real pumpkin time!

the girls and i went to get pumpkins last week sometime. we have yet to carve them. actually, they had to take some to school so i think we will have to go out and get some more if we are going to carve as a family. i really want some of those fairy tale pumpkins but they were all out at safeway. bummer. the ones they picked were cute tho!

pumpkin stem time!

so i finally finished my pumpkin stem project. apparently they needed to go through a "mold" stage and then dry out. gross! i didn't know what to do when my beloved stems started getting moldy, all my efforts for nothing! so i decided to soak some of them in bleach and then let them completely dry out in the sun. however, the ones that i did not bleach were fine too. so lesson #1 in drying things out... give it time and just let them dry. easy enough. it's probably a good thing that i don't do any canning (or even cooking for that matter) for my family. we would probably all be sick!

what a weekend!

where do I even start? i have really been spoiled lately. i was able to have 2 weekends in a row to myself. this weekend my friend came in from FL and we dedicated the whole weekend to shopping, photography, shopping, and more photography. we went to a workshop all day on sat. and learned everything we wanted to know. if only i would have studied that hard in school! i couldn't get enough information. anyway, it has been fun taking pics and editing them in new fun ways. here are some examples....

we all look alike... i guess

So my beautiful, blonde haired, 5ft 7in, flat tummied, well-endowed on the top friend (R) is visiting me for a couple of days. D barges into the bathroom as my friend is getting out of the shower. R has 4 girls of her own, so she is used to a lack of privacy :) D looks her up and down and says "you look just like my mom". R laughs and says " I look just like your mom?" D looks her up and down again and says " Yes, everything but your nose."

did I ever tell you the time I.....

got locked in the cemetery?????? yes, true story. we went to visit my grandma and great-grandma @ the cemetery (they were so grateful for the pumpkin stems I left them) one spooky fall evening. oooooooooooohhh. it's getting scarier......... anyway, we noticed that we were the only ones there at that time so we visited and decided we better get out of there. we drove to the gate.... padlocked shut! we drove to the other gate..... padlocked shut!!!! it was starting to get dark and the dead leaves were starting to fly up and around with the light evening breeze... spooooky! we were nervously laughing at the situation and trying to decide what to do. we turned around and saw a car coming towards us. it was the guard looking for us, he was heading home. he unlocked the gate and let us out... alive! he said if he had left we would of had to cal 911 and waited for someone to come out and unlock the gates. freaky.

i love fall!

I actually had a weekend to myself! I know, I can't believe it either. I visited my grandparents in Indy for my Gram's 81st birthday. She said she finally feels like an adult. I missed the kids ( and hubby) but had a wonderful time with my Ma and grandparents. We visited several pumpkin patches and gathered REAL pumpkin stems. We took pictures, sang songs, watched movies, went on country drives and even had some time to shop a little. It was fun to visit with aunts and uncles and cousins and their kiddos. So cute! I especially loved the changing leaves and warm sweaters! So different from our fall here. We had a fabulous party for my Gram with yummy food and lots of sweets, so much for eating healthy while I was there! I never leave tho, without a new wealth of knowledge......
Top 5 new quotes I learned from Gram......
1. One bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
2. Watch your figure if you don't do anything else.
3. A stitch in time saves nine.
4. Every skunk has it's mate.

and the best/worst, used many times that weekend...

5. I've got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.

2

I can't believe my baby is going to be 2 soon! Where does the time go?

sisters (original pair)

Who else could you take ridiculous pictures with, for over 27 years, and it never seems any less funny? I really don't know why this is underlined. I can't get it off.
Apparently it only looks underlined while writing. Now it's blue. I'm not making any sense, I should go to bed.

sisters

I think the girls had a good time together during fall break. They had their ups and downs, but for the most part they played together from when they woke up to when they finally closed their little eyes. It makes me happy to see them growing and laughing and giggling at each other. I hope they always get a kick out of each other, I don't know what I would do without my little sister. I get a kick out of her everyday, sometimes literally. :)

a sweet surprise

After meeting Daddy for lunch, the girls and I decided to walk around Tempe a little bit. We stumbled upon a free Wed. scone and tea day! yeah what a find! We were invited in and given a tour. We learned the history of the building and they showed us how to make scones. The girls were delighted putting lemon curd and sweet cream on their pecan cranberry scones. They even gave S a baby sized scone. D decided she didn't like hers ( she said it tasted like throw-up, sweet thing) and instead worked on becoming a fairy. 

fall break

To kick off fall break, we decided to go somewhere where there are actually signs of fall. We went camping!! We headed out to Knocknasheega where the kids always have a grand time. They love to follow G.L and G.M around and ask about all the chores. Filling the water, clearing paths and the big decision of where to go potty this time... lots of choices in the woods. We said we were going to eat healthy this time, but I still managed to have at least 4 s'mores a day. It just feels wrong to not roast marshmallows by a huge fire. Right? We had a wonderful time eating, laughing, drinking, hiking and then all over again. After a couple of days with the fam, we headed over to Greer to stay with my beautiful and talented friend. She has a cabin (resort!!) that her sweet family spends as much time as they can in the amazing pines. It doesn't even feel like Az there! L and D competed for her son's attention the whole time and S and R liked being the big sisters and spent most of the time watching movies and giggling. P even offered to play with the kids while M, L and I went looking for antiques. He strapped the car seat to the polaris and took all 5 kids down for a hike and hot chocolate. What a guy!  He was in heaven with the weather and the toys combined! Thanks for having us and spoiling us rotten M!!! We'll come back for more anytime!!!!