Hosting a Pumpkin Baby Shower

One of my kindergarten team mates is having a baby and I couldn't wait to host a shower for her.  We decided on a date in the Fall where everyone to could come.  We divided up the menu since it was going to be on a Friday night.  Everyone would be teaching all day so I appreciated the help with the meal.

I gave the mom to be some menu options and she chose pasta.  I baked two pasta dishes and then my friends brough salads, bread, drinks and desserts to help pull the meal together.

I made an invitation on Canva, texted it out and then found the cutest pumpkins with bows on them party goods at Hobby Lobby.  My house was already decorated for Fall which meant I didn't have to do a lot of extra party decorations.

The table looked so pretty!  I pulled my pumpkin collection, favorite table runner and place mats, bought Fall plates at Sams and cute napkins at HomeGoods and Hobby lobby for a lovely layered look.  My friends loved it!  We were so excited to celebrate this sweet baby girl and her mom.

I made brownies and chocolate chip cookie bars for favors.  The guests got to pick which favor they wanted.

We used our real pumpkins for decorations along with all of our regular Fall stuff.

It was a beautiful Fall evening.  I got everything inside ready and Kevin got everything outside ready.

I was watching for guests to arrive and this cute cat was waiting in the driveway to say hello.  I locked up all of our cats inside like I always do when we host parties.  Two of our cats are curious and two are nervous.  I didn't want the curious ones to come out and say hi. 

Baked pasta dish #1 - ground beef, mini bowtie pasta, marinara and cheese.

Baked pasta dish #2 - mini penne pasta, Italian sausage, ricotta cheese and Rao's creamy marinara.  This one was amazing!  I posted a picture of the Rao's marinara - you have got to try it!  It's pricey, but tasted so good.  I'm going to remember this sauce for any fancy pasta night or if we are wanting some extra delicious pasta for dinner.

SO GOOD!

This Ragu is also a new favorite.  I has coupons to clip at Walmart regularly for it.  Try it!

We had a wonderful evening.  Kevin took the kids out to dinner, they came back home and said hello to all of my teacher friends from school and then headed upstairs to watch a movie.  It was the best time.  After everyone left - we released the cats.  Pumpkin approved of all of our pumkin decor.

Here's your nudge to host something fun at your house this Fall!  I'm hosting Olive's friends Halloween weekend next :)

Wisconsin Favorites

We had a wonderful Fall Break in Wisconsin!  We stopped in our favorite places and managed to find several new favorite spots.  The weather was extra wonderful this time - warm enough for patio dining, but yet chilly enough for a jacket.  We stayed at our favorite - Wilderness Resort.  We had a lot of favorite moments.

Driftless Glen has the prettiest patio to eat on.  Our food was delicious.  I'm going to try to recreate that pulled pork BBQ grilled cheese ASAP.  It was fun to introduce Kevin's parents to our favorite spots.

Leo is a reading machine.  He read in the car, in the condo, at bedtime and on the go.

The view from our room.  The leaves are more colorful in Wisconsin than there are at home.  We had to navigate some construction for the first time up there.  See the roof shingles and the layer of dust??  Thankfully our room was just perfect.  Outside was trickier than usual to navigate.  Best bros.

Fletcher has been studying Native Americans at school so this Indian Trading Post and Museum caught his eye.  We enjoyed the artifacts and trinkets they had for sale.

Our school mascot is an eagle and I loved this message.

We ate lots of fall treats.

Dinner on the patio with twinkle lights.  Yes, please!

We Door Dashed Halloween donuts.

We played at a fun park.

We finally got to try Del-Bar!  It was fancy, yet family friendly.  There were lots of courses.  My highlights were the cranberry roll, cheese curds and this Ceasar salad with crispy chicken and homemade croutons on top.

We always get Dunkin on vacation and it's a treat!

Wisconsin cheese is just better cheese.  We love to go to the grocery store to get all the cheese plate making supplies.  It' smy favorite thing to make a cheese plate to snack on.

The Presidential Suite will always be my favorite thing.  Can you spot Leo reading?

Kevin booked a fishing adventure for him and Fletcher.  We dropped them off at the boat ramp and went off on our own adventure.

That included cheese curds.

Outlet mall and boutique shopping.

Cotton candy sunsets with the Fall leaves.

Kyoto is a yummy hibachi option.

My favorite crew with my favorite Fall decor.

A giant tub is his favorite.

The boys were determined to catch Walleye on this fishing trip and they did just that.  They had a wonderful time on the lake with a fishing guide that they had used before.

Fletcher is a very good fisherman.  He's a natural and catches fish so easily.  He learns a ton every time he's on the water and dreams big dreams of fishing forever.

Reading Leo in his pjs.  It was cooler up there than at home so I packed some throw blankets to keep us cozy in the condo.

The boys went go karting and we painted pottery.

He's a car guy. I love that he still loves to play with his toys.

Waterpark time!  Leo lazy rivered with me if I agreed to watch him go down the slides a million times.

We enjoyed some water park renovations this trip.

Fall is my favorite.

We had a lovely trip to Wisconsin, but Pumpkin was thrilled to have us home again.