I've been tagged

Blame it all on Lizzie

1. I have a very different self online than I do in person. Online I am easy to talk to and willing to tell you anything. In person I might just not speak at all.

2. I love curry. Spicy spicy yellow American pre mixed curry. On just about anything.

3. I met my husband on a trip to Italy with choir. (I know, you know that already). Even though I was in the midst of a tragic breakup I told my roommate on the trip that I would marry Lucas. Who was the roommate of the person I was attempting to break up with.

4. I told off my English teacher in my 10thgrade paper because she gave such pointed preference to the sports oriented students. I believe it started with "In Mrs. BLahs class I learned that I should have been an athlete so I wouldnt have to read novels in my 10th grade English class."

5. My favorite job was being a bookseller at Barnes and Noble. It was only for a summer. During those three months I fell in love with a four year old boy named Adam who was a "regular." He read lift the flap books and I still can't read them without thinking of him and his way too adorable British accent.

6. I would be a perpetual student if I did not have to turn in papers or pay for classes. I miss listening to professors, especially those with tenure, openly share their passions. I learned so much from my profs who just shared instead of filling syllabi with nonsense. Like my 20th century lit prof who went on for more than 20 minutes about Madeleines and Proust- Or my Shakespeare prof who taught me the meaning of the word "tragedy" the week of 911- or my African history instructor whos classes I ONLY attended to listen to him speak.

7. I hate email frwds and chain letters. This is nearly the same thing. I feel dirty.

Okay, I tag Becky,and Brie

Pumkin light night

Southerners enjoy festivities. Any chance to party is simply opportunity. Today at school we are having "Pumpkin light night" all the families bring a carved lit pumpkin from home and the classes all doanother display of sorts of a theme surrounding their pumpkins. We are doing a spaghetti dinner for Aydens class. Some of the moms painted big pumpkins to look like meatballs, or peppers ect. I filled a giant vase with white sparkly pumpkins to look like a drink. Should be fun. It is finally cold this morning. Somewhere in the 30's. There was a layer of thick frost on the windows. I'm sure I'll be in shorts by dinner.

Adoption tutus on Etsy

I finally got my ladybug tutus on Etsy! Come on over and help raise money for adoptive families and gets yourself the cutests tutus around! Visit me at Meme Simply's Shop on Etsy!

listening

It is amazing what your children will tell you if only you listen. Ayden has been having a REALLY hard time lately. School has been tough, I've been keeping kids and he has been throwing tantrums. Last night, during his bedtime tantrum, he blurted out that the babies get their way when they throw fits. Ah ha. So obvious and yet in my self pity of having to actually parent I missed the simple fact that he is simply mimcking the smaller kids behavior. AND I keep two adorable, but fussy kids. The baby we keep is precious, but he does cry easily. Balin is extremely demanding. LOUD and demanding. The two year old also is very vocal about what she wants and since she typically goes home in the afternoons soon after Ayden gets there I tend to give in to her just to keep the peace. Why am I surprised that Ayden has reverted to kicking and screaming in the floor when he doesn't get his way?? This morning he came into the work room where I have a tutu set up ready to be photographed later. He said "This is your job, you make tutus! You don't have to babysit." My poor baby. How do you explain to a five year old that you have to babysit or do any job? I guess finally knowing exactly what it is that is bothering him is a good place to start.

A farmers market menu

Sunday: Roast Chicken (whole) with yams carrots and onions
Monday: Chili (small group coming over... farmers market gets an out)
Tuesday: Ratatooee (A tilsen version of the original... hence the spelling)featuring our eggplant
Wednesday: butternut squash soup (By the way for you doubters. MOST canned "pumpkin" is actually a variety of butternut squash. And you would never know.)
Thursday: Turkey tenderloin with mashed sweet potatoes
Friday: chicken on a stick with rice and fried okra
Saturday: Colorado fried chicken featuring the cranberry granola

Yum. Yummy.

Farmers Market

This morning we enjoyed the local fall farmers market. Ayden really resisted, but once we got there he LOVED it. There was live music and lots of fun booths. We bought natural no sugar jam, cranberry granola, eggplant, okra(Aydens request)sweet potatoes which left red southern clay dirt all over my counter (glad to know they're fresh) and a BEAUTIFUL butternut squash. We are looking forward to eating all this yummy goodness, which by the way cost me less than 20$! I plan on taking full advantage of this over the next few weekends while we can!

Life moves on

9 years ago I graduated from high school and left Texas for Colorado. I left behind seven years of friendship, roots in a great church, big hair, makeup, fifteen pounds, changing clothes for dinner. I gained roomates, freedom, academics, snow, aspen leaves in fall, a gym membership, "mountaintop" church experiences EVERY WEEK and, eventually, a baby boy. 5 and a half years ago when he was born I had no idea where I would go or what would happen. During that last year, pregnant and scared the first person I turned to, the first person I literally took the pregnancy test to was Dawn, who was also my first college roomate and nothing short of a gift from God. She was constant encouragement and love. Sweet, innocent, annoyingly neat she challenged me to be a better me. A more open, more organized, more God following me. She was there for the birth of Ayden and the first two tiny weeks of crying and late nights. Yesterday, 9 years after we first met she gave birth to her second little boy. Baby Jayden joined his brother Ashton about six weeks early. He is doing great and I couldnt be happier for my sweet friend whom I miss so very very much. Thank you for being a part of my story Dawn. Thank you for being a part of Ayden's. I know physically I cant be there for your family, but my prayers are before the throne for you today. Someday we will share in it all again! Together!

October

The past few weeks have been so crazy! We were in Houston for my dads 60th, and then this past weekend my mother in law, father in law and nephew came to visit for the weekend! We started going to a small group with our church and I am keeping one full time baby and another part time two and a half year old! I thought fall was supposed to be boring! Not around here. Here are a few pictures of recent happenings!

Balin and his buddy "J" at a local church pumpkin patch
My little pumpkins in a real pumpkin patch... I'll take 'em right off the vine

Hayride!

Ayden and his sweet cousin Ethan

Balin's one year pictures, actually 14 months

Only a pebble...or... a lesson in peer pressure

At 11:00 a.m. I got a call from Aydens school telling me that my child had a pebble stuck in his ear. Huh? Did you read that right? Yup. A Pebble. In. His. Ear. How did he get the pebble in his ear? Apparently, according to my child who tends to make up whoppers... his friends were "all doing it." They were putting pebbles in their ears, then shaking their heads to send the pebbles flying. Another version of the story involves "spinning the pebbles" in their ears. I've never played that game. Most of the children avoided lodging pebbles in their ear drums. Not my child. Nope, no flight of the pebble around here, no winning of the pebble spinning, just a downward spiral of pebble stuckness into the massive amount of NASTY goo already existing in his ears. (Because I am overly cautious about instruments in ears and obey the warnings NOT to place objects into them... I obviously did not share this lesson with my child.) At the doctors office we were met with concern and humor and complications. The nurse who typically is not our friend with Balin (she scares him) had Ayden giggling and holding his nose and blowing trying to get the pebble out. The doctor was calm and concerned, but was not only unable to remove the pebble, he allowed the pebble to slip even further away into the ear canal. He was able to page a friend and we now have an appointment with an ENT in the morning who will attempt the same procedure and is prepared to take Ayden to the ER to do an emergency outpatient procedure involving putting my child to sleep. All because of a simple little pebble and peer pressure. Unbelievable.