10.31.2011

I am so happy that the Halloween craziness is almost over.
Between trunk-or-treat,
and class parties,
and trick-or-treating,
there is an insane amount of candy and chocolate
floating around my house.
I think the candy fairy might have to pay us a visit.

This Halloween we spent the day with Ariel,

Lego Luke Skywalker,

and a Lego rockstar.

Gary spent a little over a month working on the Lego costumes.
Is it obvious that when he was a kid
he wanted to be a movie model maker?
{i'll post some pics of the process another time.}

I think they all look pretty amazing.

Tonight we trick-or-treated with friends.
I was tired and ready to go home around 8:00,
but the kids just kept going and going.
I think we finally quit around 8:45.

The kids' big excitement of the night?
Scoring full-size Starburst and Twix bars.
Those are the cool houses.
Not those of us that give out the fun size bars.

Now everyone has crashed
and is sleeping off their sugar highs.

They don't have school tomorrow,
and we still have one more Halloween event to come.
Then Halloween 2011 is going down in the record books.

Can you believe tomorrow is November 1st?
Unbelievable.
Fastest year in history.

'twas the weekend before halloween...

I am not a fan of scary movies at all.
One summer my brother and I rented The Exorcist
from our town's video store
and I was scarred for life.

But I can tolerate a few.
I think we stumble upon and watch the original Halloween every year.
{scariest music E-V-E-R.}

But last night it was this one:

Movie buffs:
name that movie!

But as creepy as that is,
I think the fun size Snickers bars
in the bowl on my kitchen counter may even be scarier.

They are eeeeeeevil.

insta friday - the 'less is more' edition

A few iPhone pics,
and a few words.

My favorite lamp.

 

October weather has been perfection.

It's like her Saturday morning paper.

Sometimes more is not better.

It's a life lesson.

 

My husband will die when he sees

I was listening to this in October.

I know better than to try it with him in the car.

My new friend came in the mail this week.

Am I a jerk for making the last duty of my old iPhone be

to take a picture of its replacement?

Pretty thread.

Quick trips to the bookstore are never, ever quick.

And, as I was uploading these pictures,

I find this one on my phone,

taken by Colin.

A picture of moldy cheese,

that he texted to my mom.

Nice.

Happy last weekend of October.

Now THAT is crazy.

today at home.

Avery and I stayed home for most of the day today.
It felt good to have time at home,
even if I did have a headache and do a ton of laundry.
I like my house in the fall.

Dinner was chicken tortilla soup.
I love the crock pot.

A project in the works.
Possibly my next entry in the Pintertest Kitchen?

Leftover soup for lunch.
{guess i'm on a soup kick.}
Chicken broth, potatoes, squash, garbanzo beans,
and chard.
I know...chard?
I got chard in my farm box last week and I actually used some of it.
It was a proud moment for me.

Aren't those cool?
They are old dead blooms from
my friend Joy's aloe tree.
I think they look part beachy/part Halloween-y.

These guys have a date with the carving knife tomorrow.

Paint choices and window coverings
are a thorn in my side.
Just when I think I have things figured out...
I change my mind.
Argh!

There seem to be Lego's in every corner of our house.
I bought a few old printers trays several years ago
and my hunch was right: they're the perfect size for mini-figures.
{one of the other trays i bought is in the entry way picture above.}

And one more sneak peek of the
Crazy Halloween Costumes of 2011.

I probably gave it away.
:)

***************

updated to add:

I think John Rambo might be having a bad day.

{see comments}

And after reading all of his reasons to boycott American women

I would just like to say, on behalf of all American women,

what a relief. 

And...sorry, international gals.

He's all yours. 

for you: a little dose of pastel.

First, thank you all for your prayers for Giselle.
I know her family feels them, and appreciates them.
And I appreciate you.

*******************

Now...I'm in the mood for some silly.

This past weekend we went to a friend's Halloween party.
I present to you: bridesmaids.

Please don't be jealous of the sleeves.
Or the tan pantyhose.
Or the white sandals.
Or the pastels.
Or the baby's breath in our hair.
Or the blue eye shadow.

Wow.  There's a lot there to be jealous of.

I'm so sad I didn't get a picture of our husbands.
They were Napoleon Dynamite, Kip (Napoleon's brother), and Pedro.
Gary was Pedro.
One of the best movies ever.
"Do the chickens have large talons?"
I love it!
{by the way, i was horrified at the number of people at the party who hadn't seen the movie,
please, if you are one of the unfortunate, do yourself a favor and see it immediately.}

We all went to dinner like that before the party.
One woman really - like, really - thought we were just coming from a wedding.
Could you imagine?!?

We won honorable mention for best group costume.
{we lost to the jersey shore guidos.  argh...guidos!}

Oh, and those dresses?
$30 for all three on eBay.
Yeah, buddy.

And I would like to take the time to publicly thank
whoever is responsible for determining that pantyhose
are no longer necessary.
Bless you.



*******************

And on a somewhat related note,
take a minute to read Joy the Baker's thoughts
on Halloween costumes.
Words to live by. :)

today, instead.

Today I had planned to post about our silly Halloween costumes
from the party we went to this weekend.

Today, instead, my heart is heavy,
because a classmate of Riley's,
and the niece of a dear friend,
is fighting - hard - for a recovery.

She has been battling viral meningitis for several weeks now,
and is not doing well.
She is experiencing complications
and it is clear that she is in need of a lot of prayer.

For those of you who pray,
I ask that you could please take a moment
and lift up nine year old Giselle.
I know you don't know her,
but please pray for her healing.
Please pray for endurance and peace for her family.
Please pray for a miraculous recovery and that she would
walk out of the hospital on her own.

Don't be afraid, for I am with you.

Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will hold you up with my victorious right had.

Isaiah 41:10


Thank you, friends.

mission: clean house.

On Wednesday I mentioned that I think I need a chore schedule.
Leave it to Martha to have already done the work for me.

I like her weekly chore suggestions.
She has a cleaning schedule here on her site.
I'm going to divide them up on my calendar
and list what I want to do for each day of the week.

Today was laundry day.

I think this planner is going to help me be more organized.
Yeah, I caved.
It's ordered.
:)

insta friday - the 'i have no title' edition

Warning: random bunch of pictures to follow.

Last Saturday morning,
I was sitting alone on the patio,
reading through Galatians.
I love Galatians.
I especially love Galatians 5:6.
'What is important is faith expressing itself through love.'
Love it.
Faith and love.

Then, after some quiet time alone,
a little pancake love for the fam.

Sunday morning we headed over the Bay Bridge
to celebrate a certain ten year old's birthday.
It's a pretty bridge.

Bye, Alcatraz.
Most beautiful SF day ever.

I'm not ok with how tall she is getting.
{those boots light up, by the way.  her faves.}

When we got home,
I made birthday treats.
Cake batter rice krispies are a big hit.

I cut three or so inches off of my hair Tuesday.
This is my before.

No after shot yet.
I'm still figuring out how to do it.
{i don't think it's too drastic, though.  gary didn't even notice till i pointed it out.}

This is what she did while I was getting my hair cut.

Thinking of her sitting on that floor with, probably, lots of hair on it
grosses. me. out.

A cranky little person who woke up at 5am this morning
needed a little Great Pumpkin time today.
While wearing a tiara.

And that same cranky little person ended up like this at 5:30 this evening.
Hmmm.
Asleep at 5:30.

This could be good or very very bad.
I'll let you know.

wednesday stuff.

My floor is in desperate need of a good mopping.
Mopping is one of those chores that I seem
to have a hard time getting to.

I'm thinking I need to have specific days
devoted to specific jobs.
Like Monday is vacuuming and dusting,
Tuesday is laundry, etc.
Maybe something along the lines of this....

Do any of you do that?
Or maybe this would help me become more organized.
{or maybe i'm just looking for a reason to make it mine.}
:)


 *****************************


Crazy Halloween Costume v. 2011
is still in the works.
Gary has been working on these things
every night after work for hours.

He is one of those lucky people that is not only
left-brain smart,
but right-brain as well.
He's crazy creative.

Our garage is his workshop these days.
I miss parking in the garage.

 

 *****************************


This is from a couple of weeks ago
at her preschool trike-a-thon.

 I hope she lets me braid her hair like this until she's 17.

{it could happen?}

 *****************************

This is one of my most recent pins.

I really really really really want to do something like this to 

some windows in my house.

Actually, I'll take the window bench, pillows, and quilt too, please.

 *****************************

Have you seen this?

Costumes these days are out of control!

We're going to our friends' annual Halloween party

and, believe me when I tell you,

my costume could not be any further from the above.

Two girlfriends and I are going the funny route.

I'll share pictures after the weekend.

{hint: there are lots of pastel colors involved.  and maybe some blue eyeshadow.}

 *****************************


That's all I've got for today.
Tomorrow I'm going to mop my floors.
I'm telling you so I can be accountable.
Oh, and I'm also going to run.
Ugh.
Now I have to be accountable for that, too.

time is a jerk.

{to quote my friend julie.}

As of today,
I have been a mom for ten years.
A decade.
How is that possible?

Riley went from a 7lbs 4 oz little lump of baby,
to a kid who outgrows jeans like it's an Olympic sport.
And it happened really, really quickly.

We celebrated by spending the day in San Francisco yesterday.

Fisherman's grotto...sea lions...people watching...there's always a lot to see.
{the kids' favorite: when gary got startled by the guy that hides behind the bush.  you know that guy?}

But I think the real highlight of their day was
watching the sourdough artist at Boudin
{pronounced bow-deen, for you non-sourdough connoisseurs}
making Mickey and Minnie out of sourdough.

And when she was finished and we started to walk away,
she ran outside with three specials treats just for them.

Sourdough turtles!
{their snacks for the day.  awesome.}

In the afternoon we hopped on the ferry and
took the 12 minute ride out to Alcatraz.
Alcatraz is a pretty amazing place
with so much history.

The audio tour is amazing.
Almost as good as the views.

And of course no birthday in our house is complete
without a dinner at In-n-Out.

It's true:
time {that jerk} goes way too quickly.
But as much as I miss that baby,
{and i do}
I love the person he is,
and the person he's becoming.