October 2010

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Fall. Autumn. My favorite time of the year. I love the colors of orange, reds, yellows, deep browns. I love the smells of decomposing leaves and wood burning fires in the crisp air. I love pulling out the sweaters and boots buried in the closet. However, these things did not come soon enough for me this year. So, we traveled to Blowing Rock in the mountains so I could get a quick fall fix before heading back to unusually warm fall weather at home. The kids enjoyed the leaves and ginormous pumpkins.

Maycie enjoying the swings at our favorite park in Blowing Rock.

Don't you just love school fund raisers? Well, I don't, but due to guilt we participate anyways. Many schools have caught on to the boosterthon fun run scheme.Rather than going out and selling stuff people don't really want the kids collect "pledges" from friends and family members for each lap they plan to run. It helps promote fitness and of course, the kids are spurred on by fun incentives like toys and gadgets. But the most important incentive is helping out the school. This was the one Addilyn was most driven by, or so she said. Every evening she would beg to call more people to collect pledges so she could help out the school. After hitting up the grandparents (which is where I draw my limit) she broke down in tears convinced she hadn't helped out her school enough.

Here she is running her little heart out. She ran the full 35 laps.

I found the kids snuggling and reading books to each other one evening before bed.

Five minutes before I took this picture Alex was whining at the bottom of the stairs begging me to carry him up because he was too tired to walk. I refused and got the girls ready for bed figuring he would give up and come up on his own. Well he did give up and apparently he really was too tired to walk up the stairs.

Good Citizens.

One afternoon after school the kids along with some neighborhood friends decided they wanted to do a spontaneous neighborhood cleanup. The grabbed plastic bags and went around the block picking up trash.

Our neighborhood Fall Festival.

Great fun for the kids. We had a magician come and entertain. Addilyn and Maycie got to assist. Addilyn ended up with a toilet plunger on her head and Maycie helped make a table float.

Spontaneous cookie decorating.
All I had on hand was 4th of July and Christmas sprinkles for our Halloween cookies, but that didn't bother the kids.

Maycie got a little carried away with her sprinkles. I think there's a cookie or two under all that.

Preschool costume party.

Spiderman (Alex), Husky (Maycie), Cheerleader (Abby)

Playgroup Halloween Party with a very creepy food.

For our annual pumpkin carving party I decided to try homemade root beer. The kids, not excluding myself, were quite fascinated with the effects of the dry ice.

All the neighbors come over to carve pumpkins.
Then we come in for some good eats. In addition to the root beer we also had homemade chili, cornbread and I attempted my first try at homemade donuts. They were a hit. Especially hot out of the grease and freshly glazed. I think we'll make this a tradition, though next year I'll see if I can find a more halloweenish shape than hearts.

Mmmm. Homemade root beer and donuts.

Another tradition based around FOOD.

For Halloween night before the trick-or-treating begins we always have a personal favorite. Tyropita and tomato soup.

Here they are.

Spiderman (Alex), Husky (Maycie and her favorite animal), Mermaid (Addilyn)

Here the girls are with their good friends Athena, Kate and Emma Worth.

Trick-or-treat.

Here they are in front of the "Halloween House". One home on our block is known throughout the neighborhood as the "Halloween House" for it's dramatic and overboard production of Halloween decor. Every square foot of the yard, porch and garage looks like an elaborate spook alley. Every year they seem to add several more things. It's quite the attraction.

September Update

Yeah, I know it's been a while since I've updated pictures. I'm really lousy at simplifying my life even when feeling gross and pregnant. I seem to be busier than ever. The things that are really important to me somehow seem to be the things neglected. It's my own fault and I'm making strides to simplify and give precious time and effort to that which matters most. I recently read a fantastic general conference talk by Elder Uchtdorf that seems to have been written just for me. He quotes Leonardo da Vinci, "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". I will update later as to my strides for "the ultimate sophistication". In the mean time, here are some pictures from not so simple September.

The kids are enjoying an Indian Summer evening.

Alex at his buddy, Hector's, birthday. He's a pro with the pinata stick.

Alex idolizes Spider-Man but was a little shy when meeting him in person at the party. He warmed up, though.

This month, Maycie lost her first tooth. She was so excited to discover a wiggly one in her mouth. In the end, she was very brave and actually asked me to pull it out for her.

The race I didn't run.

Months ago, a group of crazy women (whom I adore) and I signed up for the Blue Ridge Relay - a 208 mile relay race over 2 days. I trained all summer. Towards the end of training I found out I was pregnant but still continued with training and plans to run. I went to planning meetings, bought new running shoes and accessories. Simultaneously I was training for a marathon in November with a friend. I got up to 13 miles around week 8 of the pregnancy and everything fell apart. Suddenly I had trouble running 2 miles without feeling sick and winded. Just 10 days before the race I made the decision to give my race spot to someone else. Team "Who's your mama" which was suppose to be made of all moms but ended with a couple dads due to last minute cancellations, did great and finished the long race strong. All I have from the race is the shirt - not the memories. We all had our children's names printed on the back. Maybe next year will be my year.

Happy 32nd Birthday to me!

My darling friends, Sandy and Kristin, threw me a little party with yummy Mexican food and gifts. Below I'm modeling the wrap and necklace picked out for me. I"m glad they have such great taste.

Kristin and Sandy.

My North Carolina sister.