Happy Halloween

This Halloween has already been really fun and we still have lots to do today. But I thought I'd put some of this on here now so I'll have less to add later or tomorrow.

Katie and Carol came to my house on Tuesday and helped me carve pumpkins. It was great to have them come over since my kids won't touch the pumpkin "guts" and Casey isn't really a big fan of carving pumpkins.

Serious action shot, look at that concentration.

The finished products.

We even had one pumpkin that was big enough to fit the babies inside it.

It was hard to get a picture of Alek where he's not chewing on the edge of the pumpkin.

I love this one of Sophie.

Then we had a Halloween Party at our house on Wednesday. It was fun to have everyone here, so thanks to everyone who came and made my first party (as hostess) a success. It was great to see everyone in their costumes.

Casey and I as Dwight and Angela from The Office. It's a little bit scary how much Casey looked like Dwight.

Alek didn't seem to mind his costume as long as he had the hood off.

The kids had fun playing in Jace's room.

Matt only wore his mask for this picture and for about 10 seconds worth of scaring the kids.

I loved this Tinkerbell costume.

I'm glad Becca and her boys were able to make it for the party. The timing couldn't have worked better.

Camden didn't leave his costume on for very long and I didn't even get a picture of Jace at the party. He was too busy playing.

Of course Carol looks great in whatever she wears. And it was fun that my parents dressed up too!

That Napolean costume was great. I should have taken a better picture of it. She had moon boots on and everything.

Shana threw her costume together at the last second. I wish I could look that good in a something I just threw on.

Ally was Dorothy complete with sparkly shoes. Again, I should have gotten a good picture of the whole costume.

Spencer and Alise hung out together all evening. They looked pretty funny together in costumes that didn't go together at all.

Easton was a little camera shy despite Chantel and I trying to get him to smile.

Randon and Jessica looked great in their matching costumes.

And in case that wasn't enough, I'll have more pictures of Halloween activities later. We had a trunk-or-treat party at the church last night and I went to Jace's Halloween parade at school today; plus we still have trick-or-treating and a party to go to tonight.

I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween.

Lucky

This song is my current favorite, it makes my heart happy. Just wanted to share.

Birthday Fun

Since we went to dinner with my family on my actual birthday, we celebrated on Saturday with the kdis by taking them to the scarecrow festival. Casey and I know some of the people who work there so we were able to get in for free which is always nice.

Jace loved all the huge inflatable slides, and the big bouncy trampoline thingy.

And Camden loved sitting on this airplane. Seriously, he sat on that thing for a good 20 minutes. I'm so glad we got in for free. If I had paid ten bucks for him to get in so he could sit on that airplane I might have been a little annoyed.

The kids also went through the little kids spook alley.
Afterward we got caramel apples and kettle corn. Then we sent the kids to play with their cousins so Casey and I could go out that evening.

We went to dinner and then to a concert. The concert was a band called Thriving Ivory. They are my new favorite band. There were only about five or six people between us and the stage. It was great to be so close to the stage. Here are a couple of pictures from the concert.

All About Me Tag

I was blog tagged my my friend Clancy so here goes.

Disclaimer: This is the very first blog tag I have participated in. Early in my blogging "career" I declined several blog tag invitations. I wanted my blog to have only what I wanted to blog about on it and not have my blog posts dictated by others. I thought it made me unique to decline those invitations but now I realize that I was being a total stick in the mud. (I wonder where that expression came from.) I think I was also afraid to share information about myself. But I decided more recently that this blog needs a little more of my personality in it and a little more about me. Since "blog tags" are usually about the author I decided that I will play. So bring on the blog tag's.

7 Things about me

1-I only sluffed school once (one class, not one day) and I didn't even like it. I was in high school at the time. I was with a friend and neither of us had never cut class before so we didn't know what to do. We were both afraid of getting caught so we went to her house and hung out/hid. But I felt guilty about it the entire time, and I'm pretty sure I even told my mom later that day what we did. I think she laughed at me.

2-I am a serial email checker. I probably check my email at least four or five times a day. Many days it's more than that. The sad thing is, I usually only get an email or two per day if I'm lucky. I'm not sure why I expect so many more than that. At least you know that if you need to contact me via email I will receive it quite quickly.

3-I am also a blog stalker. I love to look at all the blogs listed the sidebar of a blog of someone I know. And then sometimes I look at all of the people on that person's sidebar. I have found quite a few people I know that way, and now I follow their blogs but they don't all know it. I even set my sister (Carolyn) up with a guy I found that way. A friend of a friend of my sister (Katie) had a post on her blog about her brother and how great he was and that she was looking for someone to set him up with. They actually went out once so far and probably will again.

4. I have a habit of counting things. It's not intentional and I don't have to end on a certain number or anything. I just find myself automatically counting things sometimes. Like when I go up or down stairs, chop vegetables, or take forks out of the dishwasher. Once I realize that I'm counting I make myself stop but sometimes I get pretty high before I notice what I'm doing. I attribute it to my nursing background. I count heart beats and breathing all day long at work so counting comes automatically to me.

5-I can't stand to eat with a metal fork or spoon if the bowl or plate I'm eating off of is also metal. It makes the fork or spoon taste...um...like metal. Weird, I know. But I don't know how else to explain it. So when restaurants serve their food in pie tins or on skillets I have to request an actual plate or use plastic eating utensils.

6-I hate replacing batteries in the kids' toys. I think it's because of the stupid childproof battery cover that has to be opened with a screwdriver. We usually have the right kinds of batteries around but I hate replacing them. When one of the kids' toys needs new batteries I always have Casey do it. And if he isn't home, the kids have to wait for him. I think the kids must think I'm pretty dumb to not know how to put new batteries in their toys but I don't care.

7-I was a published author in the 5th grade. I bet you'd never guess that by reading my blog but it's true. We had to write something for a standardized writing competency test that year. Everyone had to write about a childhood experience they learned something from. I wrote about jumping off a diving board by myself and how I wouldn't always have someone there to hold my had all the time but I would still be ok, blah...blah...blah. Anyway, my teacher liked it so much that she submitted it to a children's literary magazine and it got published. I always felt kind of guilty about it because I felt like I was making the whole thing up. Of course I had jumped off a diving board but it's not like I ever made that comparison until I wrote it for that assignment.

I know at the end of a blog tag post you're supposed to tag others to do the same but I don't know if anyone will want to since I may have previously declined their blog tag invites. I will simply leave it open to anyone who reads my blog and wants to participate. That was fun, thanks Clancy!

Manic Monday: Bite

Here's a list of a few of my favorite things to bite into.

-A caramel apple, the apple has to be a Granny Smith; best combination of sweet and tart.
-Cauliflower, it has the most unique crunch to it.
-A sweet, juicy peach.
-Corn on the cob, I love how the kernels pop into my mouth when I bite them.
-Warm, chewy brownies.
-Celery, it gives the best crunching sound.
-Rice Krispy treats, best combination of crunchy and chewy.
-Grapes that are so firm they burst in my mouth when I bite into them.
-Homemade rolls when they're just the right amount of buttery, flaky and moist.

Smiley List:

1-I really got to learn a lot today at work.
2-Alek giving me raspberries on my cheek.
3-Camden insisting he's not tired only to fall asleep in the car less than ten minutes later.
4-Jace is sleeping well at the moment, despite the persistent cough he's had all day.

There's Still Time

Today I registered to vote and you still can too. I missed the deadline to do a mail-in registration, but you can register in-person until the 20th. That really only gives you two days (Friday and Monday) to do it, but I encourage you to register to vote if you can make time for it. This election is going to be a memorable one. It already has been in many ways, so make sure you're a part of it. Get yourself registered to vote so you can participate in such an important and interesting election. Wow, that sounds just like a commercial.

Smiley List
1-I had a great birthday and don't feel sad at all about being 30!
2-Camden is potty trained.
3-The way Alek looks in his winter hat.
4-Jace loves school so much he cried when I told him he had a few days off for Fall Break.
5-All the kids have their Halloween costumes ready and they are so excited for Halloween.
6-This conversation between Jace and Camden (Jace was describing something he saw):
JACE-It was black and white like a fire dog or a cow.
CAMDEN-I wanna see the fire cow.
7-This conversation between Jace and me. (I had been on the phone with Casey and said, "Bye Babe" before hanging up.)
JACE-Mom, what does babe mean?
ME-It's something you call someone you love, like if they're your sweetie. It's like saying baby, but shorter.
JACE-Oh, well I love Isabel. She's my babe. (Isabel is his little friend who lives next door).

I had to throw a few extras in there, I haven't done my smiley list for a while. But it is working. Instead of complaining about how rough, busy and terrible my day was when Casey gets home, now I'm telling him how fun, happy and fantastic our day was and why. I love it!

30 NEVER LOOKED SO GOOOD!!!

I know this is showing up under Connie but it is me Casey I think she revoked my posting access and I can't say that I blame her I am a bit of a loose cannon sometimes my thoughts to mouth filter doesn't work well.

Anyway.

Most of you probably know that today is my sweetheart's birthday and if you didn't, now you know.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNIE!!!!

I just wanted to let Connie know how much of a blessing she has been in my life and it has been very fun and exciting watching her mature over the last ten years, from a very excitable young woman into a very excitable and confident woman, mother, and wife.
I could go on for pages about my beautiful hot sexy wife but for all intents and purposes of this post I want to say happy birthday to my wife, confidant, lover, best friend and eternal companion.
Love you babe.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Manic Monday: Moon

Can I do Manic Monday on a Tuesday? Of course I can, it's my blog. To be honest, Monday is a really hard day for me to blog since I usually work every Mondays from 3-11 PM. Even if I do make it home before midnight (to get something blogged before it's officially Tuesday), I'm definitely not at my sharpest at that time of day. I considered staying up last night to get this posted on Monday but was too tired. So here is my belated Manic Monday Post.

Moon

I think it's interesting that the moon is often associated with spookiness, especially at this time of the year. But I think a night without the light of the moon is far spookier than a nighttime sky lit by the gentle glow of a full moon. In fact, I've always found the moon to be quite cheerful.

As a child I always liked to look out the window and see the moon when we were driving at night. I loved the way it seemed to follow us on our way as if to say, "I want to come too." And I loved the way it was always peeking out from behind trees and clouds as we went, giving the illusion that it was sailing through the starry sky, determined not to be left behind.

Over Six Months Old

My Little Alek is 6 months old. (He was actually 6 months on September 13th so this is a little late.) I just can't believe how big he's getting. I still need to take him to get some six month pictures taken but He's had a cold so I was waiting for him to get over that before doing pictures. For some reason, a baby with green snot dripping from his nose is not how I want to remember Alek at 6 months. So here are a few I have taken recently along with a couple of recent videos I have of him. It's fun to see what he's able to do at just six months old. This kid is determined to keep up with his brothers already.

I got the pictures to load just fine but the video clip I was trying to get on here still hadn't loaded after about 2 hours so I'll just share some pictures for now.

Here he is next to his newborn baby cousin Sophie. it's amazing what a difference six months makes.

Camden loves to hold Alek. Unfortunately, Alek is not as thrilled with it.

And here are a few things about Alek at 6 months.
-He weighs 15 pounds 8 oz and is 26 inches long.
-He's eating solids and loving it.
-He sits well unsupported and gets to a crawling position from sitting.
-He gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth.
-He's army crawling all over the house.
-He's testing out his voice with all kinds of grunts and squeals.
-His hair is coming in really light blond and he's starting to get a lot of it.
-He doesn't have any teeth but I think they're getting close
-He loves to have people sing to him. He really seems to like "If You're Happy and You Know It." -He loves his binky and is really good at grabbing it and getting it in his mouth even if he has to turn it around first.
-He loves to grab my face and give me big wet kisses.

Alek is such a fun and happy little guy. He has been my happiest and easiest baby in a lot of ways and is so much fun. I am so glad I get to be his mom.

Smiley List
1-Jace sticks his tongue out a little when he is really concentrating on his homework or coloring.
2-Camden wanted Jace to help him say the prayer before dinner.
3-Alek is a mama's boy and I love it. The other two always wanted Casey.
4-Reconnecting with old friends and long lost cousins.

Manic Monday: Leaf

It's strange that I've never liked fall. I'm not sure why. I guess I never understood what was so great about the color change and death of a leaf, or why the death of thousands of them in masses is so wonderful. The leaves change color, die and fall from the trees as a precursor to winter; a cold and gloomy time of year with short days and long, cold nights.

But this year I have decided to turn over a new leaf (pun intended) and think of reasons I should love this time of year.

-My birthday is in the fall.
-The colors of the changing leaves really are beautiful (despite my depressing description of them above).
-Thanksgiving is in the fall.
-I LOVE back to school time, always have.
-It starts to get cold enough at night that we can use our fireplace.
-The smells of apple pie, pumpkin cookies, a jack-o-lantern with a candle burning in it, and fallen leaves.
-The sound and feel of leaves crunching under my feet when I walk.

I'm sure in the morning or even as I drift off to sleep I'll think of a few more things I could add to the list but it's late so I'm going to leave it at that. And I'm going to enjoy fall this year.

Smiley List:

1-Having family members who are willing to watch the kids when I work.
2-Alek's natural mohawk.
3-The baby-talk voice Camden uses when he talks to Alek.
4-Jace's excitement to see Camden when he got home from school.

Quick List Today

My Smiley List for Today


1-Kicking a soccer ball with Jace
2-Riding scooters with Camden
3-Alek blowing raspberries after I feed him a bite of food.
4-I got a quick nap in before going to work tonight.

Thanks Casey

Last week Casey and I were discussing how I fit in, or to be accurate; don't necessarily fit in, with a group I occasionally socialize with. I was trying to figure out what it is that makes me stand out from others within the group who seem to have been more easily welcomed and acclimated to the group. Don't get me wrong, I'm not treated poorly in this situation, I just don't really feel like I fit in. And I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with standing out or being different. Thus, our discussion wasn't an attempt to see how I could be more like the individuals in this group. That's not what I was after.

And then Casey gave me some clarity on the subject, and probably the best compliment I have ever been given, when he told me that it's because I'm authentic. He's convinced that I threaten them because they're not. Now, I don't know if the latter is true or not, but I hope the first part of what he said is. I don't pretend to like what everyone else in this group likes just to be accepted or more easily included. and I love that, not only does Casey know that about me, but he appreciates it. I also love that I saw that as a compliment. Casey could have told me that I'm the most beautiful person he's ever seen and I would not have been as touched as I was by a simple comment he made about me being authentic. His comment even made me look up the word authentic and here's what I got from dictionary.com: authentic-not false or copied; genuine; real. And that is how and who I try to be.

The purpose of this post is not to brag. And it's not an attempt to gain confirmation about what was said. I simply want to blog this so I will remember it. I want to remember how it feels to receive such a sincere compliment. And how it feels to be complimented on character. And how it feels to have someone know you so well that they see something in you, you didn't even see yourself. And that something they say can mean so much. It's hard to explain but it somehow made me feel vulnerable and empowered at the same time. I don't want to remember this just for my own sake, but I want to remember it so that I will be more giving of sincere, meaningful compliments. Because now I know how touching it is to receive one.

And here's my smiley list for today

1-The squeaky sound of swings at the park mixed with the laughter of children.
2-Picture day at school for Jace
3-Camden's eyelashes. They're so long and soft. Casey once described them as being "camel-like"
4-The passion with which Alek eats a bowl of infant rice cereal and peaches.