A Word about Pumpkin Carving...

ICK.

I was inspired by Kristi to actually let my kids carve pumpkins this year instead of hoping they don't bring it up and we can get through another Halloween season without it. I am happy with just plain pumpkins. Plus I'm always afraid that I'll light them, forget to blow out the candle, and burn down my neighborhood.

But, they asked. And Kristi's blog post made it look so fun. So we did it...


Pumpkins were hard to come by at this late date, but I remained pretty excited about the "fun" activity. Fun is in quotations for a reason. Once into the process, I realized that scraping out pumpkin goo is not my idea of fun. In fact, it was such strenuous work as I crouched over their pumpkins helping them, that I think I pulled a muscle in my upper thigh.

I also learned that pumpkin carving tools and I don't get along. We broke 3 of them. This will be my excuse next year if they ask to carve pumpkins...sorry, my tools are broken. Can't possibly buy new ones. I'd break those too.

They may not ask next year. I'm not sure my kid's thought it was that great either...

In the middle of it, I decided something. Pumpkin carving is a boy job! I will remember that one if we ever do this again and not plan our carving on a night when Bill is unavailable. Though scraping pumpkin goo is not his idea of a good time either, his upper thighs are in better shape than mine and can handle the strain better.

I know I'm whining a bit because it wasn't that bad. I guess it was a lesson, for all of us, that some things are worth a little goo and upper thigh strain...

When I said "Doing without is one of the greatest stimulants to thankfulness", I didn't mean that I wanted to do without anything. But the joke is on me since I have been without internet access since Sunday. No blogging has meant a few things for me:

1) I have realized that I can live without blog stalking every night.

2) I also realized just because I don't blog about it, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

3) The final thing it has meant is : more productivity around the house.

The kids and I cleaned the basement which means it is no longer a complete danger zone for Lulu with Barbie shoes and screws from the drum set strewn about. And I can now walk down there and not start twitching nervously at the sight of the mess.

Before the unwanted blogging fast commenced, we had a fun-filled weekend. Friday were Jack and Em's fall parties at school. This year I have pulled back on all volunteering at the school in order to focus on Lulu, but the parties are my favorite thing. It was so fun to be in their classrooms and be a part of this special time. Thankfully, they weren't at the same time this year. Jack's was first...

Remember when these were the hard decisions in life?

Despite how it looks, he is not picking his nose in the above picture. I don't think.

Mrs. Danielson has had three Kollar kids as students now. She's gearing up for a fourth...

Then it was onto the next party with my co-conspirator, Robrenna...

She's not really a witch, by the way. Far from it.

The biggest hit was the Scarecrow Relay...

And Lulu, of course...
After those festivities, it was another weekend at Gunga's. We went to an Apologetix concert with extended family...

Not bad to go to your first concert at only 8 months of age. Despite the deafening music and thick layer of dry ice, she fell asleep...
And I finally got a picture of Aunt Georgie and Lulu...
And now since I've blogged about it, it has all officially happened. Time to get back to blog stalking and unproductivity!

My dishes were dirty all week

If you know me, you know exactly what that means. Bill was out of town. He's the dish doer in our family. He even left me with clean dishes in the dishwasher, but I didn't even empty the thing until the hour before he returned.

There weren't too many dishes since I am fully committed to not making meals while Bill is gone. Mac and cheese. Taco Bell. It is my little break from making dinners and it affords me the opportunity to focus on the kids. This week it worked out really well that it was Red Ribbon Week at school which is a focus on staying drug free. The kids wear their red ribbon every day and local businesses will give them free things each day of the week. So, the free pizza from the grocery store was their dinner every night. And the cookie from a restaurant was their dessert. And the ice cream cone from DQ was their appetizer. It worked out perfectly!

Not only were my kids fed, but you'll be happy to know that I remembered to feed the dog every day as well. In our family, Bill is the glue. I'm the Spice, but he's the Glue. He's the responsible one. He keeps us on track. He holds us together. We didn't completely fall apart without our Glue, but things didn't go as smoothly as normal. They definitely didn't on Wednesday.

Wednesday was the only day I had to get the kids to both schools. I was up late blogging Tuesday night and struggled to wake up on time. So what else is new? But I did it and we made it out of the door. Tate starts school at 8am and Emmie and her best friend need to be at Cooking Club at their school also at 8am. I was kind of proud of myself that we were going to make it.

I got Tate to school at 7:52 and was feeling pretty good for managing 5 kids and two different drop offs. As usual, that is the moment things went awry. Emmie asked, "Mom, I thought you were going to come in to take pictures of our last Cooking Club today."

I answered, "Oh yes, honey. I have the camera right here."

Then she asked, "Then why is Jack in his jammies without any shoes?" (He didn't have to be to school until 9am).

Uh oh. I had to think fast because we were almost at the school. I offered Jack Emmie's pink gloves to wear on his feet, but he wasn't down with that. It seems like a school has kind of an unwritten "No shirt. No shoes. No service" policy. So, I had Jack come in and stand in the breezeway while I ran around the corner with Lulu and snapped a few pictures. I was only gone a few minutes, but in that time a concerned mom (that I don't know) stopped to ask Jack some questions. I came back just as she was headed to the office to report the little boy standing in the breezeway barefoot and in pajamas...
So I avoided a call to social services and I got my pictures of cooking club...
All before 8:10am.

Here are Jack's from his cooking club the next afternoon, fully clothed and wearing shoes, thank you very much...
The Glue is back home now. And it's a very good thing.

"Mom, why do we have to go to this Punkin Patch every year?!" asks Jack.

"It's our tradition."

Tate chimes in, "We went for the first time last year. That doesn't really qualify as a tradition, like Christmas at Gunga's or something."

"It's because it's fall. And it's fun to celebrate the season. And I can take pictures. And this Pumpkin Patch is FREE. Okay?"

Why I oughtta.

Despite the fact that we go to the world's lamest Pumpkin Patch, we had a great time. Fall. Friends. Fotography. Free. What more could you ask for?

The girls...

(i did the above picture in sepia because of my wrinkly lip)

(then i did this picture in sepia because of some ginormous dry, scaly spots on my face. sepia is so forgiving!)

The boys...
The "flowers"...



The friends...

The smothered child...
It was a great time for a great price. Technically it wasn't free. I paid $2 for Tate to shoot a paint ball gun at targets...
No wait, Rachel paid for that (thanks Rachel). But I did pay a whole $1.50 for Jack to jump in the bounce house...
So, a dollar and fifty cents was my total for the experience. That's durn near free.

We wind down our tour of the cheap, but satisfying Pumpkin Patch with a picture of the few, assorted "punkins" scattered about...

And of course, my very own "punkins"...
Or after the complaints in the car on the way over, are they just plain "punks"?

And finally, since I barely take any pictures of the poor girl, the littlest "punkin" of all...
Yummy!

A day I've dreamed of...

Over the past year and a half, when I would read other blogs about Ethiopian adoptive families getting together regularly, I dreamed of a day when we would do something like that with families in our community. This dream came true Sunday afternoon at the park. Unfortunately, two of the families couldn't make it that day, but four families enjoyed getting to know each other on our first nice day in weeks.

How fun to celebrate Ethiopia and adoption together. One family is still waiting for their court date for their sweet little boy. We can't wait until he can join us. As for the Ethiopian kids in our midst, there was Mussie...

And Zach...

Oh yeah, and this little lady...
Along with their respective families...
There was a lot of hand-holding...


And some hugging...

And a little bit of Heisman-ing...
We were supposed to bring a snack to share. I brought beer bread. I didn't realize how much my kids like beer bread. We brought a snack, but notsomuch the "to share" part after my kids parked themselves in front of the bread...
Luci came up with her own snack, a contraband leaf, that led to a choking experience. No picture of that one. Let's just say I was TERRIFIED when she started gagging. When I swiped her mouth I could feel it just beyond my finger. I couldn't get it out. Thankfully she was able to swallow it, but it was really frightening.

Our Dream Come True Herself is just fine. None of my other kids were chokers. I have teased my sister mercilessly that she still cuts up hot dogs and grapes for her 19, 14, and 10 year old kids saying they are "choke-y foods". I'm sorry sis, I'll stop teasing you. I get it now. I have a choker in Miss Luci. And I have learned that leaves are indeed "choke-y foods".