Trick or Treat

Well, the rain didn't stop, so off we went into the cold, rainy night. All the ghosts and goblins were running around having the time of their lives while the parents stood under umbrellas looking miserable, cold and wet.

The boys got plenty of candy, and are on a sugar high right now. I think it's about time for some hot chocolate in front of the fire!

Hope you all have a great night!

Happy Halloween

HaPpY Halloween Everyone!

The boys didn't have school today and the day has dragged on. They are so ready to go trick or treating and when you are home from school 6:00pm takes FOREVER to come!

We spent the morning watching Hocus Pocus and It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown always brings such great childhood memories. As the day has gone on, it's gotten cloudy and now it's raining! How dare it rain when kids want to go out trick or treating. Hopefully it lets up in the next hour.

Dinner was a Jack O' Lantern chicken pot pie. Perfect for a rainy, cold Halloween night!

Caramel Apples

HaPpY Saturday Everyone!

Today is a cold, rainy Saturday, but making these caramel apples cheered me up. Pumpkin spice coffee helped too!

This evening is our Fall Festival at the church and I had to do a test with the caramel apples, because the first time I attempted to make caramel apples they were a flop and I was so disappointed. Prayerfully Pink, a group at our church to support breast cancer awareness had a bake sale a few weekends ago, and I came up with selling caramel apples. I had pictured cute caramel apples with pink and white ribbon sprinkles tied with Breast Cancer awareness ribbon. It was so cute in my head! Not so cute when I went to make them. I made the mistake of buying one of those caramel kits. The caramel did not stick AT. ALL. Total flop!

So we decided to try it again for the Fall Festival, this time with Kraft caramel chews, melted down and here's the result. So much better! The only tricky part is getting your sprinkles, nuts, candy, whatever you are going to decorate with on it super quick! If not, they won't stick.

I think my candy apple turned out pretty cute and Ezekiel just confirmed it. He said it looked professional! Yay me!

The pain never stops - Samuel

On Samuel's birthday I asked my friends and family to share any photos or memories they have of Samuel. My step-mom text some pictures to me. Pictures I had never seen of Samuel. I asked her to send me the actual pictures so I could scan them. I got the pictures in the mail yesterday.

When I opened the mailbox and saw the box, my heart started racing. I wanted so much to see the pictures, but knew it would be hard. Even though Samuel has been gone for 2yrs I still have a hard time looking at his pictures. It hurts so much! I'm sure other Mom's who have lost a child can understand. You look back at the pictures, remembering the baby, the little boy and wonder why....WHY! Why is he no longer here? Why did some punk grab a gun, point it at my sons back, while he was laying on the ground unconscious and SHOOT him! OVER A DARE!!!!!!!!!

WHY! WHY! WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!



I look at the precious, beautiful little boy he was, and the young man he was becoming and my heart breaks. Just when you think you can breathe again, when you think the pain isn't so crushing, it all comes back with a glimpse of a picture.

I couldn't look at them long.......the hurt, the anger, the tears were just too much. Even writing this post is too much right now......

Words for Wednesday: Ezekiel

Ezekiel - self portrait

Little bits of you at 12yrs old.....

Funny - you can come up with craziest things and always have us laughing out loud.

Smart - you are mostly an A student. Every now and then you get a B.

Sensitive - when I've needed a hug, you have been there to give me one and let me know it will be alright.

Sports Fanatic - you love sports and I'm always amazed at how much you know about players, teams and stats. Your favorite teams are Carolina Panthers and the Heat.

You are growing up so fast! I see glimpses of the teen in you, and pray you don't change too much from the boy you are now.

Love ya Zion!

I Heart Fall

Don't you just love Fall? How can you not? There's so much color and beauty around right now. The reds, oranges, yellows. When I'm driving by the trees I just want to stop and take picture upon picture! But then I would never make it to where I'm going. Luckily this tree is in our backyard, so I didn't have to go far.

On the homefront, we all did our chores last night, so house is still clean! Yay for us! Boys will be starting basketball in about a week. We've had a nice little break from sports. Soon we will be running around like crazy with the boys playing and Fonzy coaching again this year.

Still working on my surprise monster. I need to be done this week, because I have plans on learning how to crochet this weekend for sock monkey hats I want to make! More on that adventure later!

OK....off for more coffee and in a little bit a flu shot! I hate needles! So not looking forward to that!

Pieces of her

She left pieces of her life behind her everywhere she went. It's easier to feel the sunlight without them, she said.

~storypeople

HaPpY Monday!

Mondays seem to come quicker and quicker. I'm on my second cup of coffee and thinking I need a third! Coffee - work your magic!

So yesterday I made a chore chart for us. I think the weekends seem to fly by because we spend so much time cleaning on Saturdays. We do pretty good in the beginning of the week with keeping up the house, but come Wednesday or Thursday it starts to go downhill. By Saturday morning, its a mess! I refuse to spend another weekend cleaning!

The chart has each of us making our beds in the morning before we leave the house, and then one chore in the evening. If we stick to it, the weekends should be free from cleaning! Yay!

On the knitting front, I'm hoping to finish a monster I'm working on for someone special. I wanted to have it done by now, but alas, I don't. Once I'm done with this monster, I'm taking a monster break and working on some hats. It's already getting chilly, and I see the need for hats soon!

Let's make this a great week!

Give someone a hug today! Anyone! They need it! You need it! I need it!

Weekend Breakfast

HaPpY Saturday!

Time for the dreaded Saturday chores!

We need a new way of keeping the house clean during the week, so Saturday mornings aren't spent cleaning!

I just noticed I need that stuff in my dishwasher so our dishes don't have spots! Can plastic plates be called dishes?

I Love Socks and the Weekend!

I love socks!

Stripey socks, thick socks, knee high socks, holiday socks.

SOCKS! SOCKS! SOCKS!

I told myself I was going to learn to knit socks this year. Ummm...it's almost November and I haven't learned yet! I have tons of holiday knitting to do, so socks might have to wait unitl after the holidays. I think 2012 is going to be the year of the socks.


The weekend is finally here and I'm too happy! Looking forward to sleeping in, snuggling under warm covers and cooking a big breakfast. If it's chilly enough in the morning, I might light up the fireplace. Coffee, warm pj's and a fire. Sounds like a perfect morning to me.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

*Pictures by Ezekiel - he wanted to make sure I gave him credit*

Bert & Ernie pumpkins

How cute are these?

Saw these pumpkins on a craft blog I was checking out. I'm helping out with the Fall Festival at our church, was looking for games, and crafts and came across these. I so want to make Bernie & Ernie pumpkins! Bert and Ernie were my favorites on Sesame Street, with Oscar the Grouch a close second.

Flashback Friday

Happy Friday everyone!

I was feeling like a little Flashback Friday today. Taking it back to 2001. I can't believe that was 10 years ago! I need time to SLOW THE HECK DOWN!

This was Fonzy's and I first year in North Carolina and our first trip to the beach. It's not the greatest picture, but I love it....wet bikini top and all!

I love this picture for what it represents.....our new life together. We had been through so much to get to this point, moved hundreds of miles from Texas to North Carolina and still had plenty more to go through. But right here, in this moment we were happy!

Happy 22nd Birthday Samuel - Forever 19

Today you would have been 22.

I often think of where you would be in life right now. The kind of man you would be. Before you died, I would catch glimpses of the man you were becoming. We were getting closer, talking more, laughing together more. You were growing up and understanding why I said and did the things I did for you and Manuel. It wasn't just nagging, it was loving you both and wanting what's best for you. I miss our conversations. I miss your smile. I miss you.

Today I'm going to remember the good.....the sweet and cherished memories.

Happy Birthday my 1st baby.

Smile - life is beautiful

Wow - it's October 18th already! This month is flying by.

This has always been my favorite time of year. It still is. Both Samuel and Manuel were born in October. Manuel's birthday was yesterday. He turned 21! Of course I had to give him the speech that just because you are of legal drinking age, doesn't mean you need to go out and act a fool. He called me this morning. He was suffering through work because of a hangover. My advice obviously went in one ear and out the other. He was at least smart enough to have a designated driver.

Samuels' birthday is on the 20th. He would have been 22. On his birthday I try to reminisce on all the good memories, and not the fact that he is no longer with us. I don't want his birthday to be a sad day, but a day to remember the life he had. No matter how short it was. He was here, he was loved, and I want that to be the focus of his birthday.

It's suppose to get chilly this week. The mornings have already been chilly....making it so hard to get out of our warm and cozy bed. The trees are starting to turn red, orange, yellow. I need to get out and take some pictures before they are all blown away. Been doing some baking, and loving the cozy feel of home. I'm ready to light up the fireplace and hibernate!

Lovin' October! Who's lovin' it with me?

DreamCatcher

Elijah made a dreamcatcher.....to catch all our bad dreams he says.

Vampy Penelope

My swap partner got her package, so I can now share Vampy Penelope in all her red and black glory.

This swap had so many creative monsters! It was fun seeing all the packages, and what people came up with.

Monsters in the Mail

Don't you just love getting surprises in the mail. Something special besides bills, bills, and MORE BILLS!

I do!

When I was younger, I wrote letters. Long, lengthy letters to friends and family. There was nothing better than getting a letter in the mail. I hate snail mail has gone to the wayside. I think we need to bring letter writing back.

Yesterday was a good mail day. I was part of a swap on Ravelry, Things That Go Bump in the Night Swap and got my package. It was filled with goodies and an awesome Rebecca Danger Monster.

For non-knitters who are not sure what a swap is, it's a group of knitters who get paired with a partner and they make a knitted object, stalk them online, learn other things they like and send a package to them. It's all for fun, and a way to get to know other knitters.

Knitters are awesome by the way!
 

Meet Vampira and her minion. According to her creator, Vampira has a secret....she's a vegetarian. No blood for her. I'm waiting for my swap partner to receive her package, then I can post the monster I made for her.

Pumpkin bread

Mmmmm.......

Karen and I made pumpkin bread on our bake-fest 2 weekends ago. It is sooo good! I heat it up a little, spread some butter on it and enjoy! Mmmmm....good! I plan on making more and freezing it. Then I can have yummy pumpkin bread whenever I like.

I love this time of year - the baking, pumpkin smells, changing leaves and being warm and cozy at home.

Changes

Changes are in the air. Leaves are changing, weather is changing, and I feel like I'm changing.

According to the Fonzy and the boys I've been real emotional lately. And maybe I have been. I'm not sure what's going on with me. I just feel like life is passing me by, and I'm just going through the motions. I guess I'm stuck in a rut and not sure how to get out of it. I feel I need to make some changes, but not really sure WHAT the changes are or how to make them happen.

*sigh*

Maybe I need to do something different, not the same ole', same ole' that Ezekiel was more than happy to point out to me yesterday.

Switch it up a bit.

Try living more and not just going through the motions.

Easier said then done....

Knitting Thoughts

Yarn yumminess from Michelle @ Dancing Dog Dyeworks

About 2 years ago I found knitting again. My mom was a knitter and taught me when I was about 12-13. I knit a stuffed horse and didn't knit another thing until 2yrs ago. I don't know why I decided I wanted to learn again. I just had this desire. Maybe I saw some pretty yarn, saw someone knitting, who knows. But whatever it was, I'm glad it's in my life again.


I love the feel of soft, squishy yarn, the sound of clicking needles and the acomplishment of creating. It's a connection to my Mom. Something she enjoyed and did so many years ago, and then passed on to me. When I knit, the memory of her is in every stitch.

Smackdown - Sumo Wrestling Style

Our subdivision had a carnival this weekend and one of the main attractions was sumo wrestling! The kids were loving it! Of course I had to get Ezekiel and Elijah in the suits and take pictures. These suits were heavy for kids! They had to crawl into the suits, then someone had to stand them up. Ready! Set! Fight! Once down, there was no getting back up!

Magic

She tapped her finger & nothing happened & she thought she had lost her magic, but it had only changed & it took her awhile to figure it out.

~ Story People

Magic happens on ordinary days. Did you know that? It does.You just have to look for it.

I've been trying to capture the magic in my ordinary day and sometimes I find it.......like bubbles floating up to Heaven....magic.

Some kinda way

Feeling a little sad.......melancholy........in a funk.....some kinda way......not really sure why......