This evening I had an impromptu gathering with a few of the girls from the neighborhood. I had made the 1st pumpkin-baked goods of the fall season and invited the girls over for some wine and to share in the Pumpkin Roll dessert I had made.
For those of you who were concerned - there are now 5 cans of Libby's pumpkin stocked in my kitchen cabinet. Thank you Wal-Mart at 151st in OP! I managed to grab the LAST 5 cans of pumpkin that were on the shelf! Finally the crisis is over - bring on the fall baking :) 
Now I am fine with snakes as long as they are still or coiled up. When they start slithering I start to panic. I quick ran to get the camera because I wanted to get a picture of it so I could look it up online to see what kind of snake it was and if we should be concerned about it being poisonous. Turns out, that what you see in this picture is a baby Western Fox Snake. I know that it is a baby because it was only 12 inches long and an adult will get to be 50 inches long! Whoa - that is 4+ feet!This is concerning because a) where there is a baby there is a mom & dad and b) there are probably brothers & sisters and c) we found several snake holes in our flower bed that lead under the front steps so there is probably a family of snakes under there.
After much discussion of what to do with this snake (as Shane had the shovel in his hand) we decided to let the little guy live. Turns out that these snakes are non-venomous and they prey on rodents, mice and bugs so they are actually good to have around your house - especially since we have the occasional mouse that likes to hang out by our grill! I guess as long as I don't see them or see them moving I am fine with that.
So, after all that excitement, I finished arranging the flowers & pumpkins in the front of the house. The mums are just starting to bloom and look so pretty! This is what I have done so far - it's not much but it's a start:
I am heading out today to run some errands so we will see what else I can find! Next up on the agenda is decorating inside the house. Light up the fall Yankee Candle and let the decorating festivites begin :)
Once the majority of the people left, we moved our party from the deck down to the lower level for a bonfire, some more wine and plenty of entertainment from Michelle - who had one too many glasses of wine :) The WR crew ended up being the last group to leave and kept the party going past 1am!Thanks Jill for being such a fabulous hostess and for a super fun evening!
Today Shane & I enjoyed a beautiful, sunny, 75 degree Saturday by heading up North to tour the Harley Davidson Plant. They were having an open house where you could take a tour of the plant for free, visit the many vendor booths located around the plant, as well as check out everyone else's Harley Davidsons in the parking lot. 
And painted fenders:
After the tour, we walked around the parking lot looking at all the different bikes. There were some really old HD bikes there as well as lots of new ones. Shane enjoyed telling me about the difference in all the bikes and their motors while I enjoyed looking at all the pretty colors and bike accessories :)
*self portrait - didn't realize I cut off Shane's head until I got home - oops!
Tonight I headed over to my friend Michelle's house for another monthly gathering of "game-night" with the neighborhood girls. It was a great end to the work week to gather with this group of girls, enjoy great food and great conversation.
This morning when I woke up I had a craving for waffles so being the Domestic Diva that I am, I put on my apron and whipped up a batch of my famous homemade waffles for Shane & I - that was AFTER I let the dogs out, fed & watered the dogs, did a load of laundry, folded the clothes that were in the dryer & put them away, emptied the dishwasher, washed the dishes in the sink, dried & put them away, stripped the bed sheets, made the bed with new sheets, and finally made coffee! All that before 9am! Whew - I am tired already! May need a nap this afternoon :)
After enjoying a morning of sleeping in and being lazy, I headed north to The Legends to meet my brother Steve & his fiance Meghan for lunch and a little shopping. We ate at Applebees where we enjoyed a great meal and then walked around the shopping center browsing through my favorite stores. I ended up getting a pair of jeans at the Gap and that was it - I did good :)After a lovely afternoon with them, I headed home making a stop at the grocery store to pick up some items for this evenings get-together in the cul-de-sac. We all pulled out the lawn chairs and gathered around the table of food in the middle of the street while our neighbor Tom grilled the meat. We got to meet the newest addition to the neighborhood - Baby Sophia - who was 2 weeks old. We all took turns holding her while she slept through her very first cul-de-sac gathering!
After we ate and cleaned everything up, we grabbed our lawn chairs and headed to the back of our house where the fire-pit is and the guys started a huge bonfire for us. We enjoyed the evening around the fire chit-chatting, eating smores and relaxing with a few beverages. It was another great evening spent with our wonderful neighbors!
The candy corn is BACK and stocked on the shelves :) Woo Hoo! Bring on the fall season and everything that comes with it!
As I cruised the aisle with my shopping cart, I just couldn't resist the sale price of 2/$5.00 of the jumbo bag (which I only purchased one)! It was heavenly when I tore open the bag and tasted a few of the corns with their sweet, honey goodness. mmmmm - YUM!
Let the candy corn addiction begin....
If you count them, that is 16 pairs of jeans on the top shelf NOT including the 5 pairs that were folded on the bed AND the pair he was wearing. 22 pairs of jeans! And he says I have way too many clothes....