My life...just not on the road I expected (but it's still dang good).

Carving Pumpkins.

 

Life has been busy...didn't get our pumpkins carved until last night.

 

I think it was the first year ever that Coley didn't pitch a fit about having to stick his hands inside the pumpkin.

 

Annie didn't want any part of sticking her hands inside a pumpkin though so she just hung out, danced and wrote all over her pumpkin with a Sharpie pen.

 

Courtney Lee however, has no issues with pumpkin guts (my kind of girl).

 

In fact, that might actually be pumpkin guts on the side of her face.

 

 

Ross (who is getting a haircut today) and his friend Taylor.

 

And then we created great melon baller memories by balling Granny Smith apples for this little recipe that my friend Tanya emailed me.

And that's Sharpie pen marks all over Annie's hand and arm.

 

Courtney Lee making melon baller memories.

  

Coley & Annie making joint melon baller memories.

  

Melon ballers also make great microphones.

  

And can be used to play 'spin the melon baller' (and  Courtney Lee professes her love to whoever it lands on).

  

And then we stuck our Granny Smith Apple balls on lollipop sticks and dipped them in either white or dark chocolate and then rolled them in either coconut, mixed nuts or sprinkles.

  

Annie liked the sprinkles the best (she got in trouble for sticking her whole face in the sprinkles bowl).

  

I think it will be a new Halloween tradition.

  

Courtney Lee's is the one in front (with the words to the song 'The B.I.B.L.E.' attached to it).  Coley's is the one behind it with the bat.  One guess who the "Go Beavs" pumpkin belongs to.  Mine is the one in the back with the happy face.  And Annie's is hiding somewhere in the shadows with Sharpie pen marks all over it.

And then after the kids went to bed, I went to the store to get more Grannie Smith apples so Josh and I could dip them in dark chocolate and coconut (my favorite mix) while we watched T.V.

Happy Halloween.  

Pogo.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Coley got a Pogo stick for his birthday...it's broken now.

Sicky.

 

She's not feeling too hot today.

She is however quite demanding and whiny today.

She's still talking in third person too and reverted back to being Mommy's tiny widdle baby again instead of a bid gurl (big girl).

When she started running a fever the other night, she woke up screaming that a giant bug was trying to eat the tiny widdle baby.

The other day she said "Tell your tiny widdle baby who her Daddy is?"

And when the tiny widdle baby's Daddy was on the phone with me the other night but couldn't hear because the tiny widdle baby was hollering in the background, the tiny widdle baby's Daddy said "Hey Annie, close your pie-hole for a minute so I can hear your Mom."  To which she replied "Don't tell my Mommy's tiny widdle baby to close her pie-hole!"

Last night when her Dad told her she couldn't sleep with the light on she said "No fair!"

And when she finally got done squawking about it Josh said "Either she fell asleep or the giant bug got her."

Just a reminder to anyone who's hoping to take either the 10 Reasons class or the Interactive Scrapbooking class I'm teaching in Webster Texas on Nov. 7th...I'm mailing off kits in the morning so we're trying to get an accurate headcount by the morning so I know how many to ship (so be sure to call right away if you want to take either class).

Both of the One Day Photographers' Workshops in Webster, Texas (281 316 2222) on Nov. 8th and in Lafayette, LA (337 216 9898) on Nov. 9th are going to be HUGE.  I think they might be able to take about 5 more students in each class (don't quote me on that though) if you want to try to get in.

There's no place like home.

Flew to Seattle due to some family stuff last Monday.  Flew home Thursday afternoon with just enough time to pack up my car and spend a little time with my family before driving down to San Jose, CA on Friday morning for a weekend of classes.

Classes were great (thanks everyone).  The One Day Photographers workshop on Saturday (which was supposed to wrap up after 9 hours actually ended up running closer to 9 1/2 hours) was wonderful.  There's nothing in the world I would rather talk about for 9 1/2 hours than photography.  And it was particularly fun for me because lots of gals who have taken, are currently taking or are signed up for the online Photographers' Workshop decided to come to this class too.  Oh, and there was a husband (who just happens to be an amazing photographer) in the 10 Reasons class who had never scrapbooked before.  I love it when there's boys in class.

Got home late yesterday afternoon in time to love on everyone, go to the grocery store, take a long bath, cook dinner with Josh and have a movie night.

 

Courtney Lee and Annie were both asleep on the couch before we even got dinner on the table though.

Just playing catch-up with emails, mailing out kits, classes, errands, house-cleaning, etc. today.

And very glad to be home.

Back next week.

Had some unexpected family stuff come up and am in Seattle this week then I'm heading to San Jose to teach some classes at ScrapLovers over the weekend.

Back next week.

Coley-Woley-Watson-Free is a birthday boy.

 

That's about as good as birthday pictures get at 6:00am inside our dark-as-a-dungeon-house.

Coley is 8 today. 

Ron Brown showed his picture and wished him a happy birthday on the Channel 12 News this morning (thanks to Josh Downs who remembered to send in Coley's picture and birth date).

He got to open one present (3 packs of Pokemon cards) and will get to open up a few more when we go out to his restaurant of choice (Applebee's) for dinner tonight.  We're having a little party at our house on Sunday too.

Annie does't think it's fair that 'Toley' is the only one who gets a birthday today and insisted that it was the tiny widdle baby's birthday today too.

I remember crying so hard on my Sister's birthday when I was about 3 years old that my parents actually gave me one of her presents (It was a barn shaped lunch-pail with a grain silo thermos and I loved it until my Mom threw it away because I accidentally left cottage cheese in the grain silo for a couple of weeks.). 

Sorry Leigh Ann for taking your birthday lunch-pail.

No presents for the tiny widdle baby though - they're all for the birthday boy.

While Coley was jumping out of the car this morning to go to school I told him that I can't believe he is 8 years old already to which he replied "Ya, the years sure do go by fast."

Indeed little grasshopper.

The melon baller.

Josh is working in Klamath again this week but he was able to work from our kitchen table on Monday. 

 

I love it when he works from home except for the fact that I don't get anything done because I feel the need to go to the dining room at least a dozen times throughout the day to tell him that I think he's crazy-hot or to see what he's doing.  

And he has to come into my walk-in closet/office/scrapbook room at least a dozen times throughout the day to tell me a funny story or to ask if it's lunchtime yet.

We decided that we were going to go have lunch in town at the Circle J and since he was ready for lunch by 10:30 am (and I wasn't), I told him that I was ready but that we had to stop at the kitchen store first.

Josh isn't a big fan of anything that resembles shopping but he's a good sport so we headed to the kitchen store so I could look at a set of pots & pans since I am convinced that Goodwill aprons, an antique melon baller and a new set of pots & pans will make me feel like cooking.

Josh was quick to point out the fact that I don't even like melons when I showed him my new, antique melon baller and couldn't understand why I would pay money for a used melon baller with chipped paint and cracks in the handle.

I was quick to point out the fact that you can't find new, blue & white melon ballers with such character and that it was worth every penny of the $8 I spent on it and furthermore that our kids might look back on the melon baller one day with memories so fond that it might make them cry when they're shopping at the Goodwill with their best friend in the whole-wide-world and happen to stumble across an old melon baller that reminded them of me the very same way an old, orange tin cup reminds me of my Grandma.

 So we went to the kitchen shop to look at pots & pans.

The first question Josh asks is if they carry melon ballers.

 

I was quick to point out that the Good Grips brand melon ballers are just plain black and have no character and besides...they're $8.95 (so I actually saved .95 cents while providing our children with fond memories of balling melons).

We left the kitchen store with just an olive oil sprayer (because I'm sure that olive oil sprayers are the key to joyful cooking).

 

And then we went to lunch where Josh had a turkey and cranberry sandwich with sweet potato fries and an iced-tea while I had my usual (the modified M.I.M. sandwich, minus the mayo, onions and mushrooms but add red & yellow peppers).

And then we went home to work for the rest of the afternoon.

My mom stopped by later to see my new movie theater seats and my other thrift store finds from my weekend with Jill.  While I was showing her our new melon baller Josh interrupted to say "And when we die someday, there's going to be quite the fight over who gets the melon baller."

Me & Jill.

Well, we spent the weekend in Newport, Oregon...

But this was as close as we ever got to the beach.  (We kept making plans to go for a walk down on the shore but it just never happened.)

 

Besides, we were busy hitting every thrift store within a 60 mile radius.

 

And we were busy searching for the best places in town to eat.

We actually met up in Albany so that we could hit a few shops. 

 

Our first stop was The Golden Pear.

 

Where they just happen to carry the Rosepetal Betty bathbomb cupcakes that Jill makes.

 

I curled my hair so I could look all purdy for Jill.

 

And then we went to the best fish & chips place ever (The Depot in Albany) before shopping some more.

   

That's Jill's 'Is-that-a-Fire-King-dish-I-see-in-the-window-?' look (I on the other hand never even knew what Fire King was until this weekend...but am now the proud owner of a Fire King mixing bowl and a Fire King salt & pepper shaker).

 

And that's Jill's 'Does-anyone-need-a-clam-shaped-silver-plated-dish-but-I-really-just-want-you-to-see-my-cute-black-boots-?' look.

 

Jill knows where every Goodwill is in the Pacific Northwest.

And they play really good music at the Goodwill that I like to serenade Jill with while she is trying to shop.

 

And we find great humor in shopping at Goodwill thinking about things like how excited the Harold who just happens to be an OSU Beavers fan is going to be when he finds this cup for just $1.99.

 

Or how happy the woman who collects miniature beaded dolls with hand-muffs is going to be when she stumbles across this rare find.

We don't really run into problems with wanting the same things too much unless we're in the apron section.  (We actually had to start taking turns with who got the cutest apron at each of the Goodwill's).

I don't really cook much but am convinced that if I buy enough cute apron's from the Goodwill for $1.99 each that I will start wanting to cook.

At one of the Goodwill's I saw a chipped tin coffee cup that reminded me of an old orange one that I used to drink lemonade out of while sitting on a green stool at my Grandma's house.  I actually started crying right in the Goodwill (in my defense, I was feeling sentimental and hormonal and some stranger had been mean to me at the street market earlier that morning so the orange tin cup was just the straw that broke the camel's back).

 

We also like shopping at places called the Eager Beaver (although shopping at places like the Eager Beaver require an extra squirt of Purel once we get back out to the car).

 

And Nye Beach has some great places to shop too.

Especially if you're looking for cute new shoes.  (Jill came dangerously close to purchasing these in leopard print.)

 

Or a pair of beer goggles. 

   

And the chicken pot pie at Nana's Irish Pub really is good (thanks for the recommendation).

 

 

After Jill does her hair like a newscaster each morning, she likes to say things like "Now, coming to you live from the channel 10 newsroom it's Jill Radley" while holding a pretend microphone (and it doesn't matter how many times she does it, I always find it just as hysterical as the first time she ever did it).

  

And then we shopped some more.

 

And I found some really cool vintage buttons and a old melon baller.

  

And then we found the mother of all finds (I have been wanting movie theater seats for years now).  They had two sets with three chairs per set and they were only 50 bucks per set (practically free).

  

So we loaded up our matching movie theater seats into Jill's Honda (we have matching cars too) and then called our husband's to tell them the exciting news (however, neither one of them were all that excited).

  

We spent the whole weekend laughing about all the same stupid crap that always makes us laugh.  We talked in the same stupid voices that we always talk in when we're together (I'm sure we're really annoying to be around) and we broke out in same songs that we always break out in. 

We stayed up until 4:00am talking.  We ate until we were sick.  And we laughed until our faces hurt over things like Bananas Foster.

Man, I needed a weekend like that.

Missing the Scrapbook Clubhouse Diva.

   

His favorite coffee mug is one he stole from me (and I love that about him).

We haven't seen a whole lot of eachother lately (he's filling in for two weeks out of every month over at Kingsley Field while his boss is deployed in Afghanistan for eight months) and when he is home, his regular job is taking him out of town a lot too.

I don't really feel like I can complain though...he's not in Afghanistan afterall.

When he has been home though, I haven't been the easiest person in the world to get along with (just struggling with a few things and probably kind of ticked off that he's never home which is magnified every single morning and every single night when Annie cries for him).

He just keeps doing what he's always done though; brings home flowers every Friday, calls me and the kids in the morning when he wakes up, when he gets off of work and again before he goes to bed, rubs my shoulders when he knows I'm stressed, packs lunches for all of the kids when he's home, makes me laugh, puts away the dishes, is patient, etc., etc., etc.

My best friend in the whole-wide-world has a husband kind of like that too and when I was single, he always kind of played the male-role in my life (giving me financial advice, researching the safest carseats for me, etc.)  I've always joked that he did it because he thinks he is the boss of me...but realistically, I think he did it because he's always known that in order to be Jill's husband, he would have to like me.

Anyhow, Jill's husband knows that I've been blue & cranky and that Jill's been kind of blue & cranky too so he told her that he thought Jill and I should go to the beach together for the weekend.  And Josh thought it was a great idea too.  (I know that kind of makes it sound like we're the kind of girls who need our husband's permission to go out of town...heck no.)

It's been four years since just the two of us went somewhere for the weekend together.

So we're going to Newport tomorrow (which is exactly where we went four years ago).

And yes, it means that I won't get to see Josh Downs this weekend while he's home.  But I need it.  I just need some time with no computer and no work and no whining and no one who needs something from me. 

Just me and Jill and some thrift shops and some good food.

Back on Monday.

It wasn't all that long ago...

 

It wasn't all that long ago that he was just a little squirt wearing a pair of baby Air Jordan's and balancing himself on an old hand-me-down couch I had in college.

 

And now he's a big boy who can drive (with an adult in the car).

Ross turned 16 in April but just got his driving permit last Friday.  Part of the reason it took so long is because, well...Ross is a procrastinator.  Another reason though was that Ross said he was "kind of scared" to drive (In which case, I was scared for him to drive).  And the last reason was because he didn't pass his permit test until the third try.

When we got up to the DMV counter on Friday he noticed that someone else was sitting in his "lucky testing seat".  I quickly reminded him that he had failed his test in that 'lucky seat' twice already so maybe it was a good thing.

As I walked out the door to run to the paint store, I hollered "Don't blow it again Ross" (we share the same sense of humor).

So I ran to the paint shop and ordered some more paint.  They said it would be about 15 minutes so I decided I would run and get Ross some lunch since he was missing lunch at school and had a couple of big tests in the afternoon.  So I ran to Arby's to get him a french dip sandwich and while I was in line I got a text message from Ross saying that he had passed his test. (Oh, he got his cell phone back and won't be texting during school hours anymore now that he knows the cell phone company sends me a bill each month with the time & date of each and every text he sends.)

So I picked him up from the DMV, handed him his sandwich and drove him back to school.  After dropping him off, I was almost home before I remembered that I hadn't picked up the paint from the paint store so I turned around and headed back into town to Rhodda Paint.

Got the paint loaded in the car and was heading back towards home again when my car stalled.  I tried to start it back up only to remember that the low gas light had been on since the day before and I had forgotten about it.

I managed to coast it into the entrance of the Safeway parking lost where I was blocking anyone from entering or exiting the parking lot (but my car was on an incline just inches from a busy road so I couldn't push it out of the way). 

So that's where I sat for 40 minutes with my hazard lights on and people honking and throwing their hands up in the air at me until my Mommy came to save the day with a gas can.

A lesson for new drivers like Ross and old drivers like me alike (congrats Ross).