Lovelies, Laughter and Littles

I haven't blogged much since returning from Massachusetts because I have been so busy with family, work and life in general. It's a hard thing to go away for a week and then come back to the regular schedule PLUS everything that languished while I was gone. (I admit, I've had a few glitches and meltdowns, but it is mostly work related schtuff.) It's good to be home though... back to my busy, noisy, and sometimes cluttered life. I wouldn't trade my problems for anyone else's!

The leaves here are brilliant and fall sometimes nips in the air but overall it has still been a wacky, unseasonably warm fall. (With some snow thrown in for kicks.)  I managed to coordinate the schedules of all the girlies so I could take them up the canyon for some fall pictures. The leaves are nothing like Massachusetts and Vermont colors, but I was happy with the cute pictures I captured of my besties. We left the canyon with red noses and red ears, but we were laughing and enjoying being together and that's the real purpose anyway.

 

These are just a few of the group shots. We took a lot of individual portraits which included laying/sitting in the middle of a bridge.. we had to work fast and scamper out of the way every time a vehicle came down the mountain! I had so much fun with my girls that evening! 

A few days prior to our photo shoot was Halloween, and my lovelies transformed themselves into adorable /spooky characters before going Trick or Treating around the neighborhood, in the drizzle, with favorite cousins alongside them. It chokes me up to think of my girlies as grown up.. I wish I could keep them little forever!

Photo shoots, kids' school events, Halloween and housework! What a busy, busy schedule we have maintained lately! It hasn't always been easy to juggle home and work, especially since my work is ridiculously demanding. Anyone that knows me, knows that work can and will consume me if I let it. So I have been making a conscious effort to avoid phone calls and email after 5PM on Fridays and I love the positive change this has brought about! 

This weekend I was so busy that there was no time for extended work hours and hundreds of work-related emails. (Just say NO!) You see, our favorite little guy is turning 4 and we simply had to throw him a party on Friday. I decided it would be so much fun to take him to the store and let him choose his own cake. (Don't panic, he was adorable in the store!) He wasn't too picky.. one look at his twinkling eyes and the immediate grip he had on the closest cake he could reach proved to me that to a 4 year old, cake is cake! He didn't care what color or flavor.. he just wanted it NOW.  We gently persuaded him to get Iron Man and How to Train Your Dragon cupcakes before heading to the ice cream aisle which, judging by Jack's reaction, was akin to finding the Holy Grail. He ran from one frosty door to another, always reaching in for something. I didn't stop him. Not. Even. Once. We must have looked like sugar addicts when we unloaded the sweets from our cart, but I didn't care. I enjoyed every minute of it!

Later that evening, we laughed until we cried and our cheeks hurt from smiling so much. There was a wonderful Birthday Serenade from Lily, accompanied by Abby and Linzie on the violin and viola, followed by two more rounds of Happy Birthday from the entire group. We played pirates, terrorized the dogs with the remote control ATV, and convinced Jack to flap around in his Dragon jammies while we cheered him on! Our little fella, Jack, was so sweet the entire night! Everyone could tell he was exhausted, even as he fluttered about the room giving his best Dragon impression, but he didn't want to miss a thing so he fought to keep his little eyes open until he said his final goodbye, snug in his car seat, headed for home. I heard he was asleep as soon as his mom rolled up the window. (We missed them as soon as they were gone.) 

I also heard that our Jackers wreaked a little havoc the following morning when he drove Sambo (His shiny, new remote control ATV that we gave him) into Gma's ankles. oops!  So sorry, Mom! The thing is, we should rename it the "Remote NO Control" because Jack really has no idea how to steer.. he just loves watching it take off and then he chases it down. 

Our weekend continued with a family trip to the movie theater on Saturday. CODE: We went and saw Megamind and it was rockin' awesome! I sat by Missy and we laughed like little kids. I highly recommend the movie to grown ups as well as the little ones. It has something for everyone! Back at our house we laughed all night as we spoke "Megamind" to each other and enjoyed a dinner of Parmesan Halibut, Lobster and French Dip Sandwiches for the kidlets. (Bill and I took the evening's menu straight from Taggert's Grill menu because we love cooking at home more than going out to eat.)

The only bad part about the whole weekend was the slight emergency Saturday morning when Hubby shouted "OH Sh*!" at 6AM, fully yanking me out of sleep. When I asked him what was wrong, he informed me that he had just mistakenly drank the Hydrogen Peroxide on his nightstand instead of his water bottle. (the hydrogen peroxide was only there in the first place because of his misfortune in Hawaii. CODE: He jumped head first into a shallow pool and was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital to be put back together Humpty Dumpty style.) Fear and panic gripped me because I had no idea what damage was already occurring from consuming something that I assumed was caustic and toxic. 

Long story short, I called Poison Control and was informed that they get this call about 5-7 times every week. I was instructed to force him to drink water and keep an eye on him because he was likely going to be very sick.  We eventually got him settled back in bed and he fell alseep, but I stayed awake to keep an eye on him.. in case.  Once again, Bill's luck is amazing.  (well, not the luck of drinking the stuff in the first place!) He never got very sick and we are laughing about it now. Trust me, my guy is extremely smart and he teaches me new things all the time.. I just can't figure out how he gets himself into these strange emergencies! I just need to be more vigilant and keep an eye on him at all times or he will find creative ways to get hurt. 

Wrapping up our weekend, we finally admitted that the gardening is done for the year and we put the veggie garden to bed. I am still irked that we had so many late tomatoes this year.. we threw away buckets of green ones! We put down steer compost (when I say "we", I really mean Hubby! I don't want to touch the stuff!) and trimmed branches. I love the way everything looks fresh and new.  We had another bad year as far as yield goes, but we have a plan to improve the soil (Don't trust J&J's when they tell you to put Bat Guano in a garden!) and I have my fingers crossed that next year will be better! 

It was an awesome weekend, thanks to my lovelies! Let's do it again, shall we?  MUAH!