Craft pumpkins. Carving pumpkins. Sugar pumpkins. Pumpkin pies and pumpkin seeds… this has been the pumpkiniest October ever! I’m glad the kids agree that you’re never too old to carve a jack-o-lantern, and that tradition continued for another year. Sam and Lucy went for traditional jack-o-lanterns. Maggie picked a ghost template, and Clark and collaborated on the “Boo” ghost. He gutted it, and I carved. … Continue reading Pumpkin Mania
For the past eight years the kids have happily dressed up in coordinating Halloween costumes. Eight years of adorableness. Eight years of sibling love. Eight years of sewing and face paint. 2008 – Jack in the Boxes (so stinking adorable) 2009 – Nebraska Cornhuskers 2010 – Tom and Jerry 2011 – Rapunzel and Pascal 2012 – Scary Skeleton and Witch 2013 – Magician and Rabbit 2014 – Harry and … Continue reading I Dream of a Halloween Theme
This “Thirty Days of Gratitude” thing is going around Facebook right now. Last year I tried something similar, and it took me around 6 months to post two weeks of grateful posts. And lately I’m averaging one single blog post a month. So naturally I’m on board. I figure if I can shoot for more ordinary and less profound this might be doable. So here … Continue reading Halloween 2015
Friday, October 24, 2014 Today felt like a gift. Each moment was wrapped in a shiny bow, and I untied every second. Due to a late parent-teacher conference night earlier in the week, I only had to work until 11:00. The kids didn’t have school at all, so Clark took a vacation day. As soon as the work day was done (okay, maybe 10 minutes early) … Continue reading Gratitude #9: Today
There aren’t enough days in the weekend. ~Rod Schmidt Oh how I love the weekend! The kids and I ventured out of town the past few weekends: two weeks ago we went to Hatcher Pass, and last weekend to Girdwood: This weekend we stayed home. And when I say “stayed home,” I mean it quite literally. Today I didn’t even change out of my fuzzy … Continue reading Gratitude #4: Weekends
This year our Boo Crew went trick-or-treating without boots, snow bibs, or winter coats. Heck, they didn’t need a coat period. Here are the photos to prove it! Continue reading Boo Crew 2013
This world is full of both good witches and bad witches. I would like to introduce you to one of the good ones: This witch has one mission: to create magical memories for children. She’s pretty good at it too. Every year she plans a Halloween party that most families would pay to attend, but by some stroke of luck she invites our children for … Continue reading A Witch’s Dream
Pinterest. Do I love it? Do I hate it? I just can’t decide. Before Pinterest, I stuffed my kids’ backpacks with classroom donations like Kleenex boxes and Clorox wipes every August. I know how much teachers appreciate little gestures like this, and it always made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Then I joined Pinterest… I truly had no idea that some families assemble “Back-to-School-Cakes” … Continue reading Love, Hate, & Pinterest
I’ve always loved carving pumpkins, stringing spider webs, and checking out the cute ghouls who visit our doorstep on Halloween. In our younger days we attended the occasional Halloween party, most infamously as a pair of dice. I still remember walking into the party and my principal saying, “Oh, look at that… they are in para-dise.” Very funny. In the pre-kid days, our poor dogs … Continue reading Halloween Memory Lane
This weekend we headed to the Reindeer Farm near Palmer, Alaska for their Halloween Fun extravaganza. There was no way I was missing this event, since I’ve always envied the fall family festivals my Midwestern family and friends attend. They have a plethora of pumpkin patches to explore, while we are stuck digging through cardboard bins of squash at the local Fred Meyer. (As if … Continue reading Family Fun at the Farm
Profoundly Ordinary 