Little Ones Can Make Centerpieces Too!

While walking around and such, we are always picking up things to bring home. 

We had an abundance of Pinecombs and other interesting things that fall from trees  (I have no idea what they're called!)  Not to mention all the rock, stick, and seed "collections".

I pulled out a tray and lined it with fall looking napkins so we wouldn't scratch the wood. 

Stuck a couple of candles in the middle.

The girls carefully arranged everything. 

Hannah was so proud we found a use for some of her collection.

Isn't that lovely?  They did a great job.

Yester Years

 "Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee"

Two weekends ago, we finally made the time to clean out the garage.  The garage becomes the dumping ground of all the things we don't want to deal with unpacking.  I scheduled an SA TRUCK pick-up to let my family know that I really meant it when I said we're cleaning out the garage. 

I came across a box that I must not have opened for years.  Old dresses and pictures.  My flower girl dress from when I was in my Aunt Sylvia's wedding at 6 years of age.  My old Sunbeam and Girl Guard uniforms and sashes and more.  

My Sunbeam hat and tie.

I cried opening the box.  I'm just sentimental like that.  I hardly look at old pictures, even of my children, because reminiscing about the past just fills my heart with all kinds of emotion that isn't all that useful for my day to day living!  I'm still in the "onward ho!" phase of my life.  I will reminisce more when I'm old :)  say 90.... or so.

My 6th grade graduation dress!  1988, 12 years old.

Lo and behold it still fit, although its looking a little more hoochy on me now.  lol!

I had Paul take all sorts of pictures of me and my old clothes ;)  He ended up working much harder in the garage than I because I got so sidetracked and crying and happy and everything.  That man is earning extra credit in heaven because of being married to me.  Glad I can play my part.

My 6th grade traffic patrol jacket, of which I was the Captain and got a trophy for being the best one in the District.  The only trophy I ever won was for my bossiness, but I did it well!  I loved leading my squad, organizing the schedules, reporting people, rewarding people, and stopping traffic with my STOP sign and whistle.  Left, left, left, right, left. (ROTFL!!)

My wonderful husband tells me that I still stop traffic (wink, wink.)

This is the dress I wore when I was in my best friend's sister's wedding as the candlelighter.   I believe I was 13 the last time I wore this dress.   Fit beautifully, and still just my taste.  Peach and so feminine.    See my tattoo?    Her Aunt made the dress and the print was my favorite because I later chose the same fabric for my mom to sew my 8th grade graduation dress, except in lilac.

I started working my first paycheck getting job when I was 14 at our 7 Eleven.  Before that I babysat often and also cared for a neighbor lady who was dying of cancer.   I was always uncomfortable having my boss insist that I sit on his lap when he dressed up as Santa every year.  Pervert.    I also Bellrang for my Corps and later on got hired at Marine World Africa USA working in the game booths.  I had a great time getting people to my booth, but felt awful selling games that I myself couldn't even win.  Especially to the children.  That worked itself out when I was sent off on Service Corps then to CFOT. 

               My mom made this dress for my 8th grade graduation pictured below. 

I picked out the pattern and the fabric.  She did a great job. 

6 years and 360 days later I became an Officer, an ordained minister in The Salvation Army.

7 years and 1 day later I became a wife to the only man for me.

9 years later He began to multiply our union with baby David.

I am so blessed by God's GRACE.

I bet you are too.

Although I set out to clean out a garage, God had set out to remind me of His full and overwhelming faithfulness to me over the course of my life.   Words cannot express.   At times I have struggled greatly, but He is always present. Nudging me, holding me, setting me exactly where He wants me, and holding me to the promises I've made.  Praise Him for for His firm and gentle ways.

Backyard Learning

Have you ever done a Bug Battle? 

Catch as many bugs as you can, or snails, worms, etc.

Gather them all together and put them under Mom's glass serving dish.

Watch the battle unfold.

We do practice catch and release.

There actually is never much too it.  They mostly stay away from eachother.  You can tell when the spider is getting mad and the fangs protude and they stand on their hind legs.  The snail takes it easy and hidey-holes in it's shell.  The worm gets all hard. The roley polley curls up and rolls around. 

I enjoy so much pointing out nature to the children.  We are big on stopping and noticing things.  I believe we learn so very much about our Heavenly Father and the ways of the world just by taking in nature.  I am also most content when I am outside. 

Early one morning, Paul caught toads at the base of our fence.

I have a ton of pictures over the years of Paul holding up some sort of wildlife for the children.  I think it's great.  To complete my collection would be Paul holding up a Skunk :)) 

                         Even little Mary gave him a good pet. 

 “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”-Isaiah 6:3

Pumpkin

I didn't believe it, so I had to try it for myself.

Stir one box of Cake mix with one 15 ounce can of Pumpkin.

Fill muffin pan holes 2/3 full. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes

and

waalaah

~Pumpkin Muffins~

I made mini-muffins so I baked for about 12 minutes.

I also added 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice because I just couldn't imagine using only 2 ingredients.

I can't wait to do this again with a box of carrot cake mix and then I will glaze with powdered sugar icing.  I may even dare a chocolate cake mix. 

I love pumpkin and have already stocked my pantry shelves with 14 cans.  That will last well through the Holiday Season plus more for later.  I even eat it straight from the can and so did all of my babies.  

Soon, I will begin baking Pumpkin Pies of which I follow the recipe on the back of the Libby's can, but I always DOUBLE the amount of spices it calls for.  That is how my mom taught me and I really like all the flavor.

Also Pumpkin Cornbread and Creamy Ginger-Pumpkin Soup will be on the menu this month. 

Once, my grandmother fed her baby so many carrots from the abundance of the garden that her baby turned orange-toned.  I'm curious if that could happen from eating to much pumpkin.  We will soon see :)

Our October 31st Day!

I am a sucker for tradition.  No matter where we live or what our appointment, there a certain things that must be done on certain days!  I think it makes for stability, routine, and blessed discipline :)

October 31st is one of those days.

The children and I packed 140 treat bags for our Staff and Men.  Mary kept stealing candy so there was a lot of crying on her part until her final lesson stuck with  her.  Everyone else did great.  After years of the older children being expected to help, it is becoming natural for them and they anticipate the special projects with excitement.  The littles catch the excitement too.  I'm glad to see some of my "towing the line" pay off! 

Next year I am recruiting someone to help me tie off the bags with ribbon.  I was tying long after everyone else was done with their tasks.  Woe is me ;)

When you move to a new place, you try to focus on the perks, the upsides.  Like how we were able to carve pumpkins outside!  I was especially glad since I had just mopped the floors. 

Also, our trick or treating was great with no hills or stairs that the children had to climb.  The kids were always falling with all the stairs in The Dalles and it was happening in San Francisco too.

I LOVE trick or treating in a new neighborhood.  It is the only chance we have to knock on the neighbors door and check them out.  Otherwise, I never see anyone.

I think pumpkin carving is my favorite part of all! 

Afterschool we went and handed out the treats at the Center.  The kids were all dressed up and competing to who could give out the most.  There were some tears on Hannah's part that noone was taking hers, but she just couldn't be seen.  She was quite satisfied when we let her hand out to the kitchen crew all by herself.

                      Hannah the Mid-Evil Queen

                              Mary the Little Mermaid

                               Elijah the Spartan

                                    Ann the Barbie Mermaid

David the Banana

David stayed behind this year and handed out the candy while at the same time building a candy catapult with his Kinect set.  He had a blast, but it was different not to bring him.  Life just keeps on a changin'!

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it."

~1 Corinthians 10:26

Back to Blogging

I'm back.  I was not "feeling it" to blog much, or really be on the computer much at all.  I get way over-stimulated and then I think my brain short-circuits.  I know that happens when sparks fly out of my ears.

A few of us just got over a round of sickness, but other than that we are all happy and healthy.  I am praising God in a lot of ways lately, even in my uncomfortableness in certain areas.  He is maturing my faith in intense ways.  He is at work beyond what our eyes and ears tell us!

                                    
Last night we did a round of Pumpkin Carving with our Men.  It was a great time of real fellowship to have, our family with them, making a huge mess :)  It was good and even better to have help cleaning up!  As we walked around checking out their pumpkins, I was envisioning them carving pumpkins with their children.  My dad always carved pumpkins with us, and I remember the lesson I learned every year "Don't stop scraping and scooping until ALL the guts are out".  (A lesson I still apply to life today!)  I also remember my dad's own strong, tattooed arm carving away the tough spots for us.  Maybe I'm awfuly hopeful, but I have so much hope that these men will be walking with God and restored to their families and our Army will be stronger in number and influence.

Our home is nicely decorated with Fall things. I have been making an effort to keep everything lit up and all the blinds open because it is getting darker earlier.  I hate a dark house.  My family is getting tired of me saying "It is so dark in here!" even with all the lights on. I imagine it will get worse when daylight savings starts.   What I really need is a glass ceiling.  

I will post pictures soon.  We had to take our computer in to repair and this backup can't handle much.  I love when we go through my blog and look at all the pictures and past happenings.  It's like an extra brain to help store memories.

Paul was gone for the last few days and the kids and I enjoyed eating breakfast for dinner every night.  (Paul doesn't like breakfast for dinner.)  Can you believe we went through 4 dozen eggs!!! Holy Cow, I mean Holy Chicken!

I have a lot packed into today, Cinnamon Rolls and Bacon for breakfast, haircuts for the boys, trip to CostCo for candy (for the Center), pumpkin hunting and carving for us Chouinard's, company coming for dinner, and stuffing candy bags for our Staff and Men for Halloween. 



some pics

We just now got our PC hooked up.  In the kitchen, in the wide open.  A good place for it to be ;)  Although as I sit here, I am needed by someone about every 10 seconds.  So now I'm relating computer time with annoying time.   Which equals less time.   Fine by me, I'm loving our weather here!!  Hot Mamma!

Here are some of our goings on around home.

                       Hannah fell asleep like this.  Little cutie-pie.

              Mary gets this from me... throwing her head up to heaven with a sigh...."God help me".

                Ann doing her musical jewelry box project.

                  Elijah and his lego project.

                      David and his lego project.

     Daddy-O in the pool with his little mermaids and mermen.

                           David helping Ann on his Ripstick.

                         Elijah cleaning out the pool.

                                     Hannah's boat.

                          Chouinards on wheels.  Look out!

I can hardly get enough of my rollerblades. 

When I was jumping in the pool with my clothes on (I'll do the other when the kids are in bed ;)))

my scrunchie came out of my hair and Elijah freaked out  "Mom's panties!!" 

So funny when I threw it at him.  As if my panties would be that little!

                                               Isn't this a cool picture?

                                                    This one too!

MYO pizza night.

All of my doughs rise so quick here.  I put it on the back porch and it will double in half an hour.

                                              David shootin' some b-ball