Halloween Carnival

 

The Old Overton Gym puts on a cute little carnival every October.

I love it because it's small and uncomplicated.

It gives us another reason to wear costumes!!

 

 I have really lowered my standards with Halloween costumes!!

I went from hand making my own,

with pain staking effort,

to buying full costumes from Costco,

to buying partial costumes from Amazon and building from there!!

 

 And you know what?!

I spent a grand total of $20 and my little skunk and butterfly are darling!!

And happy with the result!!

I call that a win!!

 

 If I bother to dress up,

I dig out the old devil horns and call it good.

 

 I think the skunk tail is soooooooooo cute!!

 

 And the butterfly wings are fantastic!!

 

 We had fun and I'm excited for my 2 favorite holidays coming up!!

 

Poor little turtle fell into the clutches of his devil Auntie and her allegedly "long lasting" lip wear.

You failed Revlon.

You failed hard. 

A Week in Summary

My life is all just a bunch of random little moments that roll up into a day.

Some are fantastic and some are NOT fantastic.

Or fantastic in a way that is NOT positive.

 

But those wonderful little tender mercies are brilliant bright spots,

and I cling to them!!

 

 My dad gave Scarlet the tiniest apple I have ever seen that is still edible.

She nibbled it down to the tiniest core I had ever seen!!

 

 When I had my nieces we made an impromptu trip to the pumpkin patch.

I originally told them we were running to Wally's and only I was going to run in to grab ice cream.

I told them not to worry about shoes.

So yes, 3 out of 4 children tromped threw the pumpkin patch shoeless.

And I only remembered to take one picture.

Oiy.

 

 Molly has decided she loathes us a little less and is pathetic when it comes to cooler temperatures.

She is truly pathetic.

Anything under 90 has her curled up in the sun, or in someone's blanket somewhere.

I let the girls sleep on my floor every Saturday night as a reward if they have behaved that day.

Cuz Saturdays get long with out Daddy sometimes!!

 

 My dad got his deer!!

Yay for meat!!

I like to jerky almost all of it.

I like the little bit of a gamey taste it has.

Brent says that's the savage in me.

 

Oh just a typical night in the life of Ella.

I'm pretty sure she would make a fine living as a circus performer.

She loves dance and prefers it to cheer,

and that is wonderful!!

I don't care what my girls do as long as they find something that they enjoy.

But really,

she should do something with acrobatic skills.



Weekend at Aunt Ashley's

My sister and her husband were out of the country last weekend for a family wedding.

Last spring when said wedding was planned,

I jumped at the chance to have her girls for a few days.

And it was awesome!!

I got to pretend to be a mommy of 4 for a few days,

and it was so fun!!

Now, I believe it was fun because

1: These children are not actually siblings so it was a sleep over play date.

2: They're about the same age so they play.

3: The oldest one is a really awesome little girl who helped out a lot!!

4: All 4 little girls are good girls who just wanted to play and have fun.

 

 They romped and played outside,

Played a million games of hide & go seek,

Barbie's,

Read books,

Ate icecream,

And watched a few movies.

 

Jara got to have some one on one time with my mean old cat.

That child is the cat whisperer.

 Molly regarded her disdainfully,

then slunk over and plopped down nearly on top of her and then turned belly up.

We were all amazed!!

 

We had a great time and I was thrilled to be helpful Auntie.

Usually I am Auntie who needs help!!



Great Grandpa George

My Dad's dad made a trip from Ely to come down and see the newest member of the Alderete family.

Baby Graham was born September 14th a little bit earlier than he was expected!!

But he was ready and he is healthy and lovely.

 

 We got Great Grandpa, Grandpa, and all of our beautiful children.

No one was goofy or screaming.

8 kids?

I call that a win!!

 

 I am grateful for my dad.

Whenever I spend time with his father,

which is very rare,

I am always grateful for the man who is My father.

 

Baby Graham.

I monopolized all his time.

I am not sorry.

He was squishy and sweet.



Lunch Time

I try to get up to the school to volunteer at lunch time.

I'd like to say it's because my daughters need me,

so I'm making time out of my day for them.

The truth is,

I want to be able to check on them!!

 

 Ella sitting with her little friends.

 

Scarlet and her best friend/cousin Elise.

These are 2 wonderful little girls.

But may Heaven help us all if they ever decide to unite in a cause of evil!!



Regular Every Days

We have been happily getting back into the swing of school.

I miss lazy summer days and having minimal responsibility,

but the freedom of summer grows stale and we crave routine.

We always have great intentions to establish a summer routine and it lasts until about 4th of July.

Then it's hot, we're trapped inside, and I stop caring.

 

My mother instilled a love of books in me

and I can honestly say I have tried to do the same for my girls.

I believe reading breeds intelligence and stimulates imagination.

We all love our huge picture window.

I already put my rose bushes out there and I can't wait to add to them!!

 

 Over Saturday morning breakfast,

the girl were looking at magazines.

Ella chose Cabela's Fall catalog from the pile.

She is so interested in hunting it makes me feel a little nervous.

And the only reason I feel that way, is because I know how much that crap costs!!

 

Scarlet was really excited to find a 'temple bed'.

The Eiffel Tower!!