior to celebrating, 2 year old style, my sis and I got to run and do a quick shopping trip!

Here's what was involved in my purchases:

-The Adele cd {get it. TODAY!}

-&-

-My very first pair of skinny jeans "Jeggings" to wear with boots! I LOVE them!

Here's a couple of snapshots from the busy day...

i ordered an owl cookie cutter off of Coppergifts.com and my sweet mom made cut-out gingerbread owls!

i frosted them and used chocolate chips for eyes (Mmmmmm...)

happy cookie froster :-)

finished product... Hoo Hoo

this pic turned out a little bit blurry - but i think captures the moment :-)

craziness,

an EXCITED birthday girl,

presents galore,

no socks, HELLO!? requirement for little Miss!

A wonderful time was had by all...

HaPpY HaLloWeEn to all..

Be Safe and eat LOTS AND LOTS of Candy {then brush really good and floss for good measure}!

~Me~

mud.

What's a Friday without a frolic in the mud?

Enjoy your Friday - and your weekend!

~Maggie

thought for thursday...

Earlier in the week, I did a post about {THANKS}giving with a few ideas I had found online...

since then, I have been reflecting on teaching Josie about being thankful for what we have, and realizing how very blessed we are... because some people aren't as fortunate.

I want her to be a loving, compassionate, giving girl... and realize that Brian and I are shaping her each and every minute of her life... I know this isn't mind boggling - or really a surprise to any of us... I just feel like it is important enough to mention, AND to share the fact that I am going to do my very best, just like my precious treasure of a mother did! We were raised to never take anything for granted... and I only hope I can be as amazing of a mother as mine is!

lOVe You mARMIE.

on my mind wednesday...

{source}

oh be still my heart

{source}

couple things:

ate frosted flakes for supper lastnight after something went terribley wrong with my homemade mac & cheese - not sure what happened!

colored my hair last night (hello grey's you are not welcome here) and it's a little darker than intended - but i am diggin' it! whew.

the kids are playing with cinnamon scented homemade orange play-doh this AM... yum! pretty sure someone will sneak a taste (i prolly would too)

play & pray group this AM - bundle up!

wearing a black poncho-ish sweater this morning and it is bringing me joy!

it's the simple things in life.

~happy wednesday to all and to all a great day~

have you broke out the christmas music yet???

purchased the michael buble christmas cd yesterday - little does the hubster know we will be listening to it later today! :-) heee heee heeee

*Maggie*

{THANKS}giving on my mind...

looking so forward to doing this!

free printable can be yours here
love this!

making homemade mac & cheese tonight, oh so delicious!

sweet day and evening to each of you,

me.

couple more for ya....

Hey all! Happy Tuesday...

Here are a couple more pumpkin patch pictures for you to enjoy!

It is a chilly day here, perfect for burning a candle, drinking Pumpkin Spice coffee and BLOGGING, of course! ;-)

Girlfriend wore her rain boots... perfect choice!

Seriously.

xxoo,

Maggie

"YOU are my VERY GREATEST earthly BLESSING."

~Martha Finley

pumpkin...

Happy Monday sweet friends... I am having a really hard time uploading pictures onto Blogger, so I am just going to leave you with one of my favorite pictures of me and the sweet birthday girl at the pumpkin patch on Saturday! More coming soon (hopefully!)

Sundown on Sunday...

Good Evening my dears....

We had such a wonderful weekend... we spent time:

~Celebrating Josie's birthday at the Pumpkin Patch (pictures coming TOMORROW!)

~Went to Michaels and stocked up on some FABULOUS yarn to continue the knitting instanity!

~Took naps - such GLORIOUS naps!!!

~And this evening we had roast from the crockpot with potatoes, carrots and rice! The smell of it stewing all day was DIVINE! Mmmmm....

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend - and hopefully were able to take some time to sit back, relax and enjoy!

Much love,

Maggie

P.S. Just found this.... I am so incredibley lonesome for horseback riding, and as soon as my hair grows out I WILL be attempting this darling look!

(According to the stylist, the goal is to make it look as if you've just come back from horseback riding. Get it? Got it? GOOD! Now come and fix my hair!)

thursday randoms....

:-) LOVE THIS!!! she has got the most AMAZING voices!

have you visited purlbee.com ??? you MUST!

knitting group tonight, josie's daycare birthday party tomorrow

(my baby turns 2 on SATURDAY!)

happy thursday loves,

maggie.

ever wonder...

(source)

love you ina.

nighty night all,

magpie.

brrr....

(source)

The weather has taken a DRASTIC change {to cold} and I LOVE IT!!!

The heat in our home is turned ON...

the slippers are OUT...

a yummy candle is BURNING...

and I have been a complete knitting freak!

The only thing missing is Nat King Cole singing "Oh Holy Night" ... but I'm afraid my husband would disown me.... sorry Nat... gotta wait a month or so!

Happy Tuesday friends... over here in the norsk it is Tantrum Tuesday... for REALZ!

Praying for a peaceful afternoon/evening/rest of the week...

Gotta love toddlers!

seriously.

Maggie

light up my life...

oh how i love this...

seriously.

so... apparently miss josie is paying a lot closer attention to her dear mama then i was aware of...

friday night she was fresh out of the bath, naked as naked can be and sitting on the potty chair...

we are in the beginning stages of potty training... it's a day by day basis... as my sister said "she will love using the potty, then get forclempt one day and not want to anymore."

girlfriend is a bit of a drama queen (my daughter, not my sister)... anyways, so she is on the potty (my daughter, not my sister.... just making sure we are on the same page...) and she goes "brrr... my close da door." so she gets up, attempts to shut the door and it swings right open again because a bath towel is on the top of it, and she as clear as day says

"seriously!"

now, for those of you that have never met me, or spent much time with me... i say this A LOT! waaaaaayyyy too much probably. but it's my line... and i picked it up from greys anatomy and now my HILARIOUS daughter has caught on. i bust out laughing!!! then called everyone i knew to tell them the story!

Happy Monday!!!

seriously.

maggie

bangs.

digging this hair style... side swept bangs , curls, quite lovely!

thinking it might be all about getting a few bangs (that can be tucked away on bad hair days)

hmmm...

in other news... went on a date with the hubster last night and saw Footloose!

let's just say i was bouncing in my seat and dancing my way out of the theatre!

go. see. it.

happy sunday lovelies!

~Maggie

P.S. coming soon:

*potty training tales from our home - pull ups and all

*my ALMOST 2 year old! (bday on the 22nd)

meow mix.

we visited friends this morning and they have kittens.

josie was in kitty heaven!

she kept shrieking "mama my holdie!!!"

meeowsa it was a good day!

hope yours was puuuurrrrfect too!

much love,

hugs

&

licks,

Maggie

Sign up for yours today!!!

Good Afternoon darlings....

So, my sweet friend Kat over at Mary and Dyer did a post about Birch Box, and let me tell you people.... this is the coolest thing EVER!

And it is super easy to get signed up! You fill out a survey about your skin care, makeup, body product preferences and they send you a box with some samples...

once a month...

for only $10.00 a month!

Who can pass that up!? NOT ME!

Mine will arrive in November and I am shaking in my boots excited!!!!!

If you are interested head over HERE and miss Kat will get you squared away!

Bring on the beauty!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!

xxooxxoo,

Maggie

If you're happy and ya know it shout HOORAY!

amen.

p.s. my sweet husband surprised me with a bobble a couple weekends ago - it's on my ring finger in this pic! It is SOOOOOOOOOOO beautious! You can find it HERE!

my new bobble... my precious, darling, dimpled hubby totally had me bamboozled and then sprang it on me! love ya babe!

my oh so sweet baby nephew and i basking in the sun... i love a baby on my chest!

~Have a lovely day my lovely friends~

{Maggie}

check it out!

Hey kids!

Happy FRIDAY!

So... my best friend EVER has begun a blog and I am going to give you a sneak peek

She was part of our FABULOUS girls weekend and is an artistic, creative, compassionate, loving, hilarious woman!!!

Follow along with her - you will be so glad you did... here's the blog site:

http://www.brownsparrowstudio.blogspot.com/

ENJOY!!!

xxooxxoo,

Me.

ThOuGhT fOr ThUrSdAy....

so, yesterday started out stinky, it was as if everything that could go wrong DID!
~crabby daughter
~rainy weather
~smoking phone charge - not. even. kidding. the thing had smoke coming out of it! stunk like burning rubber y'all!!!! N-A-S-T-Y!

i tucked myself into bed {early} and began to rehash the entire day in all of it's not so glorious glory...
but as i was "dwelling" on the negatives... my heart got sad and i had to remind myself that each day is new and tomorrow would be a chance to "Make it a GREAT day!" i get to choose to fill my cup up or dump it out... it's like i need to stick a note on the mirror that says "bad days happen. get over it." it was an excellent pep talk with myself and i woke up this morning and vowed to make it a good one!!! so far, so good!
Let's fill our glasses half FULL and enjoy this new day that God gives us so willingly!
Amen! Amen! Amen!

Linking up HERE today!!!

xxoo,

Maggie.

~The sprinkles are the best part!~

Found this recipe HERE!

Mama's Happy - DO NOT MISS THIS!

Hello Lovely Friends... Happy Tuesday to each of you!

This past weekend, prior to heading to my mothers for our girls weekend, my BFF and I got to stop by an occasional sale at an incredible place called:

"MAMA'S HAPPY"

and oh how happy did it make this mama!!!

if you live anywhere near the Twin Cities in Minnesota, you MUST head to Mound and see this TO DIE FOR shop!!!!

They have the BEST

re-purposed,

VINTAGE,

hand crafted treasures from wall to ceiling!

The entire shop was an "Ah ha" moment!

INSPIRATION'S everywhere!

You cannot miss this!

So I am providing you with all the info:

click HERE for their web page

and you can also find them on FACEBOOK at Mamas Happy! of course!

Here are a few more snapshots to entice you EVEN MORE:

Go enjoy your slice of HAPPY! You will be so glad you did!

~MaGGie.

oooooooo la la .....

it's all about the hand warmers.... don't you agree?

spied these here and they even include the instructions...

i hope the ladies at the yarn store don't mind me setting up camp so they can help me...

i'll provide snacks and beverages!!! heee hee heee :-)

happy hand warming...

on joy.

found this here - it completely sums up my gratefulness for my dear mother, sister and best friend... i feel truly blessed.. and they bring me the utmost JOY!!!

pArT 2

The wait is over... here is part 2 of our girl's weekend!!! I am having so much fun re-hashing, unpacking and relishing in all of the goodness that is my dear mother, sister and BFF!

**You are extraordinary ladies!**

Me in all my girls weekend glory!!!! The bracelet you are seeing is a leather cuff with a spoon handle attached and stamped on it is "blessed mama"!!!! I saw this at a sale (I'm going to be blogging about lately called "Mama's Happy") and had a small cardiac attack! MAMA LIKEY!

My SWEET nephew baby Ben (aka Ben Buttons) got to come with his mama!!! He was a gem!

Each of us was greeted with this ever so fabulous table set up at mama's - we each got a mug, caramel apple and owl tea light!!!! Ohhhh Mama... you outdid yourself!

:-) only my mother! Happy Tricks or Treats y'all!

Woke up to crunchy leaves on the sleek (or not so sleek, you decide) mini van...

Yours truly - enjoying the occasional sales!!

Autumn in all it's glory...

If you are looking for me, I will be on this bench looking at an Oprah magazine and drinking coffee... just say'n!

~May you all have sweet dreams~

xxooxxoo.

GirlS WeekEnD ParT oNe......

GREETINGS fabulous friends....
I am fresh off of a marvelous girls weekend up at my mom's and couldn't feel more blessed, joyful, filled to the brim with happiness...
We ate, went junking, ate some more, knit, sewed, shopped, took pictures (A LOT!), enjoyed this oh so picturesque fall beauty around us, chatted until the wee hours of the morning, canoodled my precious 3 month old nephew, ate some more, and of course L-A-U-G-H-E-D until we cried!
There is nothing like being surrounded by beautiful, inspiring, creative women!!! My mom, sister, and best friend are 3 of my favorite women around.... and this was our 9th girls weekend! Arriving was glorious, Departing was sad... but knowing that each of them is a phone call and car ride away eases the sadness...
I love you ladies!!!
Now, on with the show.... I tried to capture all of the nitty gritty details from the weekend, so you can feel like you were there!
Enjoy and blessings to you this fine Monday afternoon....

Such beauty outside...

We made these precious little fella's!

My sister is a genius - and these cupcakes PROVE that! YUMMY!

Beauty in the small touches....

I love me a warty pumpkin!!!

~I am going to do part 2 pictures in a bit... nap time is over and little tummies are hungry!~

See you in 2 shakes of a lambs tale,

Mama Maggie