Halloween Traditions...

Every year my mom puts on a Halloween Dinner. There's a menu with everything called something halloween-y. The point of the dinner is to try and figure out what each thing is. Years ago, I decided instead of trying to dress everyone up and worry about getting the costumes dirty before halloween, we'd get Halloween shirts. So that's what these are. I found everyone excepts Enoch's shirt at Wal-Mart in the States for $5 each!

Here's all my kids and some friends in their costumes, just before we head out trick or treating. We wandered around the estate homes so we cleaned up in about 1 1/2 hours. The last picture is the loot we got. The one on the left is chips and the one on the right is just candy. You know the kids have had enough when they start asking to skip houses to go home! Our saving grace was that we brought the wagon and the large stroller. There was somewhere for kids to pile into when they were tired of walking and somewhere for the candy.
Caleb even helped out a friend who was sick with H1N1 and took a bucket around for her. It was fun to hear people comment on the two buckets he had. A lot of comments were: "Double bagging it, eh?" "Two buckets?" Then he would explain that he was collecting candy for a friend that was sick. All of a sudden, they would reach back into their bowls, buckets, etc and say "Here's some extra, hope she feels better." It was a good experience for Caleb, who is totally willing to help out anyone just naturally. I think he helped people feel the "Halloween Spirit." :)

We all survived and I'm now counting down to when I get to get rid of the candy. (Sad, I know.) We have already had junk for breakfast 2 days in a row. My fault for not getting up on time, I guess. Happy Halloween!

Yesterday I felt....

like one of these with a head missing....

It seemed whatever I touched, would magically disappear! I know, David Copperfield, I'm coming to take over your job -- except I had a really hard time making things reappear. I seem to have lost everything that I needed yesterday. Grrrr. Let me tell you, I usually go completely crazy when I lose things, so yesterday was a HUGE lesson in patience.

While I did find most of what I was looking for, my journal seems to have taken a vacation and left me to fend for myself. Hopefully I can find it sooner then later. Sigh.

On another note, Happy Halloween to everyone that participates! Hope the weather is tolerable, the candy plentiful and varied and the time spent only fun ones.

Learning To Be Okay (O-hay from my Little Miss)

Side note (at the beginning):My computer is down and having a hissy fit. So no pictures today. :)

Funny thing about 'growing up'... I'm still having to learn things. Sometimes they are my 'a-ha' moments, sometimes the realization that I'm still a 'kid' and sometimes they are just lessons that have smacked me in the face long enough that I've finally got the bruises of understanding.
I am in the midst (among many, many, many... other things) figuring out what I'm okay with. Okay with things about me personally, physically, etc.
Big one for me is friends. I grew up trying to be everyone's friends. Some took advantage of it. Some ignored me, unless no one else was around. Some actually were my friends. Some, we learned to become friends. It's been an interesting journey, I guess.
I am learning now that while my hubby is one of my best friends - he just doesn't get the girl things. I have also learned that I don't need a handful of 'best' friends. Just a couple. What I need are friends that I can do things with, call every once and a while for help and even a few who I can hang out with as couples.
The funny thing is, this realization has done a couple of things for me. It's taught me that I can do things on my own and it's okay. (Big realization from someone who is the oldest of 6 kids, worked as a nurse and have 4 kids of my own.) I was under the impression that you MUST do things with other people in order to have fun. Now, for the most part, for me, this is true. But every once and while, it's okay to do something on your own. Does that mean I'm going to hit a movie or go to a restaurant by myself? Probably not. But there are other things I can do and have done.
It's also taught me that I don't have to be invited to everything and I don't have to feel like it was a slight against me too. That's been a little harder to get over and I'm sure mostly a 'girl' thing. But I'm getting there.
I have also learned that I need to make my friends a little more of a priority. So when my knee-jerk reaction is to say "No", I need to find a way to say "Yes." Can't complain that I don't have any friends if I don't do anything with them, now can I?
So, I'm grateful for the myriad of friends that I have. Some that are great for a girl's night out, some that I share common interests with (you know who you are) and some that call to check and make sure I'm still alive today. (And that my children are too on the bad ones.)
Thanks to my friends. Thanks to the friends who let the hubby and I come and play on Saturday. It's fun to see the usual people I do things with and mix in some new ones.

To My Friends....

One of these houses is not like the others...

Do you remember that song from Sesame Street?
"One of these things is not like the others. One of these things is kind of the same."

Yeah. When we moved in to our house, we were right beside the show home office. Well, the office picked up and moved and then we were beside a great empty dirt field. Full of wonder, rocks and mud if the weather permitted. It was wonderful. (Insert sarcasim here.) Well that dirt field is now a proud owner of two houses. And it's been great actually. The framers didn't start until 8 in the morning, so it wasn't like I was woken up to hammers banging. They made great strides all summer long while we were in and out of town. It's had been a good little experience....

Then, when I got back from London (the first time) I was greated to my new neighbour's houses. Tell me what you think:

My phone call to Carma didn't get me great results. It was something to the effect: They aren't going to change the siding, but Heartland will try to paint them to make them look different enough. And actually, this picture makes it look like the houses are much more different in color then in person. These two houses are right beside me! It's awful! Anyway, that's all from us for now. I'm going to survive until Wed/Thurs for the Chinook to hit and get rid of the unsightly white stuff.

I'm Great at Starting A Project...

... but not so good at finishing them. I think I suffer from a mild case of A.D.D (I know it's not called that, that's why I suffer from it). I get started, guns a blazin' on a project. Then.... the house needs cleaning, the kids need something, I have to switch over the laundry and all of a sudden - what was I doing again? So, part of our de-junking and clearing out the POD is that I have a small pile of projects that I now need to get finished. It's slow going because I still manage to get distracted - shock I know. But, I am determined to get things finished. I am in the process of finishing something that I should have gotten done last year. I just need to pick up some wall mounting stuff and I can have it up to display for the world! It's very exciting.

Next goal: THE BASEMENT! We've had several hiccups and are going to get started on it again. It's so close to being done, it's actually driving me crazy. We are trying to make this house last a little bit longer, and so the basement will be a welcome addition to containing the kids toys and cleaning up their rooms that bit more! I'm excited.

Ongoing goal: Organize this house! I have found that not being pregnant/nursing (ever again!) has definitely given me more energy and motivation to get things done around my house. I am just trying to be patient as we get furniture and more shelves in our life to put things somewhere. It's moments like this that I contemplate the lottery...

Anyway, wish me luck. Heck, harass me a little about this projects. If I know I'm now responsible to someone, I'm better motivated.

Here's to my goals!

Growing Kids

I have just realized that my kids have sprouted on me... all of them! I looked at Caleb's pants and realized they are hitt his ankle... Aiden, Kyrie and Enoch, all suffering from this same phenomenon. I had the sad impression that I was on top of that, and here we are - all needing new or the previous owner's clothes! Caleb and Kyrie will be getting some new pants and shirts this weekend and Aiden and Enoch will be recieving the hand-me-downs. And everyone needs new shoes - right before we need new boots! AAAHHHH!

I always like to tell Caleb to quit growing. He just rolls his eyes and says "I can't stop growing mom."

Phrases I've taught my children.

For better or worse there are phrases, sayings, and other exciting things that have come out of my mouth and promptly engrained into my children's.
1. "That's not on sale." This has been my lifesaver. It's so much easier to swallow "Is this one on sale mom?" then "Can I have this one?"
2. Mom: What do you do if there's a problem? Kids: Tell Mom. That's the phrase I go over with Kyrie and Aiden before I hop in the shower.
3. Mom: You get what you get... Kyrie: And you don't get upset. I don't even think she realizes I am talking about her, but she seems to get a serious kick out of that one.
4. Mom: Does whining get you what you want? Child:No.
5. Child: Can we get a treat? Mom looks at child with raised eyebrow. Child: If we're good, right?
6. Mom: If you keep doing that... Caleb: You'll go mental?

Any of you have some phrases that I should/should not teach my children? As Clark and I always say to each other after a tough day with the kiddies: Why did we have kids again? Oh yeah, cause they're amusing and we have no self control!