Happy Halloween!

Superman, Kitty, & Belle, ready to go!!

Trick-or-treating at our neighbor Julie's house (she is such the decorator!!)

Waiting at our other neighbor's house.:)

Church harvest carnival

Playing ring toss.:)

Annika's turn!

Women of Faith

'Doughnuts' with pear butter & marscapone....yum!

The ladies! (Yes, I am super-close...) Dinner at Serious Pie.

Our pizza, yum!

Abby's birthday pizookie at BJ's. Yes, we hit 3 restaurants in about 3 hours...!

Brenda Warner (Kurt Warner's wife - bad picture by me)

Patsy Clairmont - ALWAYS a hoot! Love her!!!

OH YES! That's BLAIR!;) Lisa Whelchel

Mandisa!

Worship team

This past weekend I had the privilege to attend the Women of Faith conference in Seattle with a couple of friends. I had received a free ticket as part of my MOPS convention registration (yay!) & it worked out for me to go. I had been before, but I am guessing it's been 13 or more years since I did. It was so fun!:) Most of what was fun about it are little things that won't sound funny if I try to tell you about them (ha), so you'll just have to take my word for it.;) But I did hear many great words of encouragement to keep me going in this crazy life! And I got a nice break (thanks, hubby!!), fun with friends, great food, & LOTS of laughs!! Pictures probably tell it better.

And it continues

September & October have really not been good months for Kaarin...she can now add to her list a broken clavicle!! Yep. Sigh. My disclaimer is that I wasn't even home.;) She was playing with the other 2 & they had built a mountain on the couch. She was on the mountain, & apparently it erupted, & she was spewed to the floor. Erik thought it was broken then, but she is such a trooper that by the next day she seemed to be doing fine. So we didn't pursue it, until a few days later when she was saying that her shoulder hurt & once when I picked her up she cried a lot. :( So on Thurs. Erik took her to the Dr., & they sent her for an x-ray, & sure enough, it's broken. In the end, it didn't really matter that we took her in because they don't do anything for it. The Dr. said it will heal itself in a few weeks. They tried to fit her for a sling, but it's really just too big so she slips her arm out of it...plus, she's 2.

Such a Funny Day!

Today, for some reason, was especially funny. Maybe it was all the sugar. Maybe it was the cold weather. Who knows, but here are a few of the things that happened, beginning with the picture above: Kaarin made this pumpkin with our babysitter, Kasey. She was showing it to me, & I was asking her about it. She pointed out the eyes & the mouth & I asked her what the other part (stem) was. She says, "Penis." Huh? I didn't even know she knew the word...I guess I can see it....;)

Kellen came home from school & stopped as he came in. "What's that noise?" I told him it was the heater...today was the first day we've turned it on since April!

Later, I was reading books to Kaarin & it came on again. She stopped, "What noise?" I told her it was the heater & she said, "That too loud." :)

Kellen took a bite of my sandwich today & then said, "Mmmm! It has wheatgrass on it!" :) (It was actually sprouts)

Earlier today Kellen was calling me a 'kombucha-head.' :)

Annika has decided that she is going to be a princess for Halloween. She asked Kellen what he was going to be for Halloween. He said, "I don't know yet, but I'll know before Halloween!"

I was taking Kaarin into her room to read books before bed & she was taking a long time. I finally said, "Come on, stinker." She said, "No I toot." :)

When Kaarin was brushing her teeth she said she wanted to sleep in Kellen's bed (she had been playing in it earlier). I said if she slept in his bed, where would he sleep? She said, "Sleep a-gether." :)

Annika (YES! She was funny too!) was in her bed & said, "I want my hunk." Huh? She said it again, "I want my hunk." Flying over from Kellen came her SKunk!:)

Annika was in the bathroom tonight (this story may be a bit TMI...) -- she was on the big potty, since that is where she goes #2. She was sitting there, & I heard her say, "Hello, booty!" :)

Cracking me up...

Microwaves & MOPS

I sold my microwave yesterday. I know, weird, right? I have read a lot of research lately that has convinced me that microwaving food really makes it unhealthy for human consumption. I unplugged ours a couple of months ago, just to see if I could do without it, & then decided that I could. So I posted it on craigslist & lewisyardsales (just like CL, but only in Pierce county). I was shocked at how many people wanted my 14 yr. old microwave! ;) And yes, I did ponder whether I should just destroy the thing or sell it to some unsuspecting soul who will transform their own food into frankenfood....I decided that each person can make their own choice on microwaves (aren't they in pretty much every household in America??) & this is my choice: to not have one. Anyway, I first heard from a gal named Christy, so being the nice person that I am (ha!) AND also having experienced in the past telling someone that I wanted to buy their item only to have them sell it from under me, I patiently waited for her to respond each time to my e-mail about when/where to meet. I was putting together a profile in my mind that she must work nights (though most people on LewisYS are military) because she always e-mailed me at 3:00 a.m. I thought this might make it a tad difficult to meet, since I am normally asleep at this time (& $20 wasn't really worth it to me...). Finally, we ended up connecting & planned to meet on Sat. p.m. at a gas station. This coincided with me heading out to a girls' night out, so I thought the plan was coming together well.:) I met Christy at the 76 station, & as she got out of her Chevy Blazer, it of course started to rain. We introduced ourselves, & she said, "I'm so glad this finally worked out. I just got out of the hospital after having a baby, my 3rd boy. I've been pregnant for 3 yrs!" Ha ha! I said that I, too, was pregnant for 3 yrs.!!:) Her kids are 13 months apart & then 22 months apart, whereas mine are 16 & 17 months apart, but close enough....we ended up talking for 45 minutes (yes, in the rain!) & I invited her to our MOPS group (Mothers of PreSchoolers, check it out at www.mops.org if this is new to you!). Being the publicity person this year, I had made business cards to give out for just this sort of occasion! AND....they were in my van....& I had Erik's car, since I was kidless going to a girls' night....!!!!!!!! I dug around in my purse a bit, hoping I had stuck one in there, but no. Fortunately I had her e-mail address, so I e-mailed her the info. :) She will probably not come this week, since she JUST had a baby, but hopefully she will make it sometime later this year. :) So, all in all, I decided that it really was a good idea to sell my microwave!

Pumpkin Patch

This year, with both Kellen & Annika at Little Church we had 2 pumpkin patch field trips back-to-back! We ended up with a great day (rain was forecast) & just spent the whole day there, with a short lunch break at Round Table Pizza.:) Here are a few pictures from the day:
Annika's class! With Miss Karen & Miss Karen

Kellen, 5: 45.5"

Annika, 3.5: 42"

Kaarin, 2.5: 34"

Sitting with the pumpkins

Kellen's class, with Miss Jessica & Miss Mary!

A Couple More...

Kellen: "Kaarin's favorite word is 'why.'" (yes, yes it is...)

Kellen: "Sometimes I say 'No way, Jose' & pretend I'm talking to a Jose." :)

Annika: "Here's the book that makes you cry..." (Love You Forever)

We had some friends coming over for dinner the other night who don't have any kids. I told Annika that some of mommy & daddy's friends were coming for dinner, but that they weren't bringing any kids to play with. Annika said, "Are they still in their tummies?" :)

Kaarin, almost when eating anything: "Yummy in my tummy." OR "Hungry hippo!" :)

Tonight I said to Kaarin, "We can't read yet, no one else is here. You're the only one!"
Kaarin: "I two!"
:)