Colors
You most definitely do not have to stick with traditional fall colors.  Weddings come with their own color trends.  This year plum, fuchsia, silver and dark sage and big hits.

Location
Just because it’s fall you are not required to hold the ceremony indoors.  However, make sure there is a plan in case of inclement weather.  Have heaters available and remind guests to bring a coat.

Favors
You can use the season to inspire your party favors.  Pumpkin scented candles, leaf shaped candy, or matchbooks for lighting those winter fires can all work.

Food
Having a few seasonal food items can be fun, but stick to an overall menu that you think most people will enjoy.  Butternut squash, fig, apple, and pumpkin can be worked into appealing appetizers and desserts.  Some great choices are apple tarts, pumpkin spread on crostinis, and butternut squash hummus.

This biggest thing to remember is that just because it’s fall you do not need to theme your wedding.  Pick colors, food, and dresses that you like and work for you.

]]> http://www.puddlescollection.com/blog/fall-wedding-season-2010/418/feed/ 2 http://www.puddlescollection.com/blog/follow-friday-2/425/ http://www.puddlescollection.com/blog/follow-friday-2/425/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:32:18 +0000 admin http://www.puddlescollection.com/blog/?p=425

Pasta Salad

• 12 oz bow tie pasta or tri-colored spirals, cooked according to package directions
• 1 can hearts of palm, sliced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 cucumber, sliced and seeded
• grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced and seeded
• 1 container mozzarella balls

Dressing

• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp dijon or spicy brown mustard
• 2 gloves garlic, minced
• pepper, to taste

Combine all the items in a large serving bowl, toss with dressing, and chill for at least 3 hours before serving.  You can make this a main dish item by adding cooked chicken or shrimp!

To start I gathered a hammer, dry wall screws, measuring tape, and a pencil.  I grabbed the ladder and went to work.  It took surprisingly very little time and effort and made me wonder why I had been waiting so long for someone else to do it.  And I am not handy at all.  I staggered the stars so they wouldn’t need to be in a straight line.

This is one of my favorite items – the stuffed animal zoo.  My son has a TON of stuffed animals and they were taking over his room.  This piece of furniture solved everything!  He can easily put them in himself and take them out.

Since I was on a roll I headed over to my daughter’s room to hang a picture (now that I am an expert at that!) and change the curtains.  Her original curtains were on hooks, but it was pretty easy to just slide those off and and put the new ones directly on the rod.

So this Tackle It Tuesday was very productive and the kids love their new decor!

]]> http://www.puddlescollection.com/blog/decorating-the-kids-rooms/352/feed/ 0 http://www.puddlescollection.com/blog/tackling-the-vacation-plans/346/ http://www.puddlescollection.com/blog/tackling-the-vacation-plans/346/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:38:49 +0000 admin http://www.puddlescollection.com/blog/?p=346 I booked our summer vacation a few months ago, meaning airplane tickets and hotel reservations.  So today I am tackling car reservations.  We have two families going on this adventure and I think with the massive amounts of luggage we will have with four adults and four kids (ages 3-5) we will need two cars.  Leaves more flexibility for excursions as well.  I’ve priced it all out today so just need to book it!

So now onto activities.  So far our family has one major outing scheduled, a college football game.  But I plan to scout out a few local restaurants, shaved ice shops, and other hang outs for us to make some visits to.  As much as the kids love the beach and pool we will need to have a few other fun things to do on the schedule, including some indoor options.

Then there’s packing which I don’t even want to think about yet!

SET EXPECTATIONS: What is the purpose of the vacation? Relax? Sight Seeing? Make sure everyone knows the plan.  Choose activities that are fun for everyone.

PACKING: Everyone gets their own bag – don’t pack the kids in your bag.  Keep your suitcase for your clothes and travel items.  Pick the size luggage that you can handle hauling around and fit all of your stuff into that.  Don’t pick your luggage based on how much stuff you want to bring.   Have your child identify a few items that they cannot live without (like that special blanket or stuffed animal).  Then pack a few other things like books and small toys to keep them occupied during down time.  Be careful about bringing anything that can’t be replace as things do get lost/left behing.

AIRPLANE BAGS: Each of my children has their own backpack to bring on the plane.  Inside those backpacks you will find coloring books, crayons, leapster, snacks, a drink, books, action figures, hot wheels, princesses, and ponies.   In my backpack you will find a dvd player, treats, and changes of clothes in addition to my Ipod, book, and DS.  For our trip this year I splurged and bought each of the kids new headphones, Toy Story and Disney Princess.

DURING THE TRIP: Decide up front if you are going to try to keep the kids on schedule for things like meal times, naps, and bed times.  We go with the flow on vacation, but try to maintain a decent bed time.  Overtired, cranky kids are no fun for anyone so be realistic about how much you are squeezing into a day.  Always have tons of snacks with you and a change of clothes for everyone, not just the kids (you never know when your child’s food or drink will end up spilled all over you!)

RELAX: It is vacation!

We are doing a beach style vacation this year so our challenge will be keeping the kids entertained without many activities planned. Luckily they both love the water so I see a lot of pool and sand time happening.  But we will need more than two beach chairs!

Pull Out All The Toys.  Yes, we pulled out all the toys into the living room.

Sort The Toys.  We put all the toys in piles:  older child, younger child, giveaway, toy pieces.  We then tried to match up all the loose pieces with their toy or game.  Then we grouped the items in each child’s pile  (ie board games, action figures, dolls, etc).

Giving Away Toys. I promptly e-mailed several friends who have babies with a list of toys that are ready for new homes.  One has already picked up some and the other two are scheduled to come over this week.  Funny how the kids start playing with toys that have  gone unused for 6 months once they are in the giveaway pile!

Organizing and Putting the Toys Away. We put certain toys in the kids rooms and chose others to stay in the play room.

The Aftermath.  Then there are the toys that are no longer usable.  Broken hot wheels tracks, games with missing pieces.  Some of these went into the recycling bin.

I finally feel like we have some space again!  Getting the baby toys out was a huge part of that.  We unearthed some hidden treasures from the bottom of the toy bin and the back of some shelves – it’s almost like having a few new toys!