Carving Pumpkins

It's that time of year again!! I happen to love this time of year because it kicks off the whole holiday season. I love Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Despite the cold and the snow- I love what comes with it. And I think the reason I love Halloween so much- is because of all the good childhood memories that I associate with it. My mom is and was kind of a Halloween nut- she went all out every year. She had a witch costume that was known for blocks. We still have pictures- you wouldn't recognize her unless you knew it was her. She would also go crazy with decorations and treats and parties... It was so much fun. Now that I'm the mom- I know how tired and how crazy life is without the addition of holiday extras- but I remember how much effort my mom put into these things and how big a payoff it was for me as a kid. So- even though I AM tired, and it just feels like one more thing... I keep telling myself that the memories I am helping my kids build- is totally worth it.

So today- we carved pumpkins. We only did two for now and hopefully we'll be able to get the others finished before Halloween- but if not... I guess we can just leave them out for Thanksgiving decor!

Now I want you to take a look at the pumpkins we have on our front porch... There are some serious pumpkins sitting there. Both my parents and Shaun's parents brought pumpkins to us this year. My parents brought the normal sized ones and Shaun's parents grew Giant Pumpkins this year in their garden... They weren't kidding!! These things are freaking huge! Ty wanted to carve one of them- but I put my foot down... I'm not near dedicated enough to the pumpkin carving process to carve one of those babies. Besides- I think you'd have to have a chain saw to get through all the flesh!!!

Anyway- once I finally talked Ty into carving a normal sized pumpkin- we got to work. We carved a little "happy" pumpkin and a big "scary" pumpkin. At least that's how Ty described them. He actually did most of the little pumpkin himself- and he even managed to keep all his fingers- a feat I was pretty impressed with. I mean think about this... Even though they are just little knives- they have to be pretty sharp in order to make all those little designs and cut through the pumpkin itself... Why do we, as parents (you know- the supposed responsible ones) give these knives over to 4 year olds? It seems somewhat silly to me. But I did it anyway- and it turned out pretty well! The other pumpkin we carved was supposed to be a scary vampire pumpkin (Ty's idea)... We tried hard to make it scary- and if you don't think it is- don't tell us- we don't want to know. We'll have to light them tomorrow and see how they turn out in the dark!

A Tuesday...

Since Ty has been in school, it has allowed Ryan and I to have some one on one time in the mornings. And I have to tell you- it has been soo much fun! Ryan has such a spunky little personality. He's almost as bad as his brother as far as the fact that he is into EVERYTHING! We've baby-proofed the house, but Ryan can still find things to get into. His favorite lately is the bathroom and the cupboard in my kitchen that holds the bread pans. I find bread pans everywhere. I went to go put Ty's PJ's away yesterday, and when I opened his dresser drawer- I found a bread pan.

Besides being a smidge on the mischievous side- Ryan is also pretty smart! I know. I know- I'm totally biased- but since this is my blog- I get to brag all I want! Ryan can say: Mama, Dad, Ty, Hi, No, Go, Big Truck, How Are You and What's That. He can also tell you what the cow, horse, duck, lamb and puppy say. He understands everything. If I tell him to go get in the tub- he'll walk down the hall, into the bathroom and wait next to the tub for me. If I say it's time to go- he'll walk to the back door and pound on the glass until I come with the car keys (granted sometimes he'll do this and yell "go" at me when we are just hanging out in the house). But he really is a smart little fart... Smart enough I have a feeling that between he and his brother- they just have Shaun and I outsmarted by the time they are in Elementary School...

The Tooth

We had a casualty this weekend. We went up to Declo this weekend to spend some time with Shaun's family, and so that I would be able to go to my sister-in-law's baby shower on Saturday.

Saturday morning, we were spending some time outside in the sunshine and Ryan got into a fight with the brick patio... and consequently... lost. He fell down face first and when I picked him up- there was blood EVERYWHERE! And he was just screaming. I kept trying to calm him down to see what was wrong- and Shaun points to his mouth and asked me, "Is that a piece of his tooth sitting there on his tongue?" Sure enough- Ryan had knocked out half of his front tooth.

He's fine now- I took a picture of him in the tub this morning- and even though it's a dopey picture of him- you can kind of see what happened to the two front teeth. The one was pushed back up into his gums, and the other is half gone. I took him to the dentist and there isn't a whole lot they can do until the teeth kind of come back down- then they will be able to re-build the broken tooth. Poor baby.

Fall

Fall seems to be a busy time. There is just always soo much that finds itself needing to be done. When Jacki was here over Conference- I made a comment that I was embarrassed by how much stuff was on my kitchen counters. Jacki just laughed and told me- it's fall... that's what happens when there are things to can and stuff that needs put away. I felt a little better.

And it has been a busy fall. My grandma, grandpa and mom taught me how to can this fall, and I have kind of been so amazed by what you can put away in your pantry via canning. So, while I had done a lot of peaches already- I also did tomatoes and apple pie filling. The apple pie filling was an idea that I got from a girlfriend up here- who does it every year. The idea is- you make your pie filling in the fall and then later in the year, you can have apple pie by just dumping your jar of stuff into a pie crust and VIOLA! Pie. So- I canned apple pie filling- and we actually tried it tonight- it was really good! I'm impressed and my pantry is just that much fuller.

Conference Weekend

These post may be disturbing to those potential visitors out there. Visitors beware... we WILL put you to work. And both sets of grandparents can vouch for that.

We were lucky enough to be joined this conference weekend by both my parents and Shaun's parents. Unfortunately for them... we had unfinished projects leftover from this summer that HAD to be done before the snow falls. (Which here in Montpelier could be anytime now...)

First and foremost. We ripped out the back steps because they were rotting and starting to fall apart. So not safe. But- because Shaun was gone so much this summer working for his dad- they just never really got put back together again. We had all the pieces. Just never enough time. So- my dad and Shaun got working on this and after a few hours- it was done! We had stairs and a railing! So talented.

Next! We had a ton of leftover sand from when we put in the stone patio earlier this year. So rather than let it just sit in the garage and take up someone's valuable parking space (*cough* MINE!). I attempted to put together a sand box made from leftover brick. It was okay. It kind of served its purpose. You could at least tell that's what it was supposed to be. But the bricks wouldn't stay standing up. And the boys kept moving them. So... Enter Papa Orllo. Orllo brought some big wooden posts with them when they came, and he spent the afternoon cutting and putting together a sand box. Kudos Orllo and Jacki (his faithful helper).

And finally... The men put their heads together to figure out how to put up a safety gate above the stairs. We have an unfinished basement- so that the bottom of the stairs is a whole lot o

f concrete. Not much of a plush landing if Ryan were to take off down the stairs. I kept envisioning a lot of blood and a smashed head. So- sparing the rest of the graphic details that keep playing in my brain... the men got to work and got it set up for me (and my peace of mind).

Finally- the work was done and it was time for dinner. We went over to Nora's Diner (home of the world's best onion rings), and had a yummy meal (of course- doesn't it always taste better if you don't have to make it?).

We are so grateful to Grandma Janet (she kept things going this weekend), Grandpa JB (for his expertise in building steps), Grandma Jacki (for helping me clear out the garden), Papa Orllo (for his unparalleled sandbox building skills), Shaun (because I KNOW you didn't want to do any of it), Ty (for all the help on ALL the projects... and some that weren't on the list) and to Ryan (for being SUCH a good boy through all of this). I love you all!!

Truckin'

We are on the road a lot. A lot. A lot. I think we have it about down to a science though- and that's probably more than most people can say about traveling with toddlers. We have found the secret. And I'm about to reveal it to all of you. Are you ready?

The secret is...: Chocolate Milk.

I know. It sounds simple. But it's the secret to great and easy car travel. We fill a cup for both of them and then throw them in the car and take off. They both guzzle and guzzle until it's gone. And then they fall asleep. It's wonderful. And Shaun and I are geniuses.

My People.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said: "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face... You must do the thing you think you can't do." Moving to Montpelier three years ago was terrifying to me. I've never been one to make friends easily or quickly. I am reserved and quiet when surrounded by people I don't know. I had to change when I moved to Montpelier. I knew no one.

I was so lucky to find the friends that I have found here. My people. They have stood by me when I cried with fear when we were worried about Shaun's job. They laughed with me when I laughed about life as a mom. They have always been there when I need a friend. I've never been surrounded by so many good people at one time. (in the picture below: Liz, Clover, Aleisha, Jenny and Jamie)

These girls have helped me re-learn the art of exercise. Every morning there is a group that walks. If it's warm, we walk at the park. When it's cold, we walk at the church. Sometimes we run. Sometimes we weight train. We've done Yoga videos. We play volleyball every Thursday night. There is even a clogging group.

I also think that one of the best parts of being here- is that I have re-learned the art of being a friend. I took my high school/ college friends for granted. We had been friends for so long that everything was easy. We already knew each others histories and quirks. When you make so many new friends at once- you have to re-learn how to ask questions. And it was different this time too... all of these women were also young moms. We are all in the same boat. We have similar routines. We yell at our kids for the same things.

We also get together for girls night/ movie night and we have lunch once a week (sometimes with kids sometimes without). Once in a while it's a phone call to see if you want to take the kids to the park. Or Biggest Loser parties. Around here- it seems that there is always an excuse to get together.

So thanks girls. For making it so easy for me to get over my fear. Thanks.