Trick or Treat!

New England has suddenly gotten quite cold. I decided it'd be way too cold to take Nora outside for all of the Halloween festivities. Gordon volunteered to take the older three. (YAY for me -- I got 'stuck' staying in the warm house with Nora!)

Just before Gordon and the kids (and our friend Troy and his son Gavin) headed up the street to join the neighborhood posse of Trick or Treating kids, I insisted I needed a picture.

Grace and Dianna got all into posing for me.

The boys just kind of obliged.

Nora wasn't phased by the change in plans. She happily colored and watched the movie Cars with Mommy. While wearing her precious Bunny Ears.

Costume Pictures & Halloween Parade at School

As I said in my last post, I finished creating Will's Halloween costume late Thursday night. Here is a picture of him showing it off Friday morning -- before he got dressed!

Not to be outdone by her brother, Eleanor also decided at the last minute that she didn't want to be dressed for Halloween as Mom had been planning. Nora declared she wanted to be a bunny rabbit, not the dolly that Mom wanted. I quick created a set of rabbit ears and hot glued them onto a hairband. Voila! Instant costume! All I'll add to it will be some whiskers and a red nose.

Here is a pic of Nora showing off her rabbit ears...
William as Wall*E for his school Halloween Parade. Directly behind him is his friends Michael and Kendall.

Dianna's class was also participating in the Halloween Parade. This year Dianna has decided to dress as Taylor Swift. I had curled her hair in the morning before she went to school. The curls didn't last very long. :(

Impromptu Costume Changes

For the last 6 weeks or so, Will has been telling me that he wants to be a Monster for Halloween. He wanted to be Mike from the movie, Monsters, Inc. When I told him that I didn't have that costume, but we could make a unique monster costume ourselves, he seemed to accept that.

Just last week, one of my sisters offered to give us a monster costume. It is Sully from the movie, Monsters, Inc. Not the same character that Will wanted, but I thought maybe he'd like it anyway.

I showed the costume to Will on Thursday morning. He said he didn't want to wear it. He said he wanted to be the 'Eyeball Guy' (aka Mike) from the movie. No matter how hard I tried to convince him that Sully would be just as fun, he insisted that was the only costume he'd wear.

After successfully convincing Will that there was no way we could procur the Mike costume, I reassured him he didn't have to wear the Sully one. I reminded him that we had been planning on making our own. We could still do that.

Will's response?

"I don't want to be anything for Halloween. I want to be nothing."

WHAT?!

After a little more talking, Will finally did decide on a costume idea. It wasn't one that I'd been prepared to be making, but I agreed anyway. I figured it wouldn't be that hard, and I was certain that Will wasn't going to budge on this subject any further.

With Gordon's help, I got the costume all made by Thursday night. Good thing, too, because the elementary school was holding the annual Halloween Parade on Friday afternoon!

Wordless Wednesday -- more Nebraska trip pics

Downtown Omaha

The Desert Dome at the Omaha Zoo
"L", a friend from High School, and me....we haven't seen eachother in approx. 17years!! We had so much fun hanging out together again after all this time.

A Train

Some of the best gals in the world, out wreaking havoc on Nebraska!

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

I'm BAAAaaaaaaack!

I returned home around 2:45pm yesterday afternoon. There were a couple of delays in my flights. Little did I realize exactly how BAD the weather was that was causing the delays.

Luckily I didn't find out until after I'd returned home to Gordon and the kids.

This picture I took of the Chicago skyline should have given me a clue. I guess I'm a bit too naive to put it all together.

Running Away!!

Tomorrow I will be waking up far earlier than I normally do. I have a plane to catch! I'm flying to Nebraska to see some friends for a long weekend getaway.

What? Why? Why Nebraska, you ask?

Only because it's the new Vegas!! Didnja know??

Seriously, I am going to Nebraska to see some friends. It'll be a child-free, long weekend full of laughter and good times. I'm bringing my camera, but I won't promise to have lots of pictures to share. You never know what kind of craziness we'll get into, and I wouldn't want to be obligated to post any incriminating evidence. Because we're invoking the 'what happens in Nebraska, STAYS in Nebraska' rule. We've all sworn to it already. There may even be some sort of initiation ceremony taking place in the airport. We're cool like that.

On a truly serious note, would any (and all!) of my praying blog readers please say a prayer or two for me? I'm terrified of flying, have only done so three other times in my life. I've never flown by myself. This is a BIG step for me. And I'm scared outta my wits. So I'd like to ask that you pray with me for safe, smooth travels.

Missing Walmart story

I know, I promised that I'd be posting about a recent shopping adventure. I haven't forgotten! I just can't seem to find my voice in the story.

If I ever figure out how, I'll be sure to post the details. For now, I'll leave you with the knowledge that I hate Walmart. It's a definite love/hate relationship. I hate going there. I hate dealing with the public there. Yet I keep going there. It's so convenient to go to ONE store where I can find almost everything on my list.

Will works in the shop

Here are the promised pictures of William.

My son has taken up residence in the shop. Not entirely. He does eat and sleep in the house like the rest of us. But he 'works' in the shop as often as he can.

Just the other day he needed to work on his John Deere Gator. Luckily I had my camera handy to take pictures. It was too cute NOT to take pictures!

I stand corrected

Not too long ago I posted about our WILD visitor. I posted pictures of this visitor. I said it was a crane.

I'm here today to say that I stand corrected. Our visitor was not a crane. It was a heron.

Thanks, Rachel, for the correct information. We wouldn't want my blog readers to be misinformed, now would we? Or wouldn't we?

Before I close, I just want to remind everyone of a couple of things. I may not always be right. But I'm also never ever wrong. Just ask Gordon. He'll tell you. Honest. ;)

I'm good! We're good!

Every time I say, "I'm good!" it reminds me of a commercial. I think it was an insurance commercial, but I can't say for sure. All I know is that it has a couple of bicyclists and one guy who doesn't actually have a bike but is pretending to ride one. He trips and falls down a rocky incline. When he lands he says, "I'm GOOD!"

Yes, I'm strange. Why do you ask?

Anyway. I'm sure you're checking back here because it's been a few days since my last post. I'm sorry to say that I haven't made any posts in the last couple of days. I have a couple of posts rolling around in my head, but haven't made the time to sit down to type them out. I promise to try to get to that asap!

I'll give you a little teaser or two.....I've got pictures to share of William. I'm planning on blogging about a recent shopping adventure. That's it. That's all I'll divulge for now.

So, you can take stock in the knowledge that we're good. Everyone is safe and happy and healthy. And busy. But that's nothing new. ;)

Chilean Miners

I know, I don't often comment on current events. I AM aware of them. I just don't want my blog to turn into a political/news commentary.

Today I am going to talk about a news story. I want to talk about the rescue of the Chilean miners. Just a little while ago I watched the 9th miner be brought to the surface. I have to admit that it made me cry to see this man hug his wife for the first time in weeks. I can only imagine how elated his wife must feel to be able to physically touch her husband once again.

I will probably continue to watch the rescue as the day wears on today. I pray that all 33 of the miners are restored to their full health. Their strength and faith are tremendous examples for the people of today.

Volunteering

This afternoon I was planning on volunteering at the elementary school. It is something I've wanted to do ever since Grace started school, but never could because I had the Little Ones to worry about. My friend, Vicky, has offered to watch Nora for me so that I CAN volunteer from time to time.

So I planned to go in this afternoon.

Unfortunately, as the fates have it, today is not to be my day to volunteer afterall. Vicky has a meeting this afternoon that got scheduled last-minute. A meeting she really cannot miss. So now I'm bummed. Hopefully it won't be long before I CAN volunteer.

Apple Picking

The kids had the day off from school yesterday. It was a gorgeous day! Perfect for enjoying outdoor activities.

Laurie P. and her boys, and my friend Carol and two of her girls joined the kids and I in apple picking. First we went to one orchard, but we ended up leaving that one shortly and heading to another. The first orchard had the right pricing ($1.00/lb), but their trees were well-picked over and were bearing teeny tiny apples. Teeny tiny apples that were high up out of our reach. The second orchard was a little pricier ($1.35/lb), but they had a LOT more trees bearing a LOT of HUGE apples. HUGE apples well within the reach of the children. Also, the second orchard had a tractor-drawn trailer you could ride around the orchard area. A definite big hit with the kids!

Grace holding one of the 'larger' apples from the first orchard

Laurie helping Cole pick

Dianna showing off a freshly picked apple (which, btw, is one of the 'smaller' apples at the second orchard)

Eleanor refused any help at all -- she kept insisting she could do it herself. She did a great job proving her point!

Somehow I missed taking any pictures of William actually picking. He's been on a kick lately of NOT wanting his picture taken. Luckily he changed his mind when I was taking pictures of the kids standing in front of this big apple. Otherwise there'd be no proof that he was even there with us!

Camp Out

The big girls were begging Gordon and I to set up our tent in the backyard last night. They wanted to camp out. While I was tempted to let them, it was already getting to be dusk outside. With the dusk settling in all around us, it was also getting more than just a little chilly.

Of course the girls were sad when we told them no. I almost caved and told them we could do it afterall. Instead I offered up a different solution. They readily agreed!

I suggested they could camp out in the livingroom and that we could rig up a sheet or two to make it seem like they were actually in a tent. Lucky for me, Gordon helped me set it all up. It's still standing this morning!

Pretty cool, huh?

Lunch Date

Late this morning, the Little People and I packed our lunches. We grabbed our sweatshirts and headed over to the elementary school. We were going to meet Dianna and eat lunch with her and her classmates.

Dianna was THRILLED to have us join her. I had already told her that we'd be trying to meet her, so she knew to expect us. I guess she'd been talking about it to her friends and teachers all morning long.

Not long before lunch was to end, Dianna asked if we could stay for recess. I hadn't even thought about that, but figured it would be a great idea. So I bundled up the Little People and we followed Dianna and her classmates outside. Dianna was leading Eleanor all over the playground, along with a whole flock of other little girls. William had fun playing on all the big playground equipment on his own. (I kept having to search for him because he kept "blending" in with all the other students -- he's almost as tall as some of the 1st graders!!)

By the time recess was over, it was almost time for Will's kindergarten class to start. We walked him to his class. Nora was happy to get to see his class again, but (luckily!) she didn't pitch a fit when I told her we were just dropping Will at the door and not going in to play ourselves.

Days like today are yet another reason why I'm so glad to have the opportunity to stay home with the kids. I wouldn't miss lunch dates like this for anything else in the world.

A WILD Visitor

Almost two years ago I posted about two cows who were visiting our backyard.

Go ahead and re-read the post if you want/need to refresh your memory. I'll wait.

Dooo-do-do-dooooooo.

What?!? You're done? Ok!

Tonight we had another strange visitor. One I have never seen in our backyard ever before. One that I never dreamt I'd ever see in our backyard.

Any guesses as to what we saw??

We had a CRANE visiting. S/He was checking out our pool. I wonder if s/he was thinking it'd be a great spot to visit again. I'll be keeping my camera ready, just in case!

Luckily I had enough time to grab my camera and affix my zoom lens tonight, before it flew off.

Here is the picture I took of our long and lanky friend:



Here is a cropped/zoomed version of the same picture:


Pretty cool, huh?

Laundry Day, take 2

We lost power for a couple of hours yesterday. I was in the middle of washing one load of laundry, drying another load of laundry, running the dishwasher, AND baking some chocolate chip cookies. I was NOT happy to have my groove stopped so abruptly.

Needless to say, the power outage put a kink in my plans of getting the laundry all done yesterday. (I *will* admit that I loved having an excuse to sit down and read the book I'd borrowed from the library last week!) Today I will be finishing the laundry. Hopefully we don't lose power again!

Monday = Laundry Day

I seem to have fallen into a pattern here. Every Monday morning I wake up and discover that our dirty laundry has procreated yet again and multiplied fruitfully. Every Monday I tell myself that once I get all caught up (usually by bedtime Monday night), I won't allow this to happen again.

I stay strong through Tuesday, when I normally wash the bed linens. I usually throw a load of towels in for good measure on Tuesday too. Shortly after Tuesday, however, I seem to lose my steam. I get busy. There doesn't seem to be enough dirty laundry to make a full load on Wednesday. Thursdays are filled with soccer and scouting. Friday I just want to relax before the busy weekend begins.

Don't get me wrong -- I usually manage to get a load or two done on Thursday or Friday. It just doesn't always get folded or put away. Those tasks wait until Monday when the first load or two are being washed.

Then the weekends hit and I'm flat out RUNNING from activity to activity. Barely a moment to catch my breath, and when that happens, the first thing I see isn't the laundry -- it's the dirty-dish-laden kitchen counters!

So Monday has come to mean Laundry Day. There's something about having a routine. Even if it's not the perfect routine I would plan for myself, I'll take it. At least I know what to expect for my Mondays, right?

Best Friends

Yesterday afternoon Eleanor looked at me and said, "Mommy, you're my best friend!"

Can you guess how much my heart melted?!?

I wonder if she truly knows what a best friend is. Considering how much time we spend together reading books and playing games, I guess I could see how I came to be crowned best friend. Whatever Nora's reasoning, I'll take it! I'm absolutely honored to be her best friend.

The best part of all of this is that Nora's been repeating that we're best friends over and over again. She's absolutely certain in her choice. Grace and Dianna have both asked her if they were her best friends too and she replies every time, "NOPE!"

Think I'll still get to be a best friend when Nora's 15 years old??

Got your lunch??

I just had to go into the kitchen to get a snack for William. The moment I walked into the kitchen, my eyes spied Grace's lunchbox sitting on the counter. Grace and Gordon have already left for the day.

No biggie, right? Normally, no. Today, it was enough to make me wig-out momentarily. Why wig-out, you ask? Only because today was the THIRD DAY IN A ROW that someone forgot their lunch at home.

On Wednesday it was Dianna. I noticed about a half hour after she boarded the bus. I was headed to my prayer group for 9:15am anyway, so I made sure I left early enough to swing by the elementary school first.

Yesterday, on Thursday, it was Gordon. I didn't notice his lunchbox sitting on the counter for at least a couple of hours after he left. I called him as soon as I did see it, to ask if he'd like the Little People and I to deliver it to him. He advised that he didn't think that'd be a good idea -- there were a few different automobile accidents on the highways already.

So now I spy Grace's lunchbox on my kitchen counter. And I shriek a little. Because that means that I'm going to have to drop it off at her school. Although I don't want to complain about doing the little things like dropping off forgotten lunches (because that was one of my best memories as a child -- Mom brought my milk money to the school before I even realized I'd forgotten it!), this is just one more thing to add to my to-do list today. But I'll do it, and it'll be done with a smile.

Let me put on a strand of pearls first....