Meet Goofy Gus

He was grown in my Mom's garden.



He's ginormous.



My kids gutted him and Dave carved him and they popped the pieces out.



Clara did a lot of this...



We call him Goofy Gus.



Happy Halloween!

Halloween treats!

Gabe and I had some fun today. We've gotten goodies from the "Family Night Phantom" every monday this month and I wanted to do something fun when we went out to ding dong ditch people. So I thought to myself...who better than the queen of goodies? And I went to Bakerella's blog to find out how to make Cake Pops!

It was so fun that I think I'm going to do another batch for teachers and such on Thursday or Friday.



Scary ghosties. (I love the little guy in the upper left that's looking the wrong way). My edible pens that I bought did NOT work. Luckily I had some black gel frosting hanging around. It only worked for the ghosts though. The poor pumpkins had to be faceless.



I had Gabe dip apple bites into the leftover melted candy. (this whole project took several trips to several stores. I'm severely lacking in kitchen stuff...mostly because I rarely do things like this)



Happy kiddos!





Finished product. Got the little glass "bags" at the dollar tree.

These boots are made for walking!

Miss Clara got new boots and she loves them. It's just the cutest thing!



They totally helped her language skillz too. She was calling them "shwshwsh" (that's how she said shoes) for a while and then she went to "oosh" and now says "BOOTS" very clearly. lol.


I just adore that girl. Oh, she's in nursery now and a total star. No tears and she totally holds her own against the rougher kids.

no color. no fun.

We're having super schizo weather this fall and it's no fun for a photographer.

In case you were wondering.

It's bouncing between freezing and quite warm and it's freaking the trees out apparently. I have a weeping cherry outside the window by my favorite reading chair. In the spring it's pretty with pink flowers and in the fall it's pretty with yellow leaves. Except not this fall. This fall the green leaves are just shriveling up into icky brown and blackness and dying WITHOUT CHANGING COLOR.

I keep doing all these shoots and all the pretty fall colors are not there.

And I don't like it. Not one bit.

The naughty word discussion

*disclaimer* There will be mild swearing in this post.

The other day Aria was rhyming in a sing song voice. "mitchin, litchin, ditchin, bitchin, mitchen, litchin, ditchin, bitchin." So, I mentioned to her that bitch is not a nice word and people use it to be mean to other people and she probably shouldn't say it.

Fast forward to today. Nathan said "Mom, what does faggot mean?" Dave said it means a bundle of sticks and I said that sometimes people take normal words and twist the meaning so it becomes a bad word and that faggot is a mean name to call people.

I told him it was just like when Aria said bitch and that it actually means a female dog, but that people use it in a mean way now. Which then ensued this discussion between Nathan and Aria and I dissolved into laughter.

Aria: But I didn't say bitch, I said ditch!
Nathan: Nuh-uh, it sounded like you said bitch.
Aria: No Nathan, I didn't say bitch!

I could see this going on indefinitely, with bitch being said in every sentence out of my sweet kids mouths, so I stopped them at this point. Then I laughed.

Hehwo, hehwo!

Clara goes to primary with me every week because she's not old enough for nursery. She wonders around during sharing/singing time then comes to class with me. Apparently she picked up on the "Hello song" that we sing to visitors. One day she came home and put shoes on her hands and had them "singing" to each other. "hehwo, hehwo! Hehwo, hehwo!" She'll wonder around the house singing it randomly.

So I've been trying to catch it on video but she's a little stinker and when I point my phone at her she says "NO!"

But with Gabe's help I got a little in this one. Along with a couple "no's"

More soccer

My saturdays consist of soccer games these days so that's what you get. I took my camera this last saturday because it was picture day and I refuse to buy team pictures. I just stand behind the photographer and take my own.

So I figured I should try and get good game shots while I was at it. Aria's game was first and it was COLD. 41 degrees and windy.

Gabe dealt with it like this.



Clara was cold but wouldn't keep a blanket on, so I tied my coat around her stroller which really ticked her off. I let her scream because I'd rather she be warm and mad at me than cold and happily independent.



It was a good game to bring my camera because Aria made an awesome goal and I got it!

Dribbling down the field


About to kick.


She shoots!


She scores!


And she scans the sidelines to make sure I saw. lol


It was a teensy bit warmer, but windier by the time the boys games started.


I love that his tongue is always hanging out. Luckily he hasn't bitten through it too often...




I shot a bunch of pictures of Nathan's game and when I got home to look at them I just started laughing. Note the eyes that are squeezed shut and the cringing away from the ball.




I love when he looks intense, because that's not a common expression for him. He's normally laid back and content like me. lol


He got to play goalie which he loved. I remember that was my favorite soccer position too. He worked it!