Heh, heh, heh

OK, so I finally came off my work bender. Well, for a little while anyway. I was home by 5:00 today and I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. Fortunately, I found something. Bob (my partner) ordered some steaks from Allen Brothers and they came packed in dry ice. Well, it just so happened there was also a two liter bottle and some water conveniently located for my entertainment....

Aaron, Catherine, Jacob, Elizabeth, Cora, Bob, and the neighbor girl, Lexi were in attendance. Everybody stood waiting with bated breath. It's been awhile since I've done this and I was unsure about the ratio of ingredients, so I was hoping it would pop. Well, I wasn't disappointed in the least. It was SO LOUD! Convinced we were under attack, the neighbors came out of the house looking for the impact crater. We were standing about 40ft away and still felt a pretty powerful concussion. It was cool. The kids were dancing around the driveway like maniacs demanding another one. I told them we should should wait to see if the police drove by...

It was just like old times with, uh, well, um some friends. I don't know what the statute of limitations is, so I won't name names, but you know who you are. :)

Political Stuff....don't like it, don't read it

OK so my friend mentioned FOCA and I didn't really know too much about it. My voting choices have been based, this time around, on economic and global political concerns, which the rest of the country seems oblivious to. So I was saddened when I read about this. Anyone who has read this blog knows how enraptured we are with our little one. So here is the FOCA thing.

"Barack Obama has said that his first act as President would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would enshrine abortion on demand into federal law and would require tax funding of abortion. This bill would legalize partial birth abortion again.
Barack Obama even voted against saving the lives of babies who survive late term abortion."

I'm so proud that America elected a black man, it is time. However, this particular man was a very poor choice. I think it is time that we as a people get over racial BS that so divides our country. I would have missed out on some of my best friends and greatest learning experiences if I didn't include all people equally in my life. But I think this was a decision that was based on race and the energy of the speaker with little attention paid to the words that were spoken. We as a country will reap the rewards of our choice for years to come.

In talking with a friend I mentioned that I wanted to just be a mom and take care of my kids with in the walls of my home and leave politics to others to deal with. And although I vote every election, that is not enough. I'm realizing that protecting my kids requires that I try my hardest to make a society that they will be able to live in when they need to leave our home.

Mug Cake

There is a five minute cake that you can make in the microwave. You just mix the ingredients in a mug and nuke it for 3 minutes. It isn't the best tasting in the world, but it is tons of fun for the kids. They were sure it would go everywhere. You can kind of see how high it is rising out of the mug.

Jacob was very excited!

Cora's Carrot and other happenings

Cora loves to chew. She will chew on your finger all day if given a chance. Sunday, Joe gave her a carrot stick, which of course she couldn't bite. Jacob was very upset. He knew that Cora only drinks milk and he gave Joe quite a talking too.

A friend lent me her Bumbo. Cora has become the center piece at most of our meals.

The Bumbo is so funny because she shouldn't be sitting up yet and it looks strange to see her like that.

Catherine asked if she could do make-up the other day. I thought she meant some blush and maybe lipstick. When I went in the bathroom, this is what I found. At least she wore her art smock!

Playing in Leaves

The wonders of fall. Last week, the kids made a huge leaf pile and had lots of fun playing in it. A neighbor walked by and commented on what a good job they did raking the leaves......... my kids?! No Aaron got out the huge leaf blower. When they were done the blew the leaves into big garbage cans and took them to the burn pile.

Can you see Aaron under Jacob? He would lay in the pile and disappear, then scare the kids when he burst out.

Wielding a leaf blower that is almost as big as you can tire a guy out!

Fall

In addition to Halloween, it is fall and a great time to play in leaves and take family walks.

Some fall colors! Joe was home for 16 hours straight before leaving us again tonight, it was fun to have him and Aaron thanked him for being home because it meant I cooked a real meal.

Cora loves being outside.

I like the bear in this tree. He makes me smile and reminds me of the calmer days when I would take Aaron for long walks Aaron was so good in the stroller and I would walk for miles, we would often pass our friend the bear.

Some elderly ladies were feeding the fish and gave the kids crackers to throw in. Some of the fish were huge!

Here we are. All of us.........and that is a lot. Why do other people not seem to have a big family when they have 4 kids, maybe because I'm not doing their laundry! Monica, I included this goofy family shot for you, so there you go, stop bugging me for family pictures!

The Halloween Season

I don't know when Halloween went from being a night to a season, but it really has. We started with the Trunk or Treat at church. We had a new family move in next door and Jacob has become good friends with their daughter Lexi. The family came with us and did a great job of trunk decorating, I gave them Cora and my candy and chased the younger kids. Here is Lexi as a pirate.


Next on to the parade and school parties. After running in a bag of candy to Catherine's class, yep sent the other candy in the wrong backpack!, Cora and I walked down Main Street towards Jacob's school. The nice thing about our little town is the schools are close. I have kids in three buildings which makes for interesting party days! On the way there I saw a friend and we started talking. I decided to wait with her for the parade, several other friends gathered at the same spot and it was nice to visit. The Village shuts down Main Street and Pre-K through 5th grade go walking by. It is a lot of fun to see all the costumes.

Jacob had to break ranks to love his bumble bee.

Other then when being loved, she slept through the day, which was so nice!





I don't know why it brought me great pleasure to dress her in bee colors under her bee costume, but I laughed every time I removed it and she was still those colors!




Next on to the BIG night!

These were taken just before trick or treating. We had a Bee, Cat, Cheerleader, and Greaser. Yes, those are Nerds rolled up in his sleeve, and no, I didn't let him do that at school. This year, I decided to let the kids have a little more freedom. I'm working on my control issues, slowly. We walked off our street (That is big time on Halloween) to the subdivision just across from us. I told Catherine and Aaron they had to stay together and could go up and down one street (It was a block long) and then do the same thing at the cul-de-sac over a street. They took off. Jacob and I followed, pushing Cora in the stroller. It was almost dark and I could see these streaks of white darting in and out as they ran full speed from house to house. They had a blast! Jacob meanwhile was having a great time himself. Even the chronically dissatisfied have to love free candy. He had nothing but nice things to say about the decorations, the candy, landscaping, he would say, "I'm going to that one, I love that house!" "They have pretty flowers, I love that house." He was very brave and would leave Cora and I on the sidewalk as he went and said Trick or Treat, followed by thank you. On one occasion he got confused and tried to trick or treat to a Dad that was waiting on the sidewalk for his own child. The guy didn't know what to do because he had no candy and this little cat was looking at him in anticipation. He said, "I don't have candy, I've got a quarter in my pocket."

Then home for the candy trade. Well, Jacob had it down. He would gather up some candy he didn't want walk over to Aaron's pile announce the trade, ignore Aaron's protest, toss the unwanted candy at him and take off with the goods. I had to assure Aaron that I would make it all right after bedtime. We filled a big plastic pumpkin full of the good stuff for Dad, because he was at work and we missed him.

This time I let them eat a ton of candy. I was trying to let go and not be the grumpy granola girl. Well come Saturday night Aaron had a headache and Jacob was coughing, so I told them it was the candy. I offered them $2.00 a pound. It was the best $15 I've ever spent. They gladly gave it up and I am back to a candy free home! (ok so it is all out in Joe's office, for those stressful moments that I wish I could have a drink, but substitute chocolate instead!)