medusa joins the halloween parade.

I love holidays! Today all of the children at school dress-up and have a costume parade through the halls. L looks forward to it every year. On the way to school she said, "I'm sure glad I had the swine flu last week and not today." Me too little girl, although I'm not sure I'm glad I had the swine flu...ever.

It was so fun to see the children file into the classroom one by one, checking out who was who and full of excitement. Ms. Checketts is so wonderful to let the children be wiggly and rambunctious and join right in the fun with them. (one little girl had to tell Ms. Checketts that her witch voice was scaring her and asked if she was going to use that voice all day. she agreed that is was probably a little frightening and would use her Ms. Checketts voice instead)

I will head back to school this afternoon to host the class Halloween party. What a fun day. Happy Halloween...

i can feel it in the air...

oh boy, tomorrow it begins.. two days of Halloween! L is so excited she can't stand herself. The costume is finally finished and ready to creep all of Ms. Checketts' second graders out of their gourd. Okay, not really. Missy wanted to be scary this year with her costume, so she chose to be Medusa. Mom wanted her to be something sweet, so she will be the kind and enchanting version of Medusa. (it'll be our little secret, as she feels she is quite frightening) I also decided that after sewing 6 Halloween costumes that she wore only once, this year I would make one that she will wear, even after the holiday has passed. (I'm so sneaky) I love Halloween. I love the thrill in the crisp air. This year we will visit cousins down south and trick-or-treat with them on Saturday.

On the menu.. soup and bread of course, to warm us before we head out into the dark and frightening cold of Halloween night. Can't wait.

pumpkin walk time!

Life finally resumed outside of our home on Friday, just in time for the annual Pumpkin Walk! You know it's fall when you get to freeze your buns off walking from the elementary school to see the beautiful displays constructed from gourds and pumpkins. There is joy in my heart when I'm with 22 second graders, walking outside in the crisp air and watching the leaves fall from the trees.

Yesterday we celebrated my nephew's 12th birthday. (which Mr. W and I swear is his fourth birthday this year) I am so bad at knowing what to buy teenagers...money usually does the trick though. I found the instructions for this Book of Money online and quickly put it together before the party. It felt a little more thoughtful than giving a card with money stuck inside. At least I thought so, I don't know if a 12 year old really cares how the money arrives!

surviving...

So we're surviving. I think I'm over the hump, but my poor little girl was up at 1 a.m. with a fever of 104.3. I was up with her, watching every rise and fall of her chest until 4 a.m., when her temperature slowly came back down to 102. I savor the moments. I love being a mother. I love being the one to give her comfort. Mr. W has taken care of us so tenderly since Saturday, I was glad I felt good enough to be the one to give comfort last night. Seeing her lay on the couch with her bear bear and Max makes me miss my little girl. She may not fit in my arms like she used to, but there will always be a lap to help make those arms a comfortable and safe place to fall.

swine flu + quarantine

So here we are. I figured it was only a matter of time before I got the swine flu. (why can't they call it something cute like the unicorn flu or something like that? didn't bother me until I have to tell people that I have it) Due to my lack of a spleen it seemed I was just waiting my turn. Unfortunately, L has it too. So...we are quarantined for probably 5-7 days. Yuck. We'll make the best of it. She'll miss crazy hair day at school tomorrow. I promised her we'll have our own crazy hair day together. (all I have to do is roll out of bed and leave it be! doesn't sound too bad)
Why is it that ramen noodles sound so yummy when you are sick? Missy wanted some and it smells so good.

I pulled out some of my fabric stash looking for a project to occupy my hands and decided this is the perfect opportunity to work on L's halloween costume. My mom, bless her, helped me sew on all of the button eyes last week. Now the hat is complete...what to do for the dress? hmm.

travels...again

We just got back from a speedy southern Utah vacation with mom and dad! It's always fun when they come to visit, they get us to slow down and get out and about.

We had a great week with miss L being out of school! The air was crisp and the fall leaves accompanied by snow capped mountains were breathtaking. We visited the aquarium, the fabric store, (of course) and went to lunch together! It was so nice to have a break from the everyday routine. Only wish it could have lasted longer.

Guess where we went this weekend? It was incredible.