october is my mistress this week.

the leaves were rolling through the streets today when we drove to target.
the wind was colder.
and i felt like i would have enjoyed my coat.
or at least a sweater.
especially in the shade.
max put her hood up and buried her face into my neck until we got into the store.
thirty seconds of heaven:)
i bought tomato soup at costco b/c my soul is screaming grilled cheese.
this is the week of the year where october becomes everyone's mistress.
lusting for its air.
colors.
and smells.
i can't stop thinking about candied apples dipped in white chocolate and rolled in chopped oreos.
jack-o-lanterns glowing,
and the smell of candles burning inside of them.
so before i give into my christmas music yearnings,
it's one more week of lusting with fall.

by "we" i mean sean:)

We sean cut the last of the pumpkins and pulled the vines.
We sean pulled all of the weeds in our 500 flower and vegetable garden beds.
We sean pulled out all of the tomato plants.
We mowed the lawn.
the frost is coming.
and i'm tomatoed and green beaned out.
hopefully that will be the last of the yard work for the season.
b.c i was done weeding two months ago.
our yard looks naked.
in a really nice way.
god bless sean.
and the fall.
with all of its burnt oranges, yellows, and reds in the trees.
...
in other news,
max is obsessed with showing us her stash of tinker bell and tangled underwear.
seventeen times a day.
one by one.
it's darling.
she is still keeping them in her trick or treat plastic pumpkin we bought yesterday.
and brennan informed me he would brush my hair until it was long like Rapunzel.
b.c "it would be so pretty!" {or super weird}.
his words.
not mine.
except the super weird part.
those were my words.
that i kept to myself;)

the scream costume scared max.

wake up.
feed everyone.
eat banana.
shower BEFORE i get max out of her crib even though she is awake.
get dressed.
halfway.
feed max.
feed myself.
get dressed the rest of the way.
dress brennan.
change max's diaper.
chase max around trying to get her dressed.
lately she'd rather just be naked.
and has learned how to take her clothes off if you don't get things fastened and buttoned quickly enough.
brush teeth.
brush kids' teeth.
change my shirt b/c i've decided i don't like the one i put on first.
tell everyone to get in the car.
5 times.
remember everyone needs shoes.
find shoes in the shoe basket.
a dreaded task each day.
find everyone's shoes, except one of brennan's flip flops.
dump out basket to find it.
no flip flop anywhere.
put all shoes back in basket.
find missing flip flop was behind the basket on the floor the entire time.
find brennan in his car seat.
max crawling around the back seat.
coax her to the front.
she screamed the entire time.
arched her back while i put her in her car seat.
gave her binky and blankie.
and brennan his movie head phones.
peace restored.
go back for wallet and car keys.
get in car.
then go back for phone.
get in car.
consider going back for snacks.
decide we will just buy snacks.
it is now 11am.
or something.
drive to walmart.
buy spiderman rain boots for brennan.
spiderman underwear for brennan.
tinkerbell and tangled underwear for max.
b/c she saw them and was screaming in a really cute excited way.
and explained the underwear/big girl potty rule.
1 green and 1 blue trick or treat bucket for $1 a piece.
some tights i've been needing to get max.
the cold is coming.
and her little legs will need them for church.
and furnace filters.
b/c we never buy them when we should.
we now have 4.
that will last us 2 years,
even though they say it should only last 1 month.
i will try to be better.
go to halloween city.
find a "respectable" halloween costume for sean.
as he declared last year's fire hydrant was just as low as he was going to go.
i explained he'd better wear this one every year for the rest of his life b/c i hate spending money on halloween costumes.
bought myself a halloween costume b/c i realized i don't have the energy to make anything for myself either, and it would match max and sean.
and i could wear it every year.
if i wanted.
brennan doesn't fit in our theme this year.
but man he is excited.
max got scared at the checkout register when a kid came up to us in his scream costume and pushed the scream button.
she cried really loud and shook.
it was sad.
and she wouldn't let me put her down until we got to the car.
poor thing.
then we met bree and her people for sweet potato fries.
b/c i couldn't stop thinking about them.
the fries.
salt city burger sweet potato fries.
there are none better.
we all declared we ate too much.
and now we are home.
with everyone's underwear sorted into their green and blue halloween pumpkin buckets.
T.G.I.F.:)
a really really good friday.

practice.

fall training camp at the gibson's.
getting ready for winter.
HOO-RAH!

aloha {goodbye}

my mom leaves tomorrow.

back home to hawaii.

we are all sad.

wah!!!

lucky little shorties {2 cups of pumpkin part deux}

i made them yesterday.

have you made them yet???

you should.

all you need is 2 cups of pumpkin.

AND

a few other spices you may or may not have in your pantry.

brennan took a bag for his preschool class snack today.

lucky little shorties.

click here for my recipe.

happy pumpkin-ing:)

pudgy cabbage patch hands

we may have a problem this winter on our hands...

have mercy.

...

tonight when i was singing to brennan before bed,
i all of a sudden got scared.
panic in my heart kind of scared.
i quickly grabbed his hand and my eyes raced to his knuckles.
his little cabbage patch dimples are still there.
PHEW!!!
i will cry the day they are gone.
and i vowed to myself right there by the side of his little toddler bed that i will look at them every night until they finally disappear.
i love those little pudgy cabbage patch hands of his.
"i'll love you forever...
my baby you'll be."

the aspens have been peaking {silver lake}

brennan made friends with all of the fishermen.
max ate snow with dirt on it.
a lot.
brennan gathered pine cones and rocks.
and said he heard the squirrels in the trees.
and that he was a mountain climber.
who was strong.
we shared grapes with a family from india.
and i wished i wouldn't have put us all in flip flops.
it wasn't cold.
it was perfect.
i even got a sunburn on my face.
it was just muddy and icy in the shady spots from the snow.
which makes for a lot of slipping and children with wet bums.
thankfully no adults with wet bums.
i love silver lake in the fall:)

max

meets

"silver"

lake

:)

breathtaking every time.

 another month and the snow will be sticking to our front lawn.

hard to believe when it's 70 and sunny.

fall nights out back

i don't think there's anything better than watching my kids play together.

it makes all of the exhaustion worth it.

at least until they start fighting.

then it's not fun.

and i'm tired again.

but these are the moments i treasure.

the ones that make me smile.

happy.

and content.

with the leaves changing colors.

and the crisp air coming through the windows.

bliss.

i'm going to miss these nights when the snow comes.

wait a minute,

someone's crying.

figures;)

little witches

this picture above is SO my kids.
brennan being crazy boy.
and mild, mellow max.
brennan's toy broke before we even got home.
he then spent ten minutes trying to get max to give him the glow necklace she picked out.
we finally talked her into letting him have a turn with it.
until she took a nap.
and then he started to pull at the jelly stuff on it.
so at the risk of him breaking her necklace i wrestled it away from him.
he cried.
i probably blinked for a really long time and didn't smile.
that's what i usually do when someone doesn't want to do something i want to do.
and then i put it on the top shelf of the bookcase at the bottom of the stairs.
and promised him we would take his back and demand a refund.
at which point we would buy him a glow jelly necklace too.
now i need a nap.

i was there.

i promise:)

see?

and i found my new favorite halloween book.
the illustrations are magic to the eyes.
go buy it.
seriously.
i was excited when brennan asked me to read it again.
just so i could spend more time getting a better look at all of the pictures.
this says something b/c normally i'm good with the one time through.
i can't wait to read it again.
and again.
and again.
happy haunting:)