Not Guts..No Glory...

We have had our pumpkin now for two weeks. I finally decided it was time to carve the big "ball" (as Casey would call it). It was such a beautiful day yesterday and the kids loved being outside so we spent the afternoon carving, or should I say, I spent the afternoon carving and scooping GUTS. The kids thought it was fun at first but they got bored quickly and started playing with all the pieces of pumpkin I was cutting out. Neither one of them liked the Guts and Casey wouldnt touch them for anything. I think this years Jack-o-lantern turned out quite well.

Baby It's COLD outside!

This morning we woke up to temps in the 30's and 40's. Back when we were living in Maine that would be MILD for us and I would have no problem walking outside in just a long sleeved shirt. I guess my blood is thinning or I am getting old because this morning I was bundled up and still freezing! Emily is definately not able to handle the cold. She went with gloves, sweatshirt and fleece jacket. She is in a portable class room so I dont think it is as warm as being inside the school building. The bad thing is, by the end of the day she wont need any of it because it will be in the 70's. Dont be surprised when I blog that we are all sick from these drastic changes in weather. LOL! Just made muffins for Casey so I will open the oven to let it cool down and maybe heat the house a little. LOL! Stay warm my friends!!

Fun Fall Day

Before I start let me tell you that I had a problem with blogger this morning and could only get it to take one photo at a time so I have several posts today withjust one photo.
Friday Casey and I got to do one of my favorite things...Hang out with the girls. I have some wonderful friends and we like to go shopping and do lunch when we can. Friday was one of those days when we got to go to Mississippi to visit our friend Jennifer at her scrapbook store and do lunch. Kim, Janie, Casey and I drove over to MS and stopped in Moss Point to run an errand for Kim. Kim had told me about the town's park and how they decorate it for fall and Christmas. They havent done it the last couple of years because of Hurricane damage. The park is right on the water and flooded during Katrina. Well we didnt know if it would be decorated or not but we were pleasantly surprised. Both sides of the street were decorated with pumpkins, wagons, scarecrows and all kinds or fall decorations. Dumb me didnt have a camera but Kim saved the day with hers. Casey had an impromptu photo session. Kim took some wonderful shots of him while Janie and I tried to get Casey to smile and look at the camera. I have included a few of the photos. I have many more but simply couldnt load all these onto blogger. Kim doesnt realize how much I appreciate these photos. When you give a scrapbooker photos it is like giving her a winning lottery ticket. The one thing that disappoints me is that Emily wasnt there but I will have to go and take some of her when the Christmas stuff is up. Needless to say, we are now in the fall mood!

Halloween Decorating 101

I love to decorate for the holidays especially Halloween. The kids love seeing all the spooky, funny and colorful things I have made and collected through the years. This year I have made some little ghost spoons thanks to my friend Lisa's blog. I have also painted some "fake" pumpkins. It has been fun to do these things. I guess it is the crafty side of me that comes out this time of year. The outside of the house has been a little tougher but Mr. Bones and our ghost tree have made another appearance this year. Also my Cats Meow houses and the pumpkins that I made last year are out on display. Hope you are having fun decorating for the big BOO day!

Edward Scissorhands

I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I had caught him in the act before but had stopped him before he could do any harm but yesterday he went through with the act. Casey cut a big chunk of hair from his bangs. He has been playing with my scrapbook punches and his kid proof scissors lately. Well after being on the phone with my friend he came running to me and told me he cut his hair. He said he was trying to cut the sides because they were too long?!?? He must have missed because he got a big chunk out of the front instead. Thank goodness he is a boy and that I can kinda brush the rest of his bangs over that spot and call it good. Chris says I should just shave it all off. I think one shaved head in the family is enough. LOL!

What a Beautiful Day!

The weather here has finally cooled down. It was a gorgeous day with bright blue sky and sparkling sunshine. I decided to take the kids to the pumpkin patch at the local church here in town. I am used to going to a farm and taking a hayride out to a patch and seeing the pumpkins in the field. Well it isnt that way down here in the south. We have churches that have pumpkins delivered and they place them on their lawns and that is considered a pumpkin patch. I am usually disappointed and so is Emily. She got a taste of the real pumpkin patches when we lived in Virginia and Maine. Casey doesnt know the difference so he thinks it is great. The amount of pumpkins this year was definately down from last year and we never get our big pumpkin at the patch, we always purchase it somewhere else. Once we arrived, Casey thought that the pumpkins were balls and that he could throw them in the air and let them drop to the ground. He is such a typical BOY!! We got four little pumpkin for our dining room table and then Casey got to jump in the inflatable for a while. Then when we were down, it was off to the fruit stand to get our big pumpkin. Needless to say we are surrounded by lots of orange "balls" now!

Happy Birthday to My Guardian Angel

Today would have been my Nan's 87th birthday. If you have read my blog then you know that she died about 13 years ago from breast cancer. I still feel that she watches over me and my family and makes sure that we are safe. I miss her and wish that she could meet her great grandkids. I know that she would love them and that they would find her a "hoot". So Happy Birthday Nan! I never will forget you.

Trick or Treating lessons

Well we have been practicing out trick or treat manners with Casey. I think this year he will actually understand what is going on and can speak for himself. Emily has played around with him and practiced what to say when someone opens up the door. Needless to say he is not learning too well. His comment when she opens the door is "Give me some candy!" I dont think that will go over too well with the neighbors. LOL! Thank goodness we still have a couple of weeks to practice.

Got to get in that Halloween Spirit...

With less than 20 days until the fright night we have got some decorating to do at our house. Chris took most of our decorations out of the attic yesterday and we are going to attempt to decorate the yard later today and during this week. Since the house wasnt decorated, I decorated Casey instead. LOL! He had a shirt from last year that says "I love my Mummy" so what better time to wear it than now. That boy of mine certainly is attached to me and that drives Chris crazy. He wants me and only me and I know that in time he will want his Dad but for now I am enjoying it. I remember when Emily wanted only me and now she is such a Daddy's girl. Well off to hang up some ghosts on my tree out front. I will post some pics later when we are all decorated.

Things that go bump in the night

This household is normally very quite at night. We wind down from our day and relax quitely. That has been the way we live until the arrival of ALLERGY! This cat is nothing but a trouble maker. We can be in bed almost asleep when she decides that it is time to "chirp" at her friend JoJo until he will run after her. JoJo can be in a deep sleep on the bed when she starts this foolishness. Then it is the Indy 500 when she decides to chase him and bang into walls and run over our bellies. She is quite the little fiesty devil. She will chase him and then run away but will hit her head on a wall because she didnt see it. It is quite comical but I dont like it at 1am if you get my drift.

Doing my Motherly Duty

This morning our household had to wake up an hour early so I could go and help at school. Casey got to spend time with my friend Kim and her husband while I went to school with Emily. The PTA and fourth grade parents put on a breakfast for all the teachers. We served them lots of yummy bagels, fruit and cheese. It was good to see so many of Emily's old teachers and her new ones too. I am so thankful for her teachers and that school. These women truly do care about my child and every other child that travels those halls at school. It still amazes me when they say such nice things about Emily. She can really get on my nerves sometimes but it is good to know that she behaves herself at school. LOL! Now that I am dressed and it is early in the day I have no place to go. I am usually still in my PJ's and drinking diet coke while the laundry is going. I am caught up on laundry, I have had my caffeine fix and I am dressed with makeup on even! I guess I will have to find somewhere for the boy and I to go.

Cram Time!

I remember cramming in highschool and college for those important tests. I would try to learn everything possible so I could do well on my exams. Most of the time it worked but once in college it was a lot harder. Well I am cramming again! That is I am cramming with Emily. LOL! She has CRT's this week at school. It is testing on Math, Science and Reading. The test is about everything they have learned this quarter. Every other year we didnt study and she made great grades but this year seems to be different. She is now aware of how hard 4th grade can be if she doesnt study. We studied for about an hour last night for her reading exam. It was quite boring so I had to add my fun twist on things by using bodily functions as examples and her brother as an example too. Hopefully her hard work will pay off. Tonight it will be Science and Math. I am not worried about Math but Science scares me and her. Report Cards will be out soon!

One of those days

Do you ever get so busy during the day that you dont even have time to think? That was my day today and now that things have calmed down I realized what today is. Today, October 1st is the anniversary of my Nan's death. She passed away 13 years ago from Breast Cancer. She was such a big part of my life and I miss her each and every day. I used to spend each summer and every school vacation at her house in Bangor. Then when we moved back to Bangor, I spent every afternoon at her house. She was more like a mother to me than a Grandma. She had a quirky sense of humor and a love for shopping. She loved her family to the core. How ironic that she should die from Breast Cancer in the month of Breast Cancer awareness. She had been diagnosed 20 years previous and had fought it. Little did we know that it would come back 20 years later and take her from us. Now years later I miss her more for the sake of my kids because they will never know her. I try to bring her up in conversation and tell the kids who she was and what she was like. I have so few pictures of her because that woman hated to be photographed. I did this layout a few years ago. It is of my two grandmothers. My Nan is on my right and my Grammy(glasses) is on my left. My Grammy is still alive and kicking up in Maine. So today I am sending my Nan a big hug and wishing she was rocking me in her big rocking chair in the kitchen like she used to. Love ya Nan!