Halloween

The littles got dressed for Halloween.  The little man started off as a wolf.  The little woman was suppose to be Harley Quinn, but the make-up kit we ordered online only made it as far as Detroit.  So she was a black cat.
We did two good blocks of trick or treating and then returned home.  I think the hurry for them was the giving out of the treats.  They got into it.  Audrie had a nice comment for almost every costume she saw and she kept telling them Happy Halloween.  She did an outstanding job.
I was rather impressed with the littles.
And so we have hit the end of October.  This year is flying by.

Sigh

Well the good life didn't last long.  Mike lost his job right away and that meant he couldn't get an apartment in Longview.  Put him back in our proximity.  And as far as I can tell we are all back to same old same old.  Oy.
Anyway.....I've tried to include him in some activities with the kids.  And he goes along with it, but it all feels rushed.  When we went to the pumpkin patch he helped with the pumpkins and then waited in the car while we did the other things.
Tonight was Halloween and he wanted to go trick or treating with the littles.  We hadn't even went one block when he disappeared on us.  What's up with that.  And then he left for the night.  Much to my relief.

60 and Art

Today is Dave's 60th birthday.  We talked about him and how much we missed him.  Tried to decide if it is appropriate to say it is his birthday and how old he would be.  We decided that it is.  After all he was born 60 years ago today.  If he were still with us, we would be throwing a big party today.
Sixty is a milestone.  Unfortunately not one that he made.  He made different choices in his life that lead to his early demise.
So we say happy birthday Papa/Dave.  Sending light and love wherever you are.

We took advantage of some down time and utilized the paint can that Uncle Pat gave to the little woman for her birthday.  It kept them quiet and occupied while I put the groceries away.  I love her art and how she draws all these things freehand.  And it doesn't matter what medium she uses.  She has even taken to doing art work on the computer.  Amazing girl.

Party Time

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It was another small gathering for the little woman's birthday.  She turned seven today.  We had chocolate cake, chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream.  That was what she wanted.  She picked a cake with a chocolate rose on it.
After cake we opened presents.  The Doc McStuffin cat in a crate was the big hit.  She also got shopkins, twosies, shoes, pants, a paint can and a mermaid blanket.  She gave Simon to her brother.  I think she thought it was for him even though it was in her bag.
She was very happy and it was a nice party.  Now we have to buy a pinata that we can hang in her room.  ;p

Smallness

So again this year Audrie wants a small gathering for her birthday.  And it is absolutely fine with me.  It doesn't seem to bother her that she doesn't have a big crowd or a big pile of gifts.  We spend the day as a family and that must be more important to her.
I kept waiting for the question of why her gifts aren't big like some of the parties we have been invited to and have attended.  And she never does.  The little man has commented on it at some point.
She enjoys the parties we have been to. So I'm still not sure why she tends to shy away from them for her own birthday.  Anyway we are looking forward to a quiet day of celebration tomorrow.

Pumpkins

Sunset had her day at the humane society for her spaying. It took two hours to commute to the Oregon Humane Society.  Traffic was ridiculous.  But we got her there and dropped off.
After we got home the little man and I cleaned out his and Audrie's pumpkins so they would be ready to carve.  We have a nice bowl of seeds to roast.
After we picked Sunset up and then got her settled back in at home, we set about working on the pumpkins.  The littles found out it was a little harder to carve than they thought.  We used the paper templates that came with the carver set.  We didn't do too bad of a job.  You can tell they are faces.
Took them outside and lit them up to see what they looked like.  Spooky.  They were happy with them.

Leaf Garlands

I get email weekly from a lady who hands out arty ideas of things to do with your kids.  So recently making leaf garlands came up.  Looked easy enough and the only supply we needed was tape.
So we went for a walk and collected leaves.  We jumped in leaves.  We spotted mushrooms.  Played in trees.
When we were done outside, we moved inside.  Went right to work on making leaf garlands for our windows.  The littles did a fantastic job.  And it didn't cost us a thing.  They loved it.

Books

I love books.  I always have.  And I used to read a lot.  I hope to have time to read again (I'm sure I will).  Oh and I do read, I read children's books.  Reading to children and giving them access to books makes new readers.  I firmly believe if you read the world is open to you.
So a few trips back to Costco I found this little book set for infants/toddlers.  Didn't even hesitate.  I knew they would be perfect for Peyton and Marcus.  I bought the books to go in Catie's box.  The box that I have yet to put together.  The book set resided in my car and patiently waited.
This is the babies birthday month so I found a box just for the books and mailed them off.  Peyton loves them as you can tell from her foot reading.  I'm so glad.
Catie had sent me the picture after the box arrived and then we had a nice chat.  We talked genetics and babies.  We shared some stories.  I love how she appreciates small gestures, like the book set.  I think she feels better.  And her babies are growing fast.  She shared some pictures with me and I love them.
Light and love always Catie.

Harvest Festival 2016

It was a weekend of festivals for us this weekend.  Brenda invited us to come again to her church.  It was bigger this year and had a larger attendance.  This is our fourth year of attending the festival at her church.  And we keep enjoying it.  There is always music and food and animals.
It is on a small scale and I've already talked about how much I like simplicity.
Every year is a little different.  This year there was a camel.  Who knew camels were soft.  They are.  The kids got to shoot bb guns for the first time ever.  They got to dress up in old time clothing.  They both agreed that the best thing though was riding the mechanical bull.  The little man stayed on a lot longer than I thought he would.  I know the man who was controlling it didn't make it wild because the little man is little, but he still held on a long time.  The smiles were huge.
Belinda made it and she brought her dog Cooper.  The kids loved him.  It was good to see her and catch up.  We really miss her at work, but are still happy for her in her new job.  And she is now working full time.

Fall Festival

Yesterday turned into a pretty nice day.  So we ventured over to the Fall  Festival being held at Scented Acres Lavender Farm.  It had been postponed from last weekend due to the weather that we had.
We each got a pumpkin.  The little man picked a heavy one.  The littles also got to try some new things.  Like using a wringer and washboard.  They liked it.  They ground some corn and really really liked that.  I'm sure it would be different if they had to do that on a farm.  They had fresh pressed apple cider and met a black lab puppy.  They talked to the chickens, the goat and the pony.  They behaved pretty well and we all enjoyed the time there.
I like the simpler things.  We could have went to the other local pumpkin patch and spent a lot of money and had a big todo. But I really like it at Scented Acres.  Mary is always so patient and it is a small business that has grown but not lost its small time charm.

"Suicide Squad"

I bought tickets to see "Suicide Squad" early in the week.  Having seen enough of the trailers, my curiosity was piqued.
Brenda met me there.  It was high action with lots of guns.  The characters were great.  And I loved Harley Quinn.  That was probably the best character in the movie.  The others were entertaining, but she was superb.  Margot Robbie did an excellent job of portraying her.
I wouldn't call it an excellent movie, but it was pretty good and worth the two hours of my time to watch it.
And I did not see anything in it that the littles couldn't really watch....there would have been too many questions.  So I'm glad I went as a grown-up sans kids.  Audrie can watch it on TV someday.

Oy. Eyes Opened

I will be so glad when this election is over.  Only three more weeks of listening and seeing all the garbage.  The thing about email and social media is it is so faceless.  I have learned so much about my friends that I am just floored.  It seems we forget there are real people reading and listening and watching.  Being behind a computer screen gives us the right to say whatever we want without consequences.  I'm sure a lot of what I have seen would never be said in person.
I stop listening to anyone who starts out calling the other side a derogatory name.....sheeple, killary, libtard.  I'm mean come on.  Do you honestly think that is the way to get your point of view across? Obviously I am a liberal democrat.  Because my opinion is different than yours does not make me stupid or a following sheep.  It means I have a different set of values, life experiences and priorities.  And that does not make me wrong.  Just as your values, life experiences and priorities do not make you wrong.  It just means we have a difference of opinion.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  Life would be boring if we all thought the same.  But no one is changing anyone else opinion by the jokes and words being used online. A lot of it isn't even true and it is just rude and shows some facets of personality that would have been better left unseen. Both sides......when you use some of the banter thrown around, you are talking about your family, your friends, your kids.  Would you really say that to them?  It is not all right to spread the hate.
We need both sides in our government for the checks and balances.  I am a firm believer of those.  Because without them then we have the absolute power corrupting thing going on.
For the next three weeks I think I will pass over all those memes and emails and names and rudeness because they aren't helpful at all.  And maybe when the election is over we can get back to being people who work together.  Maybe.  Maybe not.

In Charge Again

Yup, another day at work where I was in charge.  Of myself.  Working on returns.  I was pleased that I got very little freight in.  That allowed me to concentrate my whole day on freight out.  I got all the book pulls that were ready processed and boxed and most of them ready to go when the UPS guy comes on Monday.
While I did a lot today, it feels like a drop in the bucket.  There must still be a lot of book pulls yet to do.  Either way we are making progress on them.  Unfortunately I don't have any extra hours that can be utilized next week.  So every one else is going to get to help me more than normal getting those books back to the vendors.

Friends

Almost every day I ask the little woman who she played with.  Once in awhile I get an answer.  I know she talks to the kids on the block, but I'm not sure they are her friends.
I know her very best friend is her brother.  They play and fight a lot.  And oh, she has days she wishes she didn't have a little brother.  I'm not sure she would ever admit to days where she is happy she has one.  I know he is her absolute best friend.  I am so happy she has him.
I am trying to figure out if she is an introvert or not.  She really keeps herself closed in.  Maybe she gets some of that from Papa.  Somewhat introverted but not enough so to become a recluse. Still waiting for the day she has a friend who is not her brother.

Brave

So we had to go to Urgent Care this week.  The dog had bit the little woman on Sunday.  Well it got infected.  She got an x-ray taken to make sure there were no dog tooth fragments in the wound.  The kids thought that was cool looking at the x-ray and seeing the bones in her hand.
She was given a prescription for a good antibiotic and it is a lot that she has to take.  The pharmacist warned me it doesn't taste too good.  My first thought is "joy".  I told her she had to take it even though it tastes yucky.  If the infection gets in her bone it is super bad news and she could lose a finger or two.  Well she decided she did not want that.  She doesn't like the medicine, but she is taking it like a trooper.  She is brave.

Home

The surgery went without a hitch.  The dr. said the gall bladder was very inflamed.  Pat should start feeling better right away.  

Pat told me they said he would be off work for four weeks.  I'm not sure he was looking forward to that.  He checked into the short term disability at work.  Found out there was a before thing his company does.  So he has four weeks of full pay because of how long he has been there.  That had to be a relief.  And then if he needs it then he can tap into the short term disability....but it doesn't give him full pay.  Good incentive to do whatever he needs to do to heal right and quickly.

Then he said they also fixed a hernia he had in his belly button.  Guess that is good as long as they were in there.  One more thing he doesn't have to worry about.  

His friend Dale got him home today.  He was released this morning and I had to work.  Said he is going to try and find someone to help him get his car home tomorrow.  

I'm just glad he is A-ok.  And home.  So are his dogs. 

Sunnyside

It is an awesome sense of deja vu. Spent quite a bit of time at this hospital with Dave. First time I have been back since he died.
Pat was having extreme stomach pain. He went to urgent care. From there he was sent here for an ultrasound. Gall stones. So the remedy for that is gall bladder removal.
Here I sit in the OR waiting room while that is being done. They told me to expect to wait about three hours. And I will.
I opted not to bring Mom and I think Pat agreed with that decision. We will tell her all about it tomorrow.

Growth Spurt

The little man has just felt super solid the past few weeks. Got him on the scale and he weighs three pounds less than Sissy. I suspect we are on the brink of a growth spurt. He is hungry all the time and eating.

Still Right

Well we got a little wind and a little rain.  When we drove to HD we did see a couple of trees down.  And there was no power in that area.  But home was fine.
However even though we didn't get what they predicted....I am absolutely sure we made the right decision to not spend the weekend at the beach.  The coast did get hit with some good storms.  The kind that might have been great to watch from a hotel room.  I just didn't want to spend a whole weekend cooped up in one small room with the  littles.  Not enough space for them to expend energy without driving every one crazy.
We spent the day making homemade chicken noodle soup.  I think the little man is going to cook someday.  Right now he really likes the basics.  And today we started working with a sharp knife.  Made his Nana really nervous, but we survived it.

Waiting

It was to be our weekend of yurting at the beach.  Mom had opted out when she heard us talk about it raining all weekend.  The rest of us were still going.  We live in the PNW and are used to rain.  And it's the beach.  But then the weather forecast took a turn and added in some powerful winds.
So we cancelled our yurt.  We are not holing up in major storms in a yurt.
We couldn't think of anything else to do either.  So we are sitting at home waiting for those storms to hit here.  It has rained a good amount already.  Should get interesting when the big winds come.

Med Run

For some reason Mom's refills of her medications keep going to Creekside.  So then I go pick them up and deliver them.  So the little gal asked how Mom was doing in her new digs.  I told her how happy Mom is.  Her very first comment was "Oh, I bet that means less phone calls for you." Yup.  Guess this little gal was the one who got to help Mom make those calls from Creekside.  Just kind of funny.

Lunch Again

Had another one of those weird work shifts.  So again I had lunch with Mom afterwards.  Afterall one kid was at daycare and the other at school.  Got to like that.
We had a lovely lunch and then we were joined by a woman we had met before.  Her name is Sam.  She told us she remembered meeting us before.  I think that day was not a good day for her.  Mom was working on trying to get Sam's name in her memory.  I'm sure she will ask her many more times in the future.
They made a date to play Scrabble.  That naturally reminded me of a game night we had many years ago with Elizabeth and Mom.  We played Scrabble. It was a game that showed Mom's dementia.  However if she plays with Sam and others she won't be alone in her disease. Guess they do games every Sunday evening.
Mom, for sure, is much happier at her new place.

Brownies

Baking was going on.  The little woman wanted to play with her play mixer, but couldn't find it.  So they asked Daddy if he would make brownies with them.  They gathered up their supplies and got to work.  Working as a team.  Then Daddy wanted to know where the chocolate chips were.  He added those.  Then they all three licked the bowl while the brownies baked.
They were so anxious to eat those brownies.  They could barely stand waiting for them to cool down enough to cut.  Finally they were able to eat them.  And the first thing the little man wants to know is "why are there chocolate chips in these".  Told me he didn't like brownies like that.....they get some like that at care house.  So he gave me his brownie.  I ate about two bites when he came back and took it away from me.  Guess he likes those kind afterall. :P

Quiet

We are in our lull at work.  This should be the last week of it though.  I love our lulls.  I love having lots of days off.  I love easy days at work, as long as it is not too easy.
I had lots of deliveries to make today.  Friday was a no delivery day as the campus was closed for trainings.  So I had Friday's and today's deliveries to do.  It was so nice outside.  Part of the time I got to walk and enjoy the fall morning.
It was donut day with Mom.  We are back to selling Donut Nook donuts at work.  We haven't done donut day since work took a hiatus from the donuts through the summer.  Weren't selling enough.
Once I got home I discovered that I was almost at 10,000 steps.  So the littles and I walked down to the playground and played for a little bit.  Then naturally one had to go to the bathroom.  There is no bathroom near the neighborhood playground.  That ended our playtime.  Maybe next time we will remember to go before we walk down there.  It was a lovely fall afternoon though.
Checked in with Jodi.  TMG wants to do some maintenance projects.  Well we decided there really isn't a reason for what they want to do other than the garage door and that one is already scheduled.  The little man got a big bag of hot wheel cars and is a happy boy. Zach is growing up and decided it was time to part with little boy toys.

Compliments

The little man started it.  He just started telling random girls that they were pretty.  He especially loves to do this at drive up windows.  Naturally the little woman got in on the action because there is always a reaction when he does it.  Then they started including the guys.  They are told they are handsome.  And every single person who is told instantly smiles and acts a bit flustered.  You can tell though that these little people just made their day.
So I have taken up their task and try to say nice things to people I see.  That's a beautiful scarf, shirt, skirt.  You have gorgeous hair.  Sorry to the woman at Clark who has probably heard that too many times from me, but she really does have gorgeous hair.
The littles always teach me something or remind me about something.  This lesson on a moment's kindness and compliment may be small but it ripples.

Old Pictures

The little woman found the jumpdrive that my cousin Paula sent me a few years ago.  So naturally that means I have to look at the pictures again and just be amazed.

The first picture is a four generation picture with my grandmother being the little girl in front.  The next picture is of the farm that my Great-grandmother Lottie was born on in Iowa.  Realize that is before 1900.  What a farm.  Then another picture with my grandmother as a youngster with one of her brothers and one of her sisters.  Next to the last is my grandparents and the last picture is my dad with one of his cousins.  I can look at the pictures of my grandmother as a child and I can see my dad and I can see Connor.
I'm always amazed at the little tidbits I learn about my family.  My great-grandmother was a teacher before she got married.  Who knew?

Lunch With Mom

I had tried to set up a friend lunch with Mona and Fred.  But apparently neither one was available.  Fred said he was helping someone move.
So after work I quickly stopped at a store.  Mom wanted some paper and a pen to set by her bed.  That way she can write things down as she thinks of them.  She did that at Creekside also, but never really wrote anything.
I stopped and dropped those items off and ended up having lunch with her in the main dining room.  It was sauteed shrimp on rice pilaf with roasted vegetables.  The cooks there really do a nice job.  We had a lovely lunch, a light conversation and we met Ron, another resident.
Mom is settling in much better now and seems much happier.  She is trying to get them to move her to the Manor side.  It won't happen, but she is welcome to eat on that side and join in any activity going on.  And her working on that, gives her something to do.

Mike

Mike is all done with work release.  He got out and met us. We went and had breakfast and then found him a hotel for a week.  He put in an application on a small apartment. Stopped at Metro PCS and got himself a phone.  So he has some goals to work on and a roof while he works things out.
I have hope but naturally I am not holding my breath.  What is different this time is he has realistic goals and a job.
He was able to keep his full time job at the restaurant.  Usually they let the work release guys go once they are done with work release.  Some sort of break the restaurant gets for having the inmates working for them.  Mike went to bat for himself and got to keep his job.
Time will tell. I kind of like him staying in Longview.  Lots of reasons for that.

A Balloon

Naturally I didn't think quick enough to take a picture.  Mom needed a new supply of snacks.  She goes through her stash in a couple of days.  So the littles and I went to the store and bought new snacks and delivered them.
We found Mom in the general living area.  There were several other residents there.  Well right away the little man discovered one of those super balloons hiding behind a chair.  And then the fun began.  He was bouncing it off furniture, the ceiling and the residents.  The residents loved it and got right in on the bouncing it around.  One of the women was in a wheelchair and I noticed how softly Connor would send the ball to her on occasion.  Like he knew she couldn't handle rough play.  There was quite a bit of laughter.
And then naturally he became a balloon hog and it was time for the balloon to be put up before it got popped.  But it sure looked like all the kids, young and old, really enjoyed that fifteen minutes of playing with that balloon.
Mom was having a good day.  Still settling in.  She told me about her friend and it was the man I thought it would be.
Mel sent me this picture of Mom enjoying one of the activities they did.

Harley Quinn

The little woman has decided that she wants to be Harley Quinn for Halloween.  And of course, I haven't seen that costume.  I'm sure there probably is one.  Not sure how I feel about her idolizing a bad girl.  Not sure how we go about making her look like that.  Oy.

Toys Away

The little woman told the little man that she threw a balloon in the toy box.  So he proceeded to empty the toy box looking for the balloon.  As he was doing this I told him he didn't need to throw it all out, but I was wrong.
Moving forward I told him and her that if they didn't pick it up it was all going in the trash.  They naturally ignored me.  But just before bed....they picked up all the things they wanted to keep and put them back in the toy box.
Now I have to follow through and all that is left on the floor needs to go in the trashcan tomorrow.  Oy.

Homework

The little woman now has homework. Obviously her teacher is not one of the ones who are going it without homework.  So she brought home the homework for the week and the reading log.  And then we got right to it.  She had a math worksheet and it was pretty basic and not much to it.  And she is suppose to read every day for twenty minutes.  That reading can be her reading to me or me reading to her.  So she read me the book she brought home from class and I read the library book to her.  It was a book on idioms.  I had never thought about them before but it was a pretty cool book and yes, I can see where translating idioms would be problematic.  And yet they do make our language so colorful.
So now we begin the task of building homework into our routine.  At least it doesn't take a long time at this age.

Boxes

Oy.  I still have boxes to sort through and take care of.  Now honestly, if I haven't needed anything in those boxes in the last year I probably don't need anything in those boxes.  But some of the stuff is nice to have.  I'm pretty sure a couple of the boxes are pictures.  Haven't gotten to the bottom of the box pile yet.
I did manage to get three more boxes empty.  Funny how the box pile looks the same and yet there are only five boxes left in it.  I'm thinking it may be time to do another book purge.  It is amazing how quick those can accumulate.
When I get boxes empty I should be able to reuse them for some of Mom's stuff.  And yet, they seem to disappear as quickly as I empty them.  That is life with a four year-old.  He just likes to take the boxes and play with them until they fall apart.  And that doesn't take long with these boxes.  Some of them are just old and the glue just gives as soon as his weight is in the box.
Anyway I keep plugging away at it.  Someday it might be done.  Or not.

Green Recycling and Family Dinner

I've been waiting for the green neighbors recycling events to take place.  The one in BG was today.  Pat came out and picked up our TV that needed to go.  He also brought ten tires.  Each of us could leave five tires. It was the easiest coolest thing ever. They had it set up so you drove through the stations and deposited what you were getting rid of.  They took block foam, electronics, shredding, scrap metal and the tires.  There was no line when we pulled up so we were done in about five minutes.  As we were leaving there was definitely a line starting, so we lucked out.
After that Pat went home and the little man went with him.  They were going to hit the grocery store and pick up Grammy.  The little woman and I went over later for family dinner.  Pat bbqed burgers.  They were delicious.  So much so that Betsy helped herself to quite a few.  There were a couple left in case Mom wanted one when she woke up from her nap.  She was still asleep when we left, so I hope he didn't have any problems getting her back to her new residence.
It was good for the little man to have some man time and for the little woman to have a little one on one with me.  She is feeling a bit left out on that front because she is in school every day and I'm in my lull now.  So the little man is getting lots of one on one days.