Flashback Friday

Halloween 2006. Kendall was in 3rd grade (8 years old) and was a Clone Trooper from Star Wars. No, he didn't take the gun to school. Haha. Kristen was in 1st grade (6 years old) and was a snow princess. Jarren was 3 years old and was Superman. Jenna was 6 months old and was a tiger. I LOVE those warm costumes. It seems that more often than not, Halloween and trick or treating is cold and I hate getting a costume only to have to cover it all up in big bulky coats. With these, you may still need a coat, but you can leave it unzipped. :) Our school does a parade in the morning and then class parties. It's a fun, memorable day for the kids.

Flashback Friday

Today I'm flashing back to favorite Halloween traditions. Then and now.

Growing up, I loved the smell of fall--crunchy leaves, pumpkins cooking with candles lighting them, apples, etc. I love the vibrant colors of the leaves. Those things still remain favorites of mine now.

Things I love:
*the Halloween costume parade at the school. We used to so that and my kids get to do that too.
*going to the pumpkin patch to choose pumpkins and then going through the corn maze (now).
*carving pumpkins a few days before Halloween and trying to decide if it should be scary, funny, or cute.
*roasting pumpkin seeds.
*drinking apple cider.
*eating apples dipped in caramel or making caramel apples.
*watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
*reading Halloween books every night. One of our favorites is "Room on the Broom."
*watching scary movies.
*singing Halloween songs--"I'm a Mean Old Witch," "Halloween," "Monster Mash."
*decorating the house with autumn decor.
*always having a bowl set out with Brach's candy corn autumn mix (with the little pumpkins).
*shorter, warm days and crisp, cool nights.

What Do You Call....

What do you call someone who doesn't eat meat? A vegetarian, right? But what if she doesn't like:

*carrots
*celery
*lettuce (will tolerate occasionally)
*corn
*spinach
*cauliflower
*sometimes broccoli
*peas (unless they're fresh from the garden or frozen. Yes, frozen as in frozen--not cooked)
*bananas
*apples
*peaches
*most melons
*blueberries
*etc.

And what in the world do you feed her to make sure she gets the nutrients she needs to grow???

Flashback Friday

Point Reyes Lighthouse lookout

The Redwoods

These pictures were taken at the end of March 2007 in Northern CA. It was Kendall's first trip alone with Jon. It's been such a good bonding experience to do these types of things, one on one. It's kind of funny that 4.5 years later, they went again to Northern CA but saw a totally different part--and they loved it (of course)!! Kendall fell in love with the ocean on this trip pictured here. He's dreamed of living near the ocean ever since. It's crazy to me how young he looks! This trip was such a new experience for him and here he is now, able to maneuver himself all over CA by himself largely because of these trips and experiences.

10 Things

I think my last few posts might be a teensy bit on the negative side, so....I'm going to list 10 things that I'm really happy/grateful about. I woke up early this morning and was thinking about this. There are so many things--it's hard to choose. Here goes!

1. The early mornings are so crisp and cool and the afternoons are still warm. Love it!!
2. My back hardly hurts anymore!! And everyone is well and healthy at the moment.
3. It's October!! I love the smell of the falling leaves, the feel of the sun and the air, the fall decorations coming out (yes, we put ours up today--Jenna's been chomping at the bit to get this done), the leaves start changing colors and it's absolutely gorgeous!! T hen it's Halloween, which is followed pretty closely by Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. These next three months are the best, most fun time of the year.
4. The smell of the Concord grapes riping on the vine. Yum!!
5. I have four absolutely adorable, unique, sweet kids. Haha, it seems kind of funny calling my teen "adorable." But he is. :)
6. My hubby has a job!! Unfortunately, in this economy, not everyone can say that. So even though it's a stressful transition period, he IS employed.
7. Speaking of my hubby, he is THE BEST!!! He takes such good care of me and is so thoughtful and kind. I'm pretty lucky.
8. I have a house that I love. It's not the biggest or most expensive house, but we've done a lot to it to make it ours. We have room for all of us and have a great yard and live in a terrific location--within walking distance to all three schools (backyard for elementary, about 2 blocks for both middle and high schools).
9. I have fantastic parents, grandma, and siblings--in-laws too. I don't live close to most of them, but we still manage to keep in touch and are actually friends. I know any of them would do anything for me and I would do the same.
10. I live now!! I'm so grateful for the technology we have so I can keep in touch with family and friends; the medicine and doctors now are terrific! I can't imagine "roughing it" like the pioneers.

I need to keep focused on the good things, because there are so many blessings and happy things in life.

More Pouring When It Rains

Friday has always been my most favorite day of the week!!! Even if I had school or work, it's the anticipation of the weekend. Now...not so sure. I'm detecting a pattern here.

Last Friday was crazy. This Friday is shaping up to be about the same. Jon and Kendall left early this morning to go on Kendall's birthday present trip--Northern CA. Right as they were leaving, Jarren got up and threw up. I thought maybe it was a fluke, but kept him home to be safe. He got sick again a few hours later and I can tell the poor kid doesn't feel well. So....recovering back, no hubby or teenage son to help, and stomach flu floating through the house. Ugh.

May next Friday be better!!! I just know it will be!!!

PS--Just a side note. Jon's new company headquarters just happen to be in the area where they are going on their trip. And he just happens to have a big meeting there next Tuesday-Thursday. So...we had to reshuffle some flights, but Kendall will be coming home alone next Tuesday night and Jon will come home on Thursday. I'm just so glad that we've traveled a lot so he (Kendall) kind of knows what to do and where to go. Otherwise, I'd probably worry. :)

More Changes (Job)

So...in case anyone was wondering, last Friday (September 23) was a very eventful day in our household. New car, back problems, and....Jon's last day at his job. It's crazy how everything happened at once.

Jon was recruited by another company back in August. They were looking for a good fraud guy. The negotiations and contracts and all that took about a month to finalize. He started the new job this past Monday and so far, he is really enjoying the challenges, but at the same time, feels a little inadequate and overwhelmed because there are so many new things to learn. He was getting a little antsy and was ready for a change from his old job about two years ago. This is a good thing, but will probably be a little crazy. Right now, he's working from home, but now that there are two employees in the area, they have the go-ahead to look for an office. Luckily, when we did the basement, we had a really nice office put in. "When the door is shut, dad is working; when it's open, feel free to chat." The other crazy thing is more travel. With the old job, there was about one trip every three months. With this job, there will be at least two trips a month. Yes, Friday was a crazy, crazy day around here.

I feel kind of bittersweet about it all. I'm really glad that Jon's happy in this new, challenging job, yet it's sad to see the end of an era. He got that other job when Kendall was about 18 months--before we had any other kids. He'd been there for over 11 1/2 years. Change can be hard, but it's often good for growth. So...onward and upward!