Halloween 2016 | As You Wish

October was probably my busiest month on record at work (really the entire last half of 2016), but we managed to squeeze in some fun fall activities during the week of Halloween. Starting with picking out the perfect pumpkins...

The kids painted some masterpieces.

And Josh put his master pumpkin carving skills to work once again.

 I put some little helpers to work picking out the seeds. However, we didn't have time to roast them that night, and then they were moldy the next day. Womp, womp. 

But the kids' Halloween lunches were much more successful. 

In keeping with our movie character tradition, this year we went with a Princess Bride theme. Ava was Princess Buttercup, and Rylan was Dread Pirate Roberts. I think I've said this every year, but these may be my favorite costumes to date.

The costumes were fairly easy to put together thanks to a "Juliette Capulet" dress from Target, a renaissance pirate shirt from Etsy, a mask and sword from a Zorro set, and some cheap boot covers. We had the black pants and gloves on hand and used a small piece of black fabric for the head wrap. And of course some brown eye liner for the mustache. 

I couldn't find a crown that truly fit the bill, so I made one using stiffened/painted lace, spray-painted paper flowers, beads and wire, and lots of hot glue.

I am very proud of how it turned out, and it looks pretty darn close to the movie version!

Ava wore the crown proudly, and was the most beautiful princess. She also thought that Princess Buttercup was the best name EVER!

And Ry loved being a pirate. The sword was definitely his favorite part...my favorite was clearly the little mustache. It kills me!

"As you wiiiiiiiiish."

Happy Holidays 2016!

Taking a break from blog catch-up to wish everyone Happy Holidays from the Shepherd family! {Christmas may be over, but Hanukkah is still going strong and New Year's is this weekend, so I feel like this is still timely.} 

 2016 has been a ridiculously crazy year in countless ways, but it has also made me extremely thankful for so much. Here's to a happy, healthy, and much less stressful 2017!

State Fair of Texas 2016

I'm continuing my blog catch-up with a post today about the two trips we made to the wonderful State Fair of Texas this fall. The Fair is something we look forward to all year long, and I'm so glad we got to fit in two visits this time around.

For our first visit, we decided to focus on the rides and midway games.

But first: Fletcher's corny dogs.

I always like to try at least one new food item, and this time it was the fried cookie dough.

[Bonus points for the Seinfeld reference.]

OMG...it was amazing, but so rich. Luckily, Josh and the kids were more than happy to take one for the team and help me finish them.

For our second visit, both to save money and switch things up a bit, we focused on the free kid-friendly shows and exhibits. Grammie was able to join in on the fun with us as well!

In an effort to arrive while the animals were still hungry, our first stop was the petting zoo.

The silly goat stole our cup!

After a pit-stop for a true breakfast of champions: chicken fried bacon and beer...

We headed inside to watch the cowboy show. 

It was clearly mesmerizing! 

Upon leaving, a sweet security guard directed us around the corner to the rabbit exhibit. There were literally hundreds of bunnies in all sizes and colors. Ava was in heaven! 

Finally, we made our way through the "Little Hands on the Farm" exhibit, which the kids loved. And not just because they got to trade in the "money" they earned for a bag of chips.

This right here. Pure little-boy bliss.

And the winning new food item during this visit was the fried pecan pie. Yessssss!

Until next year, Big Tex!

Anniversary Weekend 2016

To celebrate our eighth anniversary in October, Josh and I enjoyed a short staycation in Fort Worth to attend the TCU-OU game (I will always take quality time and college football over gifts) thanks to Bunny's gracious babysitting services.

In lieu of traditional tailgating, we parked ourselves at the bar of Dutch's to enjoy burgers and beer. 

Then it was time for the game.

The final score wasn't what I'd hoped, but it was a very exciting game with a cute date. And OU still sucks.

After the game, we headed to Reata to enjoy cocktails on their rooftop patio followed by a wonderful meal.

It was such a wonderful day! And sleeping-in followed by room service breakfast at the Worthington was quite nice as well...you know you're a parent of young children when you want sleep as your anniversary present :).

Steve & Diana's Baby Shower

I am soooo behind on blogging (work has been insane; see my left eye twitch that just won't quit), and it's about time that I posted photos from the baby shower we helped host months ago over Labor Day weekend.

Steve and Diana didn't know the gender at that point, so we kept it neutral and fiesta-themed. The shower was held at Iron Cactus in Austin as so many of their friends and family were in town for the UT-Notre Dame game that weekend. Cyndi handled all the heavy lifting with the planning, and it was all fabulous! I am now convinced that all showers should involve Tex-Mex, margaritas, and football.

(Forgive the picture quality; the lighting in the room was less than ideal for photos.)

I love the idea of using children's books as the guest book at a shower, and this one was perfect for the theme. 

And my favorite party detail was the adorable set of cookies from Hayley Cakes & Cookies. 

To go along with the gender-neutral theme, I requested TCU-inspired Mexican dress onesies and UT-inspired mariachi onesies. They turned out so well!

Everyone had a great time hanging out, watching football, and eating a bunch of Mexican food.

And of course there were some fun gifts to open. 

It was such a fun shower, and now these two are the proud parents of a sweet baby BOY!