My Goblins

What a great night for trick-or-treating. The little ones insisted on walking by themselves the whole way, so it took a little longer. The weather was perfect. Our dear friends the Warbingtons joined us for our 2nd annual candy gathering in our neighborhood. The big boys had a blast running from house to house!

(Sorry it took a while to post (cause I know all my followers had to have been wondering)... our other computer crashed. We are now hooked up to the old one that we were letting the kids use for computer learning games. Needless to say it is still at their little table and I am sitting in a chair made for a 3 year old as I type I guess this is why my rear end is falling asleep. My knees are up to my ears!)

Oh yeah, thanks for all who voted on the pumpkins. As you can tell it was a landslide vote in favor of #2. I don't want to brag, but that would be the handy work of Noah, Jonah, and Myself!!! I guess the game is really on for next year!

**Just a side note...As you know tonight was Friday, and we were so lucky to have Jeff with us instead of out on the football field. We have enjoyed having him home so much during this football season. We have had many little celebrations as we venture into this new terrain of not coaching!!!!

Your vote is needed!

In the spirit of election day coming up, we need your vote. Not that Jeff and I are competitive or anything, and it really doesn't matter who wins (as long as it's me). We thought it would be fun to get others to judge our original jack-o-lantern designs. So come on cast your vote and give one of us gets bragging rights around here for the next year. You have until midnight Friday 31st to weigh in, so do it. The more votes the better! They are labeled below as #1 and #2

Pumpkin #1 ------------------------------------------------------Pumpkin #2

Halloween party

We had some of our friends over today for our annual Halloween party. As you can tell it is impossible to get everyone to cooperate! We had a great time making gargoyle bags, salt dough ghosts, and eating yummy treats. Thanks friends for playing along with us!

My No-Bo

This afternoon I wanted to take the kids to a fall festival. After church and brunch at a friends house the little ones were wiped out, so they took a nap. L.C. decided that he did not want to go (he is such a homebody). We tried to talk him into it, but he insisted on staying home. No-Bo finally said "Let's just go without him mom. That way just you and I can hang out!" I am so glad that we did to. I seldom get to take the kids places individually. We usually split them up and take either the older two or the younger two. It was so nice to be with my little boy and see him enjoy himself. He was the one who got to make all the decisions as to what game or activity we did. Notice the level of concentration on his face doing the fishing game (for the 10th time). A lot of times he is overshadowed by his big brother, or limited by the younger two. What a great afternoon - thanks my dear No-Bo!!!!!

Leaping Lizzards

Check out this series of photos!

Notice the lizard running across L.C.'s shirt. We were outside talking and he was hanging on the swing set. Then he said hey look there's a lizard. Then it jumped down and sat for a minute then walked across his shirt. It is funny that he happened to have this particular shirt on when it happened. Watch how the expression on his face changes from cool to a little worry to relief!

Flower art

I had to get a picture of these amazing flowers that have taken over a part of our flower bed. I think that I planted a couple of plants last year and this is what came up this year. I was so excited because what I like best about spring is...all your perennials start coming up. I didn't even remember these were there, so this is a nice surprise for fall.



Look how tightly these are bunched together. Of course with not a whole lot new blooming right now, every flying critter was on these flowers.



These two pictures above come from my budding artist L.C. He wanted his turn with the camera, so I handed it to him and walked inside. I think he did a great job. I love the angle of the butterfly on the first one. Usually we focus on the colorful wings, but here you can see how fuzzy it is. This last picture is my favorite though, but maybe it is because he told me how he took it. He said that he laid down on the ground to make it look different. I love the blue sky, and the sun shining through the flowers. Maybe I should leave all the photography to him!

Sleeping baby

You think that I would learn...Don't ever wake a sleeping baby...

...or you might end up with this...

...or this crazy girl...

...but you can always put them to work and make them do this!!!

My little pumpkins

You gotta love the wink from No-Bo!

I don't know which one I would eat up first! They are all so precious! We tried to go through the corn maze, but they are only opened on weekends, so I got these cute pictures instead!

The big fish

Sunday we went to Pickens and stayed the night at the cabin. The kids had a great time as usual playing in the creek out front. L.C. caught this fish. It was his biggest one ever caught with just a net. Did I tell you that he caught shrimp with his bare hands this summer at the beach?!

We need a new home!

Wanted: A loving family for 1 or possibly 4 kittens!!! Please take us home with you.

Rain, rain go away...

The rain didn't stop my crew. It was a great rain for another day of puddle jumping. Our backyard seems to hold a lot of water, and around the swing set it is perfect for puddle jumping. The boys had a great time, but the little ones went out long enough to get their clothes wet (all I can think of is how much laundry I will have to do).







It is hard to tell from this picture, but look at Noah's feet. You can't see them because the water comes up to mid-shin. They were a mess and freezing when finished, so they went and took a long hot shower.

This gives me peace!

It is so nice to walk into a clean room! In case you couldn't recognize them, those would be my sofas that were once completely covered in clothes. I know they won't stay this way long as they barely did for the picture. There are also 3 loads of laundry waiting to be folded and the kids are itching to get into the playroom! Of course like I said when I work on one project everything else goes downhill, so you should see the rest of the house! At least I feel some peace when I walk into these rooms.

Swimming...in laundry and mess!

This is what I have been dealing with since the consignment sale was over. Whenever I decided to take on any other project other than daily household chores everything falls apart. I have been doing laundry like a mad women and still can not catch up. Notice the 3 baskets that had yet to be folded, and I dare not mention the loads in the washer and dryer, or the 5 more that need to be done! It doesn't help that we are experiencing all different types of weather, so I am trying to get all the fall clothes washed as well.

The playroom is another story. I do have to admit that part of the mess is my fault because I dumped out all the baskets to use them at the sale. I did try to contain the mess in plastic bags and make the room off limits until I could return the baskets. That obviously didn't work long. Needless to say everything spirals from there. I have to spend a whole day cleaning this and then you know the rest...I fall behind on everything else. You don't know how many times I say "If I could only catch up, I could maintain." We'll see if that ever happens. I will have to keep you posted!!!



Oh yeah, and did I mention that Luke started playing soccer this season...and I am the coach!!! We put off playing organized sports as long as possible to keep from having to run around every night of the week. He is a natural player and really loves it. He plays with such determination and energy. It is fun to get back into coaching again, and will be good practice for me since I will be helping out girls soccer team out at the high school this year!

Change

THE BEFORE ME!

In March of this year I was going to get my hair cut in a cute short cut that I had seen. Then I decided since my hair was already pretty long, I would just grow it a little more and donate it. It took a few more months than I had hoped, and there were several times when I was ready to just cut it all off. Well 6 months later it was finally long enough. I was nervous at first when I made the appointment. Isn't it funny how we can get so attached to something as silly as hair. I didn't even like it anymore, and it was driving me crazy being so long. Yet I was still a little apprehensive about getting it cut short.

THE AFTER ME!

I look like a totally different person! It is really short, but I think I am starting to get used to it and like it! I have 12.5 inches to donate!!!!

Catching up

Well it has been such a long time since my last blog! I have been so incredibly busy the last couple of weeks, but then it hit me, when am I not busy. I have had several people say you need to update your blog, and I would always say "I know, I have just been so busy lately I haven't had time!" Then I started thinking about people and time and now I have this new quote that I have "invented"...YOU HAVE ONLY AS MUCH TIME AS YOU MAKE TIME FOR! I think it is a great one. We all hear about people not having time to do this or that, but it just comes down to if they make the time to do it. I guess that is why I am sitting here writing this at 12:30 at night. I finally stopped making excuses and made the time!

Enough with the ramble. This is some of what we have been into these last couple of weeks!

Isn't this little thing so cute. It is only a few days old here, and can't even open its eyes. Unfortunately there is not only one of these, but...........

............4 total little kittens. So now we have to little puppies (yes, I think we are keeping them), 2 cats, 4 kittens ( they will be ready in a few more weeks if anyone needs a new friend) , and 2 fish. Are we crazy or what! Oh and remember all of this with 4 cute kids

This is what has really taken up my time. This is Sweet Repeats. It only happens twice a year, and last just a weekend, but man it takes a lot of time to get to what you see in this picture. I had around 90 people consigning with me this time which is absolutely my limit! There was a ton of stuff as if you couldn't tell. Now I am busy adding up the tickets so I can get checks in the mail!

Osmosis

I always tuck the kids in at night. Here is what I found tonight. L.C. had fallen asleep reading. Apparently he had gotten tired of his fan, which he put on his bed, blowing in his face. Such good reading material. This is actually one of my favorite books!