Thing 1 and Thing 2

This was our first year of official Trick-or-Treating (driving to Chris Larson's for Candy Apples doesn't count, right?) and we had a lot of fun.  Bart went as the game "Operation," I as the player of Operation dressed in scrubs and carrying tongs, and Charlie and Jane went as Dr. Seuss' Thing 1 and Thing 2. I should have something really clever and rhymey to say, but the pictures actually posted backwards and I'm too tired to think of anything really great, so Good Night! 

(Check back tomorrow, in case I get ambitious and come up with something "cutesy.")

Bart sporting his buzzer nose, tongs, brain freeze, Adam's apple, wish bone, spare ribs, butterflies, spare tire, charlie horse, water-on-the-knee, and wrenched ankle.

Thing 2 discovered she can growl. Where do you suppose she learned that??

Thing 1 loved his BLUE HAIR, of course! Here he is trying to see it.

Ready to roll: Thing 1 and 2

FHE Punk-in Heads

 We carved these pumpkins for FHE and the kids love them. Whenever Charlie sees them he counts the cats, "One, Three! Three cats, Mom!" (He does add the two in there once in a while.) Jane doesn't seem as amazed by the pumpkins, but the way she acts around real cats gave us our theme. Yesterday she could see a cat sitting out our back kitchen door and laughed and laughed at it. She crawled over, stood up, patted the window, and proceeded to tell the cat something VERY important. Then she cried when it ran away.

Same-O, Same-0, but still cute

These Pics were taken by Black Bart.  Yes, he spends many hours doing repetitive activities, especially taking pictures of his little ones and yes, he knows that we have probably seen >1000 photos, but she is still cute, and I mean cute.  I mean, look at those dimples!

A Crazy Hair Love Affair

Messing up the Covers

This is a compilation of a couple of movies. You can tell what we do on Saturday nights. It may not seem that exciting to you but we have a good time.

A Day in Raleigh

We realized this would be Bart's last Saturday off for a while and took the kids to Raleigh to a Nature and Science Museum. This place ROCKED! If anyone is planning on moving here (ha ha--wishful thinking) or coming for a visit, this would be a place to go! (Dad, I'm thinking a class field trip!) We saw bears and lemurs, farm animals (Charlie loved the pig), played with air cannons, drove mini sailboats around, tried to dock a rocket with a satellite, watched a tornado form and on and on. It all began with a train ride...

Though we were already aboard, Jane thought she had to eat the tickets.

Flying Seeds

Remember when you were a kid and loved to throw those Helicopter Seeds in the air and watch them spin as they fell? We got to do that by making our own seeds made out of 18" foam cutouts and a magnet. Then we'd stick the magnet seed to a 25' tall conveyer belt where it would be taken up and dropped off. We had so much fun! Charlie especially loved it! We could hardly pull him away.

Attaching the seeds to the conveyer belt.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 BLASTOFF! 

Charlie would run back calling, "I do it! I do it!"

Bugs

In the Butterfly House they had many different exhibits of creepy crawling things on one side of the building  and on the other was the actual Butterfly Place. We enjoyed the creepy crawly side, especially the frogs, but there was one exhibit where they had these HUGE spiders out in the open where the spiders "rarely leave their webs." My  question is, what about the rare time that it DID leave its web? Where did it go? Is it on me? Check my back! ARE YOU SURE??

Green Frog, Blue Frog, Striped Frog, True Frog

They even had buggy puzzles!

A Place of Learning

Overall we had a grand old time. I don't know how much Charlie and Jane learned, but Bart and I learned much and had a good time doing it!

Above: Bart is scooping the fog out onto the kids and they are LAUGHING!

Below: Just a cute picture of Jane sitting in the gazebo.

Tag, You're IT!

I know I am cheap (although I prefer to call it "economically wise") when:

-I have more undershirts than overshirts in my closet. (I can't just go BUY new clothes! Christmas is coming!)

-I buy 2 Halloween t-shirts because they're only $5. When Bart asks, "What happens when it's not Halloween?" I reply, "I'll wear them anyway!" This is beyond him.

-I turned off the AC at the beginning of Oct. and no matter how hot and muggy it gets, I WILL NOT TURN THE AC BACK ON! (That's what the fans are for!)

-I cut my own hair. (with ZERO experience...scary, I know!)

I know I am successful when:

-I take my boy to nursery and he doesn't cry when I leave.

-I can make it to church on time, period. (and why is it I can Make it on time when Bart's not there, but not when he IS?)

-I play with my kids at the park.

-I do all my Visiting Teaching.

-I get all the grocery shopping done with no tears involved!

-I mop the kitchen floor.

I know I am Old when:

-My 18-year-old sister won't take my hand-me-downs.

-I still have NOT ONCE text messaged.

-one of my young women from Colorado is married and expecting a baby!

-I just figured out what Facebook is.

-I think, "That thing I just did is just like my mother!"

-I didn't really know about Blogger TAG!

I know my husband loves me when:

-I get mad at him and he doesn't fight back (Stasha--I think the "You are so cute" thing must be a Carbon County Born and Bread quirk.)

-he makes breakfast and lets me "sleep in" (usually that means fall back to sleep after having been up feeding Jane already).

-he opts for "Family Time" rather than "Guy Time" even though there is a certain amount of fellow-resident pressure to be "social."

-he buys me new clothes.

-he helps me clean the house on his day off.

-he eats that slighty burnt such-and-so I just cooked up for dinner.

-he takes me in his arms, kisses me, and says, "You are so beautiful" when I know I look and smell my absolute worst!

***I am supposed to Tag 6 other people to do the same! I tag Debbi T., Lena A., Emily C., Leslee W., Amy H., and Jody M! Looking forward to reading yours!***

Our NEW-ish Couches!

We bought some new furniture...well, new to US. Who can beat a great deal on great used furniture, right? I AM SO EXCITED!! Now we can actually have people over and say, "Come on in and sink into our PLUSH LEATHER sofa/loveseat/armchair. Would you like a beverage refreshment?... Oh, you don't want to come in? ...No, really, you need to come in! ...COME IN AND SIT DOWN!!"

This set-up isn't really where they're going to stay--we need a smaller computer table now and are still rotating them once in a while for the best fit--but who cares? 

WE HAVE COUCHES!!!

The Pumpkin Patch

Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch.

There was so much to do!

We bought some fresh tomatoes,

And went through the petting zoo!

As Granddad would say, "Look at those little pumpkin-heads!"

Of course Charlie found yet another way to "fly."

HAY! Did you see those Cutie Pies??

There was a Straw Maze for little kids that we made our way through and a hay ride to the corn maze and back.  The kids especially liked the tractor.

Jane wasn't too crazy about sitting in the straw.

Charlie is contemplating the next growing season.

Peek-A-Boo!

"I'm gonna getcha, Daddy!"

Children of the Corn

Ok, so I've never actually seen "Children of the Corn", but I don't think these next characters would classify as Scary--more like Cute As A Bug's Ear.

Charlie would run ahead of us and then come back yelling, "BOO!"

It was not enough that Anne carried Jane on her back. Charlie wanted some love, too.

The cutest Boy in the Corn I've ever seen...

See how Charlie has a finger to his lips? He's saying "Shhhh..." He hides like an ostrich and is REALLY SCARY!

This is right before Jane tried to EAT some of the corn.

The X-Smiles

This is our very favorite smile of Jane's. We call it the X-Smile.

"Sword Fight Carefully!!" --Kate Clark

Superman Returns...again

The Approach

Setting the Stance

The difference between Superman and Buzz? Superman = Fists; Buzz = Open Hands

The Dismount

And all the while Mom and Dad are singing my theme song!

Teeth

Look at my cute bottom teeth!

Click the picture if you need a better look.