Aaaaah! Nerves and Halloween...

Have I mentioned that I love Halloween? It's one of my favorite holidays! It's also during my favorite season - FALL! Well, it's not so fall-ish here in the desert lately...but TONIGHT it was! Monkey's former teacher and friend of mine invited us to a Halloween party! Monkey is going as "a monster, wif one eye and TWO HORNS! *evil laugh!*Kevin is dressed as some random evil thing (black and red, freaky skull mask and hood). I am a vampire. A pale, sparkly vampire. Yeah, I am one of THOSE people. The ones who like love Twilight. Pics pending! (I've *really* got to download that camera soon...)

We went to the Pumpkin Festival at our local corn maze - the same one with the ducky races from last year. We've also been participating in the Lowe's Build and Grow program...Did you know that it's FREE?! I didn't. I am very glad that I've been informed, because Monkey LOVES it! We've made a Monster Machine and a Monster truck so far (both in October).

What else has been happening....oh, yes! I had to have a root canal and then the next week I was attacked by a horrible virus that had me mostly in bed for 3 days. The doctor says that the virus was likely from one of the little creatures at preschool; you see what I get for volunteering?

But I have much better news.

The expectant mom that changed her mind? She is reconsidering adoption as an option! She, her boyfriend and their daughter have been in our prayers - that they would find peace in their decision, whatever it may be. Much to our surprise, today we got an email (through the facilitator) from her! We're really excited to get to know her better and see what this situation holds for everyone! I am asking that you add them to your prayer list - guidance and a clear heart to make the best decision for themselves and their daughter!

A Post of Pictures

Pumpkins from our Hay Ride out to the Pumpkin Patch



Me & Monkey



Racing the Duckies!



The end of the line for Ducky...

The "My Laptop Died & Had To Be Sent Out For Repair" Post

So, bloggity bloggers, I am BACK! My laptop committed some type of laptopicide and wouldn't work. Fortunately, when sent back to Gateway, the repair was covered by warranty! WooHoo! Unfortunately,that meant I couldn't blog away.

I am a terrible project finisher. There, I have admitted it. I love my projects! And my crafts! I just do not find the time to finish what I start, or start the others I want to. I am working on this - this week I am GOING to finish that quilt for Monkey. And I plan to start cutting fabric for some gifts for Christmas. These things include - canvas shopping bags, plastic grocery bag holders, laptop covers and a few things that shouldn't - in theory - take too long. Pics to come to mark my progress and prove to you that I CAN do this!

Monkey is still loving school. There are no more tears in the mornings, just a bit of extra reassurance in the car on the way there. He even shoos me out of the room sometimes - and he cried once when he had to leave. That broke my Mommy heart. Monkey has been bringing things home left and right (a painted Moon, a Sun, a life sized tracing of himself, a mailman hat/bag, a rainbow, an umbrella...and on & on). So, I wonder...

What do I do with all of these things?!

I love them all, but surely I can't keep every scrap of paper and project from now until forever! He's TWO! I have at least 16 more years of projects to look forward to! But I feel terrible not keeping something.

I think that I have devised a plan. I am going to get a bin. Everything shall go into it. At the end of the year, I will choose a couple of things to keep and the rest can disappear. That way, he can help choose at the end of the year as he gets older and everything gets pared down regardless.

Moving on!

Our little family has been a bit busy the past weekends. Last weekend, we took Monkey to the Southern New Mexico State Fair. It was fun! He is too small for the rides, so we skipped that part until a later year. But we saw police cars, ambulances - Monkey pretended to drive a fire truck! We watched a horse trainer working with a horse. Monkey went on a pony ride and visited a petting zoo.

There was a camel. In a petting zoo. In NEW MEXICO. It was strange, but kind of cool. I've never seen a camel up close before. They also had a ZONKEY! I forgot my camera (grrrr), so no pictures.

This weekend was also fun. Today we went to a fall festival. We went on hayrides and visited a pumpkin patch! A real one, where you pick pumpkins off of their vines. Not like that place we went to in DC - they lined the pumpkins up on the ground and had them in giant boxes. That place was also expensive. Today we got EIGHT - yes folks, 8 - pumpkins of varying sizes and colors for $13. Thirteen dollars!

This means that I will be attempting to cook these pumpkins into pumpkin puree so that I can make pie. And bread. Muffins. Whatever other pumpkiny - things I can find. Maybe there is a copy cat recipe somewhere online for Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Frappucino?

We also rode giant slides, watched Monkey run through the kiddie maze and generally had a lot of fun. So much, that we forgot the main reason we went. That had been to go through the maze that was cut into a corn field! Oh well - next year we will tackle this.

I do have pictures from today, but I will have to post them at a later date. Next post will be adoption updates! :)