Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday! We had a lovely visit with my mom this weekend. In fact, mom took this great photo of the girls and me after we had decorated our pumpkins on Sunday (I'm anxiously awaiting the full resolution version of this and other photos she took so I can scrap them!):
If you have a chance to send some prayers and positive thoughts to the Deac, he is undergoing a nerve conduction study today to try to find out more about his parasthesia symptoms. We're also meeting his new spine doctor today and hoping he's the type of doc who is willing to try to figure out what is going on (his old doc was too quick to categorize and didn't seem interested in trying to find solutions - which seems antithetical to the idea of being a doctor, if you ask me).

Friday - again?

It seems like there was something I was going to blog about today, but now I can't think of it. I really do wonder when I'll get the brain cells back I lost during childbirth. Maybe when full nights of sleep return. Although I have to say last night was lovely. The Deac and I went out to a dinner with the bishop for area clergy and wives. It was so nice to see everyone - we had a great time! I even managed a fairly low-carb dinner: steak, steamed broccoli and a glass of wine. No rolls or dessert. I would've liked a salad, but somehow the salad course never got served. Oh well. While we were gone, the girls had their very favorite sitter in the whole world staying with them. We got home around 10 pm and I expected both girls to still be awake and owl-y. Turns out Ashleigh got them to sleep! On her own! At around 8 pm!! Wow. And on top of that, Maura only woke one time to nurse last night. Normally she wakes many times a night. So I should feel more rested today....

Emmelia has her last soccer game tomorrow and we're hoping she'll actually play. Grammy is coming up for the weekend, so that might provide some impetus and encouragement. We'll see.

Anyway, I was excited to finally get some scrapping done after a week of being too swamped to do any. Here's one layout I actually made last week but hadn't posted yet (the Christmas one from last year) and then the two I did this week of our trip to the Pumpkin patch and Maura's new nickname. Most of these use kits and elements by my friend Christine Nash. The Christmas one was made with a template by Christine, but a kit by Microferk Designs. The pumpkin patch one was done with a template made by a fellow Colorado digi-scrapper, Melinda Staley. She shares my problem with taking a lot of photos and desire to showcase as many as possible on a LO. I really liked using it for the Pumpkin patch photos because it really helps give an idea of how the day went.

Holy Chipotle, Batman!

I eschewed my nutritious low-carb packed lunch today to join a co-worker at Chipotle. But at least I tried to make good choices in terms of picking a "bol" over a burrito, etc. This afternoon, I got curious what I had really eaten in nutrition terms and found this Chipotle nutrition calculator on a website. Suffice it to say, I ate way too many carbs. And calories. And fat. Sigh. At least it tasted good. So... in the future, instead of my "regular" Veggie Fajita Burrito with salsa, cheese, sour cream, guac and lettuce I'll be ordering something much more spartan. Perhaps a Chicken Fajita Bol (no rice) with salsa, cheese and lettuce. Unfortunately, I still have to pay $7 for the slimmed down version, but it still might be a nice occasional splurge.

Speaking of spending money and occasional splurges... we took the kids to the pumpkin patch yesterday after church. Instead of going to the one we went to last year that was reasonably priced but didn't have a lot of activities other than pumpkin picking, we decided to visit the place Emmelia's class went on a field trip last week. She loved it and Maura wanted to visit and do all the things she had heard her big sister talk about. It was fun, if more expensive than we'd planned. Since we only do it once a year, it's not a big deal. But we will still have to buy some pumpkins at the supermarket, since we only came home with gourds. Maura's very favorite part was riding the barrel train. She wanted to do it so badly and when the time came to load up, she insisted on riding in her own car.

Awards lunch

Today we had an Awards lunch at work as a sort of motivation-building morale booster. It was fun, and we had a catered lunch from Qdoba, which was yummy. I received the "Smart is Only Half the Battle Award" with the following write-up:

She has been described as a stabilizing force and a straight to the point problem solver. Her sharp tongue, quick wit, and extensive technical knowledge make some regard her as a possible genius. She also does an amazing job of balancing a busy personal life with her professional responsibilities, and has the patience of a saint.

I'm not sure about the "patience of a saint" part. I think that's something I am always working toward, though. My father confessor says that when there is something we ask God to help us with, He tends to give us lots of opportunities to practice! But "possible genius" - POSSIBLE? Hee - just kidding.

Since the Deac works in the same department as me now, he also got an award. I don't have his write-up in front of me but his award title was "Captain Amazing." I'm sure that won't go to his head... but now I have a fun nickname for him. It's a shout-out to one of our favorite movies of all time - "Mystery Men"

Mom-Daughter Fiddling date

I'm so excited! I just reserved tickets for Emmelia and I to go see Natalie MacMaster in concert at CU in a couple of weeks! I love folk and celtic music anyway, and fiddling in general. And it will be such an encouragement for Emmelia to see a female musician playing the violin well. It will give her an idea of what she can accomplish if she keeps practicing. So I can't wait to go! The only downside is that the concert starts at 7:30 pm. We'll have to make sure Emmelia gets a good nap that day. I bought tickets near the back of the auditorium, just in case we have to get up and leave early. Adding to the stress, it's the day after her birthday party. AND we have Buffs football tickets the day of Em's birthday party, too. If the game ends up being in the evening we're going to try to go. It could be a very busy weekend!!

We had our first snowstorm of the season here this week. The girls were very excited to get to put on all their winter gear (aren't they cuties? They posed this way all on their own - I love that they love each other so much). Today Emmelia's class is going on a field trip to a pumpkin patch where they will get to ride a tractor and a train as well as pick out their very own pumpkin! She was very, very excited this morning. Of course this doesn't obviate the need for us to make a family trip to the pumpkin patch - Maura very much wants to go, too. Maybe this weekend, if it isn't completely taken up by soccer games and the Bishop's visit.

Is it Friday yet?

We *almost* had some birthday party angst yesterday when I realized that I had only reserved the party place for up to 20 kids and Emmelia has 20 kids in her class. I've always felt that, if you can, you should invite the whole class to parties. But I talked to Em and she really only wants to invite the girls because the boys are mean to her. And I know they are. And, hey, that gets us down to only 6 or 7 kids from school, leaving plenty of room for family friends (there are 3-4 non-school-friend boys she wants to invite, too, so it won't be ALL girls).

Anyway, I think it'll be fine.

Yesterday the Deac took one of his fire trucks over to the daycare and talked to the kids about fire safety for Fire Prevention Week. The kids and the firefighters all had a great time! They talked about what to do if your clothes catch on fire: Stop, Drop and Roll (the kids enacted this); what to do if there is smoke: crawl under it (the kids all crawled under a sheet held low by the teachers); and what a firefighter in full bunker gear and SCBA looks like (i.e. don't hide under the bed thinking it's a monster!). Then the kids got to go look at the firetruck. The little kids got to walk across the truck and look at the pump panel and the older kids got to help shoot water out of a hose. I was glad I made him take the camera along - the Asst. Director got lots of fun photos we can print out for the kids. And the Deac found this handout to send home with the kids, too. Here's some photos:









I've had a lot of fun making layouts that are a bit out of my element this week. Here's one I did as a challenge from my friend Amy (Doodleboogs at SOTB) using her "Pirates Drunge" kit and my friend Christine's "A Bit of Bliss" kit:
And I simply HAD to use some of those cute photos of Em dressed up a week or so ago on a layout. Here's what I came up with:

In other news, the Deac and I are working hard at finding "balance" in our life. We've started eating better and so far we've both lost a little weight. I'm excited about the changes we're making and, not to sound sappy, kind of feel like there is a brand new world out there waiting for us.

No angst this year

I know some of you are wondering why I haven't been obsessing about Emmelia's birthday party arrangements like I did last year. You probably think that I will soon - right? Wrong! There is almost no angst about arrangments this year and it's wonderful! Back in August, Emmelia decided where she wants to have the party and I called and arranged it. I have ordered and purchased some fun things for gift bags. She's already selected the cake she wants. And late last week, I finished designing the invitations:
I'm really happy with how they came out and, more importantly, so is she! So it's a go. And it's ever so nice that it's going together without a lot of worry this year, because I just don't have worry in me. No energy to worry - maybe that's a good thing. Or maybe that's why there hasn't been any angst... sort of a chicken-egg thing. Who knows?

We had a nice weekend. We had a playdate on Friday that was relaxing and fun. Even though the Buffs lost AGAIN on Saturday, it was a lovely day. We did some shopping and planned a menu to get us through until we meet with the nutritionist this week about our new life changes, and we even got some leaves picked up in the yard with the help of our friend Michael. We used the leaves to make a giant pumpkin-head man (dubbed "Jack Pumpkinhead" by Emmelia after the character in the Oz books) and a huge spider (dubbed "Shilob" by the Deac and I vis a vis "The Lord of the Rings").





















You can see more of our leaf fun in my flickr account by clicking on the badge on the left. Emmelia's been dying to "decorate" for Halloween, so this activity killed two birds with one stone, so to speak. Then she drew several pictures of jack-o-lanterns and taped them up on the outside of the house, the garage and in the yard. She really wants people to be scared! Hee. Here's a couple she posted:

Yesterday I got out my sewing machine for the first time since I made the christening gown for our girls just in time for Emmelia's baptism back in 2001. I made a quick quilted blanket fitted to fit in the window frame in their room to block the light. It was a fast project and worked really well! In the meantime, I discovered a brand new JoAnn's store just a few miles north of us that is soooo much better than the other fabric stores around here. I might just start sewing again. Of course, I also discovered that Maura enjoys things like sticking pins in her mouth and disconnecting my power cord whenever she can.... maybe I'll have to sew after they fall asleep at night.

The more we get together, the happier we'll be

We had such a lovely evening with the girls last night. The TV was off (key to a good evening, I think) and the Deac and the girls started playing "Hide and Go Seek." I was kind of trying to pick up the house a bit since it didn't magically pick itself up while I was lying in bed sick this weekend (surprise!)... and somehow I got pulled into the game, too. We probably played for about an hour. It was great. But now the kids know all the good hiding places in the house.... the days when they think pulling the covers over their head in bed makes them invisible might be gone.

Tonight we are going to watch "The Little Mermaid" - yep, like good parents we rushed out and bought the DVD as soon as it was available today... Christmas be darned. I know technically this is still like watching television, but it's more of a planned event. Besides, we're going to need something to take our mind off the Deac's blood test results this evening. He has an appointment with the doctor this afternoon and prayers and positive thoughts are most appreciated!

I did get a chance to scrap some layouts using Amy's templates and Christine's "A Little Fall" kit and her amazing stitching to show off our leaf photos from Sunday. I like how they came out - it's amazing what you can do with good products.

Good and Bad

Good: Emmelia fell asleep at 5:30 on both Saturday and Sunday nights
Bad: It was because she had a bug (that I got on Sunday). Ugh.

Good: I seem to be feeling a bit better today. I am awake and have an appetite, anyway.
Bad: I didn't lose any weight not eating much yesterday.

Good: My Sisters 4 Ever layout from Friday's post was nominated as Layout of the Day over at Digital Scrapbook Pages! Very cool!
Bad: Now I feel like scrapping, but have work that must be done.

Both the Deac and I got some great photos of the girls this weekend. You can see them over on my Flickr badge on the left. And I did get some time at lunch to make one layout. My friend Christine Nash came up with the perfect photo borders for this photo from last week (everything else is by her, as well, except the quote on the tag, which is from Designer Digital Freebies):