while I'm thinking of it...

+I cannot stop eating the halloween candy in my house. I know I could get it out of my house to help with the temptation, but I can't do that either. Because I love candy.

+Ivar got the flu the night of halloween. At first we thought it was just too much candy, but eleven hours later he was done with the terrible part of the flu and still sad and sorry for himself. I was sad and sorry too because we had to cancel his party with 26 Groves and Harringtons coming to celebrate.

+Rory and I watched the six episodes of PBS's 2001 show Frontier House this weekend. It was great television and was so inspirational that Rory went out and bought our first ax.

+I have spent the week cleaning out the shed and have now moved on to the garage. The cold is coming and it feels good to get everything ready for winter.

+I went shopping on Monday night with my friends Melanie and Amanda and it was awesome. My criteria for this shopping trip was: warm and cozy. I got a lot of sweatshirts, sweaters and scarves. It is perfect mom attire.

+Rory and I have started holding a weekly family meeting, without the kids. This is worthy of its own blog post, as it has changed the running of our home entirely.

+And finally, a kid quote. I said, "Elsie, do you  have a poopie?" She said, "I have a diaperrhea!" (she didn't, but I thought the new word was funny.)

another happy halloween

We had a great Halloween. Ivar and Elsie completely understood the process and were great with their thank you's. We went to a college to trick or treat in the dorms and it was awesome...lots of doors to knock on, lots of candy and it was all inside.

Then we went down our street. I had emailed our neighbors, letting them know we'd be coming and they were ready! One commented that it had been ten years since they had a trick-or-treater come by. This is the part of halloween that I love the most: reconnecting with neighbors one last time before we all hibernate for the winter. One neighbor gave us a house tour, and two neighbors dressed up for our kids. Can you guess what Patsy was in the picture below?

A Lutheran Church Basement Lady! Hilarious. Complete with weak coffee, green jello and a church cookbook. Pretty awesome. :)

a happy shark

Grandma Margaret saved the day and we will now have a happy shark on halloween. My mom came over and helped me behead the costume, which ended up really doing a number on the body part of the shark so that she had to take it home and sew it back together for me. And at the last minute we added shoulder straps to keep the whole suit up. The legs are still inches too short, but he doesn't seem to mind. Mostly he just wanted to show Scooby-doo-whop, our little goldfish, that he was a fish too. A fish called a shark.

pictures of october

It's been a stunning fall. The trees, the weather, the pace of life. It's all been pretty awesome. Ivar is outside with his dump trucks and diggers moving dirt around like it's his job. Elsie likes to talk about all the big, round, orange 'kumpins' we have by our house. The cat family is either more snuggly, or my kids are more aggressive at snuggling but either way there is a lot of love between the cat family and the Groves family these days. Monday we were barefoot, walking the sandy beach of the river nearby. Yesterday we were bundled in winter gear moving from vehicle to building as quickly as possible. I believe the next season may be upon us...

the princess and the shark

A few weeks ago I was at a park with my friend Ali and we took turns going to the garage sale across the street. It was there, hanging in the tree, that I spotted these two costumes, each for a deal. I took them down off the branches and decided my halloween costume shopping was done. The kids would be a shark and a princess. They were thrilled and the anticipation has been building all month.

But today I had them try these costumes on. And even thought the shark costume says 3T and even though I thought Ivar might be able to squeeze his 4T (and sometimes 5T) self into this suit, it still was too small. And even though the princess dress looked tiny, at second glance it is actually a fairy costume, size 8. Since Elsie is a size 3T, this is problematic. It is supposed to be a short dress on a taller girl. Apparently I couldn't tell this when I saw it hanging in the tree.

Today we had a trial run of our costumes and it went down something like this. Ivar hates things that are tight. Or five inches too short, tight in the crotch and tugging his neck down to accommodate his body.

 
Elsie loves her dress, though it is hilarious. She is proud and walks like the beautiful girl she is. I figure I may have five solid years with this little costume. We might as well break it in now.

But Ivar is another story. I am not sure what we are going to do between now and Friday. He is set on being a shark. I'm wondering if I may have to decapitate the hood to make the tension between the legs and the neck a little less for this very angry shark. Whatever we end up doing on Friday, I am so glad I had my camera today.