Pumpkin Patch

arriving at the end of the month, combined with little rainfall
made the pumpkin picking quite slim
Rosie loved wandering the field of pumpkins, this child should live on a farm it is where her heart is.
Reyna tested the rule that you could have it if you could carry it.
We did come away with a couple of pumpkins...

train ride

Reyna loved this!
again? again? she asked as soon as the ride ended.

Mankato Marathon

She ran the half marathon
her second this year
she improved her time by 5 minutes from the first marathon last spring
she amazes me by her strength, determination and confidence

dancing

getting ready to go

with olivia

and gracie
wednesday night the girls' dance group performed at the football game
rosie is missing in those pictures since she got sick just before heading out the door
It was cold, but the turnout was awesome and the girls had so much fun.

Haircut

her last did not go well
and that would be stating it mildly
Josh took her and returned saying "never, never again will I do that"
so on Tuesday she had another hair appointment
have I mentioned that Erica the person who takes care of this family's hair is amazing? well she is!
As life seems to do Kevin was unable to take her, on his way to take care of another kid in our house so I turned to Josh
sigh, he reluctantly agreed, I promised payment of any kind
he returned a bit later with that adorable little 2 year old above and her awesome new haircut
and said she didn't say boo
did I mention that last time she screamed?
so all was good haircut accomplished and big brother wasn't traumatized
and yes I know how lucky I am that I have older kids who step in and help out with their younger siblings when needed
what a gift they are.

a skunk

is not something I ever desired to encounter
nor did I want on my yard or in my space
but a skunk is what we got last weekend.
with a bit of a problem of cats taking up residence in our garage Kevin
borrowed a live trap in hopes of removing some of the cats.
instead he caught a skunk....
when I asked what he was going to do with it he seemed to be taking the "if I ignore it, it will just go away"
theory. That wasn't working for me.
by Monday I was becoming a bit vocal, as was our neighbor, not to mention the fact that he had shown the kids the skunk
his reply to the utter horror on my face was "when will they ever see a skunk this close again?" ummm never, a zoo would be a good safe viewing environment I may or may not have shrieked that. Rosie my in house animal/nature nut was fascinated and found every conceivable reason to be on that side of the house where the skunk in the trap was hanging out.
sigh...
so finally he call the police department since I and our neighbor Pam were quite insistent that a police officer shooting the skunk would be a world of better than Kevin or any other person doing so. They came, and said that they don't do skunks. Seriously...
the officer looked a little rattled when I questioned out loud if he would prefer just any random citizen walking around with a gun.
Awhile later came a call from the police department saying that yes indeed they could shoot the skunk...soon another officer arrived and
after three attempts (yes three) the skunk was taken care of and our neighborhood smelled nasty. At least no member of my family smelled...since removing skunk odor from a person was never on my bucket list either.

Halloween costumes

We have been busy creating and putting the finishing touches on Halloween costumes. Anthony's is done  Very happy with how it turned out

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

a peak into the end of our day

that 5 o'clock hour
where everyone is hungry an hour ago
where just a few daycare kids remain
homework is being completed
and books are being read
where melt downs and drama
happen...often
it is perhaps the worst and best time of my day
in a busy crazy sort of way

Girl Scouts

the beginning of the year for Girl Scouts began with the Investiture Ceremony last Sunday
Yahaira crossed to Brownies and Rosie will be a Daisy...
both are excited to be a part of this program and both are ready to sell cookies this winter
not so sure this mom is ready ....

CSA

last week we started receiving a CSA again. We did this last summer and fall but
missed the sign up for this summer. So bummed but an email arrived mid summer with openings for the fall
share, were we interested? Oh we were I had missed that box of fresh farm produce
So now we have stepped back into discovering new recipes and tastes enjoying fresh produce grown locally.
you can go here to read about the farm where we receive our share from.

Halloween treats

for those special people in our life
who make us smile, or make our day a little easier
who share their energy and talents in making my little
people smarter and stronger

this past weekend we set to work creating
some Halloween goodies while the kids filled the plastic sleeves with candy
I cut out circles and decorated them
next we filled the cups with candy and fun
(love Target's dollar spot which is where I found those glasses)

found these notebooks in the dollar spot too
and after a bit of Halloween altering
those headed to Beckie, Cassandra, and Lacey

grape jelly

those grapes I picked awhile back have been hanging out in the refrigerator
I had intended to do something with them
leaning towards grape jelly
but then I searched for the how to directions online and decided that perhaps
that wasn't the route to go
12 easy steps
(which the recipe I found touted)
seemed like 10 steps too many
so I ignored them
(I know so adult of me)
thinking that perhaps the house fairy would turn them into jelly
with a poof or some fairy dust, or something
yesterday Kevin came in caring the bowls of grapes
"these are going to spoil if we don't do something with them"
guess that was my sign to dust off my fairy wings and get to work

so I re-googled the recipe
sigh
and started with step 2
(having completed step 1 when I picked them)
kevin made a run to the store for pectin
(the first of several trips to the store it would seem)
to say this was unorganzied would be hitting it right on the spot
and I don't do unorganized one bit
sigh
next came math
and reading the recipe again and again
(thank goodness for pictures)



this above item was another store run
since apprently one needs to strain those grapes
so strain we did
and then added the pectin
*note when recipe says to stir constantly one should do that
just saying
since not watching it closely will result in the hot sticky grape goo boiling over
and setting off smoke detectors
not once........but twice
(I am only responsible for one of those alarm set offs)
smoke alarms and children are not conducive to a calm enviroment
sticky grape goo boild onto your stove top sucks
sticky grape goo trailed across your kitchen floor is evil
I think we will still be sticking to places on that floor by next years grape harvest

eventually we reached this place
9 jars of grape jelly
now that is a beautiful sight
and as I listened to the pop of lids sealing throughout the afternoon
it did make me smile
and when I sampled it later in the evening
it was good, oh my was it good
but seriously does it have to be so darn complicated in the process???

pumpkin pie

poptarts
are amazing!
rather wishing I had not shared these with the kids
and just kept them all for myself
:)

Haircut

Realized this morning as be walked out the door that school pictures are tomorrow   and naturally his hair had exploded quite literally overnight
Sigh
So I called Linda who came over after work and cut his hair to a picture worthy look

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

just one

of the 37 photos I took during the month of September on my camera
yes 37
What is that?????
usually the photo count is in the hundreds
-perhaps it was a slow month?
...it sure didn't feel like it
-maybe we didn't do as much as normal
...or at least not photo worthy "stuff"
-could be life went crazy/busy and I simply forgot to photograph it?
...now that sounds plausible
-or perhaps I was simply living the moment
...one might say hanging on tight for the ride
ahhh whatever the reason it was a full month filled with ordinary and extra-ordinary moments
which is a very good thing