This is Halloween!

And mama's a cripple. Yup, no walkin' with the kiddos tonight, I have to give out candy.

This is actually my favorite part of Halloween, because I get to see all the cute costumes. And smile at the cute kids. Usually, though, Doug refuses to take out the kids. Instead, he stays home and refuses to open the door and give out candy. Rude, huh?

Anyway, Halloween has brought some serious issues to our house. Namely, What Shall I Wear? This crisis has come to several of the kids. Sophia had a great queen outfit, which she wore to a party last week.

But she would rather be Mariposa, the butterfly fairy. This was Malena's costume a few years ago, so all Sophie had to do was rescue it from the costume boxes.

Getting her costume situated just did not happen...

Jack and Collin both wanted to be ninjas and showcase their newly-acquired karate moves. Last night, though, Collin decided to be a wizard. Problem: no wizard costume. After many words were exchanged, he decided to go with the ninja outfit after all.

Meanwhile, Jack found his Spiderman outfit in the costume box. He asked if he could wear it, and was surprised when I said yes. Honestly, if we already own it, why not?

Who is that masked man?

Oh, it's Jack! Spiderman with a sword...a boy's dream!

The older girls have thankfully kept with their original costume ideas. I made Malena's pioneer costume:

And Bonnie just bought her witch's costume. I think this is at least her fourth time being a witch. Hopefully, she doesn't really identify with the character...although, she is a teenager.

Face decoration courtesy Bonnie's school

Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!!!

Silly Sophie!

Little Sophie is now officially a "preschooler", having reached the ripe old age of three.

Woot! 

She has given up binkies and her crib, and is starting to use a big bed, a toilet (we're still working on that one) and big-girl toys. She does, however, still refer to herself as "baby" and doesn't necessarily like to be called anything else. A little progress here, a little less there...'tis life. So here's a look back at her as she has grown:

Her first Halloween, five days old:

A sweet little six-month-old, starting to try and crawl:

A happy one-year-old, standing up and crawling everywhere she could:

Her second Halloween:

18 months old, already interested in animals...especially our cat, Tae-Bo. Funnily enough, this cat hates children...but doesn't mind Sophie so much.

Her third Halloween, a rambunctious 2-year old:

At 2-1/2, she's getting into everything...and occasionally hurting herself. What a cute little face!

And now, at three...dressed for her fourth Halloween as Queen Sophia. She's okay with this look...

But likes the Witch Queen Sophia much better (hat taken from Bonnie):

She had a fun birthday - all her birthday stuff was done at lunch, because we had a Halloween party to go to that night. So she had a Really Big Party for her birthday. Sometimes, it's good to be the birthday girl around a holiday - especially one like Halloween! 

And yes, she did eat candy the entire day following her birthday. Boo-yah.

What's Blooming and "Gourd" to See Ya!

Cheesy title, I know, but I just couldn't resist.

It's amazing what you see when you haven't been outdoors in a while - this week my yellow chrysanthemums decided to join the mum party...

And a malva zebrina decided to pop up. This one's probably been there for a bit, since it's starting to die off (I know, it's been a few weeks since I've been able to walk over unstable ground!). This must have reseeded from the original malva that I planted when we first moved in - in 2011. There weren't any last year, so I'm not sure how this one survived. But hooray!

The catnip has also exploded into bloom. Is this its second bloom this year? I seem to remember it in bloom when I planted it, but I'm not complaining.

We also are harvesting Doug's gourds from his pumpkin/ornamental garden behind the shop. I don't know where he finds these seeds, but the results are pretty spectacular, if you're into gourds (and I am)...

The kids call that last one "the octopus". Seriously cute little things, aren't they? If you live in the area, you're welcome to come get some...we have buckets of them.

Have a good week!

My Little Pixie

Sad to say, I like long hair for little girls. It's a stereotype, yes; but I love it. So does Doug.

Even sadder to say: my boys love scissors. And they also love bugging their little sister. I think they were going for a mullet, but it didn't really turn out that way.

Needless to say, we went to the salon immediately. This is beyond my rudimentary hair-cutting skills.They had to go with a pixie, since there wasn't much hair to work with in some places.

The first thing Jack said: "Sophia, you look like a BOY!"

She replied angrily, "NO BOY!" That's my girl.

No boys. Especially no boys with scissors.

The Game Plan for Weekend 2 of Hunting Season

Yes, I'm still cleaning out this weekend, but there's more!

The living room downstairs has become almost uninhabitable since Doug started framing and insulating down there. Now, I am excited at his progress. However, his tools have been sitting in that room for four months - and he keeps getting frustrated that the kids are getting into them. In addition, there's only one chair in front of the TV.

Guess how often the kids are down there. Not very much is right - who wants to sit on the floor if you're the second person watching a show? So they've been inhabiting my room.

Not cool.

Time to turn that partially-finished room into a play area again. So, I moved the one remaining couch over to the TV area (after moving all the insulation into a cubby under the stairs).

Now up to four people can comfortably watch at the same time. Woot.

Then Collin moved all the junk off the pool/air hockey table. And the kids remembered that they like playing pool and air hockey. Woot. This is the area that still needs some TLC (ignoring the fact that this room still does not have walls).

Lastly, I moved the jungle gym inside. I have to move some outside climbing equipment inside for the winter each year. Otherwise, I'd go crazy with all the kids' energy. Truly mental. Yes, I hear you saying I'm already there. Understand that!

Now we've got a playroom. And guess where the kids have been all afternoon?

That's right: playing downstairs. And me? In my room. Aaahhhh.

What's Blooming!

Here's the newest in the garden...things are slowing down, but I'm still seeing a few new things this week!

A purple chrysanthemum...

A red-and-yellow something-or-other...I would guess a Gallardia, although these are from my mystery seeds again, so I can't be sure.

Then there's this orange flower that came up. Bright orange, and just in time for Halloween. So cool!

Have a great week - hope you're enjoying the fall weather as much as I am!

How I REALLY Feel About Hunting Season

Many of you have known me for a long time - and even known my husband a while. So you'll maybe know that he goes hunting every October.

I think he's missed once since we moved to Northern Utah in 1998. That once was because we were dealing with pretty extreme circumstances: he was starting a new job in South Carolina, I was readying our house to sell in Pennsylvania, and I was nine months pregnant. We actually moved November 1st, and little Jack came into our family on November 15th. So, it was really crazy.

Other than that, though, he has been pretty religious about it. Me, I've not been so happy about it. I'm a little bugged most times, to be honest. We've had little kids, I worked at home until we had four (again, little Jack's arrival), and we've been far, far away from the hunting grounds...meaning he was really gone.

Okay, whine, whine, whine. Here's what I really think, now that the kids are older: it is time to clean. Simplify. Toss.

Doug can tend toward pack-rattiness. He will absolutely deny it, asserting that he just keeps what he might need at some point. Case in point: I have two large pasta serving dishes. We have used them once in the 10 years we have owned them. I'm ready to toss them. He is not. He likes them, therefore, they stay.

And I have to dust around them, move them around to get at what I actually use and need. Argh.

He is like this about every thing in the house. Whereas I have the mantra: if it isn't beautiful, sentimental, or useful, get rid of it. When he's in the house, he stresses big-time. So I do it when he's out of the house. Ha.

This gets interesting this year, as I have to hobble about to clear things out. Never fear, though, I will press on. Even when I can actually feel the internal bleeding. Black toes are awesome. TMI? Sorry about that. No, not really.

Another example? Sure, I'd love to. This is my dining linen cupboard, stuffed with tablecloths, chair covers and puzzles:

These all belong in here. However, we only use tablecloths on holidays. At other times, I am just not interested in the extra laundry. There are linens in here that I will not use, though - too fussy, too stained (seriously, if we're using them for holidays, they should look nice), or even too small. Rolling the eyes. Why are we keeping something that is too small?

So they are off to Deseret Industries, a local "recycling" place for stuff - operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it takes stuff and uses it for people who need it, sells extra stuff to have money to help those in need, and provides jobs for those looking for work. It's a cool place.

The piles of crap. The Dora one? A fitted twin sheet that goes over my table
so the tablecloth doesn't slide around.

There are linens that I keep just for material - if it's not stained, probably won't work for someone else, or is a little sentimental (the lacy tablecloth my mother gave me), I can conceivably use it for a project. Now you're rolling your eyes. Yes, it'll be a cold day in the bad place before I get to it, but still.

And now, viola!, a clean cupboard. With more room for puzzles, which is really what I want in here. My youngest two love puzzles, and I love to work with them when they're puzzling. One cupboard down, many to go.

Just don't tell Doug I look forward to this. Promise?

Fall is Planting Time!

How many times have you seen that sign in the past few weeks? I haven't even been to a nursery and I've seen it. A lot.

And sighed. And looked out the window with my hand on my chin and my bottom lip out in a pout. It's my favorite time of year, and I'm hobbling even when I'm on a level surface. I have tried to walk on the grass and failed, looking like a toddler on a balance beam. Whoa, whoa, whooooaaaa! At least I kept my feet and didn't end up with something else broken.

Oh, that's right, I didn't tell you (unless you also read my Facebook posts): my trip down the stairs actually resulted in two sprained ankles and a fractured tibia. So now I can totally play up the "I broke my leg" angle and not even feel bad about it. Okay, maybe a little bad since, honestly, I did this to myself. LASIK was not necessary surgery, after all.

So back to the fall planting. You can imagine, with how much I love planting, that it is driving me crazy to be inside when I should be pruning, moving plants around, and getting new plants at all the lovely fall sales! Yup, that's me. I keep trying to figure out how exactly I could get out there and at least weed on my knees without torquing my ankles.

Needless to say, haven't come up with a solution yet. But Doug has helped me out a little with the planting bug. He decided that we needed more trees (yay! wahoo! yippee!) and piled me into his truck to go get them. We settled on seven eastern redbuds for along the parkway and two scarlet hawthorns for the loooong bed along the front of the garden. Holy cow, that is a lot of trees!

Loading them up at the store...they look sweet all next to each other!

Placing them in the parkway

Planted - go Doug!

Staked. Whoa.

I think this takes our total number of trees close to the 40 mark. Hah! And we started with, what, three trees and two mystery bushes that turned out to be trees? Yes, we are a tree-plantin' family. Our neighbors must think we're a bit nutty.

Tee hee, they might be right. At least we'll be a bit nutty in a lot of shade!

Baby Boy is Now Nine!

That's right. Roy, also known as Collin (mostly Collin around here), is now nine.

He had his birthday celebration a day early (what boy wouldn't want to open presents a whole 24 hours early?) with dinner and playtime with his buddies from school.

Yup, that's them trying to eat the cake. Attacking, more like. Sa-weet.

He's been spending his birthday playing on his new mini tablet (he wanted a phone, and this was the best compromise I could do, since I don't do nine-year-old's and phones) and with his new basketball. That's right - giving him something active along with the passive nonsense of technology. He also got Legos to challenge his mind, and a Lego book for reading.

Not that I thought this out ahead...it's just what he wanted and I didn't have any objections. Go, Collin, for hitting several different types of activities! He is so happy and it is so fun to watch.

Happy birthday, buddy!

MIL Sneak Attack

Let's start by saying that I really like my mother-in-law. She does, however, have a knack for stopping by when my house is a mess.

With a sprained ankle, my house isn't exactly the cleanest. So of course, now is when she pops by for a hello. This is usually a blessing, though, because she has:

• Helped paint our PA house
• Helped stage our PA house
• Watched kids while we packed up the PA house
• Helped paint our SC house (seeing a pattern?)
• Cleaned and watched kids after the birth of the last of my three kids.

What's even better: she got Doug to hang a piece of artwork for me. A few years ago, Doug bought me a laser level for hanging pictures. It could have been a subconscious bid for me to hang my own artwork, except that I asked for it and always hang my own artwork.

This particular piece wasn't going anywhere fast, though, because I can't climb a ladder and it belongs at the top of the wall. I scored it at Target - it was on clearance for $20.

Mother-in-law smiles at Doug and wheedles, "Do you have five minutes? Wanna do me a favor? It will only require a small ladder, a hammer and five minutes. Four, if you're fast."

Doug grumbles until I tell him what she's aiming at. Then he grumbles, "A small ladder? I don't think so..." But then he hangs it for me. And because he's an engineer, it is measured out (using my laser level). Go, Doug.

Then MIL cleaned my house while I sat with my ankle up. Yup, I even pulled out a magazine to read. Doug was making lunch for us at this point. Am I spoiled? Sometimes.

What's Bloomin'

How on earth would I know?

Seriously, I walked out to take pictures and almost landed on my kiester. This lovely sprained ankle of mine is keeping me from one of my favorite activities: fall gardening.

I did manage to see (and shoot) one new flower for the week...and return inside safely. This is a mum that I picked up last year, and placed next to my front door:

When the season was done, I put it in the garden, hoping it would come back. It has such an unusual color: a mixture of ivory and burnt orange that I simply adore. And hurray! - it came back. What a great surprise!

Hope your week has a surprise as pleasant (or more so)!