Halloween Flashback 1995

Waiting to Go! Along for the ride! All done!

Happy Half Full Friday!

Thinking on the positives instead of the negatives of the week...here is a list of some of the little things that made me happy~

1. I got a new computer mouse! Wireless. My old one was quite worn out and had taken on a mind of it's own! Now that I have a new one, I realize just how bad the old one was! ha.
2. Except for a tornado warning and storm on Tuesday, we have had exceptional fall weather. And early morning drive to an auction on Wednesday with blue skies, fall colors, and sunshine streaming through low lying fog was just breathtaking! I love that combination of crisp air and warm sun! Just wonderful!
3. Happy to have 265 cut out leaf cookies in the freezer for a wedding order! Whew!
4. Happy to have a couple of days at home with nothing on the calendar here at the end of the week. I laugh as I know I would make such a good hermit. I'm happy to be home, puttering around in my little nest. Ahhh.
5. Happy for friends..real friends! I'll take quality over quantity any day.
6. Happy that Taylor is healing well after having his wisdom teeth out last week. Quite an ordeal with some complications. And would you believe a bill of over a thousand dollars? Would be happier with dental insurance, let me tell you! LOL! He gets his stitches out today.
7. Happy to have successfully trimmed Nugget's nails. We had never attempted this before and they were SO long that I could tell it was becoming painful. And YOU would have felt quite happy if you could have seen the ordeal The Mister and I went through to man-handle a wiggly rabbit who did NOT want to cooperate! I'm sure if we had it recorded, we could have made it on America's Funniest Home Videos. :)
8. Happy that Alex had an exceptional week at school. So exceptional that his teacher called to share the good news! He's focused, taking initiative, and doing his work correctly...even some things that he has never done before! Yes!

So, how about you? Why don't you join in over at Eye Girl's blog? Tell us some happy things about your week...it's good for you to see the glass as half full! :) Click HERE!

This Morning

The Mister was gone before it was daylight this morning,

so I walked the boys to school...a rare occasion for me.

It was cool and crisp! Everything was just waking up...

but the moon was on his way to sleep.

Spencer's Decorating Addition

Spencer had to add his little touch to the room!

Well, at least they are purple! ha-ha

If this looks vaguely familiar, maybe you're thinking of THIS!

Curtain

The theme for Creative Tuesday is curtain!

Shower curtains count, right?

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Ink and colored pencils

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If you'd like to join in or see other "curtain" sketches,

hop on over to Mr. Toast's blog HERE

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“We start to realize that there are anodynes in life that help us through the day. I don't care if it's a walk in the park, a look out the window, a good bubble bath - whatever. Even a meal you like, or a friend you want to call. That helps us solve all this stuff in our head."

Al Pacino

Crabapple

Who needs curtains when you have a crabapple tree?

I couldn't resist a picture as they sparkled in the

afternoon sunlight this weekend.

Sepia Saturday = Jack-O-Lantern

My father. Burlington, Indiana. October 1936.

To visit all of my friends at Sepia Saturday, click HERE!

Half Full Friday #4

I'm participating in Half Full Friday again this week! Bloggers join here to list out things that made them happy this week. We're trying to put smiles on our faces and take an optimistic attitude! It's very contagious! Try it by clicking HERE!

What made me happy this week~

1. Monday, my triplets turned 17 years old. It has not been easy raising them, as they are non-verbal and autistic. And quite frankly some milestone birthdays are actually sad! I've mourned some instead of celebrating...ages 10, 13 and 16 especially. But this year was happy! We thoroughly enjoyed them and celebrated in a non-traditional but oh SO them kind of way. Smiles all around and I found myself truly soaking up their sweetness and felt very thankful for them. :)
2. Really happy that the living room is freshly painted and updated. The fresh new look inspires me to take a good hard look at some other tired rooms in the house!
3. Enjoyed a day trip to visit my sis an hour away. We had a nice lunch and blabbed non-stop for 9 hours! :)
4. Happy for gorgeous fall weather...dark blue brilliant skies, puffy white clouds and beautiful colored leaves.
5. Happy I got half of my wedding cookie order in the freezer!
6. Happy for all of my blog friends and the sweet, encouraging comments to me on our boys' birthday and also on my Sunday Roast. You guys are THE best. :)

Living Room Reveal

I'm loving my purplish gray walls. :)

This end of the room is usually full of college men watching football!

Recognize the print from my sidebar?

My favorite WWII British war poster...and I found it in the perfect color!

View from the kitchen. It's a strange lay-out, isn't it? The walls seem to change color with the time of day. Finally brought the monster fern in for the cooler seasons. He's about 6 feet wide! Mr Fern doesn't fit in the fern stand anymore, but the purple shamrock does! And she's liking it here by the eggplant colored sofa. :) I got that cute print of the boys on the triplet's homecoming blown up and framed. It was only $8.75 at Sam's Club for a 20x30 print. Only took me 17 years to get that off of my to-do list! ha. View from the window seat.

Still need something on the windows and need to steam

clean the carpet, then we're all set! :)

To see a before picture of the room, click HERE!

I've joined Susan's Metamorphasis Monday where bloggers

show their home improvements! To visit her, click HERE!

City Girl

My little village is in the middle of the country. But we're only 15-20 minutes away from bigger city life, such as drive-thru fast food and Wal-Mart. :) We aren't so far removed that we don't keep up with the rest of the world, ha-ha, but I am most certainly surrounded by country living and farm life. Although I've lived here since a college freshman in 1979, I'm constantly reminded that I'm still a city girl!

A girlfriend chatted recently about being interested in some layers and was calling around and shopping for some. "Hmm", I thought. Is she getting her hair cut in a new style? I finally had to ask what 'layers' she was talking about. Well, it turns out that 'layers' are chickens...hens...that lay eggs! haha. I would have never guessed that on my own! Layers in my mind are haircuts, tall cakes, snuggly warm beds, or an extra sweater when I'm cold!

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Another friend was chatting about gathering the kids and how difficult it was unless she had a pocket full of treats. Well, I could relate to that...when my boys were younger I didn't go anywhere without Tootsie Pops in my purse. Of course she wasn't talking about her children at all...only her ever growing barn full of baby goats!

Last week when I worked at an auction, I asked my friend if she was going to bid on anything. She said there were some nesting boxes that she had her eye on. "Great!", I thought..."they are so pretty, useful, and I love the ones in my closet that are stacked on the shelves!" LOL! Turns out, they are for her chickens! Yes, the wooden crate kind that hens make nests in.

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I've always loved the acres of soybeans, beautiful red barns, country roads with little traffic and hearing cows mooing from my back yard! But after 30 years, I still don't know the difference between straw and hay or if goats gather in herds or flocks! I still get wide-eyed when a red fox trots through our back yard or when a friend pulls me onto the floor to square dance in the middle of a barn party!

No, I guess I'll always really be a city girl living in the country!

Seventeenth Birthday

Spencer, Alex, Harry

We were just beginning a journey! Back then it was 4 boys in diapers,

36 bottles a day, night time feedings and 4 hours of sleep per night!

Taylor (2 yrs old) with Alex, Harry, Spencer

We had no idea the twists and turns our journey would take

with autism just two years down the road! But for a little

while it was all bliss...exhaustion...but bliss! LOL!

Happy Birthday, Boys!

I love you more than you'll ever know.

♥♥♥

I've Been Roasted!

Do me a favor and pop on over to Eddie Bluelight's blog

Clouds and Silvery Linings. He's done a great job of

interviewing me and asking serious and hilarious questions!

You might learn something new about me, too!

And thank you Mr. Toast, for giving my name to Eddie.

To see me roasted, click HERE!

Thanks, Eddie! It this was a lot of fun!

October Sunset

Sunset from my front porch Thursday, 10-14-10.

To see other amazing skies, click HERE!

to visit all my friends at Skywatch Friday.

Have Camera, Will Drive

While out and about today I snapped some pictures.

See my hand? Yes, I'm driving! :) Not as dangerous as

texting, though, which I would never do. But I see I'm

slowing down traffic behind me! I wanted to show you

my favorite little horse stable that I drive by.

I love the doors that open at the top. Most of the time

someone comes to say hello to me...

See him there at the last door?

The Mister says I really AM Dr. Doolittle. haha.

A Bouquet of Freshly Sharpened Pencils

A mug full of colored pencils! The possibilities are

endless, right? The Creative Tuesday theme this week is

art. I got my inspiration from my own little pencil collection

right here on my desk...that, and the cute little phrase from

a now modern-classic movie, You've Got Mail.

If you want to join in or see other doodles and sketches

about art, go to Mr. Toast's blog by clicking here.

googleimages.com

Cute, huh? Our triplets sleep all piled together, too!

Sneak Peek

One more day for some paint

touch-ups before the room gets put back together.

One good thing about painting is that you move furniture

that doesn't usually get moved! Can you guess how much

dust and rabbit hair can collect behind an entertainment

center in 3 years? A lot! So I did some spring-cleaning!

Or..make that fall-cleaning. :)

Out and about today...blue skies and mums

everywhere in the village!

Sweet Moments

Autism isn't all bad...sometimes your 16 year old

will hold your hand! :)

Color Choices

I saw this page in a Martha Stewart magazine and liked the color palette.

Our living room walls need painting and this seemed like a good

combination of colors since the carpet in that room is a

cranberry red and we have a dark purple over-stuffed chair and an eggplant colored

leather sofa. The only things we're missing is gray

walls with a hint of purple! Sounds like a strange

combination, doesn't it? But I like it and, well Martha

likes it, too! LOL! I picked the darkest paint chip shown.

Right now those dark eggplant and cranberry shades

are paired with dark gold and pine colored walls, shown

below. It's fine and I've liked it a lot. But the paint on

the walls is dirty, chipped and is about 14 years old.

It's time for a change! I love my new gray walls in

the bedroom and thought a purplish variation would

be a nice, fresh change in the living room. And I won't

have to do any other major changes with the furniture.

The best part is that I've saved enough money working auctions that I'm hiring our friend Kris to do the painting! He did the new drywall and paint in the bedroom and we love his work. And how nice for me, huh? Besides, since I found out that I have arthritis in my thumbs last year, the bigger DIY projects have become a little more than I can take. It's a great excuse and in this case, I'm using it! :) Painting is happening Wednesday and Thursday of this week! And on a side note...remember Monster Fern in the picture above? Well that picture is 2 years old! I repotted him last year and he's been loving the hot, wet summer that we had. He's too big to hang now! He's due to be moved inside just as soon as I find a spot for him. I'll let you see a new picture as soon as he's moved in...maybe to the living room again when it is all finished. He's as big as a piece of furniture! LOL!

Signs of Autumn

Just this week I've noticed those tell tale signs that the warm weather is gone and autumn is here!

• I'm snuggled deeper down in my bed when I wake up. The bedroom feels chilly when I sit up to have my coffee, especially if we left the window cracked open a wee bit.
• It's too cold to putter around the house in my bare feet! I've been digging into my sock drawer! When winter comes, the socks won't be enough and I'll be digging out my slippers!
• I drink the whole pot of coffee hot instead of pouring it over ice half way through the morning.
• I've had my fill of potato salad and zucchini. Comfort foods like mashed potatoes, apple crisp and beef stew are sounding good!
• No more ice in my water! Brrr!
• The after dinner bowl of icecream has been replaced by a mug of hot earl grey.
• I find myself wrapping my hands around my mug to warm them up!
• The windows and doors are open in the afternoon to let in a nice, comfortable breeze.
• No A/C in the Jeep....just the open sunroof to make it comfortable.
• We're using the throws on the back of the couches again.
• Big rolls of hay are laying in the fields.
• The skies seem bluer.
• The butterflies are gone!
• The trees are turning red and orange.
• Banana bread has been replaced by pumpkin.
• Shorts have been replaced by jeans.
• Nugget stopped shedding!
• I'm already feeling the need for hand lotion!

So what about you? Any other signs that the seasons have changed?

Fall is my favorite! Happy October to you!

Half Full Fridays #3

Looking back on this week, there were several things that made me happy~~

1. Deciding to paint the living room. It needs it after probably 12 years. I'm sure you can imagine how many little boy fingers have touched the walls during that time! A drastically new paint color has been chosen and I'll go pick up buckets of primer and paint tomorrow. This time next week it will look fabulous and THAT makes me happy!
2. A nice, busy week with money-makers as I had 4 gift baskets plus a day at the auctions yesterday. Just in time for paint buying, right?
3. I have a dear girl friend that I rarely get to spend time with since she started working full time. That, and 7 kids between us and the daily routines prevent us from doing much more than saying "Hi". We met this week for coffee and had a great time. We've decided to try to do it weekly. How fun!
4. The Mister and I met a work colleague and his wife for dinner last night. I had only met them once before. Very nice couple...nice restaurant...nice conversation. Nice! :)
5. Home all day today with nothing on the calendar for the first time all week. Aaaah. Happy weekend, my friends!

If you want to join in or see what other people are happy about today, visit Eye Girl by clicking HERE. I had a few hurtful and upsetting things happen this week, but making an effort to write down the happy parts puts it back in balance. You should try it! :)