We don’t do well with mythical creatures at our house.

Santa Claus?
Well, we open gifts on Christmas Eve night (family tradition…don’t judge).
So that kind of does away with the whole Santa thing.

Easter Bunny?
Not sure what a bunny has to do with the Resurrection, so we’ve never incorporated that.
Oh sure, the kids all get baskets filled with candy and such.
Easter is a big celebration day for us.
And what kind of a celebration would it be without chocolate?
I’m pretty sure Jesus approves.

But the Tooth Fairy….
Well, that’s a different story.
We have clung to the Tooth Fairy as long as possible.
I can’t really figure out why.
Except that when you have teeth falling out of your mouth, it could be traumatic.
And you should probably be rewarded.
And someone coming to leave money under your pillow seems like a good idea.

There’s only one problem.
Our Tooth Fairy is a slacker.
Sometimes she forgets that there have been teeth lost.
And she rarely carries cash.
So she has been known to beg, borrow, and sometimes steal from the other children in the family
Just to reward the one with the tooth under their pillow.
I know.
It’s sad.

Hope has been losing a lot of teeth lately.
She lost one just a week or so ago.
Our Tooth Fairy was on top of it that day.
There was a dollar left…and a happy, toothless girl.

She lost another tooth yesterday.
(Notice the tongue sticking out where the tooth should be)
Well, that is too many tooth losses too close in successsion for our slacker Fairy.

Here is the pillow under which said tooth was placed.

Here is what Hope found this morning.
Yep, that’s right.
Her same tooth, nicely placed in a baggie (so it won’t get lost).
Still there.
No cash.

This sent the *tooth fairy* running around the house from room to room this morning.
Begging cash from the other children.
No cash was to be found.
So a lame excuse was given.
Maybe the tooth fairy doesn’t like the rain…..????
Maybe it’s just taking her longer to get here with the bad weather….???

I know, right?
Lame.
But Hope seemed to go with it, so we’re sticking with our story.
And now I’m off to the bank.

I love letters.
Not the kind that come in the mail.
Well, actually I love those too.
But I mean alphabet letters.
And numbers.
I just like how they look.

I’ve  incorporated this love into my decorating style.It’s a part of my morning cup of tea.

If I had my way, I would probably label everything in my house.
I just love the way it looks.

(photo credit)
I think this is absolutely fantastic.

(photo credit)
And someday, when I have an island in my kitchen,
I am totally going to copy this idea.
Numbered stools?
Oh yes.

Maybe my love of letters is why I started doing what I do.
Because when I look at the charms that appeal to me most,
I see this:

The Descriptive Initial Charm

The Framed Initial Charm

The Distressed Initial Charm

Hmmm….I’m noticing a little bit of a trend here.

It’s a rainy morning at my house.
It’s October.
In Oregon.
This is not unusual.

That last picture is my patio.
In the summer it’s all happy.
Filled with friends, s’more parties, lights, barbecues.
Right now it’s looking a little bedraggled and sad.
Oh well.

It was a busy morning at our house.
Hope was getting ready for a field trip today.
To the pumpkin patch.
In the pouring rain.

I had to laugh when I got an email from her teacher yesterday.
It basically said, “Bring a change of clothes for tomorrow.”
We’ll be muddy and wet, but we will have fun if we are prepared.”
I’ve got to give a little shout out to Mrs. V this morning.
Because she rocks.
She is a 3rd grade teacher not afraid to take on a little rain.

We are Oregonians, after all.
Our kinfolk came across the country via the Oregon Trail.
They were not swayed by pestilence, disease, or a little rain.
Even though I am not a native Oregonian, I am claiming those genes.

So this morning, I have eaten my oatmeal
(with a little brown sugar for energy…hello).
And I am ready to take on the day.
Whatever it brings.
Rain, mud, pestilence.
On second thought…I’d rather not have any pestilence.
But you get what I mean.

So my parents were here last weekend
and we picked apples at a great orchard out in the country.
I had been planning this family outing for awhile
and I had some specific ideas about what we would do.

We would pick apples.
Check.
We would drink freshly pressed apple cider.
Check. 
We would eat homemade cobbler (they give it away at this farm).
Check.
And we would make some applesauce.

I remember my Mom making applesauce when I was growing up in Illinois.
So it’s a little bit nostalgic for me.
Plus, it tastes really good.

The downside of making applesauce?
Cutting all those apples.
But I had an idea.
I mentioned that I’d been thinking about an old fashioned style apple peeler/corer.
So my Dad tracked one down.
My Dad’s good at that kind of shopping.
You have a goal.
You hunt it down.
You buy it.
Score.

So we had our apples (a box of beautiful Gravensteins)
We had our apple peeler.
We were ready to go.

Sam became the master apple peeler. 
It was right up his alley.
All speed and finesse.

This is my mom, the master applesauce maker.

It’s kind of amazing how quickly just apples and water turn into applesauce.

And why is it so satisfying it is to see jars of something you canned yourself?
I’m not sure, but I know that it is.

Make Applesauce.
Check.

Well, we have a winner…drum roll, please.
Tara Hielema has won our new Love Note Charm!
Congrats, Tara.
And thanks to everyone who commented and spread the word with some blog and facebook love!

Because so many of you had such great ideas for charms,
we have decided to offer the Love Note Charm at a special sale price.
SO…from now through Monday, the Love Note Charm will be on sale for $5 off the normal price.
That means it’s only $21.
What a bargain!
You might need to order now for Christmas.
Just saying.

In case you forgot what the sweet little charm looks like, here it is.

In case you forgot what the sweet little girl (who came up with the charm idea) looks like, here she is!

Who doesn’t like a good love note?
Seriously.

Last night after we had dinner, I did the dishes and then went out to run a few errands.
The dishwasher was full, but there were a few dishes that didn’t quite fit.
Not being a big believer in doing dishes by hand, I had left them in the sink to soak.

When I got home, this was what I found on the kitchen counter.
The note says,
“Dear Erica, I (heart) u.
If your wondering. I did the dishes.
Love, Hope
I (heart) u”

This is Hope, my 8 year old love note writer.
She loves to wash dishes by hand.
Something about the water, and the soap, and the splashing around.
She also loves to leave notes.
And she is very creative.

Notice the extra addition of the Dymo sticker.
Just to make it a little bit more special.
And so that I don’t forget who I am.
In case you can’t make it out, it says, “MOM – ERICA”.
This kid cracks me up.

A few weeks ago we were in a church service.
She had reached her limit, so I was searching in my purse for something…ANYTHING…to keep her occupied.
I found a notepad and a pen, and that seemed to keep her satisfied for awhile.
It wasn’t long until she nudged me and handed me this:

To: Erica
From: Secret
And then I opened it up.

Again, in case you can’t make it out, it says,
“I’m Hope. Your awesome Mom.”
(Her spelling, not mine)

I love these notes.
I hope I never stop getting them.
After she handed me this one, I said, “Hope, we need to make a charm out of this!”
She was all for it.

So….we are pleased to introduce our new Love Note Charm!

This is a dainty little charm (just 5/8″ x 1/2″).
It comes with a heart stamped on the envelope flap.
Feel free to customize with your own (secret) love note…in parentheses.
(Up to 6 characters)
So cute…I can hardly stand it!
You can go here to get more details…or to place an order for your very own!

This is what it looks like around your neck…love it!
I think maybe we need to give one away, so just leave a comment…what would your love note say?

We will leave comments open until midnight on Wednesday (October 20).
AND, if you blog about our giveaway or put it on your facebook, you will get extra entries!
(Just be sure to come back and leave extra comments for each)
I can’t wait to read your ideas for  love notes.

Blog posts have been a little sparse around here lately.
We’ve had guests at our house.
The Best. Guests. Ever.
Grandpa and Grandma were here.

We’ve never lived in the same city with grandparents, so whenever we get the chance to be together, it’s like gold.
My folks were here this last week and we had some fun.
Their visit just happened to coincide with some big events at our house.

Sam got to play a football game in the college stadium in our city.
It seats around 60,000, so it’s kind of a big deal to get to play there.
He played a night game under the lights.
His  team won.
And he recovered a fumble and made a couple of really great tackles.
It was quite a night.

Homecoming was that same night and Claire went with her friend David.
Aren’t they cute?
They went with a bunch of their friends.

 
Okay, just a quick question here.
What happened to the days of being all awkward and gawky in high school?
Since when did kids start looking all sassy and cute like this?
I know I am totally sounding like an old person right now,
but I’m pretty sure I got short-changed in the high school sassiness department.
Shoot.

We even were able to schedule an outing that our whole family attended.
Together.
Did you know how hard it is to get your whole family doing something together when two of those said family are teenagers?
And have access to their own transportation?
Almost impossible!
But on Saturday we went to the neatest family orchard about 30 minutes away.

It’s apple season, and we were determined to do some apple picking.
This is Grandpa and Sam getting some tasty golden delicious apples right off the tree.
Nothing like it.
We sampled a few, just to keep our energy up!

It seemed like the perfect way to spend a fall morning.

Hope came home with a pumpkin and a balloon.
Nothing wrong with that.

Now it’s Monday.
The Grandparents have left to go home.
We are readjusting to real life again.
It sure was fun while it lasted.
We are already counting the days till we see them again!

This week has been spirit week at Sam and Hope’s school.
It’s always a fun excuse do dress up.
We’ve done crazy hair day, fashion disaster day (aka clash day), etc.

Today was “Fake an Injury Day.”
Seriously…where do they come up with this stuff?
We even took a trip to the local Goodwill to see if there were any crutches, slings, or the like.
No such luck.
So, they had just decided to sit this one out.
But they weren’t happy about it.

And then big sister Aly came through.
With black eye makeup.
About 5 minutes before they were to leave for school.
Hope could not have been happier!

I got a new phone last week.
Let me just say, I am SO not a technology person.
I mean, I appreciate it and all, but I don’t have the skills.
I learn what I need to know and not more.
I figure out how to do something one way…and then don’t ever ask me to change!

But my husband and kids are not like me.
They appreciate the technology.
They were born with what we like to call the “technology gene.”
I don’t know why it skipped me.
But it did.

So a few months ago, the “techies” in my house started talking about new phones.
About wanting to switch plans and phones.
Didn’t they know that the flip phone that I’ve had for the last 4 years was just fine?
I can make calls and receive them and every once in awhile send a text message.
I guess that wasn’t quite good enough.

I couldn’t stop progress, so last week I picked up my new phone.
It’s fancy.
It has lots of bells and whistles…so far I can make phone calls and receive them.
It has a fancy camera too, so I needed to test it out.

Van and I decided to go for a little walk on the path by the Willamette River here in Eugene.

This is my first picture of the river.
Notice the finger in the upper left hand corner?
I told you I have skills.

We got our pre-requisite hot drinks before we started.
This IS the Northwest. We love our hot drinks.

And I took a picture of our shoes.
I’m not sure why, but it seems like that’s what all the cool kids do.
Just FYI…when you’re planning on walking 3 1/2 miles, don’t wear the cute, sporty shoes.
Wear socks and tennies.
The real thing.
Because the cute sporty shoes only really feel good for about the first mile or so.
After that, you’re just longing for socks.

 This is our path.
Seriously, this is one of the best parts of living in my city.
It’s beautiful any time of year, but fall?
Well, it’s fantastic.

There’s a rose garden and they’ve trained some of the vines into hearts.
I love that.

We even saw some people in a wooden boat fishing on the river.
It’s kind of hard to see from my professional photograph, but believe me.
They’re there.

All in all, it was a great afternoon.
A beautiful walk.
A wonderful guy.
A fancy new phone with a cool camera.
Maybe next week I’ll learn how to send a text message.

Did you know that Bonbon Charms has a Facebook page?
You can see it if you click here.

A place to find out about new blog posts, new charms.
Sometimes there’s even a discount or freebie there.

Well, we are close to a big number of fans (or “likes”).
As of this morning, we had 949 fans.
I think 1,000 would be good.
It’s a nice round number.
And it’s big.
And who wouldn’t want to have 1,000 fans, really?

So here’s the deal.
If you’re not already a fan of Bonbon Charms on Facebook, become one today.
You can go to our facebook page to do that.
Then, leave a comment (on the Facebook page, again) saying something like,
“I love your charms so much I just became a fan!” or some other equally encouraging note
and you will be entered in a drawing for a $50 gift voucher to our website!!!
$50!!!

Now, if you are already a fan on Facebook, you may be saying,
“Hey, how do I get in on the action? I’d like $50 to spend on this….

or this….

 or maybe even this….

So, if you’re already a fan,
you still have a chance to enter the giveaway.
Just invite your Facebook friends to become fans of Bonbon Charms as well.

Invite the ones who you know would like our custom handmade jewelry.
Or the ones who like to be able to customize or personalize gifts.
Or the ones who need new ideas for birthday and Christmas gifts.
Oh, alright…just invite them all!

Then come back to our facebook page and leave your comment.
Something like…”I invited everyone I know to become your fan, because you’re so spectacular.”
Or something like that.
And you too will be eligible for the $50 gift voucher!

Now how will we confirm that you actually did invite your friends?
We’re using the honor system, people.
I think you can handle it!

We’ll leave comments open all weekend.
I’ll randomly draw the winner on Monday morning,
so get cracking!
Oh, and have a great weekend!