Halloween...the pagan holiday?

One of my favorite memories of a kid is going out trick or treating. I remember going to the school party and my dad dressing up as a punk with pink hair. That was so awesome! My favorite picture was when I was a gypsy- I had an awesome skirt and got a mascara beauty mark. We were churched, but my parents were not very skeptical of the halloween ordeal, and it was just a fun night that we enjoyed for many moons. Would it be fair to deprive my children of the fun?

Granted, it would be easier to just not do the holiday...anyone with a bunch of kids can relate in that it winds up being a lot of work!! Our first halloween with the kids I went all out. I sewed mickey shorts for David, he had a great outfit- getting the coat hanger through my little skinny black tail was tricky and it didn't even stay up!!

I bought a cheap sweat suit and dyed it yellow, then taped odd rectangulars and brush painted brown for Adam's giraffe costume. I sewed a yellow towel for a hat with yellow and browns fleece strips on it for the mane. He won the costume party off that one. And another year with his last minute pirate costume too.

This year? Not really feeling it... haven't really taken out our stuff. The boys have met the cut-off, so that is a relief to not have any expectations on their part. The girls have a few years of overpriced dance costumes that can be used for fairy or princess costumes, I am leaning twards that.

Noah doesn't remember, and I am sure he will be thrilled to find a couple choices in our costume bin. There is an excellent puppy costume that Grandma Cindy bought for us a few years ago. Libby loved that thing so much I remember her riding bike one summer in it- quite the scene as it is a really cozy coverall.

I do not think we will do the trick-or-treating this year, as there is a park event in Annandale, $10 a car (what a bargain in our 12 passenger!) They have some spooky events and I am sure that will be just fine for the kids. We do not dress up more than once...that is just too much work!

So, our rules are nothing gory or evil. There is such a magical fun with imagination that I do want my kids to celebrate with getting a special night to deck out in some fun attire and have fun being a kid. Does that take away from our faith? No, and we just pray that everyone have a safe halloween and enjoy the fun in dressing up or seeing others dressed up. And I am the punk now, but I might be the farmer for my dog, B-I-N-G-O...hmm where are some bibs?

Have a safe and happy weekend friends!

My Seasons Poem...

Just as the leaves change color and fall.
The children always grow and do not stay small.

Winter ready in Minnesota.
Any day my baby will start saying "ma."

The chill in the air tells summer bye.
Each season seems to pass and life seems to fly.

Who needs new boots, hat, mittens, or coat?
Will Christmas presents be hidden in the boat?

Just as I think another winter,
no fair! I remember the delightful air.

Take in your chest and breath out in steam.
Icicles on tree branches a dainty dream.

Just as one moment seems lasting long,
the neighborhood birds have retired their song.

Here in our state we get the best deal,
four seasons to experience, love, and feel.

Some days I wish of the equator,
but gotta find our winter stuff...see ya later!

functional family

To show my dedication to my husband,
we went fishing for a date.
What?
No Granite City and Kohls?
I know, I know, sacrifices we make.
Someone told me that the fish
don't have feelings in their mouths...is that true?
It was nice to be out on the lake, Sugar, with my
Sugar.
Time alone is priceless and we
pay the price in
dysfunction
if we do not take time to
nurture our relationship as the
husband and wife
mom and dad
mamma and the pappa.
But since then we have returned to Granite City and Kohls:)

Dixie came to visit!! She was my baby, even though she was Luke's BD present four years ago. We had two litters with her and that was aWeSoMe!!! She is just a love, I call her snufalufagus because she gets all excited and sniffles. Some good friends adopted her because we were going to get another female to breed; however, I have yet to find my perfect female and do not mind only having one dog. So, my Dixie comes to visit and I love it!! Thanks for sharing her Chelie!!

A dad and his daughter.

A child of love.

Beautiful Blondes!

Celebrations and cute babies

Zachariah and Naomi having some grass time, enjoy it while you can kiddos! Noah loves his cousin Zachariah and has always remembered his name, even when he hasn't seen him in a long while. He is quick to greet him and love on him. Then again, who wouldn't- he is adorable!
Four generations pic. Great Grandma Gladys, holding Naomi Gladys, with Grandma Linda, me.

Cute babies!

We celebrated with Luke's family with Isaac, whose birthday is inbetween David and Noah. That was a great time and all the cousins had fun playing. It was nice to not host too, didn't mind catering it then either. We love having company but sometimes we love events at other peoples houses, and that doesn't happen too often. I can't imagine why...oh wait... most people in their right mind do not want a family of eight kids running around their property! And sometimes we are the ones most concerned about that too, but blood is thicker than water are fair terms.

Cute babies!!

Happy Birthday Lil' Man Noah!!

anyone: how old are you Noah
Noah: September 28 (melting grin)

So, atleast Noah learned his birthday, and we are working on the fact that he is 3. September 28th is not an option. Hard to believe that it has been over three years since we had that silver haired boy.

When he was born he had a good inch or so of silver blonde hair, he was the talk of the nursery; it is very seldom that the full head of hair babies are blonde. They kept saying it was like he had highlights.

What a fun few years it has been. We just love watching him grow and learn. For a few things about Noah...

Let's just say he has inherited the obsessive qualities of his daddy. He is obsessed with sports. He loves sports. Yesterday I gave him a quarter at a garage sale. So I found this little halloween toy for him, what did he find? A nike tee from the 80s (the lime green and blue?) with a basketball. It would not have been pretty for him to not get that. He gladly turned down the toys for that tee. The best thing was their clothes were half off and the kids clothes were a quarter, so he got the matching shorts too. HaHa score for mom!

He loves his sister Naomi. He will just randomly come and give her kisses. First thing in the morning he wants to know where she is. He takes any chance he can to be by her, he is an excellent big brother and it is awesome to see their relationship develop.

Right now, his money terms have been "three hundred dollars." He will find something in an ad (which thank you millsfleet for endless hours of him paging through the toy catalog) and say , "mom, mom, can you get this for me it is three hundred dollars." So working on trying to teach him that it is not three hundred dollars. He has lots of things figured out and it is amazing to see how brilliant he is.

We are just certain that God has an exciting plan for him and just hope to fill in the blanks as best we can. He is strong willed, independent, curious, and charming. We love you Noah, have a great fourth year in life! Thank you God for my children!
disclaimer: the above picture indicates that my cake decorating skills are less than par, don't worry, cakes are for fun and the kids really don't realize that the 3 looks horrible. i forgot to save frosting and use the bag trick. on the bright side, i saved about 10$ and it tasted great!

David is a Teenager!!

Happy Birthday
David!!

September 24 David turned 13.
Friday the 13th, but it was
all good:)

We celebrated with some neighbor friends and
they all went to
dodgeball at
church
with
230
other kids.

What fun!!

It was six years in August since I have been David's mom and I am so blessed. He has taught us many things and we love him very much and are so glad he is our son! For each year is a favorite thing about David...
1- he is always eager to scratch my back and likes it most when he is compensated (but he is really reasonable, like barely a dollar an hour! child labor laws do not apply folks
2- he is eager to learn and is a charmer with the teachers at school, has made incredible progress since given the chance to succeed and always tries his hardest
3- he is considerate of others feelings and will not second guess to help, once when rollerscating, every time that a kid wiped out, David would slow down and lean over and say, "are you alright?"
4- he has a big smile and a sweet laugh
5- he is "delightfully inquisitive" as a former teacher once put it
6- he always says, "hi Naomi, I love you"
7- he is excited to get a job done and to be helpful
8- he is a saver, saved his money for a dsi hand-held game
9- he loves to help with the preschoolers at church and does a great job with them
10-he loves music and writes his own lyrics to songs
11-he likes being outside and playing with Noah
12-he loves football and Donovan McNab, because of a video he watched years ago
13-he has a simple innocence to his nature that is very admirable...at times

We love David so much and are excited to see how the good Lord has been working in his life. We trust God that he will use David in incredible ways and are thankful to know how he has blessed us. David is a great kid and we wish him an awesome first year as a teenager!!

Humble Lessons from Vehicles

I realized immediately after getting our 12 passenger van that I did not need a vehicle to make me feel cool. I realized after the girls smashed up my nice car I got after college (um yeah, they rolled down the hill, backwards, and hit the neighbors house...no injuries, just reality check for the oldest child:> that kids cannot play in cars) a vehicle doesn't define my value. I realized that it was funny to be so excited to get an 8 passenger station wagon...who would have thought?!

There have been two incidents in the last week that have been humbling. Last week, my battery died and although I got a jump and went to the Y and walmart, I spent too much time in walmart. It was raining and they were out of my battery. My mini me and sidekick had lunch at subway and then it was raining even more. I say to another mom of an infant and toddler, "wanna go get your car and i will wait with your kids and then you can wait with mine? wouldn't that be nice, they should offer a service for that!"

Surprisingly, she took me up on it and we agreed that malls and stores should offer a car or cart sitter for little ones (especially car napping kids when you only need an item or two- wouldn't that be awesome!) So I went first and low and behold it was dead. So we made new friends real quick and then found a guy that had jumper cables. It was a grand experience. Funny thing was I didn't save any money for going into the big city to have it done anyhow.

Then the other exciting vehicle experience for the week was on our way home from dance, the girls and I had the privilege of getting a flat tire. It was dark and in the same location as the fatal accident just two nights prior, so I was freaked out! But grandpa Deno rescued us in no time and we are grateful that he has his sneaker!! I was glad that he "got me" as his repo plates say "got u." There was also a friendly officer, who after being on the scene two nights earlier was dear to protect us on the shoulder with his lights on.

So, if we had a vehicle payment and new rides...would we be having the opportunity to deal with such moments of unpredicted serious events that force us to rely on the fellow friends? Maybe.