That's right, I was going to tell you about our pumpkins....

Now without "revealing" too much personal info, we live in a town that has a Wal Mart, a K-Mart, and three grocery stores. Yesterday afternoon we set out to buy some pumpkins for us to carve.
Others were too. Obviously.
NO PUMPKINS WERE TO BE FOUND - anywhere in town (and stealing it from the neighbor's yard somehow did not seem like the right thing to do *LOL*).

We were really bummed. After all, the temperature was close to 70 degrees, and we could have carved pumpkins outside!! Not something that happens every year in Wyoming!

That's when I broke down and bought the gingerbread haunted house that was on sale, and that I was sure would taste horrible (it does!). But I knew it would pacify the kids.
I told Anya before our last grocery stop that it would have to be God if there were any pumpkins. You already know the rest of the story - there weren't any.


Then it was time for us to go to Nina's preschool, and she had a cute little Halloween celebration. We played games, ate snacks... Nina was happy....
Before we left, Anya told one of Nina's teachers that we tried to buy pumpkins, but that there weren't any left in any of the stores. Then God - I mean, Miss Marcia - said to Anya: "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. We have 2 big pumpkins right here, we'll throw them away after today, why don't you take them home with you!"

And so we walked out of there with 2 big pumpkins, one small one, and even 2 little mini-pumpkins!! Praise God!!


I had bought one pumpkin a while ago, and to my surprise, the cold nights had not turned it to mush yet, so we had plenty of pumpkins to carve!!

Boo-rrrrreakfast time!!!

Seriously, the kids DREAD breakfast on Halloween morning.

It's one of those love-hate relationships: They LOVE the anticipation and the looks of it, but HATE to actually having to eat it :-)
Nico's comment this morning was "I hope they have cereal for breakfast at school" (our school has a free breakfast program), thinking that it would be a more edible solution for his early morning hunger pains.

I have to say though, Elia and Nina were troopers, and gobbled it down (I think Nina was motivated by the prospects of CANDY, which she knows she won't get if she doesn't eat her meal!!)

On the menu: Orange bread, worms, and 100year old eggs with bloody maggots, as well as Blood-'n-bile with eyeball icecubes to drink (oh, and just a LITTLE infested with worms and spiders, too!)

Last night we decorated this Gingerbread haunted house. I bought it because there were NO pumpkins to be found all over town!! We did end up carving some anyway, but this is a cool story for later today :-))

Dressing up....

Just in case you need some ideas yet for your four-legged friends!!

The power of looking back...

Looking FORWARD seems to be the progressive and efficient way to look at things.

Don't dwell on the past.

Keep going.

I, however, find much peace in looking BACK.

Cherishing memories.

Thinking of tiny little toes and scrunched up little faces.

Recalling funny stories, like Nico asking: "Do they play tennis in Tennessee?"

In adoption, there is very little past, or at least very little KNOWN past, and very little TOGETHER past.

Still, I love to look back at our time with Nina. Really, adopting her has not been the easiest thing I have done in my life, even though I have NO regrets.

But looking BACK at our early pictures with her, feeling those feelings of "love at first sight" all over again, are very powerful when I feel overwhelmed and defeated.

It helps me feel at peace, knowing how far we have come. Seeing her grow up, I see how the Lord's arms have carried us this entire time.

I see us as a family...

It's been a year since I took these pictures - It was such a beautiful, warm Fall day, and I love the pictures, as they captured Nina so well.

This afternoon the weather was even nicer, I think, so we went back to the same place (really, just down the street from our house), for a quick "one year later" photo shoot. Now Miss Nina is not as eager of a subject anymore, but I was able to get some CUTE pictures of her. Isn't it amazing how much she has grown???

(I have more pictures, but these are some of my favorites)

Preparing for Halloween....

Not that I like Halloween. Pretty much the opposite (said that last year already, I know, I know...).

But, boy, the schools do. My younger kids have been in overdrive creating bats, witches and pumpkins, and I have two doors decorated with their masterpieces (Alex was a bit upset that I did not hang up his witch, but I just had to draw the line somewhere... )

So, tonight I'm gearing up for our traditional Halloween breakfast, and it's going to be FUN!!!

To give you a little glimpse, just look at my "helper"!

It's going to be YUMMY!!

When you're too old to trick-or-treat...

Anyone else need an excuse NOT to go trick-or-treating tomorrow???
Maybe this will help :-)))

You know you are too old to Trick or Treat when:

10. You get winded from knocking on the door.
9. You have to have another kid chew the candy for you.
8. You ask for high fiber candy only.
7. When someone drops a candy bar in your bag, you lose your balance and fall over.
6. People say: 'Great Boris Karloff Mask,' And you're not wearing a mask.
5. When the door opens you yell, 'Trick or...' And can't remember the rest.
4. By the end of the night, you have a bag full of restraining orders.
3. You have to carefully choose a costume that won't dislodge your hairpiece.
2. You're the only Power Ranger in the neighborhood with a walker.

And the number one reason Seniors should not go (that starts at below 40, right??)
Trick Or Treating...

1. You keep having to go home to pee.

.

Please pray for this family...

I came across the story of a family that is really touching me...
Anytime I hear of parents faced with the loss of a child, it just breaks my heart.
We've seen the pain in the faces of friends and aquaintances, but have obviously not had to endure it ourselves.
I don't know this couple, but really have it on my heart to ask you to lift them and their little girl, Kara, up in prayers.
Here is their blog

Hug your kids tonight....

I'm still so young, and have a looooong ways to go :-))

I found this fun site on another blog.....
Life expectancy calculator
Wow, my virtual age is only 19 1/2, and I'm supposed to get to 93 1/2 years old. That's another 55 years!!! Do I really want to live that long?????
Anyway, it's just simple entertainment, just in case you don't have anything else to do (like me who should be SLEEPING!)

What's wrong with this picture???

I have an urgent Birthday post, but I could not resist to show you THESE pictures first.

Consider this my yearly WHINE post. I might as well get it out of my system.
IT'S SNOWING IN WYOMING!!!!!!!
Really, after 14 years in this area, I should know.
And every year it amazes me like it is the first time I witness a full blown snow storm in October.
I was ouf of town for a conference to keep up my certification in sleep medicine (I seriously did have a "career" before being a full-time Mom - interesting, huh!), but I cut it short because of the mentioned birthday and another soccer tournament (that got cancelled due to the weather), and I made it home before it got bad!

The kids are outside sledding, THEY are so excited!!!

Happy Birthday, Nico!

Happy Birthday to a very cool young man!! Nico turned 11 on the 10th (yes - 10/10!!), and he had anxiously awaited this special day. His wishlist had been quite extensive, and we told him for weeks we had already bought him a Barbie Castle, and we were not going to buy him the Lego set he really wanted! He won't really admit it, but I think he was a little nervous about our choice of gift, but in the end, he was pleasantly surprised as he got just what he wanted :-))

Allright, he DID get a Barbie Birthday card, which he claims is not his, but he gladly accepted the birthday money that was in it from the Grandparents. Huhhh??? Anyone else confused?

Gosh, he is such a fun guy to hang out with. Always THINKING, coming up with stuff, curious about life and how it works, and how society works (he really wants to vote too!). Always looking for ways to pull a prank on people (LOVES to scare me! This kid has scared me so badly it made me cry!! Seriously!). He is creative, especially when it comes to LEGOS, loves anything that has to do with planes and wants to be a pilot someday (please - only for an airline that has international flights!!), and still likes it when we lay down with him at night (he has been that way since he was very little). That's when he likes to talk, that's when he really opens up, and those times are very special!

We are so proud of him, and even though it's hard for him sometimes to be the oldest, he has 4 little followers that just adore him. Yes, some of them in a more bickering way if you know what I mean :-))

Since I was gone for most of his birthday and didn't get home from my training until late afternoon, the cake making thing had to happen fast. I think Nico was so happy that he even GOT a cake, he put very few demands on it. Nina had actually been quite concerned about him not getting a cake, so it was a relief for her to have me home :-)). Mike had done a great job celebrating Nico while I was gone - complete with Birtday decorations and a special breakfast. I think this may have been the first time ever that he was in charge of that, and he did great!

So, anyway, back to the cake.... Nico wanted brownies, as he LOVES them, so his little brownie cake was quite tasty!! How could it NOT - it was made with Swiss Chocolate!! Yumm!
On to another year - we love you bud!

Meet Velma!

I'm not sure about this, but I'm ASSUMING my kids are not the only ones who do this.... or are they?

Whenever they have a favorite movie (the one they watch over, and over, and over, and over again.....) - they assign "roles".

For example - Kung Fu Panda - Anya is Tigress, Nina is Viper, Alex is Monkey, Elia is Mantis, Nico is Po, Mike is Master Shifu, and I'm the wise turtle :-))
(Oh, do you want to hear a funny airplane story? On our way back from Switzerland they showed Kung Fu Panda on the plane, and Elia watched, and laughed and giggled.... . Once we were home, he talked about watching the movie, and he said with a shrug: "But it was in a different language"..... that goofball watched the movie in a foreign language, and never said a word. He told me "I know what they were saying anyway!" Silly kid!)

Same went for the movies "Cars", "Over the Hedge" , "Open Season", and so on.

Well, the latest craze at our house is about Scooby Doo. The boys have really liked Scooby for a long time, and the girls are totally into it too. Well, Nina more so than Anya.

To be honest with you, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND... Maybe I'm just not "American" enough (Mike said he grew up with Scooby), but I think this show is so out there. I'll spare you my other opinions about Scooby *LOL*

Anyway, all kids have their roles - again: Nico is Shaggy, Anya is Daphne, Alex is Freddy, Elia is Scooby, Nina is Velma, and Daddy is the Mystery machine *Haha*

And Miss Nina CANNOT stand watching Scooby Doo without her Velma glasses!! It's hilarious!

Here she is!