Halloween

What a day. It started out with me and Willy falling down the stairs at my mother in law's house. No major injuries to either of us but still not fun. Then I had to finish Halloween costumes - I'm such a procrastinator - and fight with the girls to take showers. I got a call from The Big One and we chatted sparsely for a while, then it was back to the in laws for a party.

We had eyeball themed appetizers and bloody hand meatloaf and then came trick or treating.

The Baby wouldn't use his stroller so the other kids (there were 6 all together) took turns in it. The little ones kept dragging their bags and the older ones were running to and from front doors. We covered more ground tonight than any other Halloween.

When we got back to the house the kids bobbed for apples.

The Monkey got one even with both front teeth missing! The Baby put his head close to the water then stood up and reached in with his hand. Cheater!

Dog Treats

Yep. Dog treats. The kids and I made dog treats. I got a crazy idea the other day and thanks to Google I found dogtreatkitchen.com. So I went to the store after I got the girls from school and got the 2 ingredients I didn't have (btw, there are only4 ingredients in this particular recipe) and after dinner we got started.

According to the recipe you're supposed to roll them out and cut them into "doggie" shapes but we don't have dog cookie cutters so we just rolled them into balls and used a fork to press them down, just like peanut butter cookies (except The Baby couldn't roll a ball, it came out more like a snake. Of course the other 2 thought it was funny and had to do it too. I think they look like poo.). So after 4o minutes of cooking, I left them in the oven overnight and when we got up this morning we had these:

Yummy, right? Nope, still look like poo. But The Dog seems to like them so I guess it doesn't matter to him what they look like. Not bad for our first attempt. More attempts to come!

Letting Go

I have been learning so many things about myself lately. I feel like I've really been growing as a person which is good for my kids too cause hopefully I won't be stupid anymore! :) So here is a list of some of the things I've figured out:

1. I should not try to grow things. After my post from a couple of weeks ago about my tomato plants I have to admit that they are dying. I don't know if they are over watered, under watered, not getting enough sun or just don't like me but they are shriveling up as I write this. So sad. It's a good thing we have grocery stores, cause if my family had to rely on me to grow our food, we'd all die of starvation!!
2. I do not need to be in control of everything that happens. Really! I don't!! It was a difficult conclusion that took years for me to make but it's true. And I don't have to always have a plan. Crazy, I know. But it's true.
3. Sometimes you have to do what you think is best for your family - even if no one else agrees with you. It doesn't always feel good but if you're going to feel like a terrible person either way, then you may as well be doing the right thing. And if other people don't like it - too bad!! Until they have walked in your shoes they don't know what they would do or how they would act so their opinions are just that - opinions - and everyone's got one and they don't have to be the same as yours and you don't have to take them personally or adopt them at all.

So, I'm letting go. It wasn't easy getting here and it won't be easy going forward but I'm just going to let go...

Morning Surprise

I am not a gardener, by any means. In fact, whatever the opposite of a green thumb is, that's what I have. I haven't tried to grow anything for a long time but then The Bear went into Girl Scouts and learned about plants (she's also been "gardening" with my mom most of her life) and how to take care of them. For Mother's Day the Troop (plus The Monkey who wasn't really in the Troop) potted Petunias and Marigolds a couple of weeks early and brought them home. The Bear did such a great job taking care of the flowers that I thought maybe the green thumb gene had just skipped a generation and decided to actually buy plants on our annual Mother's Day trip to the Garden Store. I bought two super sweet tomato plants and later Hubby got a Rosemary bush. We planted, and watered, and pruned, and got fungus, and removed fungus, and watered some more. Then The Monkey and The Bear left for Cali and I had to take care of things myself (qeue ominous music). I went out the other day to walk the dog and was surprised to see that I had flowers on my tomato plants! That means that I didn't kill them and one day they will be fruitful! I am so pleased with myself right now. Every time I go outside, I see my little tomato flowers and I smile. I just HAD to share!!

Anniversary

Today is our Anniversary. We have been married for 8 years. What a wild and crazy ride it has been. From our first anniversary when we had The Big One, a 6 month old Monkey and The Bear on the way to working through family trauma to now having just The Baby because the others are with family. Somehow we managed to keep going, no matter how hard it was. I know 8 years isn't a lot, but it's more than a lot of people expected out of either one of us and for that, I'm proud. So Happy Anniversary to us and here's to several more years together!!

Big Head

Sometimes my ideas are better in theory than they are in practice. Case in point: the headband I made last night.

See, I have this really big head and lots of fly-away hair that comes totally out of place while driving around in the Jeep with most of the windows out. I like those little elastic headbands but they don't ever stay on my big head. I just needed something. So when I had some cute fabric left over from a skirt I made for my friend's daughter I thought it would work perfectly with some nice, wide elastic. So I got to sewing. After cutting 3 different times, I finally got the fabric right and then it took me a whole whopping 20 minutes to sew everything together.

I thought it was so cute, lying there on the kitchen table (I really need somewhere else to do this stuff!) mocking me. And then...I put it on. It didn't look right, but then, it was late and my hair had been falling out of my ponytail all day. So I brushed out and re-did my ponytail and put it on again and this time...Nope. I looked like the nerdiest old lady you ever saw. I kept it on, fiddled with it a few times but it always made me look old...and nerdy...REALLY nerdy!! So, it will sit on my dresser for a few months and I will eventually forget how bad it looks on me and when I see it one day I'll say "Oh yeah! This is so cute, I can't believe I never wear it!" then I'll put it on and remember everything...

Jeep Sundays

So, since we are down to The Baby and the Dog, we decided to pack up the Jeep and drive West, with no real plan in mind. We haven't done this for AGES!

We ended up getting off the highway near Mt Evans and decided to make our way to the top. We stopped and played in the creek (The Dog would only sniff the water - not drink it) and had a snack. We went to the Mt Goliath Nature Center and walked around the little trail there and chatted with some rowdy bikers.

When we got to Summit Lake - which is about halfway up - we stopped to walk around and there was a volunteer table full of furs and antlers and poo (and The Baby wouldn't touch any of it!!) as well as rain and tiny little hail. Fun!



And just as we were leaving to go back down (Hubby had just gotten back from Sea Level the night before) some Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep graced us with their presence.

After a quick stop to refuel (the Jeep and ourselves) we took the long way from Idaho Springs into Central City and found a couple of great off roading trails. The Baby loved the bumpy roads and the big mud puddle Hubby went through, nearly as fast as he could, but the dog, not so much. I think he'll stay home next time.