Pumpkin decorating...

I was looking on-line for pumpkin carving template, as I did last year, but thought it would be much easier to draw on them. So I did one, pulled out a wig and Richard loved it. He proceeded to make a pirate, a devil, a spider infested pumpkin, a double decker man. The kids had a lot of fun and Hannah even ate a marker, luckily they are erasable. :) Then we finalized the setting with a bat and a frog. It was fun, less messy and easier than carving the pumpkins, and a whole lot quicker.

CRAZY 8's

8 Fav TV shows

1. Fringe 2. Grey's Anatomy 3. Survivor 4. America's Next Top Model 5. Raising the Bar 6. Private Practice 7. The Big Bang Theory 8. The Ex List

8 Fav Restaurants

1. Applebee's 2. Maple Garden 3. Chili's 4. Melina's 5. Cafe Rio 6. The Garden 7. Spencer's 8. Olive Garden

8 Things I did Yesterday

1. Went for a walk 2. Did laundry 3. Dishes 4. Went to work 5. Fixed my vacuum 6. Played catch with the kids 7. Went to bed by 11 (that's a miracle as of late!) 8. Took a nice long, hot bath

8 Things I Love About Fall

1. Halloween 2. Smell of the leaves 3. Colors of autumn 4. Relief from blistering heat 5. Harvesting 6. Hot chocolate!!! 7. Fall line-up (tv) 8. It is one step closer to my b-day and Christmas :)

8 Things on My Wish List

1. Get totally out of debt! 2. Newer, larger home 3. Nice vacations 4. (like Lisa) a Cleaning lady 5. No more allergies! 6. Continue to lose weight and get in shape 7. New computer 8. Not to have to work (spend more time with my kids)

8 People I tag

Whoever wants to participate :)

Hill Aerospace Museum...

It was UEA this week so Richard didn't have pre-school today. We have been learning his ABCs and the last two days I have focused on Aa with him. I surprised him by going to look at "a"irplanes today. He thought they were pretty cool but kept wanting to fly them.

There is an education center that lets the kids dress like pilots, play with flight simulators, and do other fun science experiments. Both the kids LOVED it! They both fussed when we had to leave, they were closing for lunch time.

And I'm totally bummed that I couldn't get better photos: the lights in the education center were terrible and no matter what setting I used I couldn't get clear, crisp photos I'm used to. So I'm sorry for the quality, but the kids are so freakin' cute in their pilot gear!

Underoos!!!

I had Wonder Woman Underoos as a kid and I haven't seen them since. Chris has no idea what they were but I found these on clearance the other day and had to get them for Richard. He thinks Transformers are the coolest anyway, so I had to get them. I think he looks darling, but I had a hard time trying to get him to understand that even the shirt goes under his clothes, but I think he has figured it out. :)

Spittin' girl...

Hannah has been doing everything Chris, Richard and I do. Well, she got on Richard's stool to brush her teeth and now she spits like him. I think it is hilarious!

Hiccup remedy...

Richard has a movie that Donald Duck has hiccups and his friends try to help him get rid of the hiccups. The first thing Goofy says is to wear pineapple underpants. That doesn't work so they try a bunch of different things. Well, finally, Mickey looks up pineapple in the hiccup dictionary and it says you are supposed to eat a pineapple. Donald eats the pineapple and his hiccups are gone.
A few days ago I had the hiccups. Richard turned to me and matter-of-factly said, "Mom, you need to eat a pineapple." I laughed so hard. Oh! It was the funniest thing! I love my witty, sensible, young boy!

The first snow of the season...

This morning I told Richard to look out the window. He immediately ran into his room yelling, "Mom where are my snow boots?!" I helped him get dressed and off he went.

And look how happy he is!

I'm in heaven!
I'm not quite sure what they are both looking at here, maybe their own footprints.
Hannah loved the snow from inside, but was unsure about it up close. I'm sure she doesn't remember the snow from earlier in the year so this is a fun new discovery for her.
Richard is trying to get Hannah acclimated to the snow. What a good brother!

Richard loves to do his snow angels.
It took her a few minutes, but Hannah started playing in the snow too.
Uh oh! Got snow in the mitten.

The kids loved the snow. The first fall is always the best! I'm sure they will want to go out again, but Richard's snow clothes are too small, we can't find his snow gloves, and Hannah's are too small...she wore Richard's rain boots. So I guess we'll be doing some shopping this fall.

Pre-Halloween...

Richard has been driving me crazy about wearing his Halloween costume. Well, he has worn it so much and pretends to be Spiderman every time that the seams are coming apart. I have hidden it until Halloween. But he still wants to dress-up so I pulled out our bin of old costumes. He had a lot of fun trying them on. Hannah even got to wear a tutu. (She was asleep most of the time Richard was doing this.)

Darth Vader...his second costume from 2 years ago.

This is the happiest and cutest devil I've ever seen!
Don't let Chris see this one! My little ballerina
Richard was one of the Incredibles 2 years ago, then he put his pirate pants from 3 years ago over the other costume. I can't believe we were able to squeeze them on!

Aaaargh!
Richard is deathly afraid of this mask but asked me to put it on. He took the picture, too.
Masquerade anyone? Nice shades!
Vampire dead...
Vampire undead!

It was so much fun watching him play and discover these different characters. He had me laughing pretty good.

Laundry day...

The kids decided to play in my pile of laundry I'm working on folding and putting away. They found my funny winter hat and modeled it for me. Then Richard decided to lie on top of my laundry pile.

New bike for Richard...

Richard has had a hard time learning on his old bike so Chris took him to Wally world last night to buy this great new bike. It is so much easier for him to pedal. But wouldn't you know it, it is raining today. Luckily we have a covered patio!

Best cookies ever...

My Grandma Bunker used to always have banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies around the house and we all loved them. Now that she is gone, they remind me of her. Well, we had some bananas going bad and I decided to make them. Richard helped out and Hannah watched on while we did. They had fun and enjoy the cookies, but not near as much as I do.

When we make cookies Richard likes to watch them bake. So I turn the oven light on and he grabs his stool.
Hannah just hung out watching us. She is getting so funny!
If you would like to try these tasty treats here is the recipe:

2-3 over ripe bananas

3/4 cup butter/margarine

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups flour

2 cups oats

1-2 cups chocolate chips

Mix together well, bake in 4oo degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

They are best enjoyed with milk! (And I heard recently that milk helps the body absorb the nutrients in oatmeal so it becomes a semi-healthy snack.)

They are also amazing frozen, just give it a try! :)

Another funny story...

The kids and I went to the gym today. Richard hasn't been in a while since I normally go when he is in school. Well, I park as far from the building as I can, for a little more exercise and to protect my new car (I park in 2 spots). Anyway, we were walking on the crosswalk toward the building and Richard was jumping over the white lines and the tar-filled cracks. Three-fourths of the way to the gym Richard said,

"Whew, my knees need a nap from all this jumping."

I don't know where he comes up with all this stuff, but he is so funny!

The funniest story ever...

On the way to Richard's school today, we saw that a neighbor had cut a tree down. Richard asked why they did that. I told them that maybe the tree died and they were getting rid of it. He innocently asked how trees die. I explained that sometimes they get bugs in them that kill them, and explained like our corn plants died from too many bugs. I said that they also sometimes get diseases. That my Dad died of cancer, a type of DISEASE.


Richard matter of factly said, "When I dance I get DIZZY. But I don't get sick, just dizzy." It was all I could do to not laugh so hard. That is the cutest, funniest thing I have ever heard!!! Now I'll have to explain that I was talking about DISEASE, not being DIZZY. What a fun, entertaining boy. He always keeps us on our toes!