Happy Halloween!!

Seeing that this was the first Halloween in our house, I was very excited to pass out candy to all the trick or treaters. I had emailed a neighbor asking how many kids go trick or treating, and she said not very many. So I made up 30 super cute little goodie bags to pass out.
Before it was time for the trick or treaters, Donnie and I carved up some pumpkins. We has a blast doing this. I did the bat, which did not take very much time. Donnie, however, did a skull, and this took him a very long time. And you know what? I think they turned out great!
Frankie had to be in on the action, of course. We out him in his ladybug costume for the night. He was not too fond of the hat, so after I look some pictures, he was allowed to take it off.
Because the weather was so nice outside we passed out candy on the porch, and yes Frankie did help us. Everyone LOVED Frankie. The thought he was the cutest thing ever! And we tend to agree.
To our dismay the 30 goodie bag went very fast. Donnie had to run to CVS and get more candy, while I was holding down the fort!
But we had a blast! It was so fun chatting with our neighbors, and seeing all the kiddies dressed up. All and all Donnie thinks we had about 60 kids. Frankie loved all the attention he was getting from these 60 kids!

Happy Birthday Week To Me!

I have been told that some people only get one day to celebrate their birthday. Not I! I give myself a week! Somehow others have caught on to this idea and let me celebrate for the whole week. I know...it's hard being me. :-) Email me and I'll give you my address to send all your gifts. hahaha
Today something fun came in the mail for me, not for my birthday. Because I signed up to be a consultant with Tastefully Simple, I got this awesome spice rack with all the spices. Needless to say Frankie had to make sure it was all okay.
Have you all entered my giveaway?

Time for a Giveaway!!!

It's time for the Fall Y'all bloggy giveaway!!! yeah!!!

As all you regular readers know I have started selling Tastefully Simple, so you all know the giveaway has got to be Tastefully Simple!
I'm giving away the Cozy Comfort gift pack to one lucky reader! This includes the Bountiful Beer Bread Mix, Creamy Wild Rice Soup Mix, and Chocolate Ugly Cake Mix. This will come right to your door in a beautiful gift box, and a Tastefully Simple leaf adornment.

So here is what you do;

Head over to my website and look around!

Leave a comment to this post. If you would like to be included in my email database to receive Tastefully Simple recipes and sale notices, leave your email. :-) Remember only one comment per person!

The lucky winner will be randomly chosen on November 3rd. (also know as the day Stacey was born :-) ) I will be sure to let the lucky person know right away via blog or email.

The lucky winner must live in the United States.

Good luck everyone! Also remember to check out all the other giveaways!

UPDATE: Comments are now closed. Thanks for playing everyone!

Ha Ha Ha

Recently Donnie's dad gave him a stack of old photos. Donnie has been going though all them, and scanning them so he can put on DVD. The picture that I posted above is my all time favorite picture of Donnie ever taken. Now keep in mind that Donnie and I are both only children. However I never gave myself bunny ears in a picture before!

What a Deal!

Donnie and I are in a small group from our church that meets on Monday nights. As a service project we are collecting items for a children's home. I knew that I had to CVS for the best deals. And using this blog, I was able to do just that. Not everything I ended up getting is for the children's home, some is for Halloween!

Okay.....drum roll please....I spent about $20....and saved $60!!!! I think this is my best trip yet!!!!! yeah!!!

What a Night!

Tonight was the big "Howl-o-ween" at Petsmart. Not only could you have your picture taken with your pet, but there was also a costume contest. I had been looking forward to this event for a long while now, and tonight was the big night.
Frankie, needless to say, was VERY excited about the whole event. He was about the burst with excitement on the way there.
We did not put Frankie in his costume until we were ready to go into Petsmart. (we did not want him to look wrinkly) And while we were in the parking lot, we noticed that there were A LOT of cars there.
Well...we got inside, and it was PACKED!!! Donnie guesses there was over 100 people there. It was NUTS. We did not know if we were coming or going! When we got there it was almost time for the costume contest. So we waited with the million other dogs.
Donnie and I were SURE he was going to win. He was SO cute. How can someone not love a Pug in a bumble bee costume? However, somehow the judges did not agree. Frankie did not even place. To be honest, this upset me. I'm going to write an angry letter to Petsmart.
From there we went to have our picture taken. I think this is the most horribly funny picture I have ever seen. I have the most super fake smile on, Donnie looks high, and Frankie is not even paying attention. We laughed SO hard looking at this picture.
We will be skipping this event next year.

Update

Yesterday I had to work, and when I came I found a note from the squirrels taped to the door. This is what it says:

Dear Pretty Lady, (that's me)
We are sorry for eating your yummy pumpkins. We tried to be good but they looked so tasty. We get so tired of nothing but chestnuts all the time. Thank you for the yummies.
We love you pretty lady,
The Squirrels.

Well...how can a pretty lady like myself stay mad at the squirrels after a note like that?

grrrrrr

At this moment, I'm not a very happy camper. When Donnie, Katie and I went to visit CMU I bought three super cute pumpkins. Well..this morning I went out and this is what I found:
The squirrels had bit into one of the pumpkins!!!!! This did not make me very happy. However, at this point the other two pumpkins were untouched. (thank goodness!!!!) A couple hours later I went back out to find this:
They had knocked two of them on the ground and were going to town with them. When I saw this, I was ready to have squirrel soup for dinner. And the pumpkin that they did leave on the step they had started tasting. Grrrr those darn squirrels!

Frankie!

A few of you might remember Frankie's photo shoot that he had awhile back. Well...I finally did something with the pictures!!! It only took four months!! hehehe
I turned them black and white, framed them with clip frames, and then Donnie hung them in the computer room. I'm pleased with how they came out!

It's that time of year!

A few weeks back I was over at my mom and dad's house, and I got thinking about Halloween decorations. I love fall, and I also highly enjoy Halloween. I think this is because it is so close to my birthday!

One of my fondest childhood memorises is hanging up the Halloween window decorations. I just LOVED this. Well, I mentioned it to my mother, and she did not remember anything about these decorations! I was shocked!

At this news, I promptly took these decorations home with me to hang up. I know they are over 25 years old, and I know they are slightly (okay totally) tacky, but I LOVE them! They have such happy memories attached to them!

Fire Up Chips!!

As most of you know, yesterday, Donnie, Katie and I headed to CMU. Our first stop was in Midland. We had to show Donnie the Tridge. I'm sure many of you are asking what is a Tridge? Well... in Midland it is three bridges that are all connected, but going in different directions. I hope that helps. We all had a great time, a cold time, but it was still good.
Then we headed on campus to show Donnie all around. It was funny to be back after so many years of not being there. Oddly not too much has changed. We even stopped by our old dorm rooms.
We also headed the SBX, a bookstore across the street from campus. And know what they were selling? Webkinz!! So Donnie had to get his own webkinz! Its a cute little polar bear.
After walking around campus for a bit, we headed to the casino! We were planning on going there, so before we left Donnie and I went and got a bunch of change for the nickle slots. Well..we got there, and know what? They no longer take change!!! You have to use these ticket things! Its crazy! I think its WAY less fun! I think Donnie and I spent about $5, and I think Katie spent around $2.

Needless to say, we had a great time!

Camp!!!

Today was Frankie's big day at camp! I was very nervous dropping him off this morning, and I was waiting for a phone call telling us that he was too anti social and we needed to come pick him up. However, this did not happen. As it turns out, he had a great time!

We were told that there was another pug there named Mr. Wrinkles, and he and Frankie played together all day! Wow! He played!! However, he was anti social with the other dogs. I think it was really good for him to be at camp today. I know this is going to sound odd, but I swear he is acting younger. It was all that play time with Mr. Wrinkles!

Below, you will find his report card for the day. They loved him!

Day Camp!

Tomorrow, Donnie, Katie and I are heading up to CMU for the day. This is where Katie and I went to school. I have not been up there in FOREVER, so I'm very excited to go visit. After planning this trip, I got to thinking about Frankie. What is our Puggie going to do all day without us? The answer to this is three words.

Doggie Day Camp!!!!

Petsmart, at some locations, have doggie day camp, so we are sending him there for the day. This is not something that I would normally do, but I have a coupon for one day of FREE doggie day camp. What can be better than free???!!!??

I called this morning to make a reservation for him, and the kind lady was telling me all that they do during the day.

8-9am Quiet time
9-12pm Group Play Time
12-1pm Nap Time
1-5 Group Play time

Based on this schedule I'm a bit worried about Frankie. He is big into napping, and not so big into playing. However, it will be his dream come true if someone will pet him during the group play time. I will let you all know how it goes!!!

hummmm

Something odd is going on in my house. I always (well 95% of the time) sleep with my socks on. But a few mornings now I have woke up to one sock on, and one sock off. This is slightly alarming to me. Who is taking off one of my socks in the middle of the night? Donnie claims that he knows nothing about it.
Even Frankie is very perplexed by this. He also claims to know nothing about it. Therefore, the only conclusion that I can come to is that we have a sock ghost. Does anyone else have a sock ghost?

Crafty!

Over the past few weeks, I have been working on something super duper crafty. I had been wanting to do this ever since we moved in, and I finally did it!
The canvases together spell LOVE. Then on each canvas I have the words from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 cut out from magazines.
This craftiness was a bit more expensive than normal seeing that I bought canvases and paint. I think all together I spent about $16 on it. I already had paint brushes, glue, and the magazine.
To make this craftiness, first I had to paint the canvases, four different colors. Then of course, Frankie had to step on the wet paint, and then make paw prints on the carpet. After that we had to put up a puggy gate, to keep him away. He did not think this was a good idea!
I had printed the letters for LOVE from the computer, so I glued them on, and then painted hearts on them. After that, I glued the magazine letters on, then painted some more hearts, and I was done! I'm very happy how they turned out!

The WHOLE Story

*please note: things on this blog are normally on the light, and some what funny side. Today's post will most likely be neither of those things. Consider yourself warned. :-)

As I have posted the past few days, I have not been feeling too hot over this past week. Well...there is more to the story than what I have shared, and I think at this point I'm ready to share it all. Pull up a chair....this might get long.

So about 4 weeks ago, we took Frankie to get groomed. Well, I was very late getting my period, and just to rule it out, I decided to get a pregnancy test. I was for sure I was not pregnant, but I just wanted to rule it out. However, the test came back positive. I WAS PREGNANT! This was very shocking news to both Donnie and I! I cried. I'm not sure if they were happy tears. At this time we told VERY few people. We wanted to wait a bit to let everyone know.

Over the next few weeks Donnie and I got pumped about having a baby. I checked out pregnancy books from the library and started my prenatal vitamins. Donnie and I would browse the baby department of stores, and we even had a named picked out. I even planned how I wanted to decorate the nursery.

Things were going great, until this past week. Last Friday night I started cramping and bleeding a bit. I know some bleeding is common, so I did not think anything of it. However, as I posted, I was still feeling bad all weekend, and went to the doctor, who said I had a badder infection. I was still bleeding at this point, so I called my new O.B.G.Y.N.'s emergency number on Sunday. The fastest they could get me in was on Tuesday. So all I could do was wait till then.

On Tuesday, Donnie and I went to the doctor to have my blood taken, and have an ultrasound done. I was told that there was no sign of pregnancy with the ultra sound. I was saddened by this, but I still had hope. I knew because I was still so early they might not see anything.

On Wednesday I got the news that my blood work showed that I still had the pregnancy hormone running in my vanes. This gave me hope that everything might be okay! I had to go back in on Thursday so they could see if my hormone levels were going up or down. (up meaning I'm pregnant, down meaning a miscarriage) Again I had to wait.

I was anxiously awaiting to hear from the doctor today. Donnie and I ran to Petsmart (where the whole story started) when I got the call. I had miscarried. This was devastating news to hear, especially standing right next to doggie treats.

My mind soon filled with what if's

What if I would have ate better?
What if I would have not been walking so much?
What if I would have rested more?
What if I would have rested less?

Then the spiritual what if's

What if I had prayed more?
What if I had read my bible more?
What if I was a better person?

I'm telling you, the what if's are the hardest part.

Then I get mad, why did God have to take our baby away from us? I know the common answer for this is that sin is in the world, and because of sin, people die. For some reason, this is not a comforting thought. Also, I have been hearing that "God has a plan". God planned to take my baby from me? Before I have even got to meet him or her? This thought is not is not very comforting also.

I would love any and all prayers at this time for Donnie and I to remain strong during this difficult time.

Ohhh

After I posted yesterday I remember that there were a couple of things I wanted to add to the story. Because I was so sick, I ended up missing both Monday and Tuesday of work. And you know what? When I went back on Wednesday, they told me I got a raise! How cool! I need to miss work more often. hahaha (I really got my raise because it was my anniversary of working for them.) :-) Now I'm rich!!! hehehe

Yuck

In my last post I was saying that I was not feeling that great. Well...things went from bad to worse. Sunday I ended up going to an urgent care center, and they told me I had a bladder infection. I knew this was not the real thing going on, so on Tuesday I was able to get into my doctor. Well..they took blood, and they called me today saying they need more blood. I think the hardest part is waiting for them to find out wants wrong!