Halloween Day

*Note* I have loads of pictures and posts just waiting to be put up here. But alas, I took the pictures on Richard's fancy new camera and apparently they are so big that Blogger can't handle them. So until Richard has a chance to fix them for me or until I can take more pictures tonight with the normal camera, no costume pics yet - despite the fact that my kids have been in and out of their costumes multiple times for multiple events already.

We've had a blast on this Halloween Day! We started out with some leaf-playing

Then some pumpkin carving. - Note the heart shaped eyes and the earrings on our Jack-O-Lantern. She has been named Sally. Can you guess who had the creative license on this one?

Then some of us were so tired that we took a little break flat on the kitchen table.

I think that's a sign of a good day!

Next up: dinner with friends then trick-or-treating with neighbors and some more friends who we invite to join us each year because they live in apartment buildings. Don't worry! Pictures to come soon!

The Big Reveal

We are VERY happy with how these pictures turned out. I even already had them printed and hung them in the family room. Thanks, Stephanie, for doing a great job! I can just see the Christmas cards now... in fact, I might go order them right now! And don't worry - a new blog header is on the way. Just as soon as Richard gets a chance to do some photo editing for me. And Grandma's - your copies of the pictures are on the way.

Panic Attack

So, I think I'm loosing it. I can not stop freaking out about the flu. It's already making the rounds around here - in our ward and in the schools. Every time one of my kids coughs or complains of a tummy ache, or won't eat dinner or when I feel their head and it's warmer than usual, I freak out. Never mind that they're wearing a sweater and have been running laps around the house - I'm just sure that this is the beginning.

I know that it's going to happen. We're going to get the flu. Swine flu or normal flu - maybe both.

I also know that the odds are that we'll be fine afterwards. No permanent damage. Just a week or so of sick kids and probably sick me. It's not that big a deal - it happens every year.

But for some reason I'm freaking out about it. I couldn't get to sleep last night because I was too busy being miserable at the thought of the flu. I'm afraid to go to the gym and put the kids in the child care there. I debated not going to church to keep the kids out of nursery (although in the end, we went). I'm planning on buying a table for the front hall so that I can set up a hand sanitation center there. ... Did I mention nobody even has so much as the sniffles at the moment? We're totally healthy. But I can't even enjoy it because I'm too busy freaking out!

I am not the type of person who usually freaks out about this kind of thing. I'm the kind of person who calls her friend before a play date and says something like "We're all ready to come over, but just so you know we have the sniffles. I don't care as long as you don't care. Kids always have the sniffles!"

I am not panicky.

... Except I guess I am now.

Family Photo Preview

Our photographer from last weekend put up a few preview shots of our family on her blog! I am so excited to see more! But in the meantime, go check them out on her blog.

(I hope my hair looks better in some of the other shots.)

And just to show you how disgustingly perfect today would have been for our outside family photo shoot - here's a few pics I took this morning in our yard. ... Oh well. The pictures still turned out fabulously I'm sure.

Pumpkinville with Asher

I went with Asher on his Preschool field trip to "Pumpkinville" today. Asher has been looking forward to this trip for a year - ever since Naomi went. I made a photobook with pictures of Naomi and I from last year and Asher picks it for his bedtime story more often than Naomi does. So this year I had to take lots of pictures so that I could make another photobook of Asher and my trip. The problem with taking a bazillion pictures is that at least a quarter of them turn out good, and a quarter of a bazillion pictures is still a LOT. So here's the best couple (...er, 15).

Asher with his teachers:

The long awaited tractor ride:

Mr. Wonderful:

We had a great time. Quality one-on-one time with the kids is so important - for me and for them. I hope the day was everything he was hoping for.

And a big thanks to the entourage of people that it took for me to be able to go with him for that one-on-one time.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

It's pretty much just the daily grind around here. Yesterday was a busy day, but in the end we pulled off a great Halloween party for the youth at church - complete with handmade ghost suckers, homemade root beer, and watching The Nightmare Before Christmas (sure, they watched the first half of the movie with just subtitles on because there was no sound - but I dealt with it the best I could and we got the speakers hooked up for the second half). Throw in some Visiting Teaching (both being taught and teaching), celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary (Mac N Cheese and smoothies with the kids), playdates, speech therapy, church jobs, and the kitchen sink (you know, cleaning it and getting the never-ending dishes out of it) and that's my week so far.

Tomorrow should be fun with a field trip for Asher to a pumpkin patch that Mom gets to tag along to. It only takes a carefully orchestrated, fragile, dance to let me go. (Naomi's off to school, Dad stays home with Isaiah then takes him to speech therapy, then Dad drops off Isaiah at a friends for babysitting, Naomi gets off bus with neighbor and plays there, Asher and I come back, pick up Isaiah, pick up Naomi.)

Ok, I just realized that what I just spent two paragraphs describing isn't really what I would call "the daily grind" - it's all "special circumstances". But since it seems like there's always some kind of special circumstances these days, that means those become the daily grind, right? Oh man, I'm blowing my own mind. ... Deep.

Time Wasting Websites

Richard and I got stuck showing each other silly, time wasting websites today. So we decided to compile a list here on the blog. We're counting on you all to share your favorites with us too. You know, so that we can waste even more time! Let's work together for maximum time waste-age!

Engrish

Handmade Gone Wrong

I Can Has Cheeseburger

"Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

Cake Wrecks

Just Silly

Not much unusual going on around here. Family photos on Saturday got rained out... or rather, in. Our park photo shoot turned into a house photo shoot- we'll see in about a week, but I think they turned out well. Then Saturday afternoon Ruthie came over to play and it seemed like a holiday because it was just fun and worry free. No real schedule or reason for being together, just good fun, good food, good people.

Here's a few pictures that I've randomly snapped over the last few days of just cuteness and silliness.

Isaiah spent a good half hour working on this work of art. When I asked him what it is he said, "Mama, n Dada, n Meme". Meme sometimes means "me" and sometimes means "Naomi", but I think in this case it meant "me".

Here's Asher going gansta with a Winnie the Pooh hat. It's Preschool gangsta!

Here's Isaiah entirely in a box all cuddled up watching TV.

And here's a video of all three kids letting loose the silly's on a poor, innocent wall.

Two Kinds of Fall

This is my favorite tree. It's always the very first tree in the neighborhood to be bright red. It's beautiful. I stare at it out my kitchen window. I love it.

So today while we were waiting for Naomi's bus to come, I stuck Isaiah up in the tree on the lowest branch and took a bunch of pictures of him. Cuz he's cute.

And then I wanted to take pictures of all the kids like that, so I waited until later and stuck all three of them up there one by one.

Aren't they cute?

I even kinda like this pic of myself! In a moody, artistic sort of way.

Then Naomi discovered that she could hang on the branch unassisted. And I helped Asher dangle for a little bit too.

But where it all went wrong was when Naomi suggested that *I* try hanging from the branch. And I did it. I took the advice of a 5 year old.

And I broke my favorite tree. That's not two branches people, that's one branch that's totally broken. So then the branch was hanging down into the street. And I could just see the lady across the street drafting the nasty letter from our HOA. So I had to cut the branch down. But we only have a hand saw (actually, after all this Richard tells me that we have something that would have worked much better - but whatever) so it was hard work! And it made me sad. I broke my favorite tree!

But, on the up side, now I have a lovely Fall display on my mantle.