I must say that I have rocked my kids' costumes this year. I am a big fan of the homemade, and while I am certainly no Martha Stewart, I am pretty happy with my creations this year. Nothin' fancy, but totally my boys' style. Hunter is going to be a spider, and Chase, a caterpillar. The only real difference in the two are the colors. One is black, and the other is green. The green is not exactly what I had in mind. I wanted more of an emerald green, and ended up with more of a hunter green, and it actually looks black at first glance, but I don't stress about the little things. Hunter's hat has many spider eyes on it, and Chase's is sporting some cool caterpillar antennae. I am going to dress up, at the rugrats' request, as a butterfly.
The "fail" I reference is not for us.
Perusing costumes online, I came across some totally ridiculous creations. Do we have to take every freaking thing and try to "sexy" it up? I will admit that in my younger (read:hotter) days, I was a sexy nurse, and a slutty girl scout. But, come on, what the frick is THIS?
If you are going for scary, go balls out scary. If you are going for sexy, go short and sleazy, bust out the cleavage. But scarysexy? For real? I can't believe anyone really is buying a hot Freddy Kreuger costume.
This fab weather. Fall is my fave season. I freaking hate to sweat, plus the holidays are a-comin'!
"I Don't Like Candy Corn" by Moose A. Moose.
Listening to my little ones talking to each other. Really having conversations. Granted, it is usually something like, "Chase, you want to be a cat or a train?", but still...
An empty laundry basket. (Can I get an "amen"?)
Divinity....sweet candy goodness. Hooray for this time of the year, because I can actually find it in stores. I think I could eat it until I put myself into a sugar coma.
Fresh haircuts on my men.
Girl scouts marching in parades....takes me back. (Yes, I was a girl scout. And? Matter of fact, I wore a girl scout uniform as a Halloween costume a few years ago. Granted, it was a mini-skirt, spike heels, and thigh-high stockings, but a girl scout nonetheless.)
Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. Call me a jackass, but that movie never fails to make me laugh. Dare I say that I LOL?
Butterflies. I loved watching the caterpillars change this past Spring/Summer. It was so cool watching them get bigger and bigger, and eventually changing to chrysalids. I think I liked it more than the boys. I was so sad to set them free. Now I have to wait until next year to get any more. This is one we had recently. Butterflies are free to fly....fly awaaaaaaaayyy.....
Singing. In the car. Loudly. My kids are lucky they have headphones and don't have to hear it. I suck, but I can't help myself. You know that person you pass on the road, that is rocking out in her car, dancing and singing? The one you laugh at, and ask the person in the car with you, "Ha HA! Did you SEE that idiot?" Yeah, that would be me.
Fireworks. I love, love, love fireworks. Luckily the boys do, too. I was afraid they would be scared of the noise, but they like to watch them. I can't wait for them to see the fireworks display at Disney World next month. They are fantabulous.
Dirty faced, sloppy, peanut-buttery kisses from my boys. Dems da best.
Kisses from my big 6'3 17 year old. And hearing him say, "I love you." He does both with regularity, and is not embarrassed to do it in front of his friends. That kid is really something else. He holds such a big piece of my heart.
Hugs from the hubs. When he hugs you, you know you've been hugged. It is warm, squeezy, and makes you feel safe. It is one of his many skills.
...Do you wanna escape...? (Man, that song is going to be rattling around in my head on a loop now...)
Super Hubs whisked me away on a surprise trip for our five year anniversary. And, the man hit a HOME freaking RUN. I think the trip is best described with pictures...
On our way...
He took me to a fabulous B&B. . Rich with ambience and history. My kind of joint.
A little background on the place... The Speedwell Forge story begins in 1734, when Peter Grubb, a mason, literally stumbled upon of the largest and richest iron deposits ever found in the US. He named the area Cornwall, and built a bloomery to smelt the ore and produce cast (or "pig") iron. Our cottage was called the "Paymaster's Office". In the 18th century, the forge employees were paid here; the "paymaster's window" separates the main room from the kitchen. In the basement, stone reinforcement indicates where the vault was.
Inside our cottage
This place is also home to a wolf sanctuary. Totally cool. I wish we would have brought some dog food to donate. What they do for these animals, and the dedication to them is really inspiring.
So, Dave had set up a whole thing... fresh flowers in the room, chocolates, and music playing when we entered. At 5:00, he had two massage therapists come to us for a couples massage. At 7:00, a chef came and made us dinner. He served it to us at a table next to the fire. I totally felt like Cinderella. Well, Cinderella at the end of the movie. Not the sleeping in the dirt, cooking, cleaning, friends with the mice Cinderella. That is the other 364 days a year of my life. But, I digress...
We stayed up all night, trying to squeeze every moment out of the experience. We sat by the fire, playing Scrabble...
Which, for the record, I let him win. I let him use words normally not allowed in Scrabble...like Izod, Ed, Ethan... Hey, I had to throw him a bone, I mean, he planned out this perfect getaway for me and all... Secretly, it killed my soul to lose to him at Scrabble. The things we do for true love.
In the morning, we had the option of eating at the main house, or the owner told us she could bring us breakfast "fixin's" and we could cook ourselves in the cottage. Dave got up in the morning, started the fire, ran me a big bubble bath, and went into the kitchen and cooked us breakfast. We had eggs, pancakes, fresh fruit, yogurt, juice, and coffee. We ate at the table, and I looked out into the woods, watching the squirrels and resident cats running around.
Chef Hubs - making my breakfast
All too soon, we had to head for home.
First, we stopped off at a wonderful little gourmet chocolate shop to bring some treats home for Mom-Mom and the boys.
And had a divine hot chocolate treat for ourselves.
I highly recommend to anyone looking for a romantic getaway to head over to the Speedwell Forge. You will fall in love all over again. Check out their website, and tell Dawn and Darin I sent you.
I married my best friend. I know people say that all the time, but for real, y'all, I mean it. This man is my very best friend...and I gets da benefitz. Yeah, baby.
Just taking a moment after a little sushi and a lotza wine to tell my baby thanks for loving me. Can't wait to see what the future brings.
And I don't mean my mad skills at Halloween decorations. No, I mean, I am creating two little ones in this house. Not in a bad way, really. But, boy can I hear echoes of myself every so often in the little kids. Today, Hunter tells me he wants to stay in his pajamas "forever" because that's "how I roll". Yes, he did.
Later on, he was telling me all about how he has mastered a game on the computer, and pronounces, "I am an amazing kid."
Maybe I am a little too heavy on the praise for this kid. Ya think?
...is funny. No, for real, not just because he is my little kid, but just because he is a riot. How is it, that at not quite three years old that this boy already has my warped, sort of crudish/rudish sense of humor? Case in point, he is currently *hissing* at the cat, and in between, telling her she needs to stop licking herself and get into the tub. He is telling her she needs soap because she smells like "butt". Come on, that is pretty good. He also says he won't lay on the loveseat because that is "where Daddy toots." If he bombs, he immediately touches the floor, and announces loudly, "You wanna smell my toot?" He is very insistent until he hears you make a sniffing sound in his general direction. He did this recently at Wal Mart, and I was embarrassed for about a half a second, until I realized, "This is Wal Mart." Tonight I heard him out in the living room, and I could swear I heard him singing the word "stupid". That is a big no-no in this house, so I went a-running. He stops in his tracks, and gives me the most serious look and says, "I not said stupid. I said STUPENDOUS." Now, that is a hoot. That will teach me to give the kid big words to use. So, now I am going to have to make sure that if someone hears him, to point out that it is actually "stupendous" that he is saying. And, yeah, they are soooo likely to believe that word is coming from my midget. I guess I am encouraging the nonsense by laughing at all of the inappropriate crap he does, but, damn, I am enjoying this kid. Hopefully his future wife will forgive me someday.
But you know I had to run and set my DVR to record it.
Apparently, there is a woman in England who makes these dolls. Not just any dolls, but they look like actual, real, living, breathing newborns that she calls "reborns" (kind of a creepy name in itself..but anyway...) They are complete with veins and beating hearts and all. Watch the clip and you'll see her approach a couple in the grocery store, and offer to sell them her "baby". It takes quite a while for the man and woman to really believe this is a doll she is talking about. God bless the wife, she can't even bring herself to touch it. Not sure I would either.
But that is not the funky part.
There are women who are buying these dolls, and actually caring for them as though they were alive. Um...what? At first, I am thinking hello, freaks, but then as I watched the clip, I started to feel sad for them. They showed a bit of one woman who apparently lost her son, and (I guess) is using this doll as some sort of fill-in for her child (???)
I am not sure what my reaction would be if I saw some pitiful woman at the park, with one of these dolls in a stroller, or if I went to a friend's house one day to find her diapering, singing, and talking to one of these dolls. I would think she was totally off the reservation, and needed help. But, I will reserve a more complete opinion (don't want to use the word "judgement" here) for when I see the whole show. It is on at 2 a.m., so unless I have another night like last night, powered by super-caffeinated Lipton, I hope to be sound asleep at that time. I luvz my DVR.
I have got to wonder what the frig I was thinking, drinking that damn bottle of tea at the wise hour of 10 pm tonight. I was jonesing (how's that for a throwback? Uh, huh, I said it) for some tea, after my salty chicken parm dinner, and Austin brought me some tea from work tonight. So, now here I sit at 1 am with what my mom calls the BIG EYE and I can't sleep for crap.
Damn you, Lipton Pure Leaf. Damn you to hell. But I do love you so... so please don't leave. The things I love to eat/drink/spritz myself with from B and B Works tend to leave the shelves just when I decide I can't live without them. But I must curse you as I sit here wide awake. Not for long though...say hello to my leetle friend...
That's right. It is only a matter of time before these bad boys kick in. And it should be just about the time that the wee ones wake for a fun-filled day. Better get some more tea to get through it.
Plus, I have the freaking theme to the Mickey Mouse Club rolling on a continuous loop through my head. Reaaaaaaaaaally soothing.
A mom to three boys, two frogs, (currently) eight caterpillars, two ant farms, three hermit crabs, a tadpole, one big lazy cat, a useless fish, and a partridge in a pear tree. Keeping it all together with my hubby, Dave.
That's right. It is only a matter of time before these bad boys kick in. And it should be just about the time that the wee ones wake for a fun-filled day. Better get some more tea to get through it.
