Dibs on the Twix Bars!

Last night we took the kids to a "trunk or treat" at a church here in town.

I'm not just the Biggest Fan Ever of trunk-or-treats but they had fun and got a jump start on the candy stash that I'll be hoarding until chocolate covered cherries are 50% off the day after Christmas.

When I was a kid, Halloween happened on Halloween.  No one had ever heard of trunk-or-treating.  You got dressed in a (mostly) homemade costume, went to MawMaw's house where you posed for pictures, then to Granny's house to pose for more pictures, then to Aunt Fay's house for homemade popcorn balls.  Then, of course, you'd hit up a few more spots until your bag was so full of candy it was about to fall apart.  You went home and Mom and Dad inspected them for bad stuff like razor blades and evidence of poisoning -- something that, for some reason, the Snickers bars and Reeses never survived.

My brother and I in one of those pictures taken at Granny's house
I was a baby (an old standby costume) and likely too old to be trick-or-treating; he was Peter Pan

These days, trick or treating has been replaced with people decorating their trunks and handing out candy in church parking lots.  And, while I certainly understand the safety concern (at least to a point) it still makes me kinda sad.  Tonight, I'll take the kids out trick or treating.  In our neighborhood, only every six house or so will have a light on.  Only every six house or so will be handing out candy and ooh'ing and ahh'ing at trick or treaters.  Only every six house or so.  Which means the odds of getting the good stuff (full sized candy bars) is even lower.

No one will be handing out homemade popcorn balls.  And, even if they were, we wouldn't let our kids eat them anyway.

By the time my kids are grown and their own children are ready to celebrate Halloween there probably won't be any trick or treating left at all anymore!

It Happened This Week. And The Week Before That.

On Sunday mornings, my local radio station plays "Back Tracks USA" with music from the 90's.  I feel pretty bipolar about this. On the one hand, I LOVE music from the 90's.  Hello!  That was my decade, ya'll.  On the other, I don't really appreciate 90's music being referred to as back tracks.  After all, there was still a year or two left of the 90's when I graduated from high school.  The music from that era should not be included in any kind of oldies.  Sheesh.
Anyway.  P365 pics from the past two weeks.  Only two more months and another year of P365 will be over and done with.  Wowww.

Sunday 10/16:

Monday 10/17:

Do you ever take a picture and think "awww, that one is really cute" and it's not until after you go to post it on Facebook that you realize that people might think it's weird that your kid's dresser doesn't have any handles on the drawers?
Note to self: Home Depot.  Drawer pulls.



Tuesday 10/18:

Wednesday 10/19:

Thursday 10/20:

I also have pictures of both boys in the sink, admiring themselves in the mirror, both of them right around this age.  Awwww.

Friday 10/21:

Saturday 10/22:



Sunday 10/23:

Monday 10/24:

I bought this shirt in Vegas when Eddie and I went for our belated honeymoon in late 2008.  I bought it for Jaidan.  It's now made it's way through all three kids.

Tuesday 10/25:

I have been making eyeball cookies since I worked After School, pre-kids and pre-husband.  I love Halloween and making stuff like this! 

Wednesday 10/26:

Thursday 10/27:

Friday 10/28:

Saturday 10/29:

What you can't see from this pic is that it was taken approxomately 15 seconds after they re-enacted Mike Tyson/ Evander Holyfield.  Boys.

And that was the past two weeks!  We'll kick off this next week by making these chocolate shortbread bars and maybe, even though it would be against my better judgement, heading out to a Trunk or Treat tonight.

So Very Pinteresting

I started writing this post last week and then forgot to post-date it so that it would post while I was at the game last Saturday.  How many times can I say the word "post" in one post?  Soooo, you get two weeks worth of my Pinterestings! 

But first!  Since it's Game Day, I wanna share this picture of Baby Girl in her GO HOGS finery from a few weeks ago:

Hopefully by the time she's old enough for us to drop $waytoomuchbutstillworthit for her to go to a game she'll realize that heels aren't exactly the best choice for Game Day foot apparel!

Yummies:

Frito Chili Pie - Hi, I'm southern.  I grew up on frito chili pies so this is nothing new.  Nothing quite says fall and football like a chili pie.  Remember when they used to sell them at Sonic?  Mmmm.

Anyway.  Fall (temporarily) blew into the Midsouth a week and a half ago.  Rain and grossness brought along temperatures hovering around 50.  Brr.  Perfect weather for CHILI.  I love chili.  One of my favorite foods.  And I've been ready to tweak the recipe I normally use.  It wasn't until after I pinned this particular recipe that I realized it was from Pioneer Woman.

It was a pretty good chili recipe.  Eddie and I both liked it, Zhariah was CRAZY about it (the little kids refused to eat it).  I'll probably make it again and, when I do, I WILL MOST DEFINITELY ADD MORE CHILI POWDER.  Gahh.  I was simmering in the crockpot all day so I only added a couple of tablespoons.  Next time, there will definitely be more.  And there will also be some onions.

Dulce de Leche - Okay, the pin tells you to boil a can of sweetened condesed milk for four hours, let it cool in the fridge, and all the sudden - voila! - you have caramel.  I was intrigued.  And slightly suspicious.  Do you ever think about posting the most ludicrous thing, going on and on about it, and then pinning it to see if someone takes the bait?  No?  Oh, uhh, me neither.

Anyway. I was curious about this but I decided I'd definitely Google first.  Google taught me that you're not making caramel but actually dulce de leche.  Google also told me that it's considered "white trash food" which is a total lie because if it were white trash food, I'd have known about it long, long ago.  See above re: frito chili pie. 

I decided to give it a try.  Lemme give you the step by steps:

1) Take your can of sweetened condensed milk and remove the label.
2) Submerge it in a pan of water -- MAKE SURE THE CAN IS COMPLETELY COVERED WITH WATER
3) Boil.  Keep checking your water levels.  If the water gets too low, your can can explode and then you'll have a Big Ass Mess. 
4) I boiled for about 3.5 hours then let the can sit in the hot water for another 30 minutes.  As a result, my dulce de leche was extremely thick.  I'm assuming boiling for a shorter amount of time will result in less thickness.
5) Remove from pan and allow to cool.
6) Open the can and - like magic - you have dulce de leche!

It tastes pretty good -- like a slightly milkier caramel.  We've had ours on brownies and apple slices.

Meatball Sub Casserole - Fail.  Fail, fail, fail.  The flavor of this was good (and I skipped the cream cheese/ mayo step as Jaidan and I are the only ones who eat mayo and no one really cares for cream cheese.  I spread some of the Kraft Garlic Herb mayo on our portions but that was it) but the bread was SO SOGGY.  I was really disappointed because I had high expectations for this one . . . especiallly since it was also in my new Bible Taste of Home cookbook.

French Chicken Broccoli Supreme - I made this the night after I made the meatball sub casserole and . . . totally redeemed myself.  I don't even like broccoli but this was THE SHIT!  So cheesey and yummy and just . . . trust me, make it.  The only thing I did differently was use about half the Ritz crackers the recipe called for.  I'm not big on the crumble topping being TOO much.  But, in this case, I think it would've enhanced the dish.  So I'll go ahead and use all it calls for next time.  I had big plans to make this into a BIG dinner.  I was going to fix rice and streamed asparagus (and reserve some of the cheese sauce to go on it) and bread to go with it.  I ended up fixing . . . just the bread.  But it was a plenty filling dinner.

Crockpot Apple Cake - Okay, I was psyched about this recipe.  No oil and the blog author said it was moist and yummy.  Um . . . no.  It was not moist and it definitely was not yummy.  Adding a little Cool Whip helped a bit but I will not be making it again.  Healthy cake.  I shoulda known better. 
 
Halloween/ Kid Stuff:

Ritzy Halloween Spiders - I was not going to cover mine in chocolate so they really look nothing like the pin.  The kids thought they were fun though -- even though every single one of the turds pulled the pretzels out and refused to eat them.  What the?

Cute Little Witches, Scarecrows, Bats:

Those bats kept the boys entertained for nearly an entire morning!  They had so much fun playing with them. 

We also did some of the activities from 1 + 1 + 1 = 1's pumpkin preschool pack (love this one because the activities can easily be adapted for the kindergarten age and the young pre-k age) and pumpkins on the vine (and a few other printables from this site).

We've started doing a science "experiment" every afternoon.  This week we made mini volcanos and lots of fun stuff from Science Bob.

Karis is always a bit of an, um, issue when it comes to doing "Learning Time" with the boys.  I decided to try giving her a strainer full of pipe cleaners to play with one day while the boys did their worksheets and stuff.

It kept her busy . . . for a little bit anyway.  She's just one so I figure anything that can keep her attention for at least ten minutes can be considered a success.  (However, when I tried to give it to her the next day she threw it on the ground and yelled, "NO!")

And, finally, my personal favorite activity of the week . . .

The World Series interfered with our ability to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Thursday night.  Yesterday morning was cold and gross so we decided to make our very own drive-in theater in our living room and watch Charlie Brown.  The kids LOVED it.  We'll definitely be doing this more often!

I shall leave you with this:

I want a sister wife.

Smell My Feet

With all the trunk or treats and "harvest festivals" (remember when they were just called Halloween carnivals?), does anyone ever really just trick or treat anymore?  But just in case you're planning on going out Monday night (or sometime over the weekend since, of course, we no longer even freakin' trick or treat ON Halloween anymore), here's a little repost from last year.
 
Enjoy!  And remember: Don't be an asshole this Halloween.
 
I. Thou shalt not leave your porch light on if you're not going to be handing out candy. Asshole. I realize that you want to see to put your key in the lock when you get home from your trunk or treat or hiding from all the little ghouls and goblins. But, um, hello. This is the one day out of the year that you KNOW excited little children go from door to door and expect it to be opened when your light is on. Use the garage light next time, mmkay? Sheesh.

II. If thou art over the age of 12, thou shalt wear a freakin' costume if you expect people to give you candy. Assholes. Come on, jerk. Head over to the dollar store and drop two dollars on a plastic mask.

III. If thou art over the age of 12 - and insist on trick or treating - thou shalt not try to scare my little people who actually are, you know, of trick or treating age. Assholes.

IV. If thou art over the age of 12 - and insist on trick or treating - thou shalt not hang out the window of a car wearing a Scream mask and make a crude comment about my badonkadonk. Asshole.

V. Thou shalt not ever, EVER, answer the door for trick or treaters with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth. Asshole.

VI. Thou shalt control your brats and not allow them to run over other children (namely mine). Assholes.

VII. Thou shalt not hand out those crappy Mary Jane thing-a-ma-bobs. Cheap assholes.

And, finally, a new one for this year:

VIII.  Thou shalt not judge me if you notice my three-year-old's "costume" is his faded, too small Sheriff Woody pajamas.  He is very opinionated, ya'll!

Thursday Things

1) TEXAS RANGERS, BAYBAY!  Tonight.  They win it all.

2) Can someone please tell me where the heck the month of October has gone?  I mean, really.  I should not be purchasing Halloween costumes.  I should be getting ready for the 4th of July, people. 

3) Speaking of Halloween, let's talk about a three year old and the costume selection process.  First it was Jessie (and in Cowgirl Jessie, as in Toy Story 2 & 3, as in Daddy was all "um, no, nuh-uh, not even)."  Then it was Woody.  Then Green Lantern.  Then a pirate.  Then I dug out all the pirate costume stuff from when Jaidan was a pirate a couple years ago and Kikey was all, "I am not wearing that!"  (WTF?)  Then it was Buzz Lightyear in the too-small-stained-in-places-one-of-the-sleeves-is-unraveling costume I bought at a yard sale.  Then it was Woody.  Then it was Buzz Lightyear.  We're going tonight to pick out a costume. Please pray for all of us.  This might not be pretty.

4) My stepdaughter, age 11, is deep in the throes of tweendom and being embarrassed by anything her parents, or a parental type figure, does.  She told me that adults should not dress up for Halloween which sorta made me want to thump her.  Hard.  I love dressing up and I kinda miss the pre-kid days when Halloween meant a club or a party and an excuse to look slutty.

I weigh about 20ish pounds less now but, damn, that body was so much nicer!  And firmer.  And nothing really jiggled. 

ANYway.  I pick Z up from cheerleading on Mondays and I'm seriously considering going next week in costume. 

5) Two months from now Christmas will be completely over and there will be toys ALL OVER my house. 

6) I love all the food involved with this time of year.  Oh man.  Fudge and peppermint bark and sausage balls and turkey and cranberry sauce and . . . I could go on and on.  Last year, I gained about 10 pounds or so between Halloween and Christmas.  I refuse to not enjoy my favorite food time of the year.  But I also don't want to spend all of January eating like a bird so that I won't be a Fat Ass when I go to NOLA in February.  So I'm working out twice a day.  Blah.  If I could have any super power, it would not be flying or x-ray vision.  It would totally be a super fast metabolism.

7) An '06 Asshole doesn't stop being an '06 Asshole just because he turns five.  Just sayin'.

8) I will be so sad when my baby no longer says "shay-shoo" instead of "thank you."  Also, her newest word is "money."

9) Monsters, Inc, Hocus Pocus, Mostly Ghostly,The Little Vampire, Teen Witch, Teen Wolf, Casper.  We have already watched them or have plans to watch them all in the next few days.  Can someone please tell me, though, why Ghostbusters isn't coming on until November?  What the?  I really wanted to introduce Jaidan to the magic of the marshmallow man and friends.

10) I bought the most delicious smelling candle at Walmart . . . for a buck!  It makes me whole house smell delish and in no time at all.  Mmmm. 

Over It.

This doesn't have anything even remotely to do with what this post is about but . . . I cannot comment on any Blogger blogs unless you allow annonymous or Name/ URL comments (and sometimes not even then!).  Is anyone else having this issue?  I keep being told that my Google account is not allowed to view the comment link (or something like that).  It's frustrating. 

Anyway.

With earthquakes in Turkey and real problems in the world, the fact that things on Pinterest irritate me just makes me seem even more First World Dumbass.  But I can't help but make a post dedicated to Stupid Shit I've Seen on Pinterest.

Alternately: So sick of seeing these pins.

Here we go:

I HATE this.

I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

And, given the number of times I've seen it floating around Pinterest, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one.

Why can't it be the other way around: Maybe if more males would stand up and be GENTLEMEN (*ahem*) then more females would sit down and be LADIES.

I seriously hate how "boys will be boys" can be blamed on girls not being "ladies."  Seriously, ladies, do you get what you're saying?  Excusing bad boy behavior by blaming it on women?  Thanks for sitting us back forty years.  Now get in the kitchen and make me a sammich!

I love the subtle way of saying that fat people can't be pretty. 

Would you tell an underweight person "Don't get pretty to eat.  Eat to get pretty!"?  No?  Yeah.

I'll just be honest and say that I hate most of the "motivational" weight loss propaganda on Pinterest anyway.  This?

Thanks but no thanks.

I'll take curves.  Kthanksbinow.

What is UP with the Keep Calm stuff?

Over it.

Also over:

Anything with cute puppies, kitties, or penguins

The obviously fake DamnYouAutocorrects:

Recipes that look absolutely delicious then I read their ingredient list and realize they contain huge amounts of cream cheese.

"A Year from Now You'll Wish You'd Have Started Today."  (I don't really care for people who try to make me feel bad about my procrastination).

Pantries organized by Type A Professional Organizers that Real Life People will never, ever, ever be able to duplicate.  And, even if they were, would never be able to keep up with.





Number Eight

My cousin Storme and I got up at 5:30 Saturday morning.  We got cute, put on our best Woo Pig wear, cleaned up a toddler sized ass explosion, and then got on the road.  Destination: Oxford, Mississippi.

Do you know what's in Oxford, Mississippi?

The University of Mississippi.  And not much else.

But, this past weekend, our Hogs were there too.  So Storme and I traveled the hour and a half from Memphis to Oxford to get a little bit of Woo Pig Soiee on.

Did you know Ron White is an Ole Miss fan?  Well, maybe he's not.  But his bootleg version is.

We didn't purchase our tickets in advance.  We waited until we got there and purchased a pair from this dude, who was selling them on a sidewalk, and paused to call the Hogs with me.

We ended up sitting on the Ole Miss side of the field.  We also ended up sitting on row three.  Yes, three.  As in one, two, THREE.  As in awesome. 

The game started off great.  For Ole Miss fans.  Not so much for us Hog fans.  Ole Miss put 17 points up on the board before halftime.  Bobby Petrino apparently gave a good ass chewing at the Half because our boys came back ready to actually play ball in the final two quarters. 

Touchdown Arkansas
First down Arkansas
Touchdown Arkansas

It proved to be a little much for the poor Ole Miss fan in front of us.  He quit yelling "Pulled Pork!  Pulled Pork!" and started sulking.  He withdrew his invitation for Storme and I to attend an Ole Miss party.  And, with Ole Miss down 29-17 with three minutes left in the game, he tucked his tail between his legs and high tailed out of the stadium.

Dumb move.

In those final few minutes, Ole Miss scored a touchdown bringing the score to 29-24.  Then they did an onside kick and recovered it.  That's when my heart stopped beating and I couldn't breathe.  Because all I could think about is how THIS would be the game.  THIS game, the one that I was at, would be the game that Arkansas would lose, dashing all hopes of any BCS nods in December.

Luckily, our defense stepped up and managed to snag an interception.  With less than a minute left in the game, we were able to take a knee and then run out the clock.

Arkansas win.

And now they're number eight in the nation.

Woo Pig Soiee!

Thursday Things

1) Fall decided to skip the Midsouth completely.  We went from summer to winter literally in a day.  It was 90 degrees on Monday.  I woke up Tuesday morning to a nice, balmy 70 degrees.  The temperatures fell all day and yesterday made it to a high of . . . 50.  No bueno.

I'll take 90 over 50 anyday.  Real talk.

2) World Seeeeeeries time, baybeeeee!

This is one Series that I can honestly say I'll be pleased with the outcome either way.  I do prefer the Rangers - though I'm a little irritated that they actually decided to start playing baseball the minute I moved away.

We used to live about 20 minutes from Ameriquest Field.

I miss easy access to Major League Baseball.

3) An issue with being married to someone ten years your senior: "What do you MEAN you don't remember the 1985 Chicago Bears?"  Um, hi, hello?  I was five in 1985. 

4) I'm dying - dying, I tell ya - to find some of the white chocolate M&M's.  Where, oh where, oh where.

5) Did you know you cannot buy cold beer in the city limits of Oxford, Mississippi?

6) Karis can say Zhariah's name almost perfectly.  Zah-ee-ah.  However, she calls the boys "Day Day" and "Ty Ty."  I really can't explain that one. 

7) For some reason, I had in my head that I didn't really like Coke Zero.  I love good old Coca Cola Classic and I do not appreciate fake versions of it nor alternatives for it.  But, Coca Cola keeps an extra five to ten pounds on me so I try to reserve it for special ocassions.  You know, like weekends.  Or Tuesday afternoons.  Anyway.  Walmart had NO Diet Dr. Pepper on their shelves so I was forced to buy a Coke Zero.  And you know what?  I kinda like it.  I'm pretty sure this is a sign that I'm getting old.

8) TV Guide Network shows episodes of Designing Women at 10:00 and 10:30 in the morning.  Um, LOVE.  I record and then watch while I'm working out. 

9) I still haven't purchased Halloween costumes for the kids.  Which is probably a good thing because Kyan has gone from wanting to be Jessie to Woody to Green Lantern to a pirate.  Personally, I'm hoping he sticks with the pirate.  (Mostly) homemade costumes are more fun anyway.  Remember when Jaidan was a pirate a couple years ago?

10) I realize this is so last week but it still makes me giggle:

Best.Diet.Ever.

Before I get into the meat of this story, let me just explain to you that I have a relationship with my scale.  Sometimes it's a good relationship.  Sometimes it's not so good.  I weigh myself [almost] every morning.  Yes, I am one of those.  Yes, I might be happier if I weren't shackled to my scale.  But I prefer to know I'm entering into fat ass territory before I go to put on my jeans in the morning and realize I have to lay down on the bed, suck it in, count to ten, hum the national anthem, and pray to get them to fit.  So, yes, I am one of those annoying weigh-every-morning type of people. 

I weighed myself last Friday morning, as normal.  Noted the number.

I didn't weigh Saturday morning because I was too busy being sicker than I've been in years.

I'm not exactly sure what happened but I have a feeling it involved Chuck E. Cheese, that den of germs and ick.  We went last Monday.  Thursday afternoon, the boys were tag teaming me with their Linda Blair impressions.  Friday night, shortly before midnight, it hit me.  I spent all of Saturday being absolutely, positively miserable.

Do you know the only thing worse than being sick and having to take care of three children?

Being sick and having to take care of three children, one of whom is also sick.  Yep, Karis got the crud too.  She and I were both sick on Saturday.  She still had a touch of it on Sunday and Jaidan had a resurgence of it on Sunday as well.

Yesterday, for the first time in four days, no one in my house threw up.  I cannot tell you just exactly how amazing yesterday was. 

So, I spent Thursday through Sunday either being sick myself, taking care of sick kids, running sick kids to the bathroom, being thrown up on, cleaning up vomit, cleaning up numba-two accidents, or doing laundry.  You don't even want to know how many loads of towels, bed sheets, and puked-on clothes I washed over a span of four days.

But.

There is a silver lining in all of this.

I stepped on the scale Sunday morning and realized that I managed to lose four pounds since Friday.  Monday morning, another pound was gone.

No exercise, ya'll!
I could eat whatever I wanted -- I didn't, mind you, but I could have.  (We still don't really have appetites!  The kids just picked at lunch and dinner yesterday and my stomach may grumble from time to time but absolutely nothing sounds good to me).

I tried on a pair of jeans yesterday afternoon and *gasp* they were a little loose.

Basically, I spent a couple of weeks watching what I ate and exercising like a mofo when all I really had to do was go lick the slide (or something) at Chuck E. Cheese and pick up a few germs.  Sure, being sick on Saturday was miserable.  But it was only one day.  The one day diet.  I can deal.

Punkin' Patchin'

Last year, we took the kids to a pumpkin patch/ farm in north Mississippi.  It's like the perfect all-in-one pumpkin patch meets playground meets petting zoo for city kids.  They also make you pay for anyone over the age of one and, while it's worth it, it's still hard to put down nearly $60 for a family of six to go play on a farm for a day.  I mean, growing up I played on a farm for free.  Every single day.  And I didn't have to pay extra for lunch or another $2 per person to ride on a pony for 45 seconds.

Plus, in September my kids went to the beach. 
And to Dallas. 
And to Michigan and to Chicago.
Travel in September = broke in October = roadside pumpkin "patches" in October.

Plus, I'd rather spend that $60 on admission for me to go to the Hogs game this Saturday.  Wait, what?  Selfish?  Huh?

I'm assuming there are tons of Ameicans who trek to pumpkin patches every year to pick out the perfect pumpkin.  I am not one of these.  Our yearly pilgrimidge serves one purpose and one purpose only.  PHOTO OP.

Trying to get three kids to take a decent picture -- especially when surrounded by pumpkis and gourds and other fun things they don't see every day -- is an Olympic feat.  Like, seriously, they should make this a sport.  We hit two pumpkin "patches" last week -- one roadside, another at the local farmer's market.  Here are a few of the pics from these outings:

What a little turd!

Believe it or not, those are the best group pictures from two days worth of pumpkin patching!  Two days!  And those are the best pictures.

We did get a few individual shots, though, including this one of my Rooster who usually makes it a point to either never smile for the camera or give me the goofiest face possible:

Awwww . . .

That smile from that little chicken legged boy . . . that smile from that little chicken legged boy who NEVER gives a genuine smile when the camera is in front of his face . . . all worth it.  But I'd still love to have a decent group shot!

It Happened This Week . . . It Happened Five Years Ago

October 16, 2006, five years ago, we said goodbye to our sweet Granny.  She was 99 years old.  I had 26 and a half years with my great grandmother.  I don't think too many people can say that.  I still miss her.  I still add her to my Christmas card list every year.  I wish everyone could grow up with a great grandmother like her -- one who worried endlessly over things like us jumping off the front porch, one who kept her fridge stocked with Cokes and her candy tin full of chocolate, one who could turn Kraft macaroni and cheese and Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs into culinary masterpieces. 

October 16, 2006, five years ago, I went to the doctor with "something weird" on my c-section incision.  I was quickly admitted into the hospital and, within hours, diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis and rushed into emergency surgery.  Believe me, it's the most surreal feeling in the world to be wheeled into surgery with no real certainty that you'll wake up from it.  That feeling was probably worse than all the physical pain I endured over the next few weeks.  I did wake up from surgery, hours later, and when the doctors gathered around my bed and asked me if I had any questions I said, "Yes.  Did the Cardinals win?"

Life goes on.  I was lucky, fortunate, blessed, you pick the adjective to make it out of NF alive and to make it out as well as I did.  It has a 100% fatality rate when not caught in time.  (And "in time" is just a matter of days).  Over the years, I've connected with many survivors of NF and many people who lost family members to the infection.  I realize just how fortnuate I am.  I came out of it alive and well.  I have an ugly scar on my abdomen and my stomach is misshapen.  But I'm alive.  And I was able to have two more babies (something doctors did not think would happen).  And I'm healthy.  And I have my left leg (a slight concern in the aftermath of the surgery -- the left leg was attacked more viciously).  And the Cardinals are back in the hunt for the NLCS . . .

This past week was busy and crazy.  Parts of it were fun (hello!  My baby turned five!).  Parts of it I would rather not ever go through again (the sickies - ugh).  But regardless of how crazy . . . or how mundane . . . or how anything else, I'm just glad that I still have this life to live it. 

Here's a look at our week:

Sunday 10/9:

Monday 10/10:

Tuesday 10/11:

Kyan doesn't even look like himself here but, for some reason, I really love this picture!



Wednesday 10/12:

Thursday 10/13:



Friday 10/14:

Saturday 10/15: