Highlights from Halloween 2008!

Every year our church has a trunk or treat. Every year we have to come up with something amazing to top the year before because well....... because everyone knows we are just SO COOL.

So yesterday morning we were completely brain storming and came up with this........

Hansel and Gretel and the Sugar Coated House intact with Witch!

We had lollipops, candy rocks, giant peppermint sticks, gumdrops and gingerbread. The great thing was I got to say,"Come children come and let me give you something that will fatten you up" Of course the adults loved it and the kids were a bit scared of me. It was great fun.

Lydia - The Princess

Chaiya- Our Mary Poppins

Maliea - a worn out tired vampire

Thayne started the evening in one costume and then changed to just a Home Depot apron because he didn't want to be bothered with the heavier one.

Michael just put on his old Air Force uniform and went as himself.

Quayde abandon the family to go hang out with his best friend Zack and have fun trick or treating in the normal house to house way. He was a hippie and hopefully Kristi got some pics of him and Zack.
My back is killing me from the fake hunchback pillow I wore all night and I am pretty sure this white hairspray and makeup is going to take some serious work to get out. We had so much fun. I can't wait until next year! Hope your Halloween was full of fun and a little bit of scariness!

Pumpkin Mania

We have been super, super busy for the past few days! I will update later on the amazing DVD we have been watching all about Zen and cooking. We are preparing our van for tomorrow night's trunk or treat. It will have something to do with candy, lollipops and babies in cages. We've been a little wicked. Today was an incredibly rare day with ALL of us home for at least 8 hours straight. We went for a picnic and carved pumpkins and created props(for the van). We laughed , ate together and truly enjoyed each other's company. It was really, really nice.

My funny husband

Yesterday we all were running around doing errands, trying to get everything accomplished. We stopped to grab a bite to eat. As we were sitting eating our sandwiches, two young ladies came in with INMATE printed on the back of orange jumpsuits. They stood in line and ordered their food. I noticed one had a very blinged up belt and her initial in rhinestones on the front of her jumper. The leopard skin shoes went well with it too!
As they left, my dear sweet husband whispered to me in ALL SERIOUSNESS , "Do you think that they are just in with minimum security?"
I about died laughing as I reminded him that Halloween is on Friday.

3rd grade - Shelter

So I have been preparing Lydia's shelter main lesson unit. Here is a rough outline of the things I want to work on and field trips.

Living on the Earth

Shelter from the Heat

Shelter from the Cold

Shelters of the Past

Shelters of the Future

Shelters at Sea

Shelters on the Move

Field Trips (Possibilities)

Montezuma's Castle

Home Depot

Arcosanti

Biosphere 2

Pioneer Village

Taliesin West

Current Construction site

I am going to use one of my favorite books, Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel as one of our main references.

I absolutely love this book! I purchased it in 1997 and I love that it helps my children and I keep things in perspective. I think everyone should have a copy in their home.

I am having a hard time finding good resources at our library. If anyone out there has activity or book ideas please leave a comment. I am totally open to finding great resources.

Girls just wanna have fun...

Sometimes you just have to do something nice for yourself. Plus it is a real kick to get stuff in the mail. So I broke down and treated myself to "Realness of Concealness"kit. I am loving the Boing concealer and the High beam shinny stuff.

I love looking at the Benefit makeup site. It is sassy and fun. It fills a side of me that doesn't hardly ever come out.

Okay.. since this is like a mini-confession here. I totally love the SteamPunk attitude/look.

Yeah , Abney Park is a new found weirdness that I dig. I know I look like a fairly "normal" person. Inside lurks these bits of me that would love to dress up , be different and a little more wild.

It all stems from the stupid Prescott High School counselor who assured me in my senior year that I would never be anything other than just average. WHATEVER!

Thanks Kayla

Lydia has a new pen pal that lives in Idaho. Her first letter came this week full of paper dolls. Almost more than Lydia can hold. She was thrilled! We have been playing with them a lot. Oh soooo much fun.

This morning I awoke to a FLASH! Chaiya had the camera and thought we looked cute. She says it is 'things that don't last forever'. I don't know about that.... I've been practicing the family bed for over 20 years now. With joy too by the way!

Gratitude

My heart is filled with gratefulness to whom ever was the person who sent the card that arrived today. Thank you so very much for thinking of us and blessing our lives. I truly hope that you will receive 100 fold of what you sent to us. Much love and blessings!

Thayne's afternoon

Part of the richness of Autumn is the perfect weather, dream catalogs, and the magnificent colors of the season.
If you look really well in this picture you might be able to see Thayne having fun in the UFO, where he spent a good part of the afternoon creating leaf soup and other culinary delights. I think he is planning a trip to outer space.

Carrie's Pic - Things that go fast

My sister Carrie is a really good photographer and on her blog she has a weekly photo scavenger hunt that she demands I participate in. LOL. I am not a photographer and do not even own my own camera at this point in time. I am borrowing Carrie's husband's camera.

So here's the fastest thing other than Thayne in my house at this point. This is Lydia's wheelchair. The guy from the medical equipment place purposely put racing wheels on it so she could zoom. Just don't get behind her because she can also stop on a dime.

Memories

On our local library copy the background of this book is green, her dress is white and cape red. This book is very cherished. From second grade on , at Chino Valley Elementary School, my best friend Wanda Welker and I would hurry and check 'Little Witch' out. Every single October we read this book for years and years.
15 years later as an adult I could not remember the exact title or author's last name. I did remember what shelf it had been on though. When I returned to living in this area I began searching the library. Within about 10 minutes I had found it. I read it to my big girls when they were little. I re-read it myself over and over. I LOVE THIS STORY!
I still do not have my own copy. It is a sweet story about triumphing over the worse situation and about happy endings when one doesn't expect it.
I just checked it out again yesterday. There is something about holding a book you know you checked out and read over 30 years ago. Maliea read it this afternoon, smiling the whole way through and I can't wait to sit this weekend and share it for the first time with Lydia and Thayne.

She's got it

This morning Lydia and I were having a conversation. She asked if she could go with me when I pick up Quayde from his friend Zack's house. My reply was "probably".
"Yes", she screams in joy "Yes, probably means yes because maybe means no"

Well, she's already got things figured out around here, doesn't she.

QOTD

Chaiya: " I would have gotten it if it was mental"

I hate blue

Not trying to complain, I just need to get this out.
The hardest thing about taking care of your little ones is when they are in pain and you can't do anything about it.
Last night was bad!
So bad that Lydia required almost 6 liters of O2 to get that hated blue/gray tint out of her face.
It took about 3 hours to stabilize her and then this morning she is up running around like nothing ever happened. Lungs clear, O2 levels normal and "When are we getting my princess costume?"
Unfortunately I don't bounce back quite so well. One thing I hope for after I die is that this deep, deep sorrow will be gone.
I hate nights. I hate that more often than not she is in pain at night. I am grateful for Ibuprofen. I am NOT a pro-meds person but sometimes they are necessary. Sometimes here they are the difference between life and death.
We bought the princess costume this evening and she wore it until she went to bed. I don't give a hoot if I spoil her. Life is too short for her. Life's too short for all of us.
I will draw the line at a pony though :)

Weekend

I have been trying to post but having a little connection problem with the net!

Very, very full weekend. Michael and his dad walked down to a yard sale around the corner, then came back very excited. We got a generator for $17.50! Our neighbors were selling everything half price because they just wanted to be done at noon.

I also got a large salad spinner for $.50 , a huge industrial family sized food processor for $2.50, and a large cooler for $2.00!

I felt a little guilty about the generator but the guy was wanting us to take it. His father died last August and they were helping their mom downsize.


Thayne absolutely loves his Grandpa Callihan! He calls him his PaPa. It has really been a joy seeing him get to know and play with his PaPa. Although Thayne got a hold of one of his Pepsi drinks yesterday and the kid was bouncing off the walls until midnight. I wish they lived closer than Ohio so Thayne could spend more time with him. Our hope is that we can travel back there next year and visit.


Glad to be starting a new week although I can not believe how fast October is flying past.
I need to get started on getting costumes ready and prepare our van for trunk r treat. We are leaning towards a Dr. Seuss theme this year.

I made it!!!

Since I gave a brief (hehehe) itinerary yesterday of today's events, I will tell you what else I threw in.
When I got up this morning I made a batch of pumpkin/ choc. chips cookies for snacks and raspberry scones for breakfast - all from scratch.

The funeral which was very nice went quite well. I, at least know the lady's name now and that she was an incredible mother and grandmother.

Got back home and got the littles and Quayde ready to go out for dinner at a nice restaurant with the in-laws. The older girls both had babysitting jobs. Enjoyed dinner.

Came home, put the littles to bed, read Lydia a chapter from her latest American girls book, helped Quayde and Michael put together an aquarium set up for the snake that Quayde found in the backyard today, quickly read some emails, had phone conversations about music for the children at church and listened to my sister Carrie, AND then made time for my husband by sitting and watching a movie on Netflix instant play (which is not something I usually spend time doing - the movie part not the husband part)
I am now a little tired. What ---it is not even midnight yet??
Hanging up the cape.
Darn is that a stain?

Carrie's Pic - Construction

Here's the pic for the subject of construction, Carrie. Note the intense concentration on Lydia face as she places the last of the Kapla blocks. These are the BEST toys! My kiddos (all of them) play with these blocks constantly. They were worth every penny.

Self portrait

I am rarely in pictures. I am usually the one behind the camera. If you have been following NieNie and Christopher's recovery, you understand how important photos and memories are. Courtney, Nie's sister was blogging about how she took self portraits often and that they will help her in recovering emotional from everything once her physical body heals.

I want my kiddos to have some photos of me. Kristi knows how long it took to finally get a picture of myself in the frames on the wall. So here goes, here's me at 41. Not great but they're pictures.

P.S. taking these things in the bathroom mirror is a lot more challenging than I thought it would be!

Tomorrow

They say when you want something done...ask a busy person and it will get accomplished. Hummmmm.
I also am a little miffed about the " well you home school so I know you aren't doing anything" Love that one alot!
So my day tomorrow is shaping up a little like this........
Judy drops off her son around 7:30 - 8:00 am
Michael's dad and wife's plane lands in Phx at 9:15 am
Feed, gather and load all children into van to leave for home school group at 9:45 am to run over and pick up Zack at 10:00 am to get to Chino by 10:30 am
Breathe and talk while at park for hour and a half.
Load everyone back up. Explain to Lydia why we are not going out to eat lunch probably to much fussing.
Drop off Zack back at his house
Get back home to finish straightening house (hahahaha) because you know the in-laws have already made it up from the airport, right?
Feed all children lunch because by now I am sure there will be protests even though they would have eaten snacks at the park.
Erica (Baby M's mom) is dropping by to pick up her video camera that I am holding hostage to make sure she pays me before they leave for California.
Make salad for funeral dinner at church this afternoon.
Oh and since I am already there dropping off the salad... Sing a solo. (by the way I have NO idea who died)
Oh and since I am already singing the solo... I might as well lead the music too.
This is happening at 3:00 pm about the time that Judy comes by to pick up her son. He's not going to the funeral.
Funeral should be done by 4:00 pm
To get home to relatives who haven't really seen me yet by 4:30 probably and my husband who will roughly guess that the wind that has swooped by him in the day has his wife in it.

I haven't yet planned out the rest of my tomorrow but I am sure that it will have something more to do with atoning for my sin of drinking Dr. Pepper to the Powers that be. Hence the singing at the funeral.
Yes I do know how to say No and did you know that there are really people out there who have made businesses out of singing at funerals? Maybe since times have been tough with fancy weddings I should change professions. Wouldn't go over well at my church though, I think. They are kind of big on the volunteer thing.

Blog Action Day

I've thought long and hard about the topic of Poverty.

After the divorce from the older kids' father, it was hard. After Lydia was born, money was even tighter. We lived in a 10 by 60 trailer in the middle of no where. I had a critical ill child that was not expected to live. There was a hole in the floor in the hallway. Living on less than $1000 a month, for the five of us. To all accounts for those looking in we were poor. On the inside looking out we were abundant! I fail to believe that just because we were seriously below the American standard of the poverty line, that we really were. Running water, indoor plumbing, telephone, plenty of food, a warm house (albeit very small for us), toothbrushes, washer & dryer, swamp cooler and heat, reasonably nice clothing, all these things add up to nothing even close to poverty.



I think there is a poverty mentality that has nothing to do with how much money one has. It deals with the belief of lack. The belief that there is never enough or "we are never going to make it". I know lots of people that made (make) lots of money in their day to day lives yet still believe they are poor or have nothing. They focus on what they do not have and they rarely give to others. There is no trust that the Universe will provide.



I am not discounting that there is serious poverty in the world.



I also believe that you can have very little money and be truly rich. The several years after Lydia's birth were incredibly happy years. Partly because we all knew how precious each and every day is on this earth. We had learned that you can not take anything for granted. God continually provided for us by manifesting things everywhere we went.

I think one can never be truly poor if the practice of gratitude is one that is present in your life.

Every single day I am grateful. I pray that I will always be mindful of the grace of wealth that is in my life. Grateful for so very much even if my bank account only has $2.42 in it. I will never be poor.

hurry hurry run

Do you love Ostheimer animals as much as we do? Well jump on over to Ninny Noodle Noo (no relation to my sister) and she is having a giveaway! Do you see these adorable chickens? Very cute! I am reading her stuff on over at her blog and I think you will enjoy it as much as I am.

Hurry because she will have the wonderful random number picker thing choose on Saturday.

Autumn weather has hit!

When I posted the pic for Carrie's photo hunt, I only seem to focus on what I couldn't find when it was all around me. I think sometimes that happens, we have the answers to things right there and are just not aware of the solution.
We have these huge bushes with these orange / red berries just covering them, completely covering one side of the yard. Perfect Autumn colors! I just never pay attention to my front yard much and there they were just waiting for me to notice. A good lesson for me.
A serious cold wave hit this weekend. I rushed out Friday afternoon and finished picking all the tomatoes that would ripen in the house and it's a good thing. It was below freezing last night and everything was dead this morning. The children and husband asked to have the heater turned on so they woke up toasty this morning. I was hoping to hold off for a few more weeks but alas.
So our weekend included:
pumpkin scones, fresh pears, beef stew, cheddar-garlic biscuits, oatmeal and hot cocoa
board games, snuggling on the sofa reading stories, candles, and cozy video watching of Hello Dolly.
Next weekend, Michael's dad and his wife Ruth are coming into town and we are excited to have them. Just need to get the school/play room cleaned up and get all the summer stuff (like fans and coolers) taken down and put away.
Hope everyone had a fab weekend.

Manners

When the older kids were little , this was a popular poem in our home. We still love it to this day!

The Goops by Gelett Burges

The Goops they lick their fingers

and the Goops they lick their knives

They spill their broth on the tablecloth

Oh they lead disgusting lives!

The Goops they talk while eating

and loud and fast they chew

and that is why

I'm glad that I

am not a Goop - Are you?

Happy

Best words to hear in the morning:
"momma, read to me" - Thayne

Carrie's pic

Okay Carrie, here's the best I could do for Autumn colors. Since the leaves haven't changed yet.

socks

Michael has this (mistaken) belief that if he does laundry on his day off it absolves him from being a complete slacker around the house the rest of the month. Of course he does his laundry and cleans his side of the room. He generally enlists Maliea's help in the folding process. Often making the mistake of asking her if she would like to help. She sometimes tells him, "NO".

So tonight he yells out "We have to get Maliea some Benedryl!!"
I reply, a little freaked out, "Why, what's wrong?"
"She is allergic to folding socks!"

thrift store finds

I purchased this gem on the left almost 20 years ago. When it started to fall apart, I found the second copy on the right at the Youth Ranch thrift in Mountain Home. Cheap and looked like it had never been used.
Guess which one I still use? I know, I know it is the same cookbook, But there is almost twenty years of stains, spills and love in that copy. I just need to break in the new one the same way I guess. It just doesn't have the same homey lovey feeling.

I love hitting the thrift stores when I have the time and not all the kiddos. Yesterday we headed out to check out some stores for costume pieces. Goodwill is NOT on my high list of fav's by any means! We met Chaiya there though.
They had a sign on the door "blue tags 50% off" Okay cool, let us find some blue tagged items. I meandered down the little girl dress aisle. The sign there says "All dresses $4.99 unless marked otherwise" An adorable fruit print dress popped a little sleeve out of the rack and said HEY Check Me Out. It had a blue tag. On the blue tag was printed .99 cents but there was a line through it.
Of course the lady charged $2.49 for the dress. What the.... So I asked and she said the.99 cents was marked out so it was now $4.99 but I was getting the marvelous deal of 50% off. She totally didn't get it. LOL
I think I will stick to my 'never go back to Goodwill' policy.

Weekend crafts

While watching conference this weekend I did a little crafting. Here's my little pumpkin that we are going to put on our nature table. I also have been working on some birthday gifts for my two nephews' party but I can't put pictures up of those until the end of the month. hehehe.

Fab pumpkin drink!

After hearing from several people how fabulous Starbuck's pumpkin latte was...and since we don't drink coffee, we needed to experiment.
While my sister Ginny will always remain the pumpkin queen, we have mixed up a new concoction that might rival our other Autumn drink favorites. Pumpkin Spice Leche!
I found pumpkin flavored instant pudding at the store the other night. Here's our quick and easy recipe:
1 Cup hot milk
1 Tbsp of Pumpkin Spice pudding mix
Mix well until frothy. Add whipped cream sprinkled with cinnamon or nutmeg on top
Enjoy.
Chaiya says it's like drinking pumpkin pie through a straw.

I am working on an instant mix to make it up in bulk like we do with our hot cocoa mix.

Flashback

Never underestimate the power of a handmade gift!

This little gem was lovingly made by my mom. Who if I remember correctly, apologised that he didn't have a mane yet. He never got one and I never cared. I LOVED this pajama pillow so much that YES! I still have it. He once looked a whole lot better. Wasn't as well loved and had black fabric on his nose and eyes. For years and years every morning I unzipped the back, popped in my pajamas and he sat proudly on my bed protecting those pjs until the evening. Even after I was in the USAF and had my dorm room he was in use. Now he resides in a box at the top of my closet but I will never get rid of him.

As I am selecting gifts to craft for my children for Christmas this year, I am reminded how it doesn't take a major amount of money to create something that can be cherished. Just a little love.

Thanks mom!

Update on ashes

My dear friend Vicky told us she heard that they can now make real diamonds in the lab from your loved ones ashes. I asked Chaiya today if she would wear me as a diamond ring or in a pendant on a necklace. She (being a very wise girl) said she would make me into a tiara!!!!