The Caboose

It's not that we didn't have a few options already in our costume box for a toddler, but when I found this pumpkin outfit at the store this month, I couldn't help myself. It looked cozy, warm, and cute on the hanger, and obviously, it was adorable on this girl:

Mateys

Lauren was the cutest pirate I've ever costumed, that's for sure! Her ensemble--including the parrot--was collected from several thrift stores.

And today when we saw this pirate hat at the pet store for a dollar, we couldn't resist trying it on Jack.

He shall now be known as "Jack Sparrow"; or "Jack the Ripper" might be more appropriate, the way he chews things to shreds!

Here's a clue...

Katelyn dressed like Nancy Drew. Instead of trick-or-treating with her sisters, she had a party to go to with her friends. It didn't take her long to jump right into her teenager role, huh?

Nifty Fifties

Emily's costume is something old, something new, something borrowed and it's blue, but it's not the bride costume that I loved when I was Emily's age. It's the poodle skirt that my sister Jennifer once wore. This one was made by my mom.

How can anyone wear a skirt like this and not just want to dance?

The Fair Rapunzel

This dress has a lot of Trick-or-Treating history. I made it for Katelyn when she was just turning four. Kate wore it for two years, at least. Emily has used it, too. I'm not sure if Lauren ever did. But it fits Hannah perfectly this year. If it's going to be used by Olivia, I think it might need a little touch-up work. I still love this dress, though.

Hannah's favorite part of her Rapunzel costume is the long braid, which doubles as a lasso.

How do you take your candles?

The day she turned into a teenager, Katelyn's candle came in a "cake" of warm cinnamon rolls, early on a dark, snowy morning.

I had to get up a few hours earlier than I usually do today, but it was worth it. Thirteen years ago, I was awake all night, anticipating my baby's birth. So getting out of my bed a bit early this morning, after a nice comfy night of good sleep, was no big deal.

I hope I'm not going to jinx myself by saying so, but Katelyn has been such an easy daughter. I don't really like to think about how quickly her childhood is slipping away (18 - 13 = __), but for now, there's no sadness about my baby becoming a teen.

I love this girl!

Friday was Fun

You wouldn't think that a Friday which begins with the discovery of a mouse in your house would be labeled "fun", but in the end, it was!

We've heard rodents in our other houses (remember last year?), but I've never actually seen any of those critters inside any of my houses--not even a dropping--until now.

Friday morning, the girls were getting ready for school and I was in the kitchen. Doug had just left for work, when Katelyn yelled at me from the basement: "There's a MOUSE in Emily's room!"

That drew a crowd--A crowd of screaming girls (including me)! The little invader was cowering under the dresser. Every time it poked its little gray head out from under there, we screamed, and it drew itself back under the dresser.

Katelyn called Doug, who was a few blocks down the road, and told him to "COME BACK HOME RIGHT NOW!" Which he did.

Thank goodness Doug has experience with catching those little pests. (That's a story for another post.) The mouse must have sensed its impending doom when Doug entered the room, because it ignored our screams and went speeding out from under the dresser and into the closet. It took some digging (Emily and Lauren are not the tidiest roommates in this house, plus they have a large closet where we store some boxes and things) but after a matter of minutes, Doug came off conqueror, with the little mouse in a little shoebox.

Luckily it was garbage collection day. So Doug put the shoebox, with the live mouse, inside our big black trash can at the curb, and within a couple of hours that little creature was gone for good, off to the landfill. If he hasn't died by now, then I bet he thinks he died and went to mouse heaven!

After that, the fun began.

Doug decided to take the rest of the day off. We needed to restore the girls' bedroom to order, and Doug decided to take further preventative measures in our basement storage room as well.

I love spending work days with Doug. Saturdays and Sundays he's usually home, but the weekend is different somehow. A day when he should be at work, and when most of the world is doing the normal stuff, but Doug is not, is always a treat.

We went on a nice long walk together. We had lunch together. In the afternoon, he took a nap and I read a book. A day off for Doug becomes a day off for me, too.

Friday nights are usually a time when Doug just wants to be home and relax, after a busy and stressful work week. But Friday night is usually when I'm anxious to hit the town and do something social. Last Friday night, we compromised. We stayed at home and did something social. A game night with other adults was "just what the doctor ordered" for both of us!

You know you're a Mommy (and not a drinker) when...

...you're copying a recipe that calls for white wine, and you spell it W-H-I-N-E.

Do You BOO?

We do, too.

As I was baking the cookies, the phone rang. It was Emily. "Uh, Mom? Did you forget to pick me up from school?"

Oops! I guess I got a little lost in my task.

The girls decorated the pumpkins, and did the ding-dong-ditching.

I think BOO-ing is more fun than Trick-or-Treating.

No Pot of Gold

Just Lauren at the end of this rainbow. Even better!

Half-over October

When you look at the calendar and realize the date, does it shock you? Me too. It's almost November, people! Crazy.

And that's why I'm starting to put some thought into my Christmas cards. It's not too early to start getting creative with that. Especially because nothing creative is coming to me...yet. I'm waiting for some inspiration.

I'll tell you what I did find inspiring recently, though: The Duggar Family. I don't watch their show regularly, but what with all the sickness in this household last week, there was a bit more t.v. watching than usual. And that means that I had to watch live t.v. sometimes, because I ran out of recorded programs on my Tivo. So one night I was flipping through channels and I caught the beginning of the episode where the first "Grand-Duggar" was born. Birth always makes me emotional, but I'll tell you something: In every episode, that family is nice to each other. They are sweet people, and I like that. It makes me feel good. Watching Jon & Kate makes think I'm not doing too bad as a parent, myself; but watching the Duggars makes me want to do better, and to create a home more like theirs. Lots of love.

I know it's a big joke that people like to toot their own horns in their annual Christmas letters, but I believe the Duggars could write a very flattering letter about their year, and it would be no exaggeration.

P.S. The part where the camera caught the one son taking candy from the shower decorations and stuffing it in his pockets? Hilarious!

What comes around...

Earlier today I was thinking about how everyone I know seems to have a sick family member right now. I was grateful that the only sickies we've had lately were Katelyn (sore throat and cough which kept her home from school for a couple days last week), and Olivia (fever that lasted two days, but no other symptoms). And I started to write a post about all the sickness I'm hearing about and how it's making me paranoid, but I decided to bag that post, since I'm kind of sick of hearing and talking about being sick.

So tonight we took the kids out to a special dinner. They have "Fall Break" which technically starts Thursday, but all week they've had a light homework load, and the weather has been a little bit warmer the past couple of days again, and we were just in the mood to start some kind of celebration. (Lots of people go on mini vacations for this school break, but we're not. Doug has been traveling quite a bit lately, for work, so he feels like he can't leave work right now. Because he's been working so hard lately. Ironic, huh? But I'm sure glad I married a hard worker!)

Back to my point. Doug came home from work, we all got in the car, and we went to this restaurant nearby which is several stories tall and is decorated kind of like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, and they have divers who flip and spin and jump into a pool in the middle of the restaurant, to entertain you while you eat. I've got to admit that the atmosphere is great for kids, but the food isn't good for a person of any age. It was, frankly, gross. As we left the restaurant, Lauren was complaining that the food kind of gave her a tummy ache, and I could relate. A few miles later, Hannah asked us to turn on the air conditioning because she was hot (even though it was raining and below 60 degrees outside), and announced that her tummy hurt.

Can you guess what happened? Three older sisters screamed and tried to squeeze out of the way as Hannah puked all over the back seat. Multiple times. Projectile.

Can you guess what she had to drink at the restaurant? Red fruit punch, of course.

She was no longer hot, but instead she was complaining that she was freezing because we had all the windows rolled down, trying to make it home without the aroma inducing any more "outbursts."

As soon as we pulled into the garage, all the car doors flew open and people started jumping out, until Lauren made us all freeze with another high-pitched scream.

And this time, it was not regurgitated fruit punch. It was a humongous black widow spider.

So, who's being paranoid now?

Who's On First

Phone rings. Emily answers in the basement. She comes up the stairs to the family room, where Doug and I both are.

She calls, "Mom, Dad, phone."

Doug and I give each other a puzzled look, and he asks, "Which one?"

"The phone," Emily answers!

We laugh and Doug goes to answer the call.

I ask Emily, "Who's on the phone?"

And she says, "Dad."

I Love My Mom

Yesterday was my mother's 60th Birthday. The girls and I spent the day with her, which to most people might not sound like much of a party, but my mom is pretty easy to please.

That's only one of the hundreds of ways that I want to be like her.

She's not an easy person to emulate, but lucky for me and some of my girls, people at least think we inherited her looks.

It's easy to see that Katelyn favors her Grandma:

And now I'm starting to get a lot of comments about how closely Hannah resembles her grandmother. I don't know, what do you think?



Just teasing. Hannah actually looks more like Grandma without the wig!

But check out this little copy cat:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Disappearance

Thursday night, I went to the bookstore to buy a book I need to read by this Thursday, for my book club. I also went to Walmart for some canning jars and a shower squeegee. And to Petsmart for some dog food. And to Ross for some other stuff.

I came home and put things away. I think I put my new book on my nightstand (on top of the other half-dozen or so books that I'm in the process of reading or wanting to read), but I didn't start reading it because I was in the middle of reading "The Hunger Games." By Sunday, I finished that book (can't wait to read the sequel now) and was ready to begin my new book.

But I can't find it anywhere!

The empty bookstore bag was found in my bedroom closet.

Everything else I bought that night is in its place, but the new book is not in any of those places.

I've searched every bookshelf in my house (and there are quite a few), more than once.

I've asked everyone who might have wanted to read it themselves (a.k.a. Katelyn).

I'm....what's the word.....Irritated! Frustrated! Perplexed.

Does this ever happen to you?

One more question: Do you own a copy of "The Wednesday Wars"; and if you do, would you trust me to borrow it?

(I would just check it out from my city library, except they don't own a copy. I'm fond of my city library, but it's just a baby--one year old this month--and its stock is not very impressive yet. And I don't know why on earth we don't have a county library system. We should, don't you think?)

On the first of October

It is chilly. Yesterday, when it was still September, it snowed. I don't want to talk about it.

Let's talk about just the good stuff.

Good thing #1: I haven't yet driven through the canyons to look closely at the fall colors, but from my front porch, the mountains look lovely in shades of red, orange, and yellow.

Good thing #2: We have two apple trees. One tree produced just a couple of red apples that fell to the ground. But the other tree was loaded with light green fruit. The branches were drooping with apples, so I picked some a few weeks ago and made dessert. They were hard and sour and I was disappointed to think that our only good apple tree was going to offer us sour apples. But recently I realized that I just hadn't given them enough time to ripen. When they're ripe, they're delicious! And now, they're all ripe. So I've been harvesting apples this week, and looking forward to making applesauce. It's easy, quick, yummy to eat, and, as a bonus, my house smells so great!
This morning as the little ones ate their breakfast, I ran some apples through my nifty peeler/corer/slicer, and threw them in the crock pot. Hannah claimed I was making "Slinky Sauce." That girl is still funny.

Speaking of the little ones (they count as "good stuff" to talk about), this is how Olivia usually wears her hair:

It makes her walk around with her chin up in the air, peeking out from under her growing bangs. Believe me, I try to keep her hair out of her eyes, but I guess barrettes bother her more than bangs in the face.

Good thing #3: Halloween is coming, and I love putting together costumes for my girls! I've been hunting and gathering costumes and accessories, and I'm excited for the big dress-up day! (Um, hello...candy is another good thing.)