C'est l'Halloween!

BOO!   

RAWWWR!

In their daycare costumes... (Elliot's T-Rex wasn't finished yet.) Felix wouldn't take the lion suit off all day! And couldn't wait to put it back on for tonight...it's the end of an era, as Elliot's worn that suit the past 2 years. It won't fit anyone next year, so it will be donated to the daycare. I'm going to start scouring the second hand shops for cheap, bigger costumes and dress up clothes and start a tickle trunk for them.

Nearing the end of their trick-or-treating. Elliot was beyond wired for it. He would run from house to house, shouting "Trick or treat - I love candy!!!" What a basket case. He was already exhausted from a busy day and no nap and weird eating times. Had a melt down at supper and very nearly missed getting outside for Halloween at all. But it worked, I found a way to cajole him into eating his supper without actually spoon feeding him like a baby - which is what he wanted - and then we got a late start.

The heavy tail kept dragging on the ground and getting hooked on steps and doors. But he loved it. So brave. One house had their porch set up as a haunted house, complete with a smoke machine. He declared "I'm not afraid of ANYTHING!" and marched up there to claim his candy. 

 Jay's handliwork, lit with mini Halloween lights. 

In other news, I've joined the NaNoWriMo and have accepted the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel before November 30th. Might just be the bit of motivation I need to get creative. Though, I will be more difficult for the first few days, because I was viciously attacked by a can of condensed milk while gathering ingredients for tonight's supper.  Heavy can + 2 foot drop + ceramic tile =

Holy frack it hurts!!! It's still throbbing and the pain is radiating down the finger, into my wrist and up my arm. After it happened and I howled in the kitchen for a bit, I managed to grab an ice pack (ok, a bag of frozen french cut green beans) and ran down to Jay's office in the basement, shaking and bawling. Scared the poor man, but he quickly got me back upstairs and secured a real ice pack and found the ibuprofen.I hope it heals fast. But given my track record, it probably won't!

And now, I should get my hand out of the candy bag, drag the double stroller up the front steps because I can hear the rain pattering down, and get myself to bed. Night, peeps!

Precursor

To whet your Halloween appetite....

Fat

Since I've ballooned up so much in size over the past few months, year, 4 years, a good friend who has been working extremely hard to slim down brought over all of her too-large clothes for me to try on tonight.

It was fun to go shopping in my own home. But so sad when I saw the size of the clothes that were now fitting me. I know I'm not healthy. I know my eating habits need a major change and I'm not working out except for walking (lots) so that needs to improve, too. I have a good 35 lbs of pure fat that needs to come off.

But the big issue is where I'm carrying my weight. It's all in my tummy. I look pregnant. Seriously. They don't make clothes for my body shape, hell, my body shape doesn't even exist. I call it "Snake Swallowed A Pig".

Oh wait - they do make clothes for me. In the maternity section.

Frack. I need to get myself in gear. This is so depressing and frustrating. And tummy weight like this is so unhealthy. It's the worst kind of fat to have. So I've read. I have a gym membership that's gathering dust on the kitchen counter. Only a month left to it. I looked at Weight Watchers today, but it's too pricey. I have excuses for everything. I also want to get check ed out by a doctor to make sure there's nothing growing in there. No, not a baby! But maybe a stone baby or a tumor or something.

Ok enough moaning already, woman!!!

Share your motivational tips and stories, please....

Another late night

Oh so unflattering. But here I am, awkwardly asleep on the couch, Doritos close at hand, my book is mashed up under me, cat contentedly sleeping on me, glasses askew... such a hot mess! I blame the wine I had with dinner, some 5 hours before this picture was taken.

Today's line up includes scrubbing the dirty Dorito taste out of my mouth, taking the boys to soccer and going to a Ladies' Halloween Tea Party. So I should really start in on that costume, huh? I am NOT the crafty parent in this family. Jay has been staying up late most nights working on Elliot's T-Rex costume. He bought a pattern and fabric (all picked out by Elliot) and now he's fighting with it. Oh yes, and he bought a new sewing machine, too, since my ancient Singer is pretty much for looks only.

Hokey Pokey

The boys put on quite the show for us last night.

Bonkyhead

Another day, another headache. After drinking tea for the past few days, I made a decaf coffee last night. And within an hour, I was angry and tense and everything was going wrong.

Arriving home from daycare, Felix ran away, Elliot was trying to bring a handful of sticks into the house for a project (which are currently still on the floor in the hallway). I chased down Felix and brought him, kicking and screaming, into the house just in time for Melon - aka hellcat - to escape out the front door, Elliot was still yelling on the porch because he couldn't get the door open with his arms full of sticks.

Got everyone in and dished up supper. Which the boys didn't want to eat. They wanted to slither off of their chairs, head first onto the floor. And then crawl under the table to hit the other brother.

Going upstairs to get Elliot out of time out, Melon raced past me. At the exact moment I swung my arm down. The arm holding an apple. And she rubbed all over it, coating it in hair.

Mrrrrrrrrrrarrrr!

Typing it out, it seems routine and silly. But my little brain couldn't handle it and I was yelling and trembling. Makes me want to bonkyhead the nearest wall - Felix's term for when he bumps his head.

So, maybe decaf is out, too. Rats.

I see my counselor today. Looking forward to my 50 minutes in her calming little office.

~~~
And yes, things look different over here. I wanted to put up a photo banner, but then the background (which I loved) didn't "match" and so I took it down and found something else. And then I decided to try Google Advertising, too. We'll see how that works out. I'm torn about it.

101 Uses For Potatoes

I remember making potato stamps as a child. Something else my mom thought of. I think we found the idea in a book from the library. She would carefully cut out shapes from halved potatoes, whip us up some paint from flour, water and food colouring (I think - maybe she wasn't THAT rustic) and we would create for hours. I also remembering us trying to make our own potato chips by thinly shaving (different) potatoes, adding salt or other seasonings, then baking them. That didn't get them very crispy, so there was also some pan frying action. Yummy! But not as good as 'the real thing'. But she wouldn't buy us the real thing, so we made do.

I needed to distract myself today. Jay took Elliot to gymnastics class using the bike trailer. I have mini-panic attacks each time. Picturing mangled tires and bone and flashing lights. (Of course, it doesn't help that as I write this, it's already a good half hour past when I expected them home.) So, when Felix got up from his nap, the (store bought) paints were all ready. I'd picked out some potatoes and scrounged through the playdoh box until I found some shapes that would fit the size of the spuds.

So very messy. And so very much fun. Now what to do with all this art work?!