Give Them Candy. Or Else.

halloween baby

Hope you all have a goulishly fun Halloween this weekend!

Can you believe I wasted money buying my kids costumes when I could have just posted these pictures (edited with picnik btw) and said “voila! they were little monsters!” and you wouldn’t have even known the difference…

I think I see a future in horror movies for these two. Is there anything creepier than an angry kid with weird shiny eyes and slightly off skin tone? I think not.

halloween boy

Aloha Friday: best of the year

I was looking at my 365 project the other day and noticed that we are now more than 300 days into 2010! Time has really flown by for us this year, with our little kiddos getting steadily bigger and life happening a mile a minute!

So my Aloha Friday question this week is:

What’s the best thing that’s happened so far this year? What are you most looking forward to in the next 64 days or so?

aloha friday @ an island life

Take it easy today with Kailani @ An Island Life.

First time participating? It’s easy!

Write a post with a simple question, then link up here.

Click on the links for other participating bloggers.

Say, “Aloha!” ; answer their question ; make bloggy friends!

just journaling : october 28th

I have been trying on different blog styles lately but inevitably come back to this one. I am getting rather picky about certain aspects of my blog’s style and this one seems to meet the most of my strict demands. But you know how fickle I am when it comes to these things and part of me really wants something new because I’m ridiculous and get bored easily. This is the most boring thing you’ve ever read, I know…

That Old Cape Magic by Richard RussoMy book club last night discussed That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo and I was thrilled to find that pretty much everybody hated or disliked the book as much as I did. Most of them were good little book club members and finished the book (unlike me and my 60 pages in or so) and we actually found ourselves with quite a bit to talk about. I think the books that nobody likes tend to equal a lot of discussion as sometimes there are only so many ways to say, “Yes, I liked it, too.”

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry We’re reading The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry next which looks so very good but I’m trying to wait a bit before starting it since we won’t be meeting to discuss it until December 1st. This was my second time participating in the book club and I like it a lot – I even find I’m making a few new friends which is always nice. Little by little Wisconsin is beginning to feel like home as I meet new people and settle in.

It should feel an awful lot more like home come April when we are going to close on the house finally (knock on wood). We’ve jumped over hurdle after hurdle and were having no luck whatsoever finding a subletter and I was just so tired of the whole thing and then winter was approaching when my Realtor suggested the idea of pushing the closing date until spring, forgetting about the subletter entirely. Shockingly the seller actually said okay! So unless their financial situation should change drastically, it looks like that is what we are going to do.

It’s been a long week of errands and driving and yucky cold windy weather and whiny children who don’t like napping and soooo slowly getting over this quasi-cold like thing. I’m looking forward to the weekend and finally celebrating Halloween. I’m looking forward to trick or treating with friends and taking pictures of the kids in their costumes which we are so proud of – I don’t know if I’ve officially mentioned it here but the kids are going to be Mickey and Minnie Mouse – so cute! We picked up bits and pieces from thrift stores and made a semi-home made costume for the kids. I don’t know if we ended up saving money this way but most of the pieces can be used in their regular wardrobe afterwards so at least we bought mostly functional items.

I promise to come up with something more interesting to write about soon. I haven’t been feeling very interesting lately, truth be told, just sort of doing the day to day, you know? But I thought I’d sit down and write something more journal-like for once just for shits and giggles. Looks like it’s time to go make lunch so I guess I’ll stop procrastinating and hit “publish” …

fifteen months and six days.

There seems to be a recent shortage in pictures of Baby Blueberry around here. I worried you might be going into withdrawals and thought I should hurry up and post some now to avoid any rioting. Sorry it’s not a new picture (truth be told, these are so last week), you may have seen them already in 365 land, but it will have to do for now.

hat thief

My children have developed a habit of stealing mommy’s hat.

Which might make me mad except they actually look really cute it in it.

Like probably cuter than me.

fast food

I love this picture because it shows so many examples of “big girl” behavior.

She’s walking and drinking at the same time guys! And not only that, but she’s walking really well.

Remember when she was just rolling over? Or like just learning to cruise furniture?

Now she’s climbing furniture and seems to have more grace and coordination than, well, me.

Not that that’s saying much.

Soccer practice vs. T-ball = a no brainer. Plus my camera is kinda wimpy but sometimes takes cool pictures.

MM the soccer star

Yesterday was MM’s first soccer practice. Things I like I about soccer:

  • It’s indoors which means we don’t have to worry as much about over or under dressing and BB and I don’t have to sit around shivering while the game lingers on.
  • There are semi-comfortable chairs to sit on on the side of the gym so we mommies can watch the game and chat.
  • One of MM’s very best besties is in his class – and which means we both have some familiar company on Monday afternoons – something for mommy to look forward to!
  • He has the same coach from t-ball for soccer. I actually like this, despite my gripes from t-ball. We are already familiar with the coach and he knows that MM has space cadet tendencies and has already pretty much mastered honing him in when need be.
  • MM seems to like soccer more in general. I think it’s a lot easier to figure out and doesn’t involve as much standing around and waiting. “Dribble” the ball this way, then that way. Repeat. Constant movement is definitely a good thing with MM and really lets him burn off energy.
  • The coach incorporates a lot of classic kid games into the practice like Red Light, Green Light and Simon Says. I think this helps keep the game fun and exciting and puts it on their level, while teaching the kids some basic soccer fundamentals.

kicking the ball

Things My Camera Is Not Good At:

  • Using the flash in less than stellar lighting. When I had the flash on auto (I get either auto flash or no flash with the Canon) my pictures were murky and grainy.
  • When I turned the flash off, I got a lot of unnecessary blurring which makes you think the kids are moving much faster than they really are.
  • My camera did much better with t-ball where we were outdoors.
  • Canon cameras puffy heart outdoor photography and stamp their feet and pout with indoor photography. I may have to lug the Nikon out to one of his games. Or not take pictures. Or take blurry pictures.

stopping the ball

But sometimes I was able to accidentally take some really cool blurry pictures that look artsy and intentional like this:

a soccer stampede

So there’s that.

I was actually feeling really cruddy and exhausted and wanting to be in bed for his first practice, so I’d say all things considered that yesterday was a smashing success. I’m looking forward to next week’s practice when we’re hopefully all in good health and possibly carrying a nice camera that doesn’t have such silly temperamental issues.

I like to tease my camera, but really I’m just spoiled by having access to a DSLR camera. I still love my Canon for it’s slim size and usually dependable picture quality. Apparently gym lighting is just not it’s forte. Now we know.

FIR ’10: Reading Question #5 : How much of the book do you read?

Fall Into Reading 2010 @ Callapidder DaysAs part of the Fall Into Reading Challenge, Katrina @ Callapidder Days has decided to post a weekly question related to the challenge.

She writes, “I thought it would be a great way to keep Fall Into Reading participants connected throughout the course of the challenge.”

Here’s the question for this week:

When you read a book, do you read EVERYTHING? In other words, do you read the dedication, the acknowledgement, the foreword, the afterword, the prologue, the epilogue, the appendices, etc.? Or do you just read the “meat” of the book? Or is your approach somewhere in between?

I think how much of the “extra stuff” I read really shows how much I like the book I’m reading. A book I’m in love with, I’ll want to read it all – from the index to the “about the author” page in the back. I think you can also usually tell a lot about a book from those little details and how many of them there are. I really appreciate the efforts an author might put into those details and get a kick out of the little extras added. But if a book is just “alright” – I might not even glance at any of those extras. If the book is just awful, I might even ::gasp:: skim the book and not bother finishing at all, nevermind reading the index or dedication pages.

How about you?

Nightstand: October

What's on Your Nightstand @ 5 Minutes for BooksWell lovies, another month has come and gone and it’s time for another What’s On Your Nightstand? post – which is a blogging carnival hosted by 5 Minutes For Books. For anyone new to this carnival, the premise is fairly simple :

Write about whatever books you are currently reading, recently read and/or plan to read next.

Pretty simple right? Last time we “nightstanded” I was in the middle of reading devouring Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I absolutely adored this final installment of the series everyone has been raving about. You can read my full review here.

I also read:

  1. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson: Book Four) by Rick RiordanFinished October 9, 2010 – I think this was my favorite of the series so far – Percy has grown on me with each book, becoming a bit less dense as he gets older. I’m looking forward to book five.
  2. The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick - Finished October 12, 2010 - Although this was not the best book I’ve ever read, I did really enjoy it. I think for it’s target audience (middle school girls) it was very well written and I loved how chock full of literary references it was. It also has plenty of good moral lessons, but not delivered in a preachy way – like I said, perfect for middle school girls. – full review -
  3. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. MontgomeryFinished October 24, 2010 – I can’t believe it took me so long to read this book – it was truly excellent. I think this is one of the best classic coming of age stories, with a little bit of everything. I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Right now I’m reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott on my new Kindle. So far I’m enjoying it a lot but I have a feeling it may take me awhile to finish. Here are some of the other books I hope to read in the next month:

  • The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry : This is the bookclub pick for November / December and I plan to start reading it very soon
  • Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery : This will almost certainly be my next Kindle read when I finish Little Women. I just adored Anne of Green Gables and can’t wait to continue the series.
  • The Sweet Potato Queens’ Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit by Jill Conner Browne : I have this sitting and waiting patiently for me but will likely save it for when I really need a good, light read.

What’s on your nightstand right now? Tell me about it in the comments section below!

Daybook: October 25th

an afternoon latte and homemade biscotti - click picture for recipe at Annie's Eats

Today…

Outside my window: it’s a pretty typical fall day, cloudy with colorful trees still lining the horizon. Thunderstorms are predicted for tonight, hopefully I won’t have to drive through any on the way to or from MM’s first soccer practice this afternoon.

This weekend we: purchased the finishing touches for our Halloween costumes and Dan sewed everything which needed sewing (not much). Luckily we got our errands out of the way quickly because Sunday Dan was sick with some sort of evil cold and towards the end of the night I seemed to get it also. I don’t have it quite as bad as he did, no sore throat or anything this morning, but I still feel absolutely exhausted. Hopefully my energy will perk up tonight.

creme brulee

We also:did a lot of baking before the Energy Suck Cold kicked in. Saturday Dan made creme brulee and Sunday morning I made homemade biscotti, pictured at the top of the post, using this recipe that I found at Annie’s Eats.

Little Women by Louisa May AlcottI am reading: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott on my Kindle. I’m about 5% through so it might take me awhile to get through it and I’m sure I’ll be picking up a physical book at some point also (Wednesday night is book club so I’m hoping to pick up the November book soon).

You should check out these great links:

One last picture to share before I go: check out this awesome action shot of MM jumping into a pile of leaves outside our apartment.

jumping in leaves

Holiday Cards : a cardstore.com preview and a poll!

Aloha Friday @ An Island Life Hello Aloha Friday participants! If you are pressed for time, just scroll to the bottom of this post and check out the last THREE (3) sample holiday cards and tell me : Which of the three cards do you like best? That’s my question for this week – A, B or C? I really appreciate your input! If you’ve got more time on your hands, of course feel free to read the whole post. I’ve showcased some really cute card designs from cardstore.com for anyone still working on their holiday cards.

Where do you shop for your Christmas cards? Do you still head to the store and buy a big box of folded cards or have you joined the ranks of photo card shoppers? I’m going to be reviewing cardstore.com and their selection of holiday cards and stationary soon, but in the meantime I’ve got to choose a card – and there are a lot to choose from! Being on the photo card end of the shopper spectrum, I was immediately drawn to their fun designs. Here are some of my favorites:

Santa Approved photo card @ cardstore.com

I love love love this card but just couldn’t find the right picture for it.

I think it’s one of the best designs they have though – you know you want it.

snowflake plaque photo card @ cardstore.com

This one made me laugh, too.

Don’t you kind of want to steal their photos and use them as is?

pink ribbon believe photo card @ cardstore.com

This is one of the cards from their Think Pink Collection.

“Every card features sweet pink accents and a special holiday message to make the card meaningful to family and friends. For this pink-themed collection, Cardstore.com and its artists donate 40% of card sales to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®.”

Pink Top Gingerbread @ cardstore.com

I really liked this one from The Pink Collection, too.

And these are just some of the cards that I loved but decided not to use. Mostly because I couldn’t find just the right pictures for them.

Also because I really loved these three :

(a)

option 1

Dan and I love how classic and elegant this one looks.

link to personalize your own

(b)

option 2

We love how fresh and fun this one looks.

link to personalize your own

(c)

option 3

Similar design from the Think Pink Collection. I used a different picture of MM here because I’m still torn between the two.

link to personalize your own

Wanna help me decide? Which one of the three is your favorite?