Sunday, November 21, 2010

Ketchup

Not really. Just catchin' up. I know it's silly, but it's been awhile. I feel like it's been forever to tell you the truth. Hubby has been hogging the computer playing poker and since we have dial up, it's one at a time. We are supposed to get high speed one day. All the equipment is in, they just haven't "turned the box on", whatever that means. I told hubby he needs to go do it, and let's get going, but something about keeping his job, blah, blah, blah. I quit listening when he said no. I depise being told no, but somebody has to be the practical one. Anyway, on with the show.

  1. We get to see the new Harry Potter movie tomorrow. We are so excited. We wanted to let the crowds die down, so to speak, before we went. I hear parts of it are a little dark and may not be appropriate for younger kids. Well, I have two and they are going with. Not much I can do about that. I'm certainly not going to leave them home alone. So, off we go.
  2. I got to go on a youth retreat last weekend. It was amazing. The big girl says each time we go to Warren Willis, where the retreat was and where she went to summer camp, she loves it. They do an amazing job offering programs to help get you motivated in your walk with Christ. Our last night, I had the kids walk the Maze of Silence. That is a very intense experience. You follow the maze in to the center, praying and pondering all the things that keep you from connecting with Him. When you reach the center, you give it all to God to take away. You pray on your way out from the center, reveling in the love, grace, and mercy that God gives you in exchange for your trouble. Tears poured down my face while I walked. So much pride to be involved with this group of incredible young adults.
  3. Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away. I could say so many things, but instead I will say that I am looking forward to this week more than I have in years past. Hubby is on vacation so we get to spend lots of time with him. We even managed to get a project done around the house today. And, of course, hubby got some poker played. I'm starting to not like that the way he doesn't like Facebook. Now I get it. It took awhile, but I get it.
  4. We splurged and bought a mixer. I am so loving that thing. They had one on sale, I had coupons, and I got Kohl's cash. We turned around and used the Kohl's cash, with more coupons, to buy Christmas presents. The mixer was one thing that was keeping me from making bread. I am not a good kneader. I am a great cook, but my bread sorely lacked. Not anymore. I have made four loaves so far and cannot see buying bread again in the near future. Our next big thing we want is a mill. If we could grind our own flour, that would make even more nutrient rich bread. We'll get there, one step at a time.
  5. Last Friday was our annual Thanksgiving potluck at the park. I was a litttle disappointed by the turnout. I missed a couple of regulars that haven't been there, but I still had a great day. I made three pounds of turkey meat balls and still managed to run out before a couple of late arrivals got there. Not too bad for a low turnout. I just want to take a quick second to say that I miss my friends that haven't been coming. I know you have your reasons, and if there is something that we need to talk about, something that I can do to help you, please let me know. We can find a way, whatever it is.
  6. Last weekend while the big girl and I were gone, hubby and the other two kids watched a Star Wars marathon. I am not much of a Star Wars kind of gal and the only time they get to watch is when I'm not home. Yeah, that doesn't happen very often so they took full advantage. They watched all 800 episodes, or however many there are. This weekend is a Lord of the Rings weekend. I am loving that, let me tell you what. Right now is the big battle scene in The Two Towers. Just waiting for something to blow up. Any minute now...

That's it in a nutshell. I'll try not to stay away as long next time. Remember what my mom says: You are what you eat, you big turkey. Thanks for that, Mom.

Have a great day.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Halloween 2010, in Pics

Last year we happened upon the mall during trick or treat hours. It was quite by accident since I was headed in to get something I had a coupon for. I called hubby, who was waiting in the van, and he brought the kids in. This year, we had the inside scoop. That and it was the day before, so that meant another day to get candy. Ok, you are not hurting my feelings. We met some friends, ended up hanging with more friends and participated in a scavenger hunt. That was fun. Anyway, they also had a Michael Jackson impersonator and his zombie dancers. The dancers were really good and so was the impersonator guy. At one point, he threw his glitter glove into the audience. Guess who caught it? The big girl, that's who. I have to clarify and say that she was talking to her friend S and it actually hit her. I'm glad he didn't throw a brick. That would have been painful. I like people that take these things seriously. I wish I could remember the name of the store. I would promote them just for getting into the spirit of things, so to speak. That's the big girl and the baby walking by.

This is our motley crew we started with. The tall girl is the big girl's friend S and she went as Lady Gaga. Fits doesn't it? She made that costume. You should have seen her shoes. People would ask S what she was. As soon as she said Gaga, you could see their eyes light up. My favorite part of her costume: the turtle hat. We picked up our other friends a little later during trick or treating. We were hoping that our friend M, who recently started a candy business and has a kiosk in the mall, would hand out her candy, but no. She handed out that other junk.



This is Ichabod. I have said it a million times, but I will say it again: creative people piss me off. I know, I know, whatever. Anyway, Ichabod had little holes in his head and Tootsie Pops for hair. Our friend, ST, had this at her vehicle for trunk or treat. It was self serve. You just walk by and pull a lollipop out of the head. How cute is he? I think I may have an Ichabod of my own next year. I may not be able to create, but I can copy! Tootsie rolls, marshmallows, and tooth picks. That's it.
And that's it for me. I finally got pics up, I blogged, and now I need to write. I also got tagged! I am so excited about that. It's a blog thing where one blogger answers questions, then comes up with their own questions and tags fellow bloggers to answer them, and so on. I will get that up as soon as I can.
Have a great day.


Punkins, Punkin

That's me in the patch. I meant to crop the pics before I posted, but as behind in blogging as I am, you're lucky I posted pics at all. We went to a pumpkin patch in a little town north of us that donates to a ministry that out church is part of. That wasn't the only reason we went there. We went there because they have great pumpkins. The ministry part was a bonus and a nice surprise for us. We loved their pumpkins. I loved their pumpkins. This is my favorite time of year. I love to decorate for Halloween more than I love to decorate for Christmas believe it or not. I need to bring our little guys in and make them pretty on my island. We'll see how that goes with all the other stuff I want to do. Once again this year I roasted the seeds from the pumpkin we carved. They are so gosh darn good. I just cannot keep away from them.
This is our pumpkin. The last few years we have done the elaborate stencils that took forever, but this year hubby wanted to go old school. Since we didn't carve until Halloween about 3 hours before our trunk or treat at church, I was ok with that. That and the old school carving is just fun. We had seen a story on TV about a man that sculpts pumpkins (and he's allergic to them, go figure) that was really incredible. If I had any kind of artistic talent, I would have done that. But, alas, I don't know how to sculpt and wouldn't even know where to start.


This was one of my favorite pumpkins. I had to point it out to our whole family. This is the butt pumpkin. C'mon, I know you want to giggle. Just let it out. For a little bit of toilet humor, and because it was just funny, right behind the butt pumpkin were pumpkin seeds. It looked like this little guy just couldn't hold it any more. I was going to get a picture, but hubby was against it. Fine, take a little fun away. That won't stop me from blogging about it, though. "I know," he said. "Blog away." Love that man, even in his fuddy duddy moments.

I am way digging the warty pumpkins. I got a warty one, just not one of these warty ones. I don't know what kind they are, I just know they're cool. I had to get a pic of these two. They almost look like two friends posing.

That's all for the pumpkins. Up next is the kids and trick or treating. Love the candy, hate the candy. That's a mamashublog if ever here was one.
Have a great day.