Halloween Costume Flash Back!

Hi! It’s Jilly. Thank you for all your concerns! The storm seems to have passed by us! We are dry and have power! But, we are still praying for those in areas affected more than we were!

I thought it would be fun to look at all the costumes the kids have had since they were babies for (almost) Wordless Wednesday. I showed you some of their past costumes in this post, but it’s fun to see all the costumes from Halloweens past!

* 2005 *

Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Woody. All costumes are from Build-A-Bear Workshop, including Snow White’s wig! (Yes, they were small enough to fit into bear costumes when they were babies!)

* 2006 *

All three were spiders, with black knee-highs stuffed with cotton pinned to black onesies. Yeah, I was super tired that year! This is the only picture I got.

* 2007 *

A Zebra, a Kangaroo (with a Joey in the pouch!), and a Pink Poodle! My sister-in-law got these cute costumes for them from Old Navy. They were nice and warm for trick-or-treating in Utah!

* 2008 *

Princesses and a Dinosaur. Boy really wanted to be a giraffe, but I couldn’t find yellow or brown sweats to make his costume anywhere! Luckily we were cruising the aisles at Joann’s a couple days before Halloween and he fell in love with this dinosaur costume. The kids still wear it around the house!!

* 2009 *

This year we had princess fairies and a pirate. This picture of M cracks me up! “Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me…”

* 2010 *

A Ladybug Princess, Snow White, and “The radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker and made him become Spiderman”. Ha ha!

* 2011 *

 

A Watermelon Fairy, a Clown, and a Pirate. I love how E’s watermelon leaf headband turned out!

* 2012 *

 

A Ladybug Ballerina, a Doctor, and a Werewolf. K originally wanted to be Ariel, but changed her mind at the last minute, thank goodness! She loves wearing Daddy’s old white coat and ID badge!

Oh, and I dressed up as Effie Trinket, or just a general Capitol resident. You like?

What are you guys doing for Halloween?

 

Wordless Wednesday Linky Parties:

Homegrown Families, My Organized Chaos, Fresh Mommy Blog, In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being, YesVideo, Erika Price Designs, MamaDweeb, Mom Caboodle, Not Just Another Mom of Twins, Sincerely, Paula, Amanda’s Books and More, Crafty Spices, Nanny to Mommy

Before the Storm

Hi! It’s Jilly. Everyone here is freaking out about the Hurricane Sandy, which is on its way. We live in the Southern Tier of NY, about 3 1/2 hours northwest of NYC, and we are expected to have a lot of rain, high winds, and flooding. There was a storm last September that caused a lot of damage due to flooding and high winds. This storm is predicted to be even worse than that storm was.

source

We feel fairly prepared, but stopped by the store on Saturday to pick up a few things just in case, and this is what we found.

No flashlights.

No batteries.

No lanterns or camp stoves.

Few diapers.

No eggs.

No water.

No bread.

No bananas. Other produce running low.

These signs seemed to be placed all over the store!   

It is so crazy! Guys…seriously…GET YOUR 72 HOUR KITS TOGETHER AND YOUR FOOD STORAGE!! I don’t usually use the caps lock, but this is important! We had friends driving all over town looking for batteries because every store was sold out. All the stores are out of basic necessities. If this is how bad things are before a predicted storm (a super monster storm, yes, but it hasn’t hit yet), then how bad will it be if there is an even bigger disaster?!

 

For those of you who need it, here is a link to the Red Cross’s Flood Safety Checklist. For those of you who need to figure out what you need to do to get prepared for whatever may happen, here’s a link to Provident Living to help you out. To learn how to make a 72 hr kit, including a checklist and video, go here.

 

While looking at all this stuff I found a cool website called Stock Up Food. You can plug in what you already have and it will tell you how much you still need in which categories to meet your food storage goals. It saves the foods you add, so it’s a nice way to keep track of what you have, too. You can check out their blog here.

 

Hopefully things won’t be too bad, but we’ll see. I’m kinda nervous!! My brother-in-law is a lineman (works on power lines), and they sent him and bunch of other lineman out East all the way from Oregon in preparation for the power outages from the storm! Wish us luck and keep everyone on the East Coast in your prayers!

Weekend Blog Walk- Link up!

Hi! It's Jilly. I just realized that this is my 100th post! Woo hoo! I am so excited to share this milestone with all of you here on the Weekend Blog Walk!

In honor of my 100th post, let's try to get over 200 link-ups!! So, share the Walk on your Facebook, Twitter, and Google+! The more links, the merrier!! :)

When saying hello to people you meet from the hop on Twitter, be sure to use the hashtag #WeekendBlogWalk. It will be like a little Weekend Blog Walk club!

Here's Jessica with the "deets" of the hop!

Thanks for joining us for the Weekend Blog Walk.  We had nearly 200 bloggers linked up and ready to blog hop last weekend. 

Spread the love- give a shout out with #WeekendBlogWalk, or just hit the Tweet button below:

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1) Follow your Co-Hosts and Guest Hosts (1-6 on the Linky) via GFC or Feedburer.  If you link up on the Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest Lists, please follow us there as well.  Leave a comment for us if you are a new follower.

Jessica from At Home Take 2

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Jenna from Call Her Happy

Sarah at Life in a Breakdown (Guest Host) 

Melissa at My Watermelon Moon (Guest Host)

Allie at Coupon Gator Mommy  (Guest Host)

Michelle at Krumble Cakes and Sweets (Guest Host)

2) Post our button on your sidebar, or add a link on your Party List. 

3) Hop around and visit at least a few new blogs and meet some new blogging friends.

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Thoughtful Thursday

Hi! It's Jilly. I've decided to start a new series here on the blog called "Thoughtful Thursday". Every Thursday I will post a quote. Sometimes I will include my thoughts about it. Other times I will just post the quote. I think it will be a great way to get to know my readers better...and myself.

So, here we go!



This quote sums up a lot of what has been weighing on my mind lately. I feel sooooo inadequate all the time it's not even funny. I feel like I am at the bottom of the loser totem pole and can't seem to do anything right. I'm just a huge mess! It's like..oh, how do I say this...it's like there are all these areas of my life that I have to keep track of- wife, mother, homemaker, friend, etc, etc- and I can't do it! I am emotionally exhausted. I can barely bring myself to do anything. I only get out of bed because I have to. It's like I'm SO far behind that I feel like trying to catch up is fruitless. I know that not doing anything will only get me farther behind, but my brain just says, "Meh." to everything.

I have a good life. I know I do. I have been blessed SO much, and have SO many things to be grateful for. But, I just feel like there's this picture of my life that other people see, and it looks like everything is awesome, but I don't feel awesome. I have three great kids, a loving husband who puts up with way more crap from me than he should have to, great friends...the list could go on and on. But yet, I feel so disconnected from it.

AND, the thought that someone looking in would think I'm perfect because of the way my life looks make me feel sick to my stomach. I hate the thought that someone would ever compare themselves to me and think I have it all together, because I am one piece of straw away from breaking that poor camel's back! I would want to grab that person by the shoulders, shake them, and say, "No! It's not like that at all! You have NO idea how screwed up I am!"

This quote talks about comparing ourselves to others, which is definitely a problem. But, I think my biggest problem is comparing myself to ME. And, I don't mean "me", as in my current self. I mean "me" as in the "me" I think I should and could be if only I was better at being me. Does that even make any sense? It's like I have a picture in my mind of how I should be at this point in my life, and how I could be if I would just grow up and make better choices, manage my time better, etc. But, because I am weak and lame I don't, so I'm not. How can you compete with the vision of what you could be?

I know that the only way to move towards becoming the person I could be is to change my habits, make good choices, and get better a little bit each day. But, I'm so overwhelmed that I just want to curl up in a little ball. It's like I feel paralyzed. I've tried to explain this to my hubby, but I'm not sure he totally gets what I'm saying. He just gets out his "toolbox" and starts giving me suggestions. "Well, maybe you could fix that problem by _____" or "Do or do not, there is no try" or "Things won't get better if you don't do anything at all. It will just get worse." I know, I know! But, but, but...I can't! I feel like I am the lamest of the lame. Why do other people my age, and younger, have this stuff figured out, and I'm over here in a big 'ole mess?!

Am I the only one who has ever felt this way, or do other people feel like that? I think I'm losing my mind! Does any of this make any sense at all?

Thanks for "listening" to my trip to Crazytown. Don't worry...next week's Thoughtful Thursday will be a lighter fare! I've just had a lot on my mind lately, and I feel like I will burst at the seams if I don't let it out!

Wordless Wednesday: Camping in the Adirondacks- Aug 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday Linky Parties:

Homegrown Families, My Organized Chaos, Fresh Mommy Blog, In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being, YesVideo, Erika Price Designs, MamaDweeb, Mom Caboodle, Not Just Another Mom of Twins, Sincerely, Paula, Amanda’s Books and More, Crafty Spices, Nanny to Mommy

Menu Plan Monday

Hi! It's Jilly. Happy Monday! Oh, man...I have so much stuff to do today! Do Mondays feel like that to you?! Reclaiming the house from the weekend, laundry, errands...

Since I need to go shopping today I figured I should probably go with some kind of plan, right?! So, I actually made a menu for this week! (Go me!)

And, I thought I would share my plan with you, because sharing is caring. Maybe my plan will spark some meal ideas for you! Here we go...

Monday: Creamy Mexican Turkey Soup with some of our leftover turkey. My husband decided last week that he wanted to make a turkey. Ok, hubs. Whatever. As long as you're cookin', I don't care! This recipe is from Recipe Girl, and it is awesome!

Tuesday: Spinach Lasagna Rolls. Recipe from Skinnytaste.com. These are SO easy to make! I made a bunch of them with the 8-11 year old girls at church for an activity, and they were able to make them with little direction from me.

image from skinnytaste.com

Wednesday: Crockpot Cowboy Chicken. I just got this recipe from my friend. I went over to her house the other day while it was cooking in the crockpot and it smelled delicious! We'll give it a whirl!

Thursday: Spaghetti with meat sauce. I am perfectly happy making noodles and pouring canned sauce on top of it, but not the hubby. He has to "fix" everything! So, I will be browning some hamburger and onions to add to the store bought sauce. *Make extra hamburger to set aside for Saturday's meal!*

Friday: Southwest Chicken Pasta. I have some green & red bell peppers in the fridge that need to be used. I can't find the recipe I've used to make this before, but this one from Campbell's Kitchen sounds pretty good.

image from Campbell's Kitchen

Saturday: Taco Soup. We're doing family pictures that day, so a nice, warm soup all ready in the crockpot when we get home will be nice. (The link is to Paula Deen's recipe, which is similar to how I make it.)

Sunday: Beef Stroganoff. Hubby's favorite meal his mama makes. My son asked me yesterday if we were going to have it sometime. Sounds good to me!

There you have it, folks. Now I need to get goin'. Hopefully the washers in the laundry room are available now so I can throw in a couple loads of laundry, then run my errands. I need to find all the stuff for my kids' Halloween costumes because the Trunk-or-Treat at church is this Wednesday. Aah! How did Halloween sneak up so fast?!

Linking up with Erin Branscom, Susie QT Pies Scraps of Life and I'm an Organizing Junkie

Weekend Blog Walk!

Hi! It's Jilly! Today is an exciting day because I am co-hosting TWO blog hops!! So, be sure to "hop" over and link up with the Friday Chaos after you are done linking up here! 

As always, we are so happy to have you here at the Weekend Blog Walk! Leave a comment if you are new to the hop so I can say, "Hi!". Let's get walkin'! 

Spread the love- give a shout out with #WeekendBlogWalk, or just hit the Tweet button below:

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Interested in being a Guest-Host?  Our Guest-Hosts get a top spot on the Blog Walk and gain great visibility on this very popular weekend blog hop.  There is a $10 fee to Guest Host, or n/c when you purchase a Large Ad Spot on At Home Take 2.  Send an email to athometake2@gmail.com and reserve your spot.  Be sure to put Guest Host in the subject line.  This small fee allows us to advertise and promote the Weekend Blog Walk.

Rules for the Weekend Blog Walk are simple:

1) Follow your Co-Hosts and Guest Hosts (1-7 on the Linky) via GFC.  Please leave a comment for them if you are a new follower.

Jessica from At Home Take 2

Jillian from Hi! It's Jilly.

Jenna from Call Her Happy

Hayley from Hayley's World 

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April from Darlingest Dr. Momsie (Guest Host)

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2) Post our button on your sidebar, or add a link on your Party List. 

3) Hop around and visit at least a few new blogs and meet some new blogging friends.

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