Monday, October 24, 2016

20th Annual Halloween Costume Party

Happy Almost Halloween!  We celebrated the holiday last weekend at my parents' house with our 20th Annual Halloween party.  We started having these parties when I was 12.  I dressed as a leper for the first annual party... Classy, I know!  And we are still going strong with our celebrations!  This year was no exception, the house was decorated from top to bottom, as always!  And there was so much food and drink.  Everyone had a great time eating, socializing, playing pool and cornhole and doing the scavenger hunts!  Here's a photo recap of the event:






















We had a wide array of costumed guests.  
Hannah and her boys were a pirate, a parrot and a bird catcher.  



Papa was Willie Nelson.


Mama was a pretty gypsy. She won "Most Authentic" for her costume.


Michael was a modern Frankenstein's monster.  I was a witch with my adorable black cat.



The Guthrie Girls.


Dave was Sterling Archer.


Caroline and Nelson were Rey and Poe from Star Wars.  They won our "Cutest Couple" prize.


Heather was a fairy.


Mary was a magician!  She won "Funniest Costume."


Jan was also a witch!



John was a lumberjack and Julie, a steampunk chick.  She won "Best Dressed!"








We all had a great time celebrating our favorite holiday and we are already planning for next year's party.  Thanks to everyone who attended this year's soiree!  Happy Halloween Everyone!





Saturday, October 15, 2016

A Horvath's Life Update

It has been 30 days since I last posted on the blog. :( It has been 18 days since I last vacuumed my house, and it has never been cleaner. :)  That's because for my birthday this year (the big 3-2) I got a Roomba 870! A. Robot. Vacuum. Cleaner.  So awesome!  I just love telling Roomba where to go and what room to clean next and listening to his little beep beep boop when he's off on his "missions." We bought it used (like new) from Amazon warehouse deals for a great price. My only complaint is that he cannot go up and down stairs. :) and he sometimes gets stuck on the glider in Georgia's room or wedges himself under Michael dresser.  But aside from rescuing him occasionally and charging him and emptying his dust bin daily, he is mostly maintenance-free.  He even knows not to fall down the stairs!  I hear they sell a remote control so I can turn him on and off while I'm sitting on the couch and steer him around obstacles (like a baby on the floor!?) so I'm hoping to get that little gadget for Christmas! :)  Hooray technology... what will they think of next?

My other birthday presents this year included a new Delta faucet for the kitchen sink and a handmade potting bench for the patio.  I am one lucky girl. (I also got a few other beautiful items for my wardrobe, thanks friends, but I won't detail those as they are not house-related!)

The faucet is the Delta Lakeview faucet with pull-down sprayer.  I love it so far.  The sprayer is awesome, and the faucet is very stylish and matches our sink nicely.  Our old faucet was so short, this one is much easier to use!  We feel real fancy now.  :)


 I have been wanting a new potting bench for a while.  Since I gave my shutter potting bench to my mother, we never had anywhere to work on plants or to put things while we are grilling, so this table will do double duty as potting station and grilling station!  We put it right by the back door on the patio.  I haven't used it for planting yet, but I'm sure I will come Spring.  The design is something I saw on Pinterest.  I sent my dad a picture and he built it for my birthday present.  My mom stained it for me.  We're planning to stain the deck the same shade next year.  Thanks Papa and Mama for my handsome new bench!  I can't wait til Spring rolls around so I can accessorize it more with cute garden-y things!


We also have an update in the garden.  Fall has come and we've decided to do away with our big garden plot in favor of planting our vegetables along with our flowers in the existing full sun beds.  The tilling/weeding/planting and harvesting was just too much work and it all seemed to fall to my mother (tireless though she may be).  So we decided to plant the garden area with grass and just enjoy the space as a yard.  We will have a bigger place to play frisbee and for Riley to run without getting muddy!  I am still considering the idea of raised beds for some vegetable plants.  We might decide to add those later on when we have more free time and Georgia is a little older.  She can help pull weeds! :)  Or she can play on her swingset nearby while I pull weeds.  Haha!  And we're still chipping away at the planting of the creekbank.  I haven't been much help, what with constantly tending to a new baby, but perhaps next year we will start to make a bigger dent on that project.

Since I've turned 32, Georgia has turned 4 months old. She's really growing fast! She is drooling all the time and puts everything in her mouth. She loves her toys and tries to grab them from the hanging mobile and chew on them. She "talks" all the time and squeals and smiles at everyone.  She just laughed for the first time today! She's getting more mobile, pushing herself along with her feet, flopping around and trying to turn over.  She loves toys with blinking lights and she is captivated by the television!  She's a joy and a delight, and a huge distraction to all my former hobbies!  That's why you've seen so little of me lately. :)  It's a small price to pay for the reward of watching this cutie transform from a tiny newborn into a chubby, adorable, interactive baby!







And last but certainly not least, it's October, which means Halloween!  Of course I have been hard at work decorating my parents' house for the big costume party next weekend.  And I will be back with a spooktacular party post with all the details.  Georgia and I have been visiting once a week to work on decorations and party projects.  We have fun and Mimi and Papa get to spend time with our little girl.  Plus, I get to do what I love while someone else babysits!  This year is our 20th annual party so I'm trying to make things extra special.  Here are a few sneak peeks...





Hope you are enjoying this wonderful arrival of fall!  Hope to see you back here soon!