So I was thirsty...

Is it possible to overdose on caffeine? I think I did last night. Really. It gives you a nasty nauseous feeling that I don't recommend. I also kept hearing things in my sleep. My pulse at 1 am, just awake from a deep sleep, was 108. Pounding out of my chest. It just might have been the Mountain Dew I chugged at 10 pm. Because I was really thirsty. (Don't look at me like that!)

Anyway, Joe had to work last night. As in, worked all day, came home about 3 pm and slept, back up at 10 pm and back to work until sometime this afternoon. He's famous for doing this actually. There will be a book about it someday, I'm sure. I'm usually happy to have the bed to myself, but I mentioned before the strange noises I was hearing in my sleep? And the fact that Grace turns on all the lights when she gets up to go potty in the middle of the night, but doesn't flush so that I know it's her. Which probably explains the footsteps I heard, that put my heart into palpitations (sic?) in the first place.

Plus the creepy guy, out selling raffle tickets alone at 8:40 pm, on a Sunday night, in nothing but a T-Shirt, in 40* rainy weather. And he couldn't even hold the tickets right side up in front of himself. Not interested. Then with my mind running away in the midst of night noises, I figured he MUST have been casing the house and then add the fact that the front door was unlocked and all of the lights were on... I didn't even dare to go downstairs. Because I was only in a T shirt and undies and I would surely die. heh.

I'm feeling better this morning, although still jumpin' from the caffeine overload. I won't need a cup of coffee today for sure. I've been working on a quilt the last couple of days, I'm almost done with the 6 loads of laundry that snuck up on me over the weekend and I only have the pile of dishes left to tackle. Should be an easy Monday!

Whew!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Today, I'm feeling under-appreciated, overworked and grumpy. *winks*

Our reality for Thanksgiving was nothing like my plan, but it all worked out in the end without serious injury. Dinner was changed to 6 pm (not by me!) and that threw off all my time schedules. I put off making a few things on Wednesday, since I had all day to cook, and I really shouldn't have.

I made French toast for breakfast, which is the tradition around here and made a lunch too. We didn't eat any of the crackers and cheese or veggies I got for snacks. Joe took the kids into work with him for about an hour in the morning and Grace got lost in the store, while I prepared the turkey and stuffing and watched the Macy's Parade alone. When they got home, Joe took a nap, for 3 hours. I spent my spare time yelling at the kids to stay away from the set table and refilling juice cups. The turkey was done early (!!) and our guest was late. But, the food was good and it was nice to spend the day cooking.

I stayed home from the sales yesterday. Joe said he would pick up the items we needed from his sale, but he came home with nothing. I had called early, to see if I should come down to the store, but he didn't want me riding the bus. Of course, he told me that after he came home for the day. His told me when I called that he would be able to shop on his breaks, still get the good deals and I could stay home and relax.

So, I spent the morning washing the HUGE pile of dishes, because the dishwasher still hasn't been fixed and putting everything away. I talked to a friend on the phone, got a package in the mail from Texas and replaced two lightbulbs, at 2 pm because it's dark enough to need them then. Fun stuff.

We ordered pizza for dinner and Joe was in bed early. I watched "Walking Tall" - other than the scenes with The Rock without a shirt on, the movie was pretty lame - then I put the kids to bed and the Pepsi I drank with dinner kicked in, right as I crawled into bed. So, I hand wrote notes for the Christmas letter and watched the Discovery Health Channel until after 11 pm.

Today, I had plans to work on a mystery quilt, but I don't feel much like sewing. I didn't sleep well last night, between not falling asleep until late, then Joe messing with the alarm clock, with the overhead light on in the middle of the night, Grace getting up to go to the bathroom and leaving the bathroom light on and the kids thinking 6 am was a good time to get up for the day, this morning I'm not a very happy camper. I don't sew when I'm tired, so I'll have to figure out something else to do.

Not that I don't have a list to choose from --- I need to make advent calendars for the kids this weekend, so they will stop asking if it's Christmas yet. I need to type the Christmas letter, stick the address labels on the envelopes and sign all the cards, plus pick up the pictures I ordered to go in some of the Christmas cards. I need to dig out the Christmas decorations and decide what I/we will be using this year. I need to draft a letter to the landlord/property management about the repairs that need to be done here, documenting when I first reported them and that if they are not fixed in 30 days, we will be fixing them ourselves and taking the cost out of the rent amount. I have to do all of the Christmas shopping and mailing. I need to do more laundry. I need to get the car serviced and the headlight fixed. I need to get my Alaska driver's license. I need to finish cleaning the garage, so I can move the weight bench in there, before my parents come to visit. I have scrapbooks and quilts to work on. I have a scarf to finish. I have shelves and pictures to hang. I have toys to sort and things to take to charity. I have things to take to the dump, but need a truck to haul it all. I have curtains to buy fabric for and sew. I have to get to the doctor for my yearly exam. I have packages to mail, but I have to get the right envelopes first. I'm three weeks behind in my bible study, which I want to be caught up for Tuesday's class.

All of it makes me just want to go read a book.

The Calm Before the Storm

This is one of the craziest weeks of my year!

I decided to wait on the grocery shopping Sunday night because when Joe got home he was telling me about how busy the store had been all day and that the Cream of Mushroom soup and French onions were out of stock. Well, it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without Green Bean Casserole, so I went shopping yesterday instead. It ended up being a good decision because it wasn't crowded at all.

We took Joe to work and headed to Costco. I got everything on my list there, including a set of bakeware for $36. I realized that I gave away my other casserole dish before we moved, because I only use it once or twice a year - at Thanksgiving and Christmas! So now I have a matching set of stoneware and enough dishes for a big meal.

After Costco, we headed to Fred's and did the rest of the shopping. The French onions were back on the shelf and I was able to get everything on my list, plus bought just enough ($115) to qualify for the free turkey. I stashed that one in the deep freeze for later.

I also got a new set of silverware. I was counting spoons and forks, to make sure I didn't have to haul out the antique silver (and polish it!) for the one extra person we're having over, and I realized that I had 5 teaspoons. I found service for 8 (plus 5 serving utensils) on sale for about $15 and I had another coupon for 10% off that and our employee discount off that!

We went to McDonald's for lunch (with Dad!) and I spent most of the afternoon planning my final menu and the oven schedule. One of the men we invited, decided to stay home and drink, instead of coming over for the day. Part of me is sad that he'll be spending the holiday like that, but the other part of me is glad I won't be dealing with it.

I also got the cabinet hung in the upstairs bathroom. Joe's comment was, "It looks like a real bathroom now." As if the toilet, tub and sink didn't give it away? :o)

So, today I am doing the washing and cleaning. Tomorrow, I will be making a cheesecake, 2 pumpkin rolls and the cranberry sauce, along with moving tables around and finding all the table linens. There will be no pies this year. Grace has a birthday party tomorrow night from 6 pm to about 7:30 pm too. Thursday, I'll be up about 6 am (two hours before sunrise here!) to get the kitchen stuff done, so we can watch the Macy's Parade together. We're planning to eat about 1 pm, so that our guest (Joe's assistant at work) can go home and sleep before he heads back to work that night.

I hope you are sharing the holiday with people you love and be sure to count your blessings!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Busy Sunday

Yesterday, I got to play with fabric! I spent the afternoon digging out scraps and cutting squares for an online mystery quilt next weekend. I sewed two blocks for a swap too.

This morning was church. Joe had to work, so the kids and I walked over. It stopped raining sometime last night, which is good because the ditch was already full and the neighbor's sump pump has been running for two days. It's rained sideways for two days straight and we've gotten about an inch of rain each day!

I talked to a friend after church and Grace is invited to a birthday party Wednesday night. They will be having cake and ice cream, dressing up as Princesses and putting on makeup. Grace is beside herself already and she doesn't even know about the makeup yet!

We got home about 12:30 pm from church and I put pizzas in the oven for lunch, just about the time I noticed that the neighbors, (and her parents who are in town for the holiday) were out trying to unclog their sump pump drainpipe. I had run a plate and a stamp order over about 8 am, noticed the pump was running and asked if maybe the line was clogged, causing the backup by the house. I guess that was enough to send them all out to fix it. Anyway, they were heading up to the glacier and had room for us, so we all trekked up to the Visitor's Center. The Center was showing the movie "Ice Age" (hee!) in the theatre, provided popcorn for the kids and we had the exhibits pretty much to ourselves. We lasted about an hour before heading back home.

Since then, I've put away dishes, switched out the laundry, sorted the pile of papers collecting by the file cabinet and got a snack for the kids.

Now? I need to go make dinner and get ready to head to the store. The fun just never stops! :o)

It's Late...

and everyone else is in bed sleeping, so I'm getting a bunch of stuff done!

I messed with Christmas cards today and still couldn't get the printer to "eat" the envelopes for printing. It looks like I'm going to have to print labels after all. I haven't started the Christmas Letter yet and I still need to pick a photo and get the prints made.

I tackled the kid's room tonight before bed. I couldn't walk to Grace's bed in order to put clean sheets on it because she had everything in little boxes and bags across the floor. The (over) population of Stuffies we have was spilling out of the closet and the "couple of books" had multiplied into a stack a foot high. Everything is now in it's proper home or in a bin waiting to be carried back downstairs. I'll get the downstairs put back together tomorrow.

*Looking at the downstairs mess* I really need to go play with my fabric now... ;o)

Have a great weekend!

Why?

Why is it that when I finally find the HUGE pack of construction paper online, (that I've been searching for weeks to find) for a REALLY good price, that they don't ship to Alaska?

Why does the above mentioned paper store claim that an item is "Out of Stock" instead of alerting the shopper right away to the Non-shipped to States, as if ALL of the paper is out of stock?

Why does my dear husband wait to tell me who is coming (or not coming) to our house for Thanksgiving, making me call him at work and explain why I need to know, in order to make the grocery list?

Why does the mail take sooo long when you know there is a package (or three) on the way?

Why does the cereal run out the day BEFORE you plan to go to the store?

Why do they make alarm clocks so complicated that you can't turn them off or reset the wakeup time in the sleepy state right after it goes off?

Why does "No!" sound like "Sure, go right ahead!" to my children today?

Why doesn't Blogger update my post count?

Why isn't the comment count showing on the main page correctly?

Why do I think it's going to take threat of legal action to get the leak in the bathroom fixed and the dishwasher reinstalled/working and the lock on the back door working and the window sash fixed before Christmas?

Why does the week have to go by so freakin' fast - Thursday already?

True Confessions

There is something about Jeff Corwin that cracks me up. I know that his show is geared for kids, but I watch it more than I probably should. And I laugh. Hard.

That is all.

Sidetracked

...is what I am today.

Joe works late today, so I ran to the bank, Post Office and Safeway (for diapers) before he went to work.

I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast too.

He forgot his wallet and had to come home to get it.

I'm flitting between rooms putting away laundry, down to the garage to wash/dry more laundry, taking clothes upstairs to fold, putting away laundry, finding more laundry to wash, back to the garage with the *new* dirty laundry, etc...

Tomorrow is Trash Day, so I'm also doing the flitting about with a trash bag. Although NOT at the same time as the laundry, or I would be done by now.

Instead of stepping over the toys all over the house, I'm trying to return them to the proper homes as well. Some go upstairs in the bedrooms, some downstairs in bins and the kids can't seem to keep it together. It would help if they would actually play downstairs, but they like to play upstairs.

Tristan was wearing undies for a couple of hours. He isn't close to being ready for potty training. He's dry at night almost all of the time, but doesn't have the awareness during the day. He was taken totally by surprise when he had his accident, after refusing to sit on the potty AT ALL the previous hour. I don't have the patience right now to clean up messes nor do I want to drag him into the bathroom by force.

Well, I better go flit some more - the buzzer on the dryer just went off.

Retail Therapy

After 5 days stuck in the house, I escaped to JoAnn's this afternoon.

I bought a couple new stamps, a package of blank bookmarks, stamp cleaner, 10 yards of fabric, more Foamie supplies, a set of circular knitting needles, a set of 3 stackable cookie cooling racks, a new rotary cutter blade and two (replacement) quilting rulers.

That stuff will take care of the problems for: the new quilting swaps I'm in, my desire to make a knitted hat, crafts with the kids for Christmas and my holiday cookie baking with no counter space.

When I got home, I scrapped one page before I got dinner together and then opened Heidi's Family Salon for business. Tristan looks like a new kid and Joe is shaved nearly bald again. Grace had a trim the other night, but I know she will be hitting me up for some new toenail polish soon.

I have a date with the new DVD player and "Hidalgo" this evening, since Netflix is awesome and got my movies here 3 days before the expected date. We watched Shrek 2 last night and giggled ourselves silly.

I need to go see what the kids are smashing...

Heat Wave!!

This cold will just not go away. It has progressed into a lovely deep cough and continued voice issues, along with the congestion and sinus pain.

The good news it that I did get a good night's sleep last night. Grace took herself to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I was sleeping soundly at 7:07 am when my bed was invaded by little people. I crawled out of bed at 8 am and made the bed so I wouldn't climb right back in. :o)

The weather has taken a warmer trend today. The rain is back and most of the snow is gone already. We broke into the 40*'s sometime last night and the wind is picking up again too. Maybe during this heat wave, we can get the headlight fixed and get some studded tires put on the car - before the next storm.

Joe brought home the last toy on my want-list last night. We now have a VCR/DVD combo in the bedroom and I will be able to watch movies in peace, while the kids play in the living room. We bought Shreck 2 last weekend and still haven't watched it. I also signed us up for Netflix again, so I foresee us doing some serious movie watching this winter.

Well, I've got a kitchen to clean, laundry to wrangle, fabric and stamps to play with and a book to read - busy, busy weekend ahead!

Have a great weekend!

April Tidbits

**Addition and update** The neighbor avoidance system worked pretty well Friday afternoon. Mindy didn't call until after 4 pm. That fact is a rant for another day, but she did apologize for not calling about the park earlier. I had told her before that I had plans for Friday night, so when she called they were going to Costco. Both boys are sick - Logan has pneumonia and Braeden has sinus issues. I wouldn't have been taking them anywhere. Jen and I are saving our movie night for use at another time. Mindy will be LIVID that she wasn't invited if/when she finds out.

Some random thoughts and run-on sentences...

Between Blogger being cranky and this lousy cold, I've been doing lots of other things.

The kids have figured out that they can sleep past 6 am and not turn to mush, so I've slept until almost 8 am the last two days. Maybe now I'll kick this cold. Grace is still getting up in the middle of the night for a potty run - last night (at 3:15 am) Joe was already up for work and she yelled for me. He went in to get her and she wouldn't get out of bed, so I had to get up anyway and it took me a half hour to get back to sleep. Both kids took naps on Monday - 3 and 4 hours each and bedtime was only a half hour late. I managed to knit a whole scarf that afternoon/evening before Joe got home from work.

I got the shelf units built for my scrap/stamping area on Tuesday and most everything put back in a new home. Yesterday, I dug through the piles in the garage and pulled out the extra table. It was Joe's fly tying table and (with his blessing) I brought it in for my scrapping table. I made room in the center of the garage, sorted some more boxes/garbage and with a bit more work, it'll all fit nicely without selling anything. I got the rest of my stuff put away this morning and the downstairs is almost put together again. Upstairs? Well, the kids have been playing up there all morning and I'll have a mess to work on this afternoon.

I had a crazy night Tuesday trying to fix our burnt out headlight on the car. It all started when Tristan hit me (by accident) with his sword on the back of my hand, which has bruised and swelled and hurt more than it should. Then, I got my hand squished between a falling chair, the shelf unit I was moving and the wooden back of the futon. Same hand, but on the knuckle instead. Fast forward to the headlight fiasco and picture my hand jammed into a backwards spot, rubbing on the knuckle and bruise. Erm, not fun.

So, I was a very angry camper when I finally gave up at 10:40 pm without fixing the headlight. I had managed to take out the wrong (actually working) bulb, purchased (and then returned) what was the correct bulb and re-purchased what ended up being the wrong bulb. All of the work was done in the driveway, in the dark (ok, by the light of one security floodlight, that I had to buy and install too and a mini maglight), in below freezing temperatures, in my new lavender color coat, with two trips to the store and a frustrating encounter with a dufus cashier.

Joe? He was inside, warm and playing his PS2. If he gets pulled over for a headlight being out, it's his fault for not taking it to the Chevy dealer or fixing it himself.

Yesterday, the neighbor (Dawn) and I, took the double joggers out for a 2 mile walk in the afternoon. The weather for walking yesterday was great. It was clear, just about 32* and nearing sunset at 3 pm when we set out. We walked to the Duck Park (there's a summer picture in the archives) and the view was awesome. I forgot the camera, so I'll take a picture next time. The raincover worked great to keep the heat in, but it fogged over pretty fast and then the condensation froze, so the kids couldn't see out. Oh well, such is life here.

Grace went down the slide at the playground and cut her hand on some ice, so we headed home mid-meltdown. Bad Mommy forgot the first aid kit and didn't make her wear her mittens in the first place. She wrapped her hands in my scarf and was cozy under the stroller quilt by the time we got home. The bike light I installed on the stroller worked really well too, since it was dusk at 4:10 pm when we got back to the house. Dawn's husband was out of town and Joe was working late, so they stayed for dinner and we had a good afternoon/evening hanging out with the kids.

I got my latest order from Stampin' Up on Tuesday and I'm excited to play with them. The watercolor pencils and blender pens are well worth the money! I'm still waiting on one item, but I found it here locally and if I need it, I can go buy it here. I have a nice collection of stamps started now and finally somewhere to sit down and work with them.

I got the Christmas List off to my Mom yesterday too. I have no idea what we're going to buy the kids now, but it's another item off the to-do list. I also made my Christmas card list today (40 cards!) and I need to write the annual letter soon. We are working on the pictures and will probably trade skills with Dawn's family for photo shoots. There are no studios here, just the professional photographers and we could easily spend $1000 getting pictures done to share with the family. The reasonable alternative is to take our own pictures, upload them to Fred Meyer's website, have them processed in the sizes we want and pick them up locally.

The homeowner came by Monday evening (surprise!) to take a look at our bathroom leak and said he would be by yesterday to fix everything, including the dishwasher. It's been like 3 weeks now, so I waited around all morning for him to show up. I called the Property Manager at noon (left a message) and still hadn't heard anything by 3 pm when we left for our walk. There were no messages when I got back last night and I've heard nothing today. Of course, I woke up this morning with no voice and I'm hoping it doesn't last much longer. I have a few phone calls to make.

Cabin Fever

What a wasted weekend... We are all sick, so we couldn't go do anything.

I was up before 7 am this morning (as well as every other morning since the time change) and spent the next 3 hours handwashing all the dishes and cleaning the counters. I've got it back under control now, but I still have to take out the garbage and sweep/mop the floor. It was clean before I got sick...

The kids have cabin fever and I'm not felling well enough to stand outside so they can play in the snow. In general, Grace is constantly yelling and Tristan is destroying everything in sight. Last night, he pulled about 20 video tapes apart. He went to bed without dinner at 6:30 pm, without a fuss, so I'm guessing he was just tired and bored.

I'm feeling somewhat better today, but I think I've already overdone it and it's not even noon yet. Joe works late tonight and the kids will be taking a quiet time this afternoon, so I can make it through the day. I would love to move my scrapbooking stuff around, bring in another table, build a couple of shelf units and get the garage space ready for the weight bench, but the flesh is weak today.

Plus, after dealing with the doors on the car being frozen shut this morning, I'm wondering if we can fit the car in the garage after all. That throws my "weight bench to the garage" plan out the window. I'm still left with moving a 3 bedroom (plus a den) 2.5 bath house with a large kitchen and a 2 car garage into a 2 bedroom (plus a funky basement with a kitchenette), 1.75 bath duplex with a pitiful kitchen and a one car garage that also holds the laundry room.

Something's got to give and I have a feeling I'm going to be holding my first ever Winter Garage Sale to make room.

What I Learned This Week:

1. Our phone number is very similar to the number of a VA hospital on the East Coast. I've gotten more wrong numbers since we've lived here than we have people actually calling for us. This morning, at 7 am Alaska Time someone called and woke up the kids and didn't even bother to apologize.
2. Seeing snow outside will cause Grace to ask for Hot Chocolate with Mini Marshmallows. Repeatedly. Until the snow melts. Next spring.
3. I dislike our Property Manager even more now that the fridge doesn't seem to hold the temperature and I've gone through about $20 in milk in three days. I've got it set on "Freeze the eggs" and the milk is going sour faster than we can drink it. This is truly amazing, seeing as how Tristan can drink a gallon a day if I let him.
4. It is not even 4 pm and the sun has already set. Sunrise tomorrow should be about 7:45 am.
5. Tristan woke up dry yesterday morning - after sleeping for 14 straight hours. I convinced him to pee on the potty and then... An entire day of pull-up failure (like pellets of poop dropping all over the house as he walked) and I finally gave up and put a diaper back on him.
6. I still hate Huggies diapers. Even the Supremes.
7. I missed shoveling snow. Our front steps are the only clear ones in the cul-de-sac today.
8. I miss my radio station from Seattle and it will take me a long time to rebuild a CD collection. I used to have about 300, but sold them when we needed money. I forget about the music channels on the Digital TV box most of the time.
9. Thanksgiving is only 3 weeks away.
10. I'm not doing very well trying to make a Christmas list to give my Mom for the kids. I'm going to have to let her buy the things we were planning on getting and find something else for them from us.
11. I love snow! We have a full week's forecast for it and might have enough to make a snowman by the middle of next week. That is if it doesn't rain and melt it.

Have a good weekend!

WARNING!! The Ranty Election Post

Well, somewhere in the midst of the election stuff and trying to clean the house, we all picked up a cold. Grace had it first and stuffed up Wednesday, after I took her to AWANA. I woke up this morning with a sore throat and Tristan's nose is running this afternoon. Joe was snuffly last night and when I talked to him today he said he was getting sick too. Just what we need...

I'm avoiding most blogs and forums right now, at least until the dust settles a bit. I'm not disappointed in the way the votes came in and I really don't want to be bashed (or read mean and nasty things) right now. The beauty of this country is getting to vote for the people that we feel best represent us.

***Getting out my soapbox. Read at your own risk.***

Instead of being a mindless, brainwashed victim in this election, I think I have some valid reasons for voting the way I did and I did think them through carefully, unlike the "Cattle to Slaughter" view that seems to prevail overseas.

I'm against stem-cell research from embryos because I believe that it kills a child. You can't make anything but a child, from an egg and sperm. My grandma died from complications of Alzheimer's (as did her mother and mother in law) and I would not kill one of my children so that she could keep her memories until she died. It irritates me that Christopher Re*ve seemed to have a sole public focus on using these cells to regain his ability to walk. How many things he could he have done, if he accepted his paralysis and used his influence for newer and better technologies, to assist more people in the same condition? What about caregiver rights? Mobility and accessibility issues? Or simply as a motivator? If you want to see a story that is motivating, catch "The Brooke Ellison Story" on the Discovery Health Channel.

I'm against partial birth and late term abortions entirely and also the use of abortion as a form of birth control, as in, more than one in your life. I feel women should be screened and required to meet with a therapist before a procedure is done (in a hospital, not at a clinic or private office), as well as follow-up treatment if they have the procedure. I've suffered for 10 years because I had an abortion at the age of 18 and I strongly believe that you do have a choice - you choose to have sex (or not) in the first place. My parents didn't support me when I wanted to continue the pregnancy, nor did the baby's father. There were offers of adoption (from the father's parents) and those were rejected by the father. I was lost, confused, alone, depressed and on top of all that, hormonal. Not once did ANYONE ask ME how I felt or if this was really what I wanted or offered unconditional support and love. There is damage done way beyond the sucking of a fetus, through clear plastic tubing, into a vacuum-run machine and I really didn't need to know that my uterus is heart-shaped.

I believe in putting family first and I don't believe in divorce. Both are things that I think Bush has shown to be true in his own life. Along with that, comes the belief in the sanctity of marriage, between a man and a woman.

I want a leader for the country who is also the leader in his own home. I've never heard of Mrs. Bush running after and screaming at a reporter or showing an example that I would shelter my children from seeing, but her equivalent on the other side of the race? She did it twice during the campaign that we all know of. I don't like being treated as "less than" because I stay at home to run my household and don't receive a paycheck for doing it. I've worked at a ton of different things, even until the month before Grace was born, and I would work again if I had to. We've sacrificed so that our children know that they are loved and come first in our family. I also don't want to pass on some of the things that I grew up with.

As for the troops in Iraq and Afganistan? My sister in law is there now, near Fallujah and I know that she needs our support most of all. This is a fight that is based in the Bible and will be waged until the end of time. There have always been wars and there will be more to come. It saddens me to see another religious group so hell bent on killing other humans, in an effort to get to heaven and passing it off as a political issue. I truly believe that our mission there is to bring the people of that part of the world to a free state, where they have the right to choose a leader and form their own laws and governing bodies. It happened in Germany and in Russia and I know it can be done again.

I'm passionate about my faith and my God and I'll stand my ground where and when I need to, because in the end, I answer to Him and I won't have any excuses for my actions.

***Putting my soapbox away, back to normal, boring fluff tomorrow.

The Halloween Pictures

I survived the weekend!

We lasted exactly one hour at the Fall Carnival Saturday night, which was OK with the kids amazingly. Tristan got into his candy (after Dad said no more) and spent all day Halloween without any as punishment. Grace dressed up again last night to help me greet "Our Customers" and to keep the tally.

We had 15 Trick-or-Treaters. From 5:45 pm to 8 pm.

Joe had to work, so he brought the car home on his break and the kids and I ventured to church without him. They had prepared packages of microwave popcorn with the church info and an invitation to "Pop on in sometime!" I grabbed 14 and gave one out to every kid, except for the baby, that came to our door. Everyone was excited to get popcorn, which was surprising to me. I had one girl try to plead a case for my kids to go out Trick-or-Treating and when I told her they already had plenty of candy and it was cold and rainy, she finally stopped. I'm guessing that most parents took their kids to the different functions around town, rather than out in the neighborhoods.

Anyway, here is the photographic evidence from Saturday night.

Grace, as Snow White:



Tristan, 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave:



The Brave Knight, 10 minutes later:



Snow White and the Brave Knight:



Happy November everyone and don't forget to vote tomorrow!