October 31, 2009

Ahhhh . . . Halloween. A day full of wood cutting, house cleaning, pumpkin carving, tricking and treating. Both kids got a pumpkin to carve . . .



Eli chose the scary pirate skeleton, and wasn't sure about sticking his hands in there to pull out . . .


the "pumpkin goo". Bayleigh on the other hand, had no such reservations . . .



The pumpkin carving fun was cut short, by a wild trip to town to pick up the left overs from the LSS garage sale . . .



a meal at El Rodeo,



(which was a nice treat),



and a photo with Elvis. (Actually this guy is a truck driver and he does this type of thing every year.)



Then it was off to trick (trunk) or treat.



I thought the moon and the weather were just perfect for Halloween night.




When we finished up in town, we ended up at grandma and grandpa's to show off the outfits,




and give them some comic relief. (Eli really should have been a clown this year.)



And when we arrived home, we were greeted by this hardy fellow. ARG! Hope you all had a safe and Happy Halloween.

October 30, 2009

After being woken up by the oldest at 3:30 a.m. the last thing I needed was to see THIS . . .



at about 5:30 Elvis ran downstairs with this little guy in his mouth and I had to have my husband extricate it from the premises. (*EWWWWWW).

As soon as I got Bayleigh off to school, I assembled the goodie bags for her class party . . .



and packed them up to take for a quick get-away.

I made it JUST in time to see their music program, and I caught my little grubby princess in NO SHOES.

I think the poor substitute teacher was just beside herself. A new sub, in a class full of rambunctious first graders, on Halloween party day, with a BIRTHDAY party thrown in for good measure. I'm so glad I'm not a sub.

The kids got a HAUL, and I know I'll be doling things out for several days.

And I'll be surprised, if my little girl doesn't get ill from all the goodies.

These two girls are a hoot. So different and yet such good friends. I think they will probably remain that way for life. Or I sincerely hope they do!

Another crazy busy day under my belt! I made it out alive, and that's all that matters at the moment.

October 29, 2009

As Fall kicks into full force, I find myself appreciating even the tiniest glimpse of sunlight. This little patch lasted all of five minutes, and I was rather surprised to see it, as it was still raining when I took this shot . . .



The rest of my day was spent running all out. Getting everything priced and packed up to take to the LSS Garage Sale . . . washing and packing costumes for the kids for tonight. And then hitting the road to pick up Bayleigh at school, before taking my plunder to the Scrap Nook, to set up my table.



It took me approximately 10 minutes to set up, and another 15 to get the kids pried off the walls (how embarrassing), and back on the road again. They had been playing nicely together, until another little boy came in and started to play a little rambunctiously, and of course they had to join in. And they continued to act like undisciplined little buggers all the way to Springfield. I caught myself yelling at them while the Eagles sang, "I've got a peaceful, easy feeling . . ." in the background. Point taken.




We met up with Dave's folks at Bass Pro, and Dave joined us after he got out of clinicals. The kids were really impressed with the alligator, but I think he was giving us the evil eye . . .




They've done quite a bit of remodelling since we were there a month ago . . .



and it seems to be a good place to take the kids, just to walk off some of their energy.




After everyone got situated, we made plans, to eat at Ryan's, and skip out on the second round of the Spooktacular, due to the rain.



Bayleigh looked so exhausted. And I'm sure she was after her late nights and early wakings. I wish we could figure out what's scaring her at 3:30 every morning. I know it's rough on her, but it's KILLING me.

We actually got done fairly early, and just decided to call it a night. I got to water ski the whole 60 plus miles back home in the POURING rain, and it was around 10:00-10:30 when I finally got the kids bathed and put to bed. Eli stayed up until after 11:00 and it was close to 11:30 before I finally turned in for the evening. Sheesh. I need SLEEP! And lots of it!

October 28, 2009

Waking me up at 3:30 every morning, seems to have an effect on my oldest . . .



she's coming home from school, just exhausted every day. I "REALLY" wish she'd get over whatever seems to be scaring her. It makes for a very long day on very little sleep.



Thankfully, I have my little retreat to bury myself in (literally). I'm still at the sorting/purging and putting away stage, but every day, I get a little closer to my perfect haven.


And this old chair that I bought at an auction last year . . . well it's found it's new resting place. I paid $5 for it, and it's the most comfortable thing EVER. Everyone in my family thought it was hideous . . . but in the back of my mind, I had big plans for it and now they are being realized. I think it looks pretty good with my Asparagus green walls. What do you think?

October 27, 2009

As I was getting Bayleigh ready for school this morning, I just happened to look out on the deck, and spotted these . . .



Freckles had moved her kittens some time ago and I figured she'd probably just lost them. However, I was mistaken. And a little while later I went outside and there was a THIRD. She must have just brought them for a short visit, because she took them back "home" sometime in the afternoon. I can't wait until she brings them back for another visit. Little kittens are just so cute and cuddly!

I scrambled through the housework, and managed to get everything done before Bayleigh got off the bus. As soon as she stepped off the bus, I was caught in a whirlwind of getting the kids ready to go to the Spooktacular. Dave had clinicals in Bolivar and I just met up with him there, then we took my Jeep south to meet up with his parents. However, on the way down, we ended up having a flat tire, and had to go back to switch out the vehicles at the clinic. In the interim, Dave's parents decided not to wait for us, so we ended up minus two at the event.




Bayleigh and I braved the haunted maze . . .




and the kids posed with Thing 1 and Thing 2.




Then we dug for buried treasure . . .



and came up with a handful of bones.



Bayleigh and Eli also enjoyed a round of ring toss, and it was so fun to watch their expressions.




We all had a wonderful time, but it was good to finally head home (after a stop at Lowes and another at Wal-Mart). I guess we'll meet up with Dave's folks on Thursday. I'm sure the kids will enjoy another trip through the Spooktacular, and maybe we can go without incident next time around.

October 26, 2009

My little "Iron Chef" helped daddy make 'football' biscuits this morning . . .



while I busied myself with laundry, laundry and more laundry . . . and cleaning the bedrooms and basically just catching up from a week of exhaustion. I think I've either worked over the hump, or I'm just acclimatizing myself to functioning on very little sleep. I'm not sure which.


So while I'm fighting exhaustion, I may as well add something else to my list of things to do . . . like getting serious about Eli's potty training. I started out last Monday with a timer, and this week, I've just decided to put underwear on him and let him figure things out the hard way. Another positive to having second hand furniture. ;)

October 25, 2009

Another overcast day. I gathered everything up for Sunday School, and had my usual three. (My two plus my niece.) The girls like to color and Eli . . . well, let's just say he likes to decorate the room in his own special way. He has a certain fascination with paint brushes, but I'm not sure why. Maybe I need to let him paint more often . . .

After church we had a wonderful fellowship meal. And across from the church was this beautiful tree . . .

It was so bright, it almost seemed to glow. So after we finished up with the meal and got everyone loaded up, I drove across the street, pulled into the driveway and snapped several photos.

I'm glad I did, because this afternoon we received another deluge. I'm in hopes that it doesn't flood us out of house and home.

I managed to squeeze in a twenty minute nap after we got home, and I'm just now starting to wear down. Dishes are done and laundry is done, except for the putting away, and it can just wait until tomorrow.