happy halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying this season as much as we are. This cold weather has made it feel much more like fall lately... We even had to turn on our heat! I can't believe October is already over.. This is my favorite time of year! 

We celebrated Halloween this year with our nephews, Truett and Jack who came to trick-or-treat at our house. This was their first time, so it was pretty exciting. They weren't quite sure what to do when I greeted them at the door with a bowl full of candy. Truett tried to take the whole bowl. Jack wanted to hold the candy in his hands instead of putting it in his bag. I made these rice krispie treat pops to make it even more festive. :)

 Batman and Raphael showing us their muscles!

We had a little celebration with homemade hot chocolate and marshmallows. Toby had a fun time chasing them around the house. And we only had one spill! I consider that a success.

 Truett is wearing Brian's old batman costume that his mom made for him when he was a kid!

Toby isn't used to so much excitement around here! :)

HL Girls weekend!

This weekend we had our annual Hamilton Lakes Girls Weekend. Last year, we headed to Sparta to visit Michelle at her beautiful country home. Last year was special because she announced to all of us at once that she was pregnant! It was so fun to find out all together! This year, Reagan joined in the weekend fun! 

I drove up to Charlotte to ride the rest of the way with Carrie. We hit some bad traffic, but we were still able to make it before Reagan went to bed. We couldn't wait to get our hands on that sweet baby! 

We got to experience bath time! Look at how cute she is!! 

And then the Raleigh/Greensboro car arrived! We all just couldn't take our eyes off of Reagan. She was certainly the star of the weekend. 

We spent the entire evening laughing and catching up on life. The next morning, Michelle made pancakes, and we took our time drinking coffee and passing Reagan around the room. She took her morning nap, and then it was time for a photo shoot!

We dressed her up in this adorable little outfit and propped her up next to pumpkins. She is very photogenic. Just a beautiful happy baby! She only cried a couple of times, and even that was adorable.

 It's fun to have traditions. Here we are this year....

And last year when Reagan was in Michelle's tummy. :)

We took a short drive to an overlook on the parkway. The leaves were beautiful!  

And then it was time to say goodbye. It was a quick trip, but great to see everyone. Especially Reagan. Can't wait until next year!

fall is in the air

We had a big cold front this past weekend, and we are loving the chill in the air! Toby is a huge fan of the cooler weather. He usually prefers to be indoors, but now he loves to lay in the grass and chew on sticks. :)

Brian's best friend Mike flew down from Bloomington for a long weekend visit! From what I saw, it looked like they had the perfect weekend together. Lots of video games, boy movies, junk food, and guitar strumming.

 I have added little touches of fall to our house to make it festive... Nothing big, just little touches.

Adding different colored dry beans to a trifle dish is such an inexpensive center piece. Thanks, pinterest! :)

I got these Chinese lanterns in the dry flower section at Whole Foods. I added them to what I had for a fall touch.

I am OBSESSED with these colorful stacking pumpkins! I stood in front of Home Depot arranging them, figuring out which ones would work best for my space. I could have gone crazy buying them, but I tried to keep it to a minimum.

This makes me happy to come home to!

apple picking!

Today I went apple picking with my friends Kristin and Pam! We drove to Hillcrest Orchards in Ellijay, GA which was about an hour and a half north. It was the perfect way to spend the first day of our three-day weekend. The weather was perfect... with a nice cool autumn breeze in the air, it smelled like fall!

 We were told that there weren't too many apples left on the trees, but we found a few!

There were lots of yucky ones on the ground...

 But still some hanging in the trees!

 Pretty Pam and her pretty apple. :)

This orchard had other activities, one of which was cow milking! None of us had ever milked a cow before, so we did it just so we could say we had done it. Poor cow...

 And we were given stickers that said, "I milked Buttercup at Hillcrest Orchards."

After waiting in a long line for the bathroom so that we could wash our hands, we filled up the rest of our bags with apples that had already been picked. 

Then we munched on apple fritters, apple pie, and homemade ice cream, and were off! It was such a fun and festive day! 

a whirlwind weekend!

Things in the O'Steen family never seem to happen easily as far as weddings go... When I got married three years ago, I had six bridesmaids in six different states, my parents were living in FL, I was living in MD, Brian was in IL, and the wedding was in NC (where no one lived). The planning process was a bit tricky and complicated, but we made it work. We always knew Natalie's wedding would be easier because it would be local.. or so we thought. Now that my parents are in Los Angeles for three years, my mom is planning yet another long distance wedding! Who knew... But, we will make the most of it! 

I went down to FL with my mom this past weekend to help with some of the planning... My mom flew to Atlanta on Thursday evening and we drove that night to Natalie's house in Gainesville together. The next morning, we drove to St. Augustine for a day of wedding appointments! It was a full day and much was accomplished! 

Mom is using the same wedding notebook she used for my wedding. Did I mention that there will be four O'Steen weddings in three years? 

First stop: St. Francis Officer's Club Barracks. This is where the reception will be right in the heart of downtown St. Augustine. We met with the wedding coordinator and discussed ideas for the layout. 

Next stop: The Oldest House Garden, which just so happens to be across the street from the reception site! Guests can simply walk across the street to the reception after the ceremony. Look how beautiful this place is! Dan and Natalie will be married under this huge tree!

After that, we headed over to The Bistro for a food tasting! We were hungry when we got there and completely stuffed when we left. While meeting with the caterer (who we love!), we tasted stuffed mushrooms, shrimp and grits, chicken marsala, a yummy salad, tomato basil pie, and an olive and goat cheese crisp. DELICIOUS. Let me just say, the food at this wedding id going to be tasty. 

A cake tasting followed the food tasting. We were so full, but there's always room for dessert! We headed over to Sweet Weddings to eat cake! Of course this was my favorite part!

Loved this presentation! Our favorite fillings were key lime, coconut, raspberry, chocolate mousse, dulce de leche, and guava. Really, they were all pretty good!

And then we headed over to St. Augustine Paper Company to choose invitations. Natalie decided on the most adorable invites. And we fell in love with Shelly, the designer. 

After deciding on invitations, we drove over to the rental company to discuss the rentals of the tent, china, and linens. Then we grabbed a quick coffee and headed to my parents' house in Ormond Beach... stopping at the J.Crew outlet of course! 

The next day we headed to the BEACH for some much needed down time. It was the perfect weather, and the clouds were amazing! 

Momkept talking about how California beaches just aren't the same as Florida beaches...

That afternoon we went back to the house to see Silas! Mom bought him a pumpkin, and he painted a face on it.

 He placed it inside his tent to dry while we played in the pool.

While drying off, Silas and "Manna" sang songs together.. Here they are singing some alligator song. :)

After John and Tiffany left with Silas, Mom, Dad, Natalie and I headed back to the beach. We just couldn't get enough. A lovely way to end the weekend!