fun with leaf blowers

Who knew leaf blowing could be this much fun??

I like to call these next two:  "Where's Diego?"

I know, I know.  We have a lot of leaves.  At one point, Joaquin declared, "There's more leaves in our yard than people in the world."

I think the size of the final pile from the front and back yards was about 20 feet wide, 50 feet long, and 3 feet high.

Isabela said her hands felt smooth after pushing that blower for 30 minutes...more like numb from vibrations, I'd say.

See that little pile of ashes to the right of the fire...that's all that was left of those poor leaves in the end.

And Diego learned a good lesson:  don't drop your marshmallow on the dirt.  Oh, and guess what!  Today, our yard looks like it hasn't been raked all fall.  I don't know if it will be as much fun the second time around.

expectations

This is the season where my expectations of life are often unmet with what reality brings.  

A happy family decorating the tree while singing Christmas carols, often turns into a room full of boxes and tissue with a tree jammed with ornaments on one side that I missed seeing  get hung because I was changing the baby.

Here are some wise words on the subject:

Expect nothing, live frugally on surprise.  Alice Walker

Do what you can with what you have where you are.  Theodore Roosevelt

I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine.  Bruce Lee

Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.  Charlotte Bronte

A thing long expected takes the form of the unexpected when at last it comes. Mark Twain

Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway.  Mary Kay Ash

When you say or do anything to please, get, keep, influence, or control anyone or anything, fear is the cause and pain is the result.  Byron Katie

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.

Alexander Pope

A wonderful gift may not be wrapped as you expect.  Jonathan Huie

Wishing you (and me!) many happy surprises this season.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

fall nature walk

I remember long ago...years ago...trolling the aisles of Target in the early morning with a toddler in the cart, passing time until I could start my to do list of bank and library errands.  The shelves of that store are displays of order and beauty that moms of young kids long for.

But many kids later, and not enough money... and now, Target is just me asking for trouble.  I can't even remember the last time I was in there.

In my old age, I've discovered something even better that restores order and beauty...the fall nature walk.

Glistening yellow trees....

...crunching leaves beneath tiny footsteps...

...lazy cats napping on our patio furniture...

...happy giggles that are free to roam and touch and throw and squeal...

...treasures that fill hands to overflowing...

...new sights that thrill and bring wonder....

...vivid blue skies .... (Carmen was pointing at those circling vultures above)...

....smells of pine, cedar sticks, and lots of oak leaves that have been burnt into overflowing piles of ashes...

...animal friends that follow us around....

....and even let us boss them around!

Go outside!  Forget your daily to do's and worries.  Breathe deep, collect acorns, and enjoy beautiful fall.

images of fall

True to tradition, we had some last minute costume changes the night of Halloween.  It was pretty cold out there, so we raided the dress-up for something warm for Carmen and came up with this mouse costume that we've had since we moved back here from Bolivia...in 2007.  It was a little big, but made the mouse all the more cuddly.

Diego couldn't wait to be a Power Ranger...and I have to admit, those muscles were fun to squeeze.

And Joaquin was going as a bobble head with that giant mask until about 15 minutes before we were leaving.  We knew he wouldn't have much fun walking around with that big head on.  I told him to look on pinterest for some scary face paint (he always wants to be something scary), and he came back with this.  He remembered this sweatshirt he had hidden away in his closet, and that was one easy costume.  He loved his face paint so much, he wanted to wear it to his soccer game the next morning.  I said no.

And Isabela stuck with her red riding hood costume and it kept her pretty warm, although the hood kept falling down so she often looked like a typical almost-teen trying to get candy without dressing up.

We must have mice on the brain because somehow our pumpkin got carved like a mouse, too.

Here's proof that fall has finally hit...our fire ring is back to work.   Juan Pablo has an unorthodox way of laying entire branches across the fire ring without cutting them, and somehow we never burn the house down.

Diego is feeling the heat, but is really a safe distance away.  You would think that the fire would climb right up the branches, spreading across the yard, but it must be a magical fire ring that keeps the fire right around it.  (Isabela was nearby with our fire extinguisher, just in case.)

Carmen loving on her big brother.  

And I just had to include this picture of Diego.  He came across this hat in Old Navy yesterday and he loved it, we loved it, so I had to buy it.  He should be on the cover of a magazine...thinks his mom.  He was quite disappointed when I told him you're not allowed to wear hats at school.

Happy Fall, Y'all.

costumes 2014

Still don't know what to be for Halloween this year?  Classic, silly, or valiant, take your pick.

Carmen and Isabela are both little red riding hoods this year.  Isabela chose this because of a favorite series of hers, called Ever After High.  Cerise Hood, with her short skirt and tall boots, is little cooler than the classic little red riding hood.

Chosing for Carmen was harder...she's only one once.  I actually bought supplies to make her into one of those cute scarecrows with organza dresses on pinterest, but she loved trying on Isabela's hood as I was making her cape.  There were enough scraps left over to make a tiny cape, so why not?

Let's see how long that hood stays up.

So far so good.

 I'm most proud of Diego's costume this year.  And it only cost me a grand total of $3.00.

The helmet is made out of cereal boxes hot glued and spray painted with some silver I just happened to have on hand.  I made up the design based on this cute helmet.  The chainmail is a dishcloth I happened upon at the dollar store!  I bought two and JP sewed a little strap across the shoulders so Diego could just slip it on over his head.

The shoulder armor is made of cardboard along with the shield.  I used a fun technique to add detail to the cardboard....just squirt elmer's glue in swirly designs and let it dry.  When it is spray painted, the designs show up!  

The last dollar was spent on tinfoil cooking pans for his leg armor.

But about that sword.  Diego and I found that buried in our yard a year ago...we were traipsing through the forest and something caught my eye.  "Hey, what's this?"  And we started digging.... a few minutes later, Diego pulled out this amazing sword just like King Arthur's sword, Excalibur.  And it still lights up and makes clanking armor noises!

He takes his costume roles very seriously.

And then there's Joaquin.

He is a lover of anything with a big head.  (Hmmm?)  He decided to be a bobble head of his favorite soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo.  And I think his costume only cost $4.00...some poster board and craft foam for a giant number one finger.

We made a base out of cardboard for the school costume contest.  It was cut down the middle so he was able to shuffle along as they paraded around the gym.  But, as the saying goes...all good things must come to an end.  There were no trophies this year.  And I, for one, am relieved.  The only thing bad about winning each year is this:  there's only one place left to go after you win...down.  I felt this crazy pressure to win.  Even though I love being creative, I don't like being judged on my creativity.  Now that we've lost, I breath a sigh of relief.  I even said out loud, "Poor Carmen...she's never going to know the feeling of wearing some goofy homemade costume that her mom made from cardboard and hot glue...store-bought from here on out."

I'm sure I'll be taking that back next year.

october-busy

October-busy.   That's my new adjective to describe the state of being very busy.   Making costumes, soccer games, school gardens, the annual Pansy Day planting...while I love it all, I'm so looking forward to November and peaceful, quiet Thanksgiving.

But in my spare minute, I thought I'd play around with some of PicMonkeys new effects.  If I had a dollar to my name, I'd join and become a royale user.  But the free is good, too.

Isabela is going to be Little Red Riding Hood this year...that cape and hood took maybe ten minutes to make.  We used this video and it was so.very.easy.  (although we're skipping all that makeup she puts on in the beginning of it. ) I just had to make one for Carmen, too...so we're going to have two red riding hoods this year.  A big one...

...and a tiny one.  But I didn't want to give it away yet, so here's the little spell caster.  She's definitely got ME wrapped around her finger.

Those bats and moon aren't really on our wall...just some more cool effects.  The cat is real though.

My house overflows with cardboard right now.  Cardboard for costumes, cardboard for games.  I love cardboard.  Our garden club at school is going to have a booth this year.  Two tickets to feed the monsters...one eats compostable stuff and the other recycling.  Fun and educational!

I've got two more costumes to finish by tomorrow night!  Gotta run!

Anyone dressing up this month?  What will you be?

library love

My most favorite place to go is......the public library!

Here are six great reasons off of the top of my head:

1.  I can literally get out of the car with just my keys (no purse!) and come out with a giant bag full of books.  It's free, as long as you return your stuff on time.

2.  It's normally quiet.  It's nice to escape from the constant noise at my house and go somewhere I know it will be quiet.

3.  They have awesome events.  Free events.  We've learned how to crochet, attended bilingual story times, pet snakes, bats and hedgehogs, done weird science experiments and a lot more.

4.  You can request your books online!  The library notifies you when the books are in, and if you're in a hurry, you can send your big kid in while you idle in the loading zone, and they come back with all those books in a few minutes.

5.  It's free!  But I think I said that already.

6.  Books on CD.  Each summer, we check out books on CD to listen to in the car as we drive here and there.  The kids really enjoy it and it's fun to all 'read' the same book together.  Our most favorite book this summer was The False Prince.  I say 'our' because it was most definitely my favorite book, possibly ever.  The kids really liked Michael Vey: the Prisoner of Cell 25, too.  Other books we listened to last summer included Flora and Ulysses (boring to us), The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing (boring, but Izzy liked it), Gregor the Overlander (another great one!), and The Hatchet (excellent!).

Today, Diego, Carmen and I stopped in to pick up some books I had requested, and they were having a huge StarWars party.  They had costumes for the kids, balloon lightsabers, crafts, games, and giveaways....although it was probably obvious that we're not big StarWars fans--there were three years olds that knew more trivia than I did.

We have great libraries.  I love the library!

Where is your favorite place to go?