Ho hum

So here's the scoop:

The kids and I were suppossed to be in Cody, Wyoming visiting with my family while Zack and his cohorts are out enoying their manly fall weekend. The guys hunt (shooting big game and stocking the freezer does amazing things for a man's ego by the way) and we were going to be hanging out with my mom, dad, and brothers, one of whom travelled all the way from New York to be there. So why didn't it happen? Sick. Did I say sick? Oh yeah, sick!! Turns out we've got influenza going around our house, and the last thing we want to do is give the lovely virus to my nephew, Phoenix, who flew 10+ hours along with my brother Justin. So alas, we spent the weekend at home, cooped up, picking our noses. Not really, our noses are too runny to pick!

No for real, we've kept busy with multiple crafts. The kids have been inventing all sorts of goodness and I've been sewing. I'd love to share with ya'll but Christmas is 'round the corner and some of you will be getting said sewing project. I'm excited about how these "things" are turning out though, and I have actually enjoyed being home doing nothing but hobbies.

I never blogged about Halloween because we don't do much. We've bucked the system, gone a different way from norm (What does Norm have to do with this? Ha, ha, I kill myself), and we stay home. Now we don't just stay home we also have plenty o' fun. We carve pumkins, eat candy to our hearts' content, and we usually make caramel apples (ran out of time this year though). So here are a few pictures of Halloween night since I can't share the REALLY good crafty pictures with you:





And although carving pumpkins has lost some of it's fun now that I make the kids gut their own pumpkins, they were mightly pleased with what gutting resulted in:


Till next time, peace out!

All Is Good And Right In The World

No the election results haven't been miraculously reversed, so okay maybe EVERYTHING isn't good and right but some things sure are.

The following photo is music to my ears and beauty to my eyes. It's the wafting of freshly baked apple pie to my nose. It's...okay you get the idea!


When relatives come visit I often hear, "Oh, things are getting so much better Jennie!" Sometimes I shrug my shoulders and think, 'Yeah right you don't live here. You're just visiting and you have NO idea.' Other times I think, 'Better? What do you mean, things were never bad!' And yet other times I think, 'Oh, so you were miserable the other times you where here?' (just keepin' it real, by the way)!

These well meaning comments came from loved ones who had witnessed the busyness, no scratch that, the absolute insaneness of my life. For a blur of time I had a three-year-old, a fifteen-month-old, and a newborn baby. To say life was crazy is an understatement. Then I had a toddler, a two-year-old and a four-year old. Had anybody told me that stage would have been more difficult I wouldn't have believed them. But then I experienced it and mercy, the sibling rivalry was nearly unbearable.

Enough of the past! As much as I treasure those days of little ones under foot everywhere I'm also cherishing where the kiddos are at now. And "now" is more peaceful, more fun and much more enjoyable as a mom (again, just keepin' it real)!

AMEN!

Morning Commute

In no particular order I bring you a bird's eye view of my morning commute!

Mind you, it lacks a bit of it's impact for a few reasons, but really that's minor, right? For one, you weren't there to experience the crisp fall morning that added to the allover allure of starting the day. Second, you weren't actually there with me in the car to see first person what I saw. And last but most importantly you missed the commentary by all three kids.

Just so you don't feel like you missed out on TOO much let me share with you some of the quips I heard from the front seat:

"Oh my goodness, we're going to drive off the road!"
"Mom, there's a car coming!"
"You're driving crazy, Mom!"
And my favorite, "We're gonna die!"

No, I don't recommend photo sessions while driving but they sure epitomize mulit-tasking!

Miscellany

Simple ingredients, right? And yes, be still oh hearts, you did in fact see two sticks of butter. Repeat after me, "butter is my friend"! Butter and myself have a love affair of sorts, and if ya'll can't handle that depth of relationship then you may want to search for a new recipe. In any case, simple ingredients lead to wonderful results:

These are the resultant shortcakes which we topped with sugared strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and homemade whipped cream. I think it's fair to say that these were well enjoyed by us as well as by our dinner guests. It was a bit of summer goodness at the beginning of fall.

The next picture was taken during Brody's kindergarten Creation Play yesterday. It was absolutely adorable and I caught on film, many-a-times, his classmate looking up at Brody with admiration. I don't know what it is but wherever this little guy goes the girls go ga-ga!


And last, but surely not least is the picture I captured as I herded the kids out the door for school. Living up north, surrounded by mountains heralds the most incredible, breath taking sunrises. The trick is to be up early enough to see them. Thank God for motherhood because I don't ever have a problem seeing the sun rise!

Can You Hear Me Giggling From There?

*tee-hee* I'm trying to contain myself, really I am. It's just that EVERY, SINGLE time I look at this photo I giggle with adolescent glee. Is it really that funny? I would agrue yes! You can *tee-hee* judge for yourself *tee-hee*.

Photo credits go to Auntie Irene, who entertained the hooligans for nearly an hour with her nifty Mac program. You've gotta love Aunties, I sure do!!

*tee-hee*

To Hang In There Or Not To Hang In There?

Sure, to me the above title may sound much like the deeply profound "To be or not to be", but then again I'm pretty dang simple minded!

Anywho, I'm curious. Really, I am! Obviously I've been a slacker when it comes to posting. It's not that I don't have material to blog about. Between myself, Zack, and three silly bambinos I've got PLENTY o' blog fodder. It's just that...well...I'm kinda uninspired as of late.

What I'm wondering is: do I have any readership? Is there anyone out there that really thinks I should keep this up? As much as blogging is an outlet for me it's also a way for me to keep in touch with you. Am I keeping in touch with anyone? If so, it's worth the doing. If not, I'm simply talking to myself and as we all know that's just crazy. Oh wait, I talk to myself all the time, don't I?

So humor me. If you HAVE been checking in, post a comment. If I get comments I'll continue blogging. If not, I'll call it a fun had-been foray into the cyberspace world and get on with me life. I must admit it'd be sad and all, but....

Off To School We Go, Part Deux

Could it possibly, is it truly, is there any way that you, my little Brody Deanie, could be a Kindergartner? *SIGH* If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times -where has the time gone? I am so happy to report, however, that we have a little school-lover on our hands. At bedtime tonight Brody wished he could go to school every day just like Garrett. Oh, it'll all too soon be a reality my little man!

And Ashlyn is now our big girl preschooler. She'll be going Mondays and Wednesdays from 9-11:30 a.m. It's not so much time that I don't know what to do with myself but just enough time that I'm not pulling my hair out trying to run errands with one or two or three kids lamenting my carting them around.

Life is, indeed, good! Speaking of good, we FINALLY have progress on our house repair. The drywall is up and taped and it looks as though things are a rollin'. For those that don't know, we finally came to the decision to repair the basement, put in an extra sump pump (we'll now have two which definitely trumps the fact that we didn't even have one when the flooding occurred), and pray for the best. The positives? First, no more staying in the condo. WE ARE READY TO BE HOME (could I possibly say that with more emphasis?)! Two, we have decided to majorly refurnish the house vs. redoing the floor plan. We're thinking that strategically placed pieces of particular furniture will greatly improve the workability of our floor plan. Do you know what that means for me? SHOPPING!! Need I say more?

Anyway, I've got, as always, so much news to share, not the least of which has to do with scrambling, poaching, and frying. Any guesses? Anyone, anyone? Stay tuned...