Halloween - Jury is still out.

I have not yet decided if I really like the Halloween holiday. I suppose you could say the jury is still out. The costumes that are out there for purchase are overpriced and in most cases either cheesy or sleazy. Nothing I would want to wear and definitely nothing I want my girls to wear. Getting lucky this year, or so I thought, my oldest daughter found a costume of her auntie's from when her auntie used to dance. She was sold immediately. :) Then my youngest decided she wanted to be a gypsy. This seemed easy to me. I could grab some scarfs or scraps of material and sew them around the top of a skirt, add some jingly bracelets and necklaces, a head scarf and she would be the most fabulous little gypsy. So we discussed this and she looked at me with these big wide sad eyes and said "mom, that's not a gypsy." Huh? What do you mean that isn't a gypsy? Sounds like a gypsy to me. So we tried a few more suggestions and it was obvious that what I was thinking of as a gypsy and what was in her little head were two totally different things. So with that we headed to the costume store.

We ended up with what I believe is a perfect compromise. It isn't a gypsy, but our Ellie was the most precious and perfect Dorothy there ever could be. :)

Nighty night nap time.

I have definitely been blessed with two totally different children. My oldest has never been too fond of naps. I can't remember a nap where I didn't have to rub her back or her feet or her face or arms. She just loves to be sung to, cuddled and for me to run my fingers along her skin. There have been quite a few times that I have actually fallen asleep doing this only to be woken up by her exclaiming to "keep rubbing mommy." And so when my youngest came along I was sure nap time would be the same process. I was wrong. My youngest LOVES her naps. In fact she gets quite upset and sad when she doesn't get them.

This year is my sweet E Claire's last year of preschool. They meet 3 afternoons a week from 12:30 until 3. I am not sure whos idea it was to have it in the afternoon right at her nap time, but she doesn't like it. Every morning she will ask, "Is it a school day today?" If I answer yes I automatically get a sad face and the retort "that means no nap today, huh mommy?"

Now don't get me wrong she thinks school itself is fabulous but she loves her naps WAY more. On school days I will pick her up and she asks me if I have her blankie because she needs "nighty night nap time." I figure this is my ballance for my O who doesn't want anything to do with naps or going to bed at night.

Gotta love their differences. :)

Hood River, Oregon

Another fabulous weekend with my wonderful girlfriends has come and gone. It is hard to believe that we have been getting together every year for 6 years now. This year we all met up in Hood River, OR where we found a great little house right in town. It was the perfect size for those of us that made it this year. It was clean, well stocked, and easy to find. The owners were great to work with and the cost was amazingly reasonable. We will definitely keep this in mind if we ever head back to Hood River.

One thing I have discovered is it takes WAY more time to get groceries in a store you have never been in than in a store you are comfortable and familiar with. It took me over an hour to get all the groceries for the weekend and I was by myself. Totally insane. Next time I will definitely contemplate getting the groceries at home and taking them with me.

Friday night everyone arrived. We had some great appetizers and snacks, drinks and visited. After heading to bed and getting a great night sleep we were ready for the day Saturday morning. We had cinnamon marble bread french toast with butter syrup, bacon and scrambled eggs. It was all delicious. We all got ready and headed out. We were blessed to have Kathy's little one Rebecca with us. It was so much fun. She is such a good baby.

Saturday we explored downtown, visited the Harvest Festival which included dodging in and out of the rain, had lunch in a cafe and snapped lots of pics of each other as we had a blast. What better fun could there be than hanging out with girl friends?

Saturday night we were back at the house for a fabulous dinner that had been cooking all day in the slow cooker and games and more visiting. Simply it was an amazing weekend and I can't wait until next year at Long Beach/Ocean Shores.

Bert & Loni

Here are our two new additions to our family.

Loni

Bert

Two cute little sleepy kitties.

Ellie, Bert & Loni

Nightmares.

My oldest had her first nightmares last night. It was such a sad moment. She woke up and came in our bedroom with tears covering her face. I pulled her up onto the bed and she cuddled on my lap crying. I asked her what had happened and she just told me that there were scary dreams about spooky things. So we laid there and talked about all the good happy things she could dream about for the rest of the night while her daddy rubbed her back. These were some of the suggestions that came up:

1. Butterflies.
2. Wild horses
3. Unicorns
4. Rainbows
5. Disneyland (This was a top choice for Olyvia. She said it was probably the best idea.)
6. The beach
7. Being on TV with Rachel Ray (Another very good idea in Olyvia's book.)
8. Cuddling with mommy (This was one of my favorites.)
9. Fields of flowers.
10. Her new kitties.

After this discussion she was in a much better mood and ready to go off to her bed and dream about Disneyland and Rachel Ray.

Testing my patience.

I really am not sure if I am winning. In fact, I am pretty sure that I am loosing the test my oldest daughter is currently putting me through. It is as if she knows when I am on my last nerve or can no longer take the arguing or screaming or fits because it is then that they get worse or louder or totally unbearable. I know that this is not only a test for me but a lesson for her as well. Each moment is a teaching moment. How I react is going to teach her how she should behave in the future. I understand that. My question is how do I survive the process?