Scenes from Halloween

I don't even know what to say about this costume.

It's unique. It's colorful.

This was what Lucy put together for her Halloween Piano Recital.

Interesting.

Miss Cholita, our dress-up queen, lives Halloween every day. On October 31st she just gets more candy. She chose to be Dorothy this year, an excellent choice since we had both a Dorothy costume and the red shoes. But then she saw the sparkly red shoes at Target and she hugged them to her chest and pleaded and begged until I gave in. I don't know another living soul who gets more pleasure out of shoes.

But on Halloween night, she surprised me by opting for saddle shoes instead of sparkles. If people asked, she said she was a "poodle girl".

Lucy decided against her "crazy alien" costume and joined Cholita in the poodle girl club. And now that I look at the picture, Cholita wasn't in the poodle girl club anyway. She was a black cat girl. Regardless, it was a bit of a nostalgic moment for me. I wore the poodle skirt years ago for a school Fifties night and little pre-schooler Lucy wore the black cat skirt. Sigh. As if it would make me feel better, Lucy pointed out that she did have to pin in the waist on her skirt several inches. No, it didn't make me feel better at all. It just made me want to do more Pilate's.

Rose was Glinda. Or "Guh" Linda, with a "Guh", I'm not sure which. or Witch.

Anyway, she was lovely.

Evidently, "pink" was the theme for Halloween 2009. Bruder has refused to dress up since he was about 12. Lucy's now a teenager, so I doubt that she has many more trick or treating years left. That makes me sigh even more than the poodle skirt.

Mr. October

In many ways, our dog Olaf is a serious mess. He's got bad hips, very little stamina, and enough phobias to keep a canine psychologist busy for many long hours. To top it all off, he's a groomer's nightmare--a 120 pound lint catching, twig collecting, mud-caked mountain of fur. When he was a puppy, a local pet store had a special grooming price for all dogs under 1 year old--the whole shebang for $9.99. We took full advantage of the deal, proudly presenting our 100 pound puppy (and required birth certificate) for his day of beauty. I believe that store has now changed their policy.

Anyway, it costs far more to get him groomed these days, and so a spa trip is a rare and special occassion for Olaf and he knows it.


Here he was yesterday morning, pre-grooming session, not even making eye contact, knowing he wasn't presentable. When I opened the door and urged him into the car, he wagged for all he was worth and squeezed himself into the minivan. I think if they could put his hair in rollers and paint his nails, he'd be thrilled.

And now for the big reveal.....

I give you Mr. October,

happily posing for his photo shoot.

He's expecting a call from Westminster.

Glowing with pride, he strikes a regal pose on our hill.

"Hey baby."

Someone knows he's lookin' good.

Run, Baby, Run

Have I mentioned lately how much I adore Rose?

She's such a unique, feisty, lovable character.

Rose frequently gets a far-off look in her eye, stops whatever she's doing, and runs outside to do a few laps around the house. We sit inside and watch her as she passes the windows.

Around and Around and Around.....

Sometimes she runs quietly, sometimes she sings, sometimes she talks to herself.

She doesn't need running apparel (obviously), and if the weather is breezy, or rainy, or cloudy, even better. She says she must go.

She returns winded,
but always happier and more focused.

Who needs therapy and self-help books?

Rose just goes for a run.

Beware

Beware the plethora of porch pumpkins

Beware, I've been doing crafts

Beware the black bear dog who will sit in your lap for snuggle time

Beware, Lucy's been crafting too

Beware the spiders on the door

Beware the haunted library

Beware the cobwebs (artificial and otherwise)

Beware Lyle's spooky portrait

And oh yeah, Happy Halloween!

I Blinked and it was Autumn

We've only been gone for five days, but the difference in our landscape is stunning. At breakfast this morning, Rose gasped and yelled, "Mom, look at our tree!" It was green a week ago, it really was, but look at it now.

We bought two Japanese Maples this summer and I was told that Acer Palmatums each do their own thing as far as Fall color. I was really hoping this pair would coordinate a bit since they'll be planted next to each other, but we've got Big Red and his brother, Mr. Brown.

Doesn't the red look great against the white and black house? I love Autumn time.

Worth It

It was a last minute splurge. Every last cent marked for "entertainment" for the next several months has now been spent, but I'd do it again. As a matter of fact, I have. Three times. But I ask you, how often does Wicked come to Seattle? Not often.

I'd already purchased tickets for the October 2nd show for Lyle, Bruder and Rose. Lucy and I saw it the last time the touring company came to Seattle, and since Lyle had seen it only once (on a Valentine's Trip to LA) and I'd seen it twice, I would let him take the newbies. It was a sacrifice. But then Bruder announced an over-night cross country meet to Yakima on the same night. He was thoroughly disappointed and so I tried to exchange their tickets for another day. No can do.

Fate forced my hand. I purchased an additional two tickets for Tuesday night for a mom and Bruder date and Lucy danced a happy dance that she'd get to go for Wicked Night #2. With a last minute purchase, I was so thrilled just to get two seats together that I didn't even look to see if we were in the nose bleed section. Last night after our delicious dinner at the Metropolitan Grill, Bruder and I entered the Paramount and checked and rechecked our tickets to make sure we were reading them right. Main floor, FIFTH ROW CENTER! With short people in front of us! It couldn't have been more magical.

But I can't say too much about it. A certain Cholita Sue is not pleased that now everyone is going except for her. So this weekend while Bruder snuggles into his bed at the Red Lion in Yakima and the rest of the family defies gravity, I've promised Cholita a showing of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". You'd think a four-year-old would find it a suitable alternative, but Cholita knows when she's getting the short end of the stick. The munchkin end. At least I can be assured that at either venue, red shoes will play prominently.

Friendship According to Rose

My Rose

She just started 3rd grade at a brand new school and for the first time in her life had to be "the new kid". She clung to me when I dropped her off in the morning, but jumped off the bus that day with a smile. She told me she loved her teacher and her new school, "but," she added with a sigh, "I didn't make any friends." As she continued to tell me about her day, she mentioned a nice girl who told her she liked her shoes, another who ate lunch with her, and still another who talked to her on the bus. I told her that it sounded to me like she'd made lots of friends. "None that are official," she said. Evidently Rose needs a notarized contract.

On day 2, she once again sprinted off the bus, this time waving a paper in the air. "I have a friend!" she yelled. She excitedly read me a note written by a girl from the bus, asking her if she'd like to be friends. Since it was in writing, Rose felt it was official.

But she still had several little girls in her class she wanted to get to know. Yesterday Rose told me that one of those girls, Camille, was also now an "official" friend. It wasn't in writing, but it was a close second. Camille had asked her to play at recess.

"That's wonderful!" I said. "So what did you guys play?"
"Oh, we didn't play," said Rose. "I told her 'no thank you'."
My mouth fell open.
"Mom, sometimes I need my alone time."

Don't we all.

I can hear a pin drop

The absolute quiet that has enveloped the house is so satisfying that I shouldn't ruin it with the clickity clack of the keyboard. I thoroughly enjoyed summer, but I'm drinking in the peace that comes with sending my kids off on their first day of school.

How adorable did my little Rose look this morning? She's attending a new school and although it's a public school, they wear uniforms, which I love. For the picture she looked ready to conquer the world, but when I dropped her off in her class she was quite clingy and teary-eyed. I've said many a prayer for her today that she meets wonderful friends, loves her teacher, and doesn't tell herself stories during recess, which she's apt to do. I love that girl.

Cholita would most likely find uniforms too restrictive for her particular tastes. Do you notice her footwear? Don't you think it's lacking in pizazz and color? Well, Cholita would certainly agree. She's LOST her red shoes! I know! I should put out posters. I have no idea how that could have happened since she keeps them with her pretty much 24/7, but tragedy has struck and it's rocked her world. Thankfully, despite the brown shoes, she was full of her red shoe personality this morning for her second year of preschool.

Lucy, our junior high schooler, is in another school district and started last week. Yes, she does live on the third floor while the rest of us reside on the second, but it's for reasons other than location that she's complicated my life by attending another district. I failed in my motherly duties and forgot to pull out the camera, but she trust me, she looked lovely.

Bruder's early morning seminary doesn't start until tomorrow, so he left for school at the same time as his littlest sisters. He's a sophomore and attending high school, giving me a grand total of four schools and two different districts to keep track of. Obviously in the placement of my children there was some poor planning on my part. But now that I look at these pictures, I miss them and am ready for a little noise.

The Courtyard: Getting Closer

Lyle has been burning the midnight oil. Seriously, he puts on a headlamp and uses power tools while the rest of the normal world slumbers.

It's been quite a transformation from a few months ago. We still have more to do, but the courtyard was finished enough to host Lyle's office party here today. It was so neat to use this new space and see how well it functions.

Lyle is still in the process of revamping the hot tub structure, but I love how it's coming along. I can't wait to get vines growing up the sides.

And lest you think Lyle is the only one who does any work around here, I made some windows. I've been taking a stained glass class on Tuesday and Thursdays and I think they look quite good, if I do say so myself.

This one was just hung this morning so I haven't had time to paint the frame.

They look neat from inside as well.

Lyle built an arched entry into one side and still needs to get rid of the ugly plastic lattice on top.

My favorite recent building project of his is the dining trellis. He came up with the design himself. He built the red benches and plans to make a table and I'll make another window for that side. I planted a "Cecile Brunner" climbing rose that should get big enough to cover the trellis and climb up onto the roof.

The pizza oven still has quite a long way to go, but Lyle has promised his employees that next year, he'll be making them pizza.

It's been a busy summer.

And as usual, Olaf could care less.

Someone had a birthday!

My baby girl is now four! How can that be possible?

Cholita has been waiting for September 2nd to roll around since....well...September 3rd of last year. We celebrated with pizza and balloons and lots of hugs and kisses.

And then came the presents, only 2, but quality rather than quantity was what we were going for. The first one deserves some explanation. Cholita's big sister, Rose, has a collection of porcelain dolls. Cholita thinks the collection actually belongs to her and this has caused no end of grief. Now as of last night, Miss Cholita has her very own fragile, breakable doll that hopefully will make it to next week in one piece.

And the piece d' resistance.....the new bike! Cholita loves it and after only about two minutes of practice time, was zipping around the driveway in a manner terrifying to her mother.

Happy birthday, Cholita! We so adore our darling four-year-old.