The Costumes

The only 2 parts of Halloween I like are the costumes & snitching candy when the kids aren't looking. LOL! Though, at 13 & nearly 11, they notice if I snitch, but they also are more generous & share more readily with us. They know what I can & can't have, so they are careful to offer me only gluten free candies. Not that I NEED any of it!

For the costumes, that is always fun. We steer clear of anything scary or in any form related to the death culture that is so prevalent this time of year. I only have permission to show the faces of my kids, so I've blurred out the faces of our friends in these.


We added the hat to Nat's candy corn outfit. Do you know how many times I've called it a candy cane or cotton candy outfit? Where are the brain cells when you need them? I'll take a shot of the shoes if I remember.

Bethany was a fairy. She is quite pixie like in stature, so it worked well. This dress is a "pass down" as Bethany calls them from some of our friends who were with us tonight. She started with rather simple wings & added details to them.
We added the hat to Nat's candy corn outfit. Do you know how many times I've called it a candy cane or cotton candy outfit? Where are the brain cells when you need them? I'll take a shot of the shoes if I remember.
Here is the whole gang. I lightened the background so you could see Darth Vader. My husband saw the picture & immediately started breathing like DV & asked if the child did that. In the group picture you can get an idea of the size of the ipod. That was by far the favorite among everyone! She came up with it herself & designed it! Here are pics of the front & back. Cute isn't it?

I guess I should say there are 3 things I like about Halloween. My mom's birthday is October 31st! I made a pumpkin cake (with fresh pumpkin & full of gluten, so not sure how it tasted) and a gluten free chocolate sheet cake. Yum! That's my dad on the end. He makes a good Santa! There are MIL's arms in the shot---LOL! And Natalie with very curly hair.
For those who read my craft blog, you know that we hid my mom's gift. We bought it not long after we moved in, so when she came over to help us unpack one day, I hid her gift. Do you think I could find an item in November that was hidden in July? Nope. So, she got a different gift with the hope of getting this one for Christmas. LOL!

I am so tired. Glad for that extra hour tonight!

How do you breathe?

Do you have allergies? Do you ever feel stuffy & just wish you could breathe easily? Or, maybe like me, you have asthma. WAIT! Don't leave! This isn't an ad for a product (though if I could find the perfect one I'd tell you!). It's really a funny story. I am stuffy ALL the time. I use a CPAP at night for low oxygenation (or some big fancy word like that). My husband also uses a CPAP, but his is for sleep apnea. Before he got the CPAP he snored so loudly that once when he went on an overnight trip with his parents, his dad, who was completely deaf in one ear & had to use a hearing aid to hear at all with the other, said, "Phillip snores SO loud that he woke me up." Now THAT'S loud!

The ability to breathe isn't something I take lightly. I have some friends on a stamping site, Splitcoaststampers, whom I've mentioned before. We call ourselves the Traveling Dork Sisters because we are just all a bunch of women who do dorky things. Truth be told, I think everyone does dorky things now & then, but not everyone admits it. Tee-hee! Most of these dork sisters love a line of stamps from a company called Magnolia. If you click on that link, you will see some of their images. They are absolutely darling, but there is something missing. Can you see what it is? Ha, ha! If you CAN'T then maybe you need new glasses. As you might guess, these mouthless noseless girls & boys, while quite adorable, just give me the heebie jeebies. Why? They can't BREATHE! Yes, I know they aren't real. Still, the thought of no nose or mouth just makes me feel like gasping for air. THAT is pretty dorky.

Now here comes the funny part. Last night Bethany was blowing into a balloon, then letting the air out, but breathing in some of that. Phil told her it's not good to do that or she might pass out. I joked that she might blow up or something. I'm not sure HOW we went from that to the next part, but maybe someone suggested that it was putting too much air into you and that air needed to be, um, expelled. Phil then was trying to explain that he had more of that air inside of him because of his high pressure CPAP he uses every night. However, like many of us over 40 (or 50 or 70), sometimes the words we think and the words we say aren't the same. His sentence came out, "That's what happens when you suck in a lot of air all night through a nose." I cracked up & told Bethany to NEVER suck in air through her nose. She said, "I thought he said nose." He meant to say HOSE I think, as in the hose from the CPAP machine to the mask.

So, I now think the reason the Magnolia stamps do not have noses is to prevent sucking in too much air and needing to expel it afterwards. LOL!

Pumpkins and Turkeys!

On Sunday we took a trip out to Medina, Texas. Yes, it is about as big as it sounds. To get there you drive through Pipe Creek, then Bandera Texas, plus a few other little towns. It's a very Texan drive! We saw longhorn cattle and trail riders on horses on our way. I'm sure Phil saw even more interesting sites as he went on his motorcycle and took the scenic route (aka the back winding curvy oh-so-fun for him roads that would make me throw up! LOL!).

I will save most of our trip to tell about another day, but wanted to share a few quick pics & tell a bit about the Pumpkin Patch. First, in this part of the world, a Pumpkin Patch is not where you pick a pumpkin. Well, you PICK one as in CHOOSING one, but they don't grow around here. It's more like a Pumpkin Gallery or Exhibition. This Pumpkin Patch has many varieties of pumpkins. The girls thought the Blue Pumpkins looked molded & rotten. Thanks to Natalie's keen eyes and love of bargaining and shopping, we bought 3 good size pie pumpkins for $1 each. I laughed in the car & said, "They were only $1, plus the cost to drive out there, pay admission, and buy drinks, but they were only $1!" LOL!

There are animals at this place, too. In a small gated area a lady had 2 horses and a pony. The pony had been bought from someone who did not care for the animal. They named him Bucky because he was so wild that all he did was buck in the trailer and in his new home at first. He is now 2 years old and stood still for people to pet him. Natalie was in her element. She petted all 3 several times. I fell in love with a dog named Levi. He is a Golden/Labrador mix and the sweetest dog. Natalie & I would love a dog but Daddy still says no. : (

Then there were chicks to hold. I took Natalie towards the area with the chicks, but before I knew it, she had gone ahead, was in the "circle" and holding a chick.

Bethany held one next and got the full effect of farm life. Check out the Chick's "gift" on her jeans.

Next we walked down to an area where turkeys were roaming. People had been petting them. They seemed fairly tame. Natalie & I stroked the back of one, not provoking it, but being very careful. The bird became very interested in Bethany, who was not even touching or close to it. I moved over towards her & he kept getting closer as she backed away from him. She had a drink, but no food. She was not only NOT provoking the bird, she was trying to carefully move away. She has been known to pester some animals and likes to chase birds in parking lots, but this time she was truly minding her own business. Suddenly, he bit her fingers! Not the hand with the drink, but her hand with NO food, NO drink, nothing for the bird. As she pulled her hand away, he pecked at the elbow on her other arm. She got teary eyed & I was worried that she was really hurt. Okay, I also was thinking that birds could have some weird diseases we've never heard of. We didn't have neosporin with us, of course, but they had antibacterial hand sanitizer that we put on her finger.

I told her that Thanksgiving would be her day for revenge when she ate turkey. In her little literal Asperger mind, she processed that differently than I did. She apparently didn't feel that it would be true revenge because, "The turkey would already be dead." LOL! Later I asked her if she was scared when he bit her. She said, "No, I was mad! I wanted someone to take an axe and chop off his head!" She's not really a violent child, I promise! I couldn't help but laugh. I think we'd just talked about how chickens were killed last week, so I guess it was fresh on her mind.

By the way, I let the Pumpkin Patch know about this. As I told them, I knew we were in the birds' territory. We understood that & even though the bite was unprovoked, the birds had become accustomed to being fed, so they were looking for a handout. My bigger concern was that a small child would run from his parents to the turkeys and get hurt. I received an e-mail reply this morning from them with an apology and thanks that we let them know. Bethany is fine. She hurts herself worse than that on any given day when she is doing some kind of stunt, like climbing the walls!

More another day....

Please stop howling!

"Please stop howling!" I realize that it is close to Halloween, but that has nothing to do with this post. I'm guessing that at some point someone out there has used this phrase...while talking to a dog. We don't have a dog.

What do we have and why would I say this? We have a child with Asperger Syndrome, mild autism, social delays, whatever you might want to call it today!

We told her to take a shower. About 30 minutes later I found her in her room. Granted she had her night clothes in her hands, but she was in her room at the computer. I told her again. "Mom, I'm going. I just needed to do this first." Take a shower NOW! Off she goes to the bathroom. I was next door in the craft room. I didn't hear water at first. I thought maybe she was, um, taking care of business first. After quite some time, I call out, "Are you in the shower?" I knew she wasn't running water, but I asked anyway. She then runs out of her room and tells me, "I'm going to get in now!" Sigh.

She finally gets in the shower. This child sings. She sings well. She sings a lot. It was not unusual to hear her singing in the shower. Actually, both our girls sing in the shower. I don't. I think in the shower. I am ALONE in the shower with no one asking me questions or wanting me to do something for them RIGHT THEN. Well, the singing suddenly turned into something that sounded like this, "Awooooooooooooo....oooooooooooo. awwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooooooo....." and continued in different pitches. I'm sure she could reproduce the exact sound if asked. The other child was already asleep, so I didn't want this to wake her up. I was about to say something when it stopped. A few minutes passed and again I heard "Awwwwwwwwwwwooooooooooooooooooooooooo...." I finally called out, "Please stop howling!"

I then laughed to myself thinking how I never dreamed I would be telling my teenage daughter to stop howling. After she got out of the shower I heard Phil telling her, as she was going downstairs, "WALK down the stairs. Walk on both feet. Walk standing up. That isn't standing up." I can only imagine she was climbing the wall as she went down, using the bannister as a balance beam, or finding some mode of movement other than using her 2 feet the way God intended.

All I can think now is how boring life must be for parents of normal kids. I think boring must be nice! LOL!

Got Aloe?

To my faithful followers, all 2 of you (ha, ha!), you might remember when I posted about our incredibly long spell of days with 100 plus temps. Can you believe we went the whole summer with no sunburns? The girls did get sunburned in MARCH when they went to the beach with some friends, but all summer, when it was hotter than blazes, nothing, nada, nil. That is a GOOD, no, a GREAT thing! We (the girls & I) are so fair that we tend to burn quite rapidly. We kept the sunscreen on when we did go out, but we didn't go into the sun much this summer.

Well, fast forward to October and our first week with nice cool temps. I had a garage sale. The morning it started, it was overcast and cool. Perfect garage sale weather. Gradually the clouds departed and the sun shone. Gradually my driveway, which faces southwest, ran out of shade. Gradually, my face was getting pinker and pinker, but I didn't know it. Natalie's face also turned pink, but she was gone for a few hours, so she didn't get the brunt of it.

Who gets their only sunburn in years in OCTOBER? A dork named Lori, that's who! I did not leave the house today. I woke up at 6 hurting so badly, took some ibuprofen & managed to sleep some more. I even asked Phil to go to the store. He does NOT do shopping if at all possible. My sweet neighbor Janie has an aloe vera plant, so I've used that to put on my sunburn, but I asked Phil to get me some lotion with aloe in it. He came close. He got me the aloe gel. I wonder if I mix it with lotion if it won't be so sticky (I wanted lotion to avoid the stickiness & itchiness). My friend Kathy has used milk of magnesia on sunburn, but I think we are out of that, too. Can you say DORK, DORK, DORK??? Good grief Charlie Brown!

I am SO thankful for beautiful weather. I hope I don't sound ungrateful for a beautiful sunny day with mild temperatures. I'm just kicking myself for not even THINKING about sunscreen or a hat. And I am going to humiliate myself and show you pictures of me, hair unbrushed (you can see my curls when it's not brushed) and mulitple chins I seem to have. Let this be a reminder to wear sunscreen even in the fall! At least it's a reminder to me.

The "Garbage" Sale is over! LOL! I started calling it that this week. Then I decided if I wanted to be politically correct (as if I worry about that often) I'd call it "Recycle Sale." What's left of the Pampered Chef items is listed below. I found a way to put the prices. Some of the descriptions may be cut off, though. If so, you can see those at the last post. I'll put these on Craig's List probably on Wednesday or Thursday, so let me know if you are interested in any of this by then. These prices don't include any shipping costs, so that would be added on.

Your Cost
	Brand New Items:
6	Oven Pad
12	Windowpane Placemats White with cranberry stripes (2)
	Display only
17	BBQ Grill Basket
	Used
3	Avocado Peeler (old style handle)
3	3-Way Tongs (plastic salad tongs/fork/spoon)
4	Bamboo Spoon Set (old style)
4	Cheese Knife (old style handle)
8	Chef's Knife in Sharpening Case (old style, case is broken but will still sharpen, just will not keep knife tightly in the case)
15	Chillzanne Cooler (small "ice chest" with freezable pieces; can configure pieces to hold bottles & more)
4	Crinkle Cutter (old style)
15	Forged Paring Knife
3	Help Whip Cancer Clips (set of 2)
3	Large Bamboo Tongs (old style, not the flip over ones we have now)
5	Large Scoop
5	Microfiber towel and washcloth---Lavendar
3	Nylon Pasta Spoon
3	Nylon Spatula
15	Oil Dipping Set (Bottle with 3 dipping bowls)
5	Orange Classic Scraper
5	Pastry Blender (old style)
2	Pink Lemon Aide
6	Plastic Lid for Deep Dish Baker
6	Plastic Lid for Rectangular Baker
2	Scoop Clip
8	Simple Additions Long Rectangles (about 1.5" wide, 1 is length of tray, 2 others are half-length of tray)
15	Simple Additions Long Platter ARTICHOKE
15	Simple Additions Long Tray STRIPES
5	Simple Additions Small Bowl TILES
10	Simple Additions Square White Coffee Cups (2)
20	Simple Additons Small Bowls and Mini Squares (Cranberry, Eggplant, mustard)
4	Small Scoop
3	Spreader with Mustard Color Ceramic Handle
12	Stoneware Deep Dish Baking Bowl--a bowl shaped piece of stoneware that fits with the Deep Dish Baker (round 11" stone). You can use it as a lid if you are baking in the DD Baker, or as a bowl and use the DD Baker as the lid to create your own clay baker.
10	Stoneware Mini Baking Bowl Same as above but fits the round mini-baker
15	Stoneware Mini-Baker---Vanilla
25	Stoneware Rectangular Lid/Bowl (as above, but fits rectangular baker; this is larger than the rectangular baker and is great for doing a small turkey or a deep dish casserole)
10	Stoneware Small Oval Baker---Vanilla
6	Tiles Table Runner
8	Wine Bottle Opener (old style)
15	Woven Selections Large Round Basket with wood bottom
12	Woven Selections Long Rectangle Basket with wood bottom
5	Yellow Classic Scraper
6	Cutting Board (old style) medium size
	Well used
2	Pastry Brush (old style, boar's hair bristles)
7	Small Round Stone (size of a dinner plate, well seasoned)

Pampered Chef Clearance Items

I'm trying to clear out some space in my house & am selling quite a bit of my Pampered Chef items. If you are interested, let me know ASAP. I'll be putting most of it out in a garage sale this weekend, but will hold back any items you claim. Prices do NOT include shipping, so we can figure that in based on what you get. You can e-mail me or just leave a comment with your e-mail address or other form of contact. The "price if bought new" is missing on some b/c they are older items & I have no idea what the new price was, other than it was higher than this! LOL! I don't have any pictures right now, but you can see some of the general design of the items at my PC website . Thanks!

		Price if bought new	Your Cost
Brand New Items:
	Oven Pad	10.5	6
	Windowpane Placemats White with cranberry stripes (2)	19.5	12
Display only	BBQ Grill Basket	26.5	17
Display only	Party Sticks (one holds a bottle, 6 for drinks)	39	20
Used	Avocado Peeler (old style handle)	6	3
	3-Way Tongs (plastic salad tongs/fork/spoon)		3
	Bamboo Spoon Set (new style)	9.5	4
	Bamboo Spoon Set (old style)	9.5	4
	Cake Stencils		4
	Caraffe (old style off white color)		15
	Cheese Knife (old style handle)	9.25	4
	Chef's Knife in Sharpening Case (old style, case is broken but will still sharpen, just will not keep knife tightly in the case)	32	8
	Chillzanne Cooler (small "ice chest" with freezable pieces; can configure pieces to hold bottles & more)		15
	Crinkle Cutter (old style)	10.5	4
	Easy Accent Decorator (old style)	19.5	8
	Forged Paring Knife	29	15
	Help Whip Cancer Clips (set of 2)		3
	Julienne peeler	9.5	4
	Large Bamboo Tongs (old style, not the flip over ones we have now)		3
	Large Scoop	14.5	5
	Microfiber towel and washcloth---Lavendar	8.5	5
	Nylon Pasta Spoon		3
	Nylon Spatula		3
	Oil Dipping Set (Bottle with 3 dipping bowls)		15
	Orange Classic Scraper	11.5	5
	Pastry Blender (old style)		5
	Pink Lemon Aide		2
	Plastic Lid for Deep Dish Baker		6
	Plastic Lid for Rectangular Baker		6
	Scoop Clip	5	2
	Serrated Peeler	7.5	3
	Simple Additions Long Rectangles (about 1.5" wide, 1 is length of tray, 2 others are half-length of tray)		8
	Simple Additions Long Platter ARTICHOKE	29	15
	Simple Additions Long Tray STRIPES	29	15
	Simple Additions Small Bowl TILES	8	5
	Simple Additions Square White Coffee Cups (2)		10
	Simple Additons Small Bowls and Mini Squares (Cranberry, Eggplant, mustard)		20
	Slice & Serve (old style handle)	7.5	3
	Small Scoop	12.5	4
	Spreader with Mustard Color Ceramic Handle		3
	Stoneware Deep Dish Baking Bowl--a bowl shaped piece of stoneware that fits with the Deep Dish Baker (round 11" stone). You can use it as a lid if you are baking in the DD Baker, or as a bowl and use the DD Baker as the lid to create your own clay baker.		12
	Stoneware Mini Baking Bowl Same as above but fits the round mini-baker		10
	Stoneware Mini-Baker---Vanilla	24	15
	Stoneware Rectangular Lid/Bowl (as above, but fits rectangular baker; this is larger than the rectangular baker and is great for doing a small turkey or a deep dish casserole)		25
	Stoneware Small Oval Baker---Vanilla		10
	Tiles Table Runner		6
	Vegetable Peeler	6.5	3
	Wine Bottle Opener (old style)		8
	Woven Selections Large Round Basket with wood bottom		15
	Woven Selections Long Rectangle Basket with wood bottom		12
	Yellow Classic Scraper	11.5	5
	Cutting Board (old style) medium size	17	6
	Ice Cream Dipper	14.75	5
	Nylon Small spatula		1
Well used	Pastry Brush (old style, boar's hair bristles)		2
	Small Round Stone (size of a dinner plate, well seasoned)		5

What season is it again?

We had the hottest summer ever, so it was the best surprise that on the first day of fall, we had a cold front! Mind you, a cold front here is more like a cool front, but to US it was a cold front. It also brought rain! The temps never went back up to the high 90's after that. This past weekend we had a serious cold front for this time of year. We had a day when the temperature never rose above 59! While you may think, "Yes, this IS fall, that IS fall weather," if you live in South Texas you see those numbers and think it's the dead of winter. I rather enjoyed that change!

I just looked at the forecast. Today we should reach about 80. By Thursday they are forecasting 90! Then on Friday a high of 74.

My husband and I once saw a show talking about the advances made in the field of weather forecasting over the past 40 years. The narrator ended the show by saying, "Forty years ago we could not accurately predict the forecast. Today, with all the modern tools and technology to help us, we still can't." LOL!

My girls & I did see something that made us wonder not only what season it was but where we might be. One "blinking" sign with the time & temp said it was -196. Farenheit or Celsius, that's just a tad too cold for this Texas gal!

Hope you enjoy your week, wherever you live and whatever weather you are having.

Costumes

My girls went to a costume birthday party tonight. Natalie picked out what she wants to be for Halloween (which I like to call Hallelujah Evening or literally it's "Holy Evening" I suppose, plus Reformation Day AND most importantly, my mom's birthday!). She's a piece of Candy Corn, but so much sweeter. I finished her costume just minutes before we left, only because they were at their LAST birthday party til 4:30 today!

Bethany, on the other hand, made her own costume. She had this idea years ago & made a similar hat, but it's long gone. She's the squeakiest clean kid around and NO GERMS! I told someone we need to find some kind of water shooter that we can attach in the hat & she could really squirt! LOL!


While they are gone I was going to start some Gluten free bread, but found out I have no yeast. I'll have to pick some up. I haven't had bread in a bit! Meanwhile, the Aggies are apparently doing quite well against Arkansas, from the sound of things downstairs! LOL! Gig 'em!

A Different Stage of Life

Are any of you the baby of the family? It's an interesting birth order. It means you probably got away with a lot more than your older siblings. It also means you had different parents than your oldest sibling had, even though they are the same people. Let me explain.

My brother is 8 years older than I am. Well, almost 8 years older. Our other brother (who died when he was 17) was 5 years older than I am. Mom says they had to wait a LONG time before having another child after he was born. Let's just say he & Natalie were cut of the same mold. My niece Becky has the same genes as well. Just sayin'. So I came along & thanks to his shenanigans I appeared to be an angelic child, at least when I was young.

When I was 12, my brother Steve was killed in a car accident. By then, Greg (my oldest brother), was in college (though living at home), working, driving, etc. He did the driving & working part at the age when most kids do. My parents were more cautious with me. After losing a child in a car accident, I don't blame them! Plus, by then we lived in the "country" sort of (Canyon Lake) and driving at night meant lots of nothingness around, except deer to charge your car. Yes, I did have a deer run into my car (funny, years later my husband had a deer run into our car!). So, that's one way my folks were different with me.

The other thing is that Greg got married really young & had kids really young. My mom was a grandmother at 43! Phil was 41 when we had our 2nd child! Greg grew up having the "young" parents in the group, and so did his kids. I grew up having the "older" parents in the group. Ha! They were SO much younger than we are at the same stages! My parents were grandparents when I was in high school & college. I've spent most of my life being Aunt Lori. I always say I've either been a kid or been taking care of kids my entire life.

So, what does that have to do with this stage of life? My husband is a few months older than my brother. Yes, he is 8 years older than I am. And 4 days. But whose counting? LOL! We have a 13 year old and a 10 year old. By the way, we have a lot of friends, especially in the homeschooling community, who also are our ages with kids the ages of our kids. Some started late, but others just have a lot of kids spread out in ages. I was 15 when I became an Aunt. I was 31 when I became a mom. My nephew, who is 29, became a dad this year. Are you still with me? This means my brother is a GRANDFATHER and he is the same age as Phil. Some of Phil's friends had grandkids when we were just having kids.

It's odd for me to realize I'm older now than Mom was when she became a grandmother, but I am nowhere near being a grandmother. It's strange to think that some people who graduated from High School with me probably have grandkids. I go on Facebook & see these precious grandbaby pictures & think, "Wow, those people are so YOUNG to be grandparents!" but really, it's just that we aren't so young to have kids the ages they are. It's strange to think we are only 10 years out of our having babies stage, yet more than 10 years (WAY more, please!) from having grandbabies.

It's an odd place in life to be, but I have others who are right there with me. I suppose it will be great fun for us all to be playing with our grandchildren.....from our walkers! LOL!

Coming soon: my child's creative costume!