wordless wednesday...well, almost.

love this...{via pinterest via here}

The first time he said it, it nearly broke my heart. I guess it's par for the course with being a sibling. Being the second child...or the third...or the fourth...but all I know is I never heard the little pumpkin utter those words when she was an "only".

He said, "What about meeee? My turn."

I know, I know such simple words. I know there was absolutely no negative connotation behind his words other than wanting a turn, but yet, my heart ached...for you see, "undivided attention" and "littles close in age" seem as polar opposites as night and day around our house these days.

I love my Hudson + Mama time every Monday and Friday while I'm home and big sister is at school. I love having that time with just him, just like I had with the little pumpkin when she was a wee one. But maybe I love it so much because I never hear, What about meeee? My turn on those days.

I love you my dear son. More than words can say.
Mama

show & tell: vintage goodies! {Fall Adventure 2011}

We had a really fun time shopping for vintage treasures at Junk Bonanza and other local shops while in Minneapolis. Here are some of my fun finds!! {Oh, and please forgive the quality of the pics - I'm still trying to figure out my mom's point-n-shoot and how to edit the pics the best possible way).

First off I have to share this super sweet vintage child's cup that a very sweet {and sneaky} friend surprised me with after I fell in love with it but wouldn't buy it for myself ;)Isn't it sweet??! Almost looks like a planter, but then you turn it and it's a little child's cup! Thank you sweet friend! I love it!Doesn't it look sweet in the little pumpkin's bedroom?Next up, my second favorite find...a vintage Christmas smock apron. I can just imagine the little that wore this long ago, helping her mama bake up some tasty treats...and I can't wait for the little pumpkin to wear it for this year's Bake Day!Speaking of baking...how about this little gingerbread man cookie cutter?!More Christmas stuff! How about this little vintage elf on the shelf??!! While in MN, Grace decided that our elf, "Super", needed a middle name so he's now Super Belly, the elf. I think this one will be Hudson's elf. $20 bucks says it'll be named Dinosaur, Dragon or Lion...his 3 current obsessions. HA!

One last Christmas find...can't wait to embroider that cute Santa with his naughty or nice list on an apron for the little pumpkin.I think I must have definitely been in a red state of mind while shopping because these next few finds all share the bright cherry hue...dainty hankies, fun buttons, and an old berry brooch.Love all these fun vintage buttons - some may just end up on some Lulu & Co. hats *wink*.Not sure what I'm going to do with this brooch - definitely not wearing it - but I'm sure I'll come up with some project for it.I love the yellow little girls coat in this old sewing pattern, so this bundled pack came home with me. Hoping I can convince Noonie to give it a try...hear that, Noonie? :)But just in case, how about this cute denim peacoat?!It's adorable on the little pumpkin, but my favorite are the little elbow patches made out of yo-yos!!Of course I couldn't leave my favorite little guy out!! Not as many cute boy things, but I did find this vintage choo choo that has already become a favorite around here.Hudson looooooves this little airplane & spoon combo that I found...who knew this little set would become the source of many, many, many "but I want to use it too" conversations!And I LOVE this old Whistle soda crate! Looks great in Hudson's room but I may just sneak it for my halloween tablescape ;)The book on the left is not old; I found it when we visited Wild Rumpus and I'm tucking it away for Hudson's easter basket next year...it's hard to find boyish easter stuff, so I was excited to find it! The one on the right is rather old...25¢ price tag...such sweet graphics on this one.Love this vintage mini chalkboard and these books just have the sweetest illustrations - excited to add them to our collection.I was excited to find these two unused valentines - we'll definitely put those to good use next year!And look at this one!!!! Unused and sooo girly! I love writing the littles sweet notes on vintage cards. I think one day when they're older they'll enjoy reading them and knowing what was going on in their lives when they were little.I'm secretly hoping to turn this one into an embroidered design for a Valentine apron dress for Grace. Hope I can make it work!

I bought these next two for two separate sewing projects - can't wait to show you...soon!!Love the crochet edge - so dainty and sweet!This fun apron was made out of a clothespin bag! The feedsack pockets go all the way down.This scene reminds me of The Nutcracker...One last little find...Can't pass up this sweet prayer for wee ones everywhere...Thanks for letting me share all these fun finds!! Hmmm...maybe I should open up a shop or something...you know, just to have a good excuse to shop for more sweet finds! HA!

and then it was time to come home... {Fall Adventure 2011}

...but not before squeezing in a few last minute stops at some of our fave spots like The Original Pancake House for some to die for pumpkin pancakes {my mouth is watering as I type this} - seems I'm not the only one who loooovvvveeeesss pancakes!We stopped by the Mall of America to take the littles to one of their favorite lunch spots, the Rainforest Cafe and to let them shop for a few fun treasures of their own with the spending money Mimi gave them...Grace picked out a pink princess leotard with an attached glittery tutu and an Ariel & Prince Eric Little Mermaid wedding set. Hudson picked out a set of animal play figures from the Rainforest and a laughing cow stuffed animal from the Nickelodeon store. They had a lot of fun shopping - thanks Mimi & Pop!

One last stop - the Lego store - where the littles played with Noonie while I snuck off to the American Girl store to scope out in person the doll Grace has been eyeing.Hudson had a blast playing and building all kinds of things......like this "orange juice" tower.And that flashy, crazy-looking lego picture is the last picture my Canon DSLR took before shutting down :( Seems there's a problem with the mirror/shutter so I'm camera-less for a couple of weeks while the folks at Canon figure it out.
Boo hoo.

Thankfully Noonie is letting me borrow her point-n-shoot so I don't go into complete withdrawals these next weeks. I have yet to take pics of all of our fun finds, but I'm going to try and do that in the next couple of days. Just not the same without my trusy 'ole camera :(

We had a wonderful time on our trip - thank you Noonie for such a fun, unexpected Fall treat! And lucky for the little pumpkin, this past week was Apple Week at her school so she got to share with her friends all about her trip to the orchard. I printed some of our pictures and she narrated while I wrote and together we put together this book - such a fun memento from our adventure - and such a fun thing to bring for her Show & Tell last Wednesday!And yes, she snuck into the bathroom and globbed on some Barbie lipgloss right before this picture was taken...sneaky, sneaky...girly, girly.

And I think I must have still been jet-lagged because I totally dropped the ball on her class' Apple Tasting Party on Thursday. They were supposed to bring foods made from apples. Suggestions included apple chips, applesauce, apple jelly, apple muffins, etc. I didn't remember until we were home from ballet Wednesday night so apple jacks it was! HA!Oh well, you gotta have a sense of humor!

We had 2 back-to-back birthday parties today and I'm beat.
Hope you're having a great weekend!

Emma Krumbee's Apple Orchard {Fall Adventure 2011}

One of the things on my absolutely-have-to-do list while we were in MN was visit an apple orchard. I have always wanted to go to one but we just don't have one near us. My wish came true a week ago today when we visited
Emma Krumbee's! It was rather windy and chilly but that didn't stop us one bit. Be prepared for a gazillion photos - we have such sweet memories from our visit, it was hard to pare down.After lunch at the Emma Krumbee's family restaurant, all the littles were ready to burn some energy and this pirate ship provided the perfect venue.Grace & Emily...two sweet girls.Hudson LOVED this old tractor...Time for a ride!The little pumpkin was so excited...I just love this sweet picture of my girl.Angel's mom came with us and I was so happy to meet her and spend some time with her. I think an afternoon surrounded by littles did her heart good.Chugga Chugga Choo Choo...The rope maze was fun...and tough!When all else fails and you're under 4ft tall, why not go under the ropes...HA!The barn was a big hit with the littles. Can you spot the billy goats?? Hint: Look UP!There they are!Playtime! It was so nice to have the place almost completely to ourselves...Grace took this picture of Noonie and me. I couldn't believe how well it turned out! I just put my camera on auto and handed it to her and she completely surprised me!!!Vroom, Vroom! Hang tight, Sam! Allison knows how to go fast!Good times!We couldn't let the littles have all the fun, now could we??!Love this Humpty Dumpty! What a cute idea!Time to go apple tasting!Oh my, the apples were delicious! Sweet Tango apples, a new variety derived from Honeycrisp apples, were my absolute favorite! I've been craving them ever since we got back from our trip. Can't wait 'till they make their way South!FINALLY, it was time to go apple pickin'!!!!
The moment I'd been waiting for!After getting a quick lesson from Emily & Allison on the proper way to pick apples..."you look for a good one, one without bruises or bug holes, then you twist & turn really gently and that's it. Plop! It comes right down"...we were ready to give it a try!Grace's turn!Noonie's turn!I'm pretty sure this little guy ate more than he picked...he he.I love this sweet picture of my two favorite littles in the whole wide world! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Angel and family for taking us to the orchard and spending the afternoon with us! What sweet memories we have with great friends by our side!And of course, all that running......makes for great sleep! HA!Can't wait to do it again some day!