Fall is in the Air

I know it's still 100 degrees here, but it's September, so to me, Fall is here! The mornings have a chill in the air, and it just smells different. It puts me in the mood for decorating!

I LOVE decorating for holidays/seasons. Some times I don't even like the holiday (Halloween), but I still decorate for it (for the kids). I basically keep everything fall/harvesty from September until Thanksgiving, then it's all out Christmas until New Years. In October, I add my few "spooky" things, and then put them away again after Halloween.

I think this enjoyment has rubbed off on my girls, too. Especially Hallie. She already loves to decorate and set the table in the nice dining room for holidays and birthdays (about the only time we use that room). She got excited when I announced that I needed to do some craft projects because it was time to get in holiday mode.

Emily decided she needed to join us too for "girl time". For their first project, they wanted to make ghost pumpkins. We went to Hobby Lobby, and got some fake pumpkins, and then came home and painted them. They turned out cute. They want to put them in their room.

Emily's is on the left, Hallie's on the right.

I just talked to my good friend, Kimberly, who is very talented at all this stuff, and I have all kinds of ideas in my head. I'm waiting for her to send me some pictures. She moved away a few years ago, and I miss having her around, especially when I want to decorate!

Just a sampling of Halloween, this one is not spectacular yet, but I took a Christmas tree (4 ft tall) that was in the garage, and spray painted it black, along with an urn, then mounted it in the urn with plaster. I found some little orange and purple balls on ebay and some skeletons from the dollar store (yes, Julie, I braved the 'fembot' smell- I was in and out in less than 5 minutes). I want to find some ghosts or spiders also. I'm excited to see how it looks all decorated. I want to put it in the family room by my fireplace.

The other project I worked on was this Halloween banner (horrid picture, it looks better in real life). The colors got a little crazy for me, so I decided to give it to someone who likes crazy colors (look out Julie, this one's coming your way!) I'm making myself a different one with just black, tan, and dark orange. It will match my house instead of stick out as an obvious decoration. As I finish, I'll post more pictures in case anyone wants to copycat....(that's what I do, I can't always think of everything myself!)

Piroshki

Since someone, who shall remain nameless, called me yesterday to request a new post, here it is...as a side note, nothing exciting has really happened, that's why I haven't been so diligent, and I've been busy.

Today I made piroshki! I have a really good recipe that almost tastes like Grandma Getty's. I remember calling her like 5 years ago to ask her for the recipe, and she said something like "I don't know, just cook some meat and onions, put it in some dough, then cook them in a pan with butter". Not exactly the recipe I was hoping for, so I went to the internet and found one that looked alright, and called her back. She gave me some alterations, and I made them. They turned out so good! That's the recipe I always use now.

Last school year, Spencer did a report on Russia, and I made some piroshki for him to bring to the class. All the kids actually tried them, and they all like them.

Borscht would be good to have also, but I tried making it a few years ago, and it tasted like DIRT. (Again, I called Grandma, she gave me random ingredients, but no recipe, so I went to the internet). Bad recipe, and I think something wasn't right with the beets. So, I won't attempt that again. Besides, everyone gagged and said it was gross, and they couldn't eat it, me included. Grandma's was always delicious. Maybe I'll try another day when I'm feeling saucy and want to risk wasting a bunch of ingredients. I'm happy with piroshki for now.

Don't you wish you all lived close so you could come over and eat some? I'm eating one right now...

Braces

This is kind of late, but a couple of weeks ago, Hallie got braces!! Just on her top teeth. The orthodontist said her bottom teeth looked good for now. She wasn't too excited to get them...

But, later that night, I found her in the bathroom, smiling and posing in the mirror. Then we heard her say to Spencer, "It's wierd, but I totally look older with braces on, and I look pretty cute, actually." I don't remember what Spencer said, probably something sarcastic, but she's right, she does look pretty cute with braces! (And maybe a little older, too.)

Before

After

For Posterity

Just so my kids can't say they've never had it....I'm making MEATLOAF for dinner tonight! That is quite an amazing declaration because usually I say "BLEH, NO THANKS!", but for some reason it sounds really delicious to me today. I have hard time with meat sometimes (especially ground meat, and especially right now) , so touching it, is even more amazing.

We've been married 14 years this year, and I have only made meatloaf one other time, at the begininng of our marriage. It was gross, I probably gagged, and vowed it would be the last time. Well, I'll blame it on wierd pregnancy cravings, but I'm making it again! I have a new recipe to try so maybe that will help. Add a salad, and some roasted sweet potatoes...we'll see what happens. (Maybe I'll just be having a salad and some sweet potatoes.)

Meatloaf Update:

It was ok. Not as delicious as it sounded in my head. Everyone else ate it, and enjoyed it though. Maybe in another couple of years...

Quote of the Day by Dylan

This afternoon, I did the first coat of paint on one of the bathrooms downstairs.  It's a brown color.  I've been calling it "milk chocolate".  I was just in the bathroom looking at my work, when this occured:

Dylan : "Mommy, you need to clean this poo-poo off the walls!"

Me: " No, that's paint.  It's just a brown color.  Do you think it looks poo-poo... or does it look like chocolate?"

Dylan: "Yucky poo-poo."  

Thankfully, I've never had to clean up "that" kind of mess on the walls before!  Kids say the best things!

First Day of School 2009 and Dylan

Sounds crazy, but today was the first day of school here in Arizona...and we had some exciting milestones.  Spencer started Jr. High, and Emily started kindergarden!  It was kind of weird just having Dylan at home all day.  The house was so quiet!  I had all these projects planned, but I didn't get anything done.  I kept looking  the clock and wondering what they were doing at school.  When everyone got home, it was fun to hear about their first day.  They all had a great time, and are excited about the rest of the year.  Dylan was especially excited to have all the "big kids" back.  I think Annie was, too.  Her tail was wagging furiously when she saw them.  I guess I'm too boring for the dog.  The girls were really cute.  I went to pick them up, and I was waiting and waiting, then around the corner I see them walking together, holding hands.  I'm so glad Emmy has Hallie.  Hallie is such a great helper, and I know she'll takes good care of Emily.

I don't know if Dylan's day was so exciting.  This morning, we walked the girls to the bus stop, and as soon as the bus drove away, Dylan says, "Mommy when the girls coming back?".  It was really cute, but kind of sad.  I wasn't sure how he would handle this change.  After that, we went to the gym and he was really clingy and apprehensive about me leaving.  He's NEVER like that.  Usually, he doesn't even look at me and lets himself in.  The rest of the day, he followed me around and wanted to be held alot.  I felt sad for him.  Emily is his best friend, and I know he was missing her.  Spencer and Hallie, too.  It was nice to have everyone here in the summer to entertain each other.  I'm really hoping  to do some special things with him the next few months before this baby comes.  Tommorrow I want to check out a little gymnastics/kids gym and maybe a karate studio.  I want him to feel like he's a big boy and he gets to do things the other kids don't because he is home with me and not at school.  Hopefully we can get potty-training out of the way.  He'll wear underpants for a few hours but then he'll declare that he's done and want a diaper again.  I love that little boy!

I wasn't super slick at the first day of school pictures.  I didn't even get one of Spencer (but he has to leave at 7:30 to get to school on time.)  I actually did bring  my camera to the bus stop- I wanted to get one of Emily in front of the bus.  But as soon as it pulled up, she was quick to get on. She was super excited  to ride the bus.  Oh well.  

I hope everyone is just as excited in a few months from now!

Quote of the Day

Emily: "Mommy, when I grow up and I'm a mommy, I want my face to look just like yours." (smile, hug, kiss)