Happy Halloween!

I'm away with the boys visiting family in Washington, but I wanted to wish my fellow pumpkin lovers a Happy Halloween! If you haven't had the chance to carve your pumpkin yet (or gave up on the idea all together), here is a fun site to create your own online. Have a spooky day!

Pumpkin Time!

We have been spoiled again by having a few of our best friends from Kansas come hang out with us! Matt, Camie, Lydia & Clayton came to stay for Friday and Saturday, and we learned that you can squeeze a lot of fun into just over 24 hours. Highlights included a trip to Graeter's (yes, another one), brown poop (don't ask), a lot of Parker & Lydia mischief, guys' and girls' temple sessions and even a trip to the quilt shop for the girls (by divine intervention).

We also hit the Circleville Pumpkin Show on Saturday. For as famous as it claims to be, it was not exactly a highlight of our weekend. Aside from a slew of pumpkin food booths and carnival rides, they did boast....

The World's Greatest Pumpkin Pie! To create this baby you need 96 pounds of cooked pumpkin and 36 pounds of pie dough, among vast amounts of other ingredients.

A Great Pumpkin Contest...I think the winning pumpkin weighed a little over 1500 pounds. I thought this one was cute.

A shot of the fam.

Matt, Peter & kiddos. I am bummed that I never got pictures with either Debbi or Camie during our visits! Guess that's the price you pay being the photographers.

We hit a pumpkin patch on the way home. You paid $15 for as many pumpkins as one person could carry in their arms from a distance of about 50 feet. There were so many cute pics that I had to do them in this mini slide show. Good times!

Sporties for Shorties

This fall Parker has been enrolled in a "Sporties for Shorties" class through Parks & Rec, and it has been so fun for him. He's one of about twenty kids and the goal of the class is to introduce them to different kinds of sports. So far they've practiced soccer, basketball and hockey. I've gone to watch twice and I've been so impressed by his excitement and eagerness to learn something that formerly hasn't interested him much. He loves that Daddy goes with him and is one of the only daddies that actually plays with him! Tyler was a little sad to be left out of the fun. Parker's favorite part of each class is playing "Red light, Green light" at the end. Maybe he'll be a track star! Go, Parker!

Hello Thayns, Goodbye Pains!

We just spent a fun-filled week with our great friends from Kansas, the Thayns! Jon, Debbi, Mary & Lucy found those killer $10 tickets on Skybus and trekked out here to Ohio. Friends like the Thayns make us think of the saying, "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves," since they have been like family to us since we've known them. We are so glad they came!

Even in the lowly physical state of the women involved (Debbi is pregnant with twin boys, and you know my saga), we did a lot of exploring. Our travels included a trip to Kirtland and a jaunt through Hocking Hills State Park. We also hit Graeter's Ice cream, City BBQ, a local pet shop, the outlets, and the mall. Although Tyler and Lucy didn't love each other the whole time, Parker and Mary were very happy to be reunited and had the greatest time getting into mischief together. The adults had a fab time, especially when the kiddos were happily off playing or snoozing and we could actually talk!

It was a great week and we got some fabulous shots - double click on our Flickr badge at the right to check them out (when the new window pops up, be sure to click on the slideshow projector icon at the right to see all of the photos as a slideshow).

Their visit also came at a perfect time for me, as they were here to support me through being officially diagnosed with RA. My doctor was great and I felt very confident with her diagnosis and abilities. I am now on Prednisone and Plaquenil and after just a few days, I'm feeling fabulous! Hooray for drugs!

Mud Muncher and Mr. Mom

No, those are not Oreo crumbs on his mouth. Our little Tyler eats just about anything he can get in his mouth. Recent victims include chalk, crayons, markers, paper, stickers, sand, and yes, mud. A fellow preschool mom asked me yesterday if he gets enough iron. Apparently not! Everyday is a quest to stay on top of his ingestions. His word for everything right now is "ca-ca." I think it's because it's the word he hears most from me as I try and spare him from eating something disgusting.

So between dealing with joint pain (main culprit), Tyler's mud-munching and Parker's parkerisms, each day Peter wakes up/arrives home to see me looking and feeling like this:

Enter my Cowboy: Bless this handsome man! He has truly been Mr. Mom lately, taking on most of the boys' morning and evening routines. A HUGE task around here. Not to mention that he keeps the dirty dishes from taking over our house and makes sure we all have clean underwear. On top of all of that, he takes time to listen to me and love me and help me in any way he can. I married the best guy! He's amazing. Lucky for all of us, we've just recently discovered Aleve! Miracle drug for joint pain! Hopefully we can get this great guy off of the night shift here soon. Love you, babe!

I Like Black Frames and I Cannot Lie

I have a frame feddish. I love them. Here is but a sampling of my many, many black frames:

I refinished this little frame in black and created a picture for each month to fit inside.

This one I owe to my mother-in-law, who found it at Swiss Days. Its contents, also, rotate with the seasons.

This montage was last Saturday's project. This look would've cost me a fortune had I bought the framed prints outright, but I recreated them using plain wooden frames that I painted myself and scrapbook paper.

Parker Funnies

1. While reviewing with me a picture of Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane...

M: "What is Jesus doing?"

P: "He's praying."

M: "Do you remember where He is praying?"

P: "The Garden of Sesame."

2. On the drive home from preschool, upon seeing an Ohio State Buckeye flag...

P: "Go BUTT GUYS!"

3. After passing a rather large woman in a Michael's Store...

P (to himself): "She was a big lady. (pause) Yeah, that was a puffy one."

The Apples of My Eye

We picked apples today! Parker & Tyler both scarfed down apples while we picked. Tyler ate the entire apple, seeds and all. It was so cute to watch them enjoying themselves, and a beautiful day to be outside.

Peter got home early and brought me roses. Doesn't get better than that! Now we're off to enjoy our weekly "Family Friday Pizza Carpet Movie Picnic Night"....Papa Murphy's pizza + library movie + blanket. Happy Friday!

My RA Survival Kit

Yesterday I received a knock at the door and opened it to find this surprise package - as my friend Rachel puts it, GOOD MAIL!

It was from my amazingly clever sister-in-law, Katie, who upon hearing my arthritis news decided to send me a survival kit! She had done this once before for me, when I was pregnant with Parker. I know that I am totally embarrassing her by posting this, but everyone must know what a wonderful girl she is. What she did is a very fabulous and thoughtful gesture to help someone who is dealing with any kind of trial! It made me laugh and cry at the same time!

Attached to each item was a "prescription" for how the item will help. For example, the note tagged to the mask read "This mask is essential for those 'I feel way too crappy to put any make-up on' mornings." You can bet I'll be using that one (like every day). Another was a pack of Airhead sweetly sour belts candy. The prescription? "When you're feeling achy and the kids are too much, simply use these to tie them up. Wrists and ankles should do. Ear plugs not included."

One of my favorite parts of the kit were these "Positive Thought & Self-Affirmation" stickers. These are hangin' up on my fridge, baby! Love you, SIL!

Parkasso

As mentioned before, Parker is really enjoying his preschool experience. We've decided to copy my good friend Kathleen by exhibiting all of Parker's preschool art on our kitchen wall as shown above. As the line gets full, we'll replace the oldest picture with the newest. I've taken pictures of each work of art to preserve its memory, and will then discard most, saving the especially spectacular ones for his keepsakes. Here is a sampling of his first exhibit!

A Tornado

Self Portraits

That is a backbone in the first one, not a zipper (like I thought). I think he resembles Caillou.

Family Portrait