Baby, it's cold outside!

The mercury on the thermometer is heading south. I had bus duty after school all week this week and it got progressively colder each day. Thank goodness today is Friday and my bus duty is over for the next several weeks.

Will I scrapbook tomorrow? I certainly hope so. I have been suffering from a major creative block. I hope to remedy that soon or Chris might turn my scrapbook room back into his office. It is presently not doing much more than just holding paper and lots of junk. Maybe with this cold weather, I will be inspired to stay warm and get things done this weekend. If nothing else, I can clear some stuff out the room so my mind isn't cluttered with debris. I want to get over this creative dilemma.

Yes, I can!

It's December already?

Hard to believe but it's true. Other tidbits of information:

~Chris just celebrated the big 4-0. Welcome to middle age, sweetheart!

~Lizzie will be getting her cast off in two weeks; her broken arm is healing fine. You'll be back to your old self in no time, darling!

~Sean is doing well; he scored very well on his October math assessment. Way to go, son!

~I am glad that Christmas vacation is in a few weeks. I have a lot of organizing to do over the break.

La vie est bonne. A la prochaine!

Halloween Party today

We're having our annual Halloween Party tonight. Chris and the kids have put in a lot of much work making a haunted house in the basement. It is spectacular and a bit scary!

I have been down for the count with a bad sinus infection but I am feeling OK right now. I am so thankful for modern medicine in general and antibiotics in particular.

Fever?

I feel suspiciously feverish tonight. I wonder if it's all in my head or if it really is a fever? Of course, I can't find out thermometer so I may not find out until tomorrow. If I still feel puny, I'll go to the school nurse and have her take my temperature.

On a lighter note, here are some pics from the family photo shoot at Antioch Park...

Happy Fall, y'all!

It's all good.

Another pretty big repair bill today--the oven's ignitor went out and we had to pay $200 to get it repaired. Well, now we have an oven that works and yummy fresh-baked cookies sitting on the counter. Those were delicious $200 cookies!

Quik Trip black cherry slushies are amazing!

It's funny how sometimes the little things in life can be so nice. I'll probably have a headache in the morning from all the sugar but I'm enjoying this slushie tonight!

Stay gold, Ponyboy

I love my two kids more than anything on the planet. While at Build-a-Bear workshop today, I realized something: my 10-year-old son will not be sweet and innocent much longer. I don't mean to alarm anyone; he is not delving into the occult or anything. What I mean to say is he will not want to make a build-a-bear for many more years. He will not want to play with his sister for very much longer. He is growing up before my eyes.

But I love that he made his owl, Hedwig, today.

I love that he made pretend voices along with 6-year-old sister on the way to Costco.

I love that played with his new friend for a couple of hours when we got home.

And I love that he still sleeps with his stuffed animal friends.

I am just holding on to these wonderfully innocent moments because my little boy will be going into middle school after next summer. My little boy will be a tween and it won't be cool to sleep with stuffed animals or play with one's little sister or go to Build-A-Bear.

But at times like these, I like to recall this beautiful poem I memorized in the 7th grade:

"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower,
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down today.
Nothing gold can stay."
--Robert Frost

Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.