Our Pumpkins are Smashed

And they didn't even wait 'til Halloween was over this year. I woke up this morning to find three pumpkins- two big and one small- smashed in the street. Seriously, why dontcha just smash my heart instead? The boys will be crushed when they realize the pumpkin guts splayed on asphalt used to be their pumpkins.

Costume Caper

The Halloween costume I had picked out for Connor he doesn't even like. It's Tigger, and has a big puffy part on the hood and he just doesn't like having it on his head. Fine, so I know Old Navy costumes were marked down this morning to $3.97 so I head over there 1/2 hr. early- first one there waiting and occupy a toddler 'til the door starts to open. I see the chicken costume about his size on a rack inside. Just one. The gate thingy starts to come up and I'm tall and holding Connor so I can't get under it right away. I wait. Some other biotch who hadn't been waiting in line like the rest of us ducks down under the gate and runs in and swoops up the costume. The last one. Connor is crying because I picked him up to go inside. I'm crying because people can just be plain mean sometimes! The moral of the story: She that steals the chicken, gets chicken pooped on.

Connor's Crush

Everyone was occupied in the house, except Connor who was quiet as a mouse. He climbed up to the computer and clicked on a search advertisement for Vanessa Minnillo. By the time we arrived on scene, he'd pulled up a dozen or so windows with pictures and stories pertaining to Miss Minnillo. At first we thought the older boys had done it because the name was typed into the search bar, but apparently this "popular searches" advertisement fills the search bar in for you when you click a name. If this wasn't amusing enough already, we found a stack of Vanessa Minnillo pictures in the printer, like the one posted! I think someone has a crush! Vanessa, he may be two, but he's got mad computer skills!

I Wanna Try...

Wearing houndstooth, picking my own numbers in the lottery, dark nailpolish, a short haircut, sleeping in past 10am, giving my husband more compliments, crocheting and knitting, turning off the phone for an entire day, turning off the internet for an entire day, wrapping the next present I give in fancy paper and a bow instead of using a gift bag, telling my Mom I still love her, pulling out the camcorder more often, having my friends over for dinner even if all I have is a can of soup to serve and the house isn't spotless, growing pumpkins, searching for treasure with a metal detector, driving a tractor, picking fresh huckleberries, rediscovering my dreams, painting a mural with the boys, paying for the meal of an older couple, fresh coconut milk straight from the coconut, r e l e a s i n g the things in my past that I dwell on too often, smiling at complete strangers, recycling all of my Diet Coke cans, photographing the kids amongst a sea of bluebells, raw sugar cane, inventing something useful.

Less is More

I once read about a family that gave away all but 7 days worth of clothes. Each family member had an outfit for each day of the week. That led to less laundry and less time deciding what to wear each morning. Think of all the stifled "Honey, I need a work shirts," and "Mom, I can't find socks." It sounds simple. It sounds...heavenly. As it is, if we broke out the new duds I have stored, we could probably go at least a month and not wear anything twice.


I buy clothes, lots and lots of them, and then I have to find a place to put them, a place to store them until the right season and size approaches. Some clothes in my closet won't ever see the light of day, yet they take up residence on potential hangers while other clothes lurch and reproduce on the floor...and on the dressers (well, any flat space available) and more still folded on the couch wait to be put away. Sometimes we go straight to the folded clothes piles for clean clothes. The closet rods bow. The washer and dryer tremble with upset stomachs and occasionally eat a sock upon which I go buy more socks. The baby ones are especially cute...

Stop the insanity! I'm going to pack up the sundresses I wore in junior high and the work pants I wore to my first job. The skinny jeans I won't ever fit again and the too-tight tops are tacky and toss-worthy. I can't believe I'm even saying this, but I'm done buying clothes for awhile. After all, new clothes are just raw laundry. Less will indeed be more. More time, more money, more freedom!

From Teacher's Pet to Room Parent

My favorite teacher ever was Ms. K for second grade. Jason also had Ms. K, twice- kindergarten and second grade. Well this year, Tyler was lucky enough to get Ms. K for his second grade class! Ms. K says it's the first time she's ever had one of her previous student's children in her class, but to make it even more special- two of her previous students got married, and our first son gets to be in her class! What made Ms. K stand out amongst other teachers I had was how she encouraged my creativity. She always had fun activities for the subjects I loved- reading, writing and spelling. She encouraged us to seek out knowledge on the topics that interested us. This year, I'm pleased to accept the responsibilities of room parent for Ms. K. I volunteered in previous years but was always too late. This year I signed up at back to school night and she chose me. I hope that Tyler enjoys having her as a teacher as much as I did. This should be an enjoyable school year for us all.

Ty's Eyes Update

Our insurance does not cover vision therapy, so I decided to check other options- through our secondary insurance, the state, the school, etc. and I've come up with nothing but dead ends. We flat out can't afford it. Do you know how rotten it feels to not be able to afford something your child needs? I'm just heartbroken over this.