So Halloween is coming, I absolutely LOVE Halloween! Now things are too tight to do it this year, but I promise....next year I am having a HUGE Halloween bash with Halloween invitations
and all the other stuff that goes along with throwing a real big bash! This year however....we will just settle for taking the kiddos out Trick Or Treating. YUM...free candy! My kids have figured out what they want to be and really I have no investment this year besides having to get a witch hat for Lauren. Lauren chose to be a witch after getting a very cool witch costume minus the hat in a box of freecycle stuff. PERFECT! Little money to be spent makes me a very happy mama! Lauren and Morgan have both chosen to be punk rockers. Again...no investment because they both already have clothing that will work for this. So a witch hat, some bags of candy and we are set! What are your kiddos being for Halloween? What do you have planned?

Candace at Mommy Matters tagged me!

The instructions are:

* Go to your Sixth Picture Folder then pick your Sixth Picture.
* Pray that you remember the details.
* Tag 5 others.


OK this was my 6Th photo in my 6Th picture folder! It's an old one! This was taken at our first house, I can tell because of that awful paneling! Lauren is close to 2 in this photo. Looking at a photo album while trying to use the potty, and apparently very tired!

Now I must tag 5 others to do the same...here they are! Get on it people!

Jessica
Misti
Catt
Linlori
LJ

My favorite Holidays are quickly sneaking up on us. I love Thanksgiving. I always have, I was born on Thanksgiving day even! Occasionally my birthday lands on my beloved T day! This year it is the day before my birthday. I guess I get to eat left over turkey sandwiches on my birthday. Maybe some sweet potato pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie (which I just learned I do actually like). Yes I LOVE T day! J suggested that we have T day at our house this year. I don't think I am up for it. There are sooo many people in his family and I just don't think I could keep it together. I tend to get flustered and really...like seriously...I just don't think I can do it.

Well our condenser coil on our AC froze up, so I just about died today. I needed to sew, but it was just way too hot and I didn't manage to do that. I talked to J about some things he wanted to pick up from the store. Something about clamps and other work holding thingamajiggers. Don't ask me...I have no clue. Only thing I know about clamps are what I use for piercing..otherwise known as forceps...oh yea and those things Jessica has in the back of her nightstand drawer, but we won't talk about that here..... Anyhow...this evening we had a field trip to a Photography studio for Morgan's 4H class. She enjoyed that and can not wait to get started on her assignments. This 4H thing really has been fun so far. The little ones have Clover Buds tomorrow, then it is Entomology, Drama (clowning) and Leadership for Morgan. 4H days are long but totally worth it.

As you know, our friend Ben Cooksey committed suicide in July. His family has set up a walk team and we have joined it.

My goal is only $100, I hope to exceed this. If everyone that reads my blog, or has me on myspace or in a yahoo group just donated $1.00 I would meet this goal of $100 and surely go over it.

http://afsp.donordrive.com/participant/stitchblade

I will be joining with thousands of people nationwide this fall to walk in AFSP's 2008 Out of the Darkness Community Walk to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I would appreciate any support that you give me for this worthwhile cause.The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is at the forefront of research, education and prevention initiatives designed to reduce loss of life from suicide. With more than 32,000 lives lost each year in the U.S. and over one million worldwide, the importance of AFSP's mission has never been greater, nor our work more urgent.I hope you will consider supporting my participation in this event. Any contribution will help the work of AFSP, and all donations are 100% tax deductible.Donating online is safe and easy! To make an online donation please click the "Support This Participant" button on this page.Thank you for visiting my fundraising page!

Just wanted to post to let any locals that read my blog know that my husband is in construction. You know....framing, carpentry, decks, carports, remodeling, new construction, custom homes, doors, windows, trim and anything else that goes along with it. If you need something done get in contact with me and I will send you his contact info. He has many years of experience and is a perfectionist...like so much so that he drives me nuts when I am sewing with double checking my measurements and telling me something is 1/16 of an inch off center. So come on and get that deck you always wanted! It's nice outside and you deserve a nice deck to sit on and cookout!

I can remember it like it was yesterday! The clowns, the animals, the trapeze artists! It was so exciting as a child and it still gets me all excited as an adult! I remember once getting to ride on the Elephants! It was so amazing to be so small and be up there on that gigantic creature!

My oldest daughter Morgan has been to the circus, the little 2 have yet to experience it. How exciting to have two little ones see it for the first time. The looks of pure amazement on their little faces!

Ringling Brothers Circus with the help of Mom Central has given me a special coupon code to share with you!

The code is MCC

This code is valid for the circus shows in the following cities:

Indianapolis, IN - Sept. 4-7, 2008

Kansas City, MO - Sept. 10-14, 2008

Grand Rapids, MI - Sept. 18-21, 2008

Denver, CO - Oct. 2-13, 2008

Boston, MA – Oct. 8-13, 2008

Cleveland, OH - Oct. 24 - Nov. 2

Chicago, IL - Nov. 6 - 30, 2008

St. Louis, MO - Nov. 6-9, 2008

Auburn Hills, MI - Nov. 12 - 16, 2008

Highland Heights, KY - Feb 27 - Mar. 1, 2009

Cincinnati, OH - Mar. 4 - 8, 2008

Please spread the joy of the circus by passing this coupon code onto your friends and family!

They can go to ringling.com and type in their zip code to find the shows and purchase tickets online with the code.

Oh and don't forget about the Baby’s First Circus program! This program allows babies to receive a free ticket voucher that can be exchanged for a free ticket to any Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey performance, anytime, anywhere. No expiration date! How cool is that!

Here I sit at my computer with a runny nose, shivering bones and I think I may be dying.....However I have to think about some things. These things involve ME needing YOU people...yea YOU. The people who read but rarely comment. I need you. I am near death and this is my request, have a heart. I need some ideas for Christmas presents for the Man. So far I have come across the bacon of the month club. What man wouldn't want to be a member of a club that sends him bacon monthly? I could truly see this being a hit, but I am still looking for more ideas before I decide on one. There are those beer of the month clubs...but he only drinks Texas beer such as Shiner Bock, so that would not be good. Give me your ideas....Please! I beg of you to have a heart and help a girl out.

OH boy what have I gotten myself into? The girls had 4H sign ups today. Lauren is 4 so she is old enough for Clover Kids. Morgan and Lauren both signed up for 5 classes each! I have no idea what to expect. No clue what all is involved. I am clueless. Yes clueless. Yea, that's right.

This weekend is the Ben Cooksey Memorial show and we will be there in full force. BWB from Texas, Arkansas (now TX), and even California. The BWB girls in GA have their own thing going on at the Drive Invasion. Both events outside in the heat. Fro's galore. No one rocks a Fro like Jessica, but I am working on it.

I think I need a turbocharger installed in my brain. That would make things much easier.

Oh yea...we (Morgan, but you know it is a WE since someone has to get her there right?) are also going to be joining an American Girl Book club as well. Am I nuts?

Have you started your shopping?  We have!  I have been picking up new things that I find at great prices.  So far I have a Kids Digital Camera that even makes video clips for Lauren!  We also have picked up a great art desk that is wooden with a matching stool!  I think we may also get Lauren and Emma kids golf clubs ,not too sure...I think they would enjoy hitting the balls in the yard.  Morgan is totally over toys, so her biggie will most likely be her own computer, and shopping cards to book stores, since that is her passion.  Only thing is....would it be more logical to get her a laptop or a desk top?  She is 10, very mature and responsible, I was just thinking the laptop would take up less room in her bedroom.  Any suggestions?

.................and apparently so do my children!

Daddy had band practice so we made whatever we wanted for dinner! If Daddy isn't here we can get away with making meatless meals. I let Lauren be the chef of the day and she wanted to make the Olive Cheese Bread (I put that thought in her head though...I'm the mama, I can do that). Even Emma got in on the fun of chopping olives...Although...that chunky chipmunk cheek leads me to believe she was eating more than she put in the mix!Please excuse the attire...it is Texas after all and it's HOT.......Morgan was in charge of the ingredients that required more than a butter knife to cut....Here is what it looks like before baking...and after...............yea the pic is dark but I really do not feel like messing with it right now.Oh and here it is cut and served looking so so elegant on this exquisite Sponge Bob plastic plate.

Lauren's choice for desert was Yogurt Cream and Berries (yea yea I did it again!). She mixed the cream up earlier today after lunch and it chilled until after dinner. I set her up to remix it and walked out....when I came back I found her looking a little startled with traces of yogurt cream near her mouth...hmm wonder what happened there?

Emma says YUM YUM YUM! Please excuse the greasy hair, apparently the Olive Cheese Bread makes a great telephone too. (again....too lazy to fix pic...must eat more cream and berries......)

I got to meet him for the first time today! He will be 2 weeks old on Tuesday! Isn't he just so cute? Boys are a rarity in this family.

Well we got to use our Ice Cream ball that I won in the Bloggy giveaways!  Here are pictures of the kids making ice cream!

It was super easy!  We used half and half, sugar and vanilla.  The ice cream was yummy!  Took about 30 min and the kids had a lot of fun making it!

This was yesterday right after Play-doh. I wanted to post them last night but I was so tired. SO, um yea....my kids change clothing daily...these are from yesterday. Our humongous paint tray is the plastic lid from our eggs. Works EXTREMELY well as a paint tray. Some of the cups have water, others paint and they were mixing colors. My girls are pretty darn artistic if you ask me. Lauren can draw so well already and she is only 4. I showed her one time the other day how to draw a pig and she mastered it second try! Maybe she will be a tattoo artist like her mama? Nah, I would rather her not be...maybe a book illustrator!

Well first of all I was the winner of Skip To My Lou's giveaway for a Mega Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker! I am so excited to get it and let the girls try it out!

It has been so hot here in Texas (107!)! Yesterday thankfully we had a short break from the heat and I was able to walk the girls to the park first thing in the morning. They had a blast and some much needed time outside. I feel bad, but the heat is just too much some of these days to let them out in it. We were going to the public pool until this crazy "crypto" outbreak....no thanks!

This morning the little ones made homemade play-doh. It was a simple no cook recipe so they were able to basically make themselves with very little help from me.

First they mixed 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1/4 cup oil.

Then we added a pkg of Grape koolaid for yummy smell, and weird gray color, plus 3/4 cup water. Mix well then have a mama knead it til nice and smooth.

INSTANT HAPPINESS!

After Play-Doh was a painting session, but it is late now and I really should get to bed. I'll take some time to post those pictures tomorrow.