Halloween 2008 Photos and Commentary

Happy Halloween!!

I think Halloween may be my favorite holiday. Or maybe a tie with Christmas. I like Halloween A LOT. Now all the festivities are over and tomorrow will be spent celebrating Adrian's birthday and changing the decorations out for Thanksgiving decor.

Maybe a trip to Target for clearance Halloween goodies?

Ok, that's probably a bad idea!

Here are the 2008 Halloween pics (well, the first one is from Thursday):

Isabella just looked so cute in her thrift store dress that I had to take a picture of her. Unfortunately she was too busy going outside to look at the camera!



Yesterday I painted mason jar ghost lanterns. I think they turned out pretty cute. I made six and then lit them up with LED tea-lite candles tonight for Halloween.





Earlier today I made mini caramel (and chocolate) apples. They are like tiny versions! I made more than this, but the plate with all the chocolate-covered ones turned out the best.



Here's Adrian and the kids ready to go trick-or-treating.



Xavier designed his own costume. He was a mad scientist who was half normal, and half monster-ish. He looks unhappy in this pic because he was just informed he couldn't use the sack from the Halloween store (that he had saved for weeks) as his trick-or-treat bag. Bummer.



Orian was Annakin Skywalker. He pitched in $16 of his allowance to be able to buy the upgraded costume. He also got puked on at school today, LOL. Poor guy.



Isabella was a kitty cat. We tried to give her a kitty nose and whiskers with Halloween make up, but it didn't turn out well and it was going to be messy, so she went au naturale.



Adrian took the kids to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood. They got a fair amount of candy but Adrian said there were a lot of houses that weren't handing out treats. I am not sure if it's a Killeen thing or what, but I think trick-or-treating is a nice community activity and it lets you see/get to know neighbors you've only seen or spoken to in passing before.

After trick-or-treating, we headed out to the city carnival. We decided to put the candy we had left on a table by the front door with a little note ("Happy Halloween from The Neals"). Before we left, I mentally accepted that I might come back to no decorative (plastic) candy dish or even no table.

The kids were excited about the carnival, as evidenced by Xavier's slightly happy expression. That's pretty happy looking for him, LOL.



The boys got to do the haunted house, which Xavier pronounced "pretty gay" (I know, that's a terrible thing for a kid to say, but it's the "sucks" of the 90's...one of these days everyone will be saying it. I'm pretty sure gay people even say it).

Orian got a little scare from the haunted house, but he was reluctant to admit it.

Isabella got to roam in a pumpkin patch and we stood in line for 30 minutes to have a balloon flower made for her. She loves balloons and she loves flowers.





The carnival was really overcrowded and didn't offer a lot in the way of entertainment. I don't think we'll go next year. Adrian mentioned that it might have been less crowded and offered more if it had been for-profit.

We've heard that Austin has a really great Halloween parade, so maybe next year. By then we'll have 4 little ones in costumes!

When we got home, we were pleased to discover the candy dish was still there, as was the table. All, and I mean every.single.piece, of the candy was gone, but that's to be expected. I just hope that it was spread out over many trick-or-treaters and not gobbled up by the first teenager to arrive on the scene.

Not that *I* would have done something like that as a teenager, but you know, if some wicked teen came by...

Tree-Turdy

I'm saving this one to tell to Isabella's prospective beaus.

Yesterday I was in the garage switching out the laundry as I am known to do, and when I returned inside I heard muffled little pleas for help coming from somewhere in the house.

I asked the boys, "Where's your sister?"

They were having a snack and shrugged, "I dunno" and continued eating. I insisted that they stop stuffing their gobs and help me look for her. I panicked, thinking she was outside alone (she gets bug bites every time she goes outside!), but nope, I had been a good mommy and remembered to lock the sliding glass door.

Maybe my bedroom? No.

The mud room? No again.

The boys ran upstairs to look just as I realized where the little muffled sounds were coming from...

I opened the pantry door, and there was my daughter, naked as the day she was born. She was clutching 3 boxes of food and seemed happy to have been discovered.

And she made me a surprise.

On the floor laid the most perfect little mini-turd ever to escape a toddler's butt. It was freaking nasty.

She said, "Wipe, please! Ewwww. Gwoss!"

Eww, gwoss indeed.

As a mom, I have to clean up a lot of really gross, disturbing things. And honestly, this one doesn't rank all that high up there. But the shocking site of my little naked toddler hoarding her food boxes with a little turd laying politely on the floor at her feet will stay with me for a loooong time.

Ghosts Aren't Real...But Brownies (and my thighs) ARE!

I'm 28 weeks pregnant today. If Dahlia were born now (NOT happening, LOL!), she would have an excellent chance of survival. 9 to 12 weeks left in the pregnancy, although I suspect I'm going to go longer than 40 weeks!

Here's my 28 week pregnancy pic:



This is the period of rapid weight gain for Dahlia, but apparently she's putting on weight in MY thighs. LOL.

My brother recently lended me Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace (and the FPU CD set)...thank you Jeremy!...and it has been really helpful in sorting a lot of money issues out in my mind. Still trying to translate thought into action!

One of the things I did implement was his suggestion of "commission" rather than allowance for children. My boys are very spoiled and lack appreciation for the wonderful, wonderful things and experiences they have. They are good boys, but I do not feel I have imparted a healthy idea of money and work ethic with them. And since Xavier's already 11, there is no time like the present.

I had always been under the impression that an allowance was better because chores are something that is expected, and not monetarily rewarded. However, I am liking Dave Ramsey's idea of calling it "commission" and linking work to money.

We will not be buying toys and random gifts for the boys anymore. They will receive birthday gifts and Christmas gifts of course. Instead, they will (hopefully) learn to save for the things they want, so that they understand the value of the things they have and what it takes to acquire those things.

They have a commission chart now with 10 daily tasks, each worth 25 cents a week. This is a reduction in what they had for allowance previously, but I think $10 a month is just fine for them.



Of course, some tasks are not everyday tasks, so that makes it easier, but they seem to like having a chart to use (they always do, I don't know why I don't keep my charts going with them...they always fall by the wayside), and their consistency is making housekeeping a lot easier for me.

I also FINALLY made the ghost brownies I had been planning for forever now. I found the idea on the Betty Crocker website, although I didn't go with the complicated Frankenstein design (I think there was something else too that required lots of goodies and design work), but the ghosts were a HUGE hit. And super easy.





Also in the Halloween spirit, Isabella made a footprint ghost. I should have used the craft foam sheet I had left-over so that I could keep it for nostalgia but we just used construction paper instead.



She is proud of her work, but thought the paint hurt her foot, LOL. She kept saying, "Owie. Hurt." We ended up with white paint all over us and orange paint all over the kitchen floor and sliding glass door.

We are running out of days to do Halloween crafts and activities and wear Halloween outfits. We have watched the Barney Halloween special and the Underfist movie like every day this week!

The boys get to wear black shirts to school on Halloween (with their slacks). Woohoo. Cuttin' loose. Sorry, but I think it's kind of lame!

I think I will let Isabella wear her "costume" at book club next week. It's just her Halloween dress and some black and orange striped tights and a kitty ears headband. I dunno. We might get in trouble...

And, just for fun, here's an Isabella pic:

Circuit City, You Kinda Suck!

I have a serious problem with laptop cords. Adrian is inclined to believe it's just me, but I suspect it's a wider problem plaguing many laptop users.

Regardless, the last time my laptop cord died (the interchangeable piece that snaps into the power port on the laptop stopped conveying power), I ordered a cheap-o cord on ebay.

You guys may not know this, but laptop cords are expensive, y'all.

Within 20 minutes of use, the obviously inferior quality interchangeable piece on THAT cord broke. The metal prongs that connect the interchangeable piece to the power cord simply snapped.

I emailed the ebay store that sold the cord and like 5 days later they sent me a new, fresh box of interchangeable pieces. And about 5 days later, the metal prongs snapped.

I don't do anything unusual with my laptop. I promise. Laptop cords are apparently just not made to handle my computing needs!

First, I set up the old desktop computer which did NOT work, then I dug through a closet and found the laptop's original cord. The problem with *that* one was the wiring was exposed on a small part of the cord and it threw off sparks and made crackling sounds. I did a surgically excellent job covering the exposed wire with electrical tape.

That worked for about a day, then the power element stopped working.

So, here's where the suckitude of Circuit City comes in.

I have bought laptop cords from Best Buy. They sell Targus. Targus laptop cords' battery elements go out easily, and the selection available at Best Buy is not incredible. So, brilliant solution, go to Circuit City!

Adrian sacrificed his lunch to run me out there. The Circuit City is on the outskirts of the fancy new Harker Heights in a big, impressive new building, right next to very-useful Dick's Sporting Goods (seriously, who shops there?).

When I walked in I noticed a distinct lack of...what's that word? Oh yeah, customers!

The door greeter asked if we needed help finding anything (which as it turns out, meant, "Can I help you find anything by standing in this spot and not moving?"). When we said laptop cords, she asked what kind.

Suck number one.

How many kinds of laptop cords are there? Um, there's power cords, and...give me a minute...

...

and

...

power cords, yeah, that about covers it.

Adrian said maybe she meant USB cords or something. Only problem with that is...USB cords aren't "laptop cords"...they're USB CORDS.

And don't give me the excuse that she might have meant what kind of features or brand I was looking for because Circuit City here sells ONE BRAND of laptop power cord and it comes in two kinds: you plug it into the wall or you plug it into the wall and you get a car adapter too.

She pointed us in a general direction and we headed over there. The employee-on-the-floor-to-customer ratio was about 10 to 3 (3 being me, Adrian, and Isabella).

As we browsed, a guy with cornrows took a break from playing at the Guitar Hero display station to ask us if we needed help. "Do you have any other laptop cords available?"

No. No, they don't.

I grabbed the Kensington that only goes into the wall since I don't use my laptop in the car. This cord is $109. OUCH. I would have put off the purchase, but I make money using the computer and so I can't really earn money to buy a laptop cord if I don't have a laptop cord.

When we checked out, I asked the clerk if a warranty plan was available. She checked and told me no, nothing was coming up. A low-level manager type meandered toward the check out counter from an office behind the counter and she asked him.

He informed me that no, they don't have anything like that.

That's Suck Number Two.

I then asked how long I would have to return or exchange it if it didn't work properly. 14 days. Yes, 14 days. So, I am buying this cord that only has to work for 14 days for $109.

Suck Number Three.

I told him I had a lot of problems with laptop cords not lasting with power elements going out and especially with the interchangeable pieces not working after only a few months of use.

He conceded that laptop cords don't last long and are a problem for a lot of users, but a lot of people will bring them in and try to scam them by getting their money back on a cord they've used, or something like that.

14 days, AND there's a 15% restocking fee.

Suck Number Four.

"Really?", I asked. I could hardly believe that not only did I only have 14 days to discover if this cord was going to actually work and not have problems, but the moment I purchased it, I would be liable for a 15% restocking fee if it didn't work. And I was not even being given the option of paying more for a warranty or product protection plan.

I said, "Wow, you guys kinda suck."

He didn't like that.

"It's standard industry practice," he informed me as he puffed up at the criticism.

"I have bought cords from Best Buy and needed to return them, and I have never had to pay a restocking fee. They allow a lot longer than 14 days for returns and exchanges, too."

"Standard industry practice. I used to work at Best Buy. It's how they do it, too."

It may be "standard industry practice", but I've NEVER had Best Buy do that to me, and I've had to do exchanges several times (laptop cord problems!!). I told the guy so, and he argued with me about it. Ha.

Adrian later said he thought the guy was crazy for arguing with a customer, and especially a PREGNANT WOMAN. He didn't realize how much danger he was in.

He further suggested that instead of buying new cords, I just get a new laptop. This laptop was muy expensive ($1800, custom built) and I can't just replace it instead of buying a cord.

Circuit City middle manager scoffed and asked how old my laptop was...I told him close to 2 years..."You could get a better one for $400 now".

Somehow I doubt that.

Recommending I buy a $400 laptop instead of a new power cord, Suck Number Five.

I did end up buying the stupid thing because I have to have a power cord. I hope it doesn't stop working on the 15th day. If it does, someone in my family is getting a broken laptop cord for Christmas.

Circuit City, you kinda suck. Kinda suck a lot.

I Have Lots of Clothes...They're Just Soggy and Wrinkled

Wow, I haven't posted in a week!!

This week we:

a) Sorted out the bully problem. Turns out my children aren't perfect angels. THAT was certainly a surprise (not).

b) Made a really fun book at Bumble Bee Book Club.

c) Discovered something is not right with the dryer. Clothes aren't getting completely dry. I thought there was no heat, but turns out there is at least some heat. Checked the circuit box as per the manual and everything is ok. No obstructions in the vent. Next I checked for user error, but that's not panning out, either.

At least it's still under warranty.

d) Had a great big score at Old Navy, The Children's Place, and Goodwill. Are you wondering if it was in budget? The answer is no. No, no, no. I am awful at this.

But, I did get some amazing bargains. Dresses, onesies, and tops for $2-3. Goodwill also had 15% military appreciation discount. Dahlia won't have to go naked after all.

I found some size 12 slacks for Xavier since he has gotten too tall for all his school pants. Got a couple pair on clearance at Old Navy (or TCP?) and Goodwill had a pair of Izods, BRAND NEW, for $5.99 plus the 15% discount.

e) Thursday night I had a Natural Childbirth meeting and it was fun and informative as always. It's a small group, but it always feels so great to get out of the house, and bonus that I get to chat with and learn from other women!

f) Mom is visiting this weekend and it's been a nice visit. The boys love when grandma comes to visit.

g) I am up to $316 in the Christmas fund. I've got more $ pending, but I won't count it until it's in-hand.

Here's the outfit I worked on for Isabella last weekend:





The boys eating Witch Hat cookies:



Fudge-striped cookies + chocolate frosting "glue" + Hershey's Kisses:



What's the opposite of "cheese"?



Today we made pumpkin bats and it was a pretty fun project. I spray-painted the bats with black spray paint yesterday and today Adrian, the kids, and I painted faces and other details on our bats. Wooden skewers secured to craft foam sheet cut-outs with electrical tape made the wings.



I made the one on the left, but it's Isabella's. Orian's is on the right. I took a really great picture of it but my camera ate it. Weird. His pumpkin doesn't have wings, but a nice Dracula cape instead:



Adrian's pumpkin:



Xavier's pumpkin has lots of details on all sides:



Here's the one I made:



I think making bats was more fun than painting the big pumpkins like we usually do.

Brandie and the Horrible, No Good, Bad Series of Days...

I came seriously close to losing my mind today.

Thursday we had Parent-Teacher conferences. The boys are having a bully problem, which has me on edge to begin with. Then we got bad reports at BOTH conferences.

Neither child is staying on task or working at his full potential. Both had several assignments that had not been turned in. Neither child seemed to think paying attention, studying, or turning in assignments were important components of their elementary school lives.

Thursday night was spent catching up on late assignments and pep talks and explanations of WHY it's important to take their educations seriously. Orian particularly liked being told that "Old Orian" didn't listen and turned things in late, but "Old Orian" was dead, and he is "New Orian". He wanted to know where we hid Old Orian's body.

Then Friday came and they were both back to their old tricks. They didn't bring home the necessary books for their assignments, or failed to write down an assignment at all.

Adrian marched their happy asses back up to the school and made them get the materials and information they needed.

This morning we all got up and dropped Adrian off at the hospital for staff duty. Back at house, we had some oatmeal and we made homemade clay figures to bake and then paint later. Not too bad.

Dana needed me to watch her guy and girl for a little while. Xavier's attitude was already bad when Connor arrived, but after that the whiney, nit-picky, hateful attitude totally spiked. I guess he was jealous because Orian and Connor play well together? So he criticized Orian's every move all the while I'm asking him to just not say anything if it's not constructive or positive.

This whole almost-teenage thing is going to kill me. Seriously. I know I was a mean teenager, but DAYUM.

Almost immediately it was time to go pick Maddy up. Now, I had routed it out online AND Adrian had explained to me how to get there. Dana had further insured that I would know where to go.

And honestly, the place is NOT hard to find.

But I still managed to get woefully lost, then lost again, then almost found, then lost, then lost some more. I told Connor I thought he should drive since he knew the way better than me, but he didn't think it was a good idea!

I was flustered, mostly because I was making us late to pick her up and I felt incredibly bad about it. But also because something on Isabella's car seat was not quite right since I took it apart to wash the coverings, and she was not completely secure in the vehicle.

I pulled into a gas station parking lot and called the place to let them know I was on my way, lost, and late. They were very nice, thankfully. I attempted to set the car seat right, and thought I succeeded.

I finally found the place, and if I had gone the way Adrian told me to it would have been ridiculously easy and I would have not been the slightest bit late.

Smooth sailing from there, except the kids were STARVING. I had something at home I had cooked just before I left the house, but I was stressed and I was really, really, really hungry and I caved.

Sticking to a budget is feeling so much like being on a diet, and I HATE it! I need a lot of training. So, I failed in frugality.

We got a round of Happy Meals with varying specific directions and I got horrible, bad-for-me fast food that I don't even really like that much. Yesterday I paid for a stamp with change I scrounged because I wouldn't allow myself to use my debit card since we had used up our weekly allowance for spending money. Today I fell off my horrible diet of fiscal deprivation.

Back at the house the kids all ate and played well together and all was well. That was the calm before the storm.

I drove out to make the exchange of children for chocolate (seriously, Dana bought me the most huge, delicious square of chocolate in the history of time). Since I was already there, and we needed milk, and technically today was restart day for the spending allowance, I took the kids into Wal-Mart.

I never should have done that.

I had a short list of things I wanted to get...milk was really the only need. I spent far less than I normally would, but still managed to buy a lot of things I don't need. Including Halloween crocs. At $5, what a bargain, right? LOL, she'll be wearing them for 20 days...if she wears them every day. I think that's like a quarter per wear. Oops.

I did get some cheese since we're out and even though I can cook without it, why would I want to? Bananas, small pumpkins and foam sheets for a craft, ribbons, white Halloween hair spray, craft sealant, etc, etc, etc.

Before we went into Wal-Mart Isabella was sweaty-headed because I'm a dummy and dressed her in a long-sleeved corduroy dress and knit tights this morning (I thought it would be chilly!). She had oatmeal spackled to her dress. And she had chocolate milk around her mouth. We are like the quintessential Wal-Mart family.

I cleaned her mouth with spit.

About half-way through our shopping trip Orian decided he needed to go to the bathroom. Every time we go somewhere, he suddenly needs to go to the bathroom. I don't know if he's part of some secret bathroom club or what.

I sent him off to the bathroom alone because I thought he could handle it.

Apparently NOT.

2 hours later*, I sent Xavier to go check on him. Isabella was counting down to core meltdown. She didn't want to sit in the cart. Also, she wanted to wear her Halloween crocs. No, not with a string between them. "Scissors." "Cut, cut." "Pleeeeeaaasssee."

We tried her standing up and me supporting her upper body. We tried her free-range in the cart. We tried sitting on the bar facing out. She was not pleased.

After finding Orian and missing Xavier, and then finally having all three children in my sight, I grabbed some milk and tried to get the hell out of Wal-Mart.

All the open lines were 3 people deep. And all these people were stocking up for the apocalypse.

I opened a package of mini oreos and bribed her to sit down for bites. When it was my turn, I grabbed the milk out of the cart only to discover the seal had been broken (umm, maybe when Orian hurled it into the basket?) and milk had leaked all over my purse.

I juggled milk, paper towels, my purse, and an Oreo-faced toddler and attempted to check out. I had a clerk go grab me an unmolested carton of milk, and after much pawing and climbing on Isabella's part I was able to pay and leave.

I had a super fun time getting her buckled in. She was screaming and bucking and I was about to go to crazy town. I am sure it was entertaining or disturbing to onlookers. "That lady should never have kids!" Ha.

Stuff in the car, kids in the car, keys in the ignition. Isabella was still writhing and screaming, but we would be home soon.

A little ways out, she is STANDING UP in her car seat. I realize something is seriously wrong and I have got to find somewhere to work on the car seat. This realization comes at a RED LIGHT and shortly after a COP CAR pulls up beside me.

I am a horrible, wretched person and told the boys, "Just keep her sitting down!"

I found a nearby gas station to pull over at and got her out of her seat, which didn't take much. She was worked up and screaming and super sweaty. I took her dress and tights off of her.

WRONG ANSWER.

She was furious. She wanted to wear her clothes!! I couldn't deal with that, so I let her fight with her dress while I got to the bottom of the car seat problem. I quickly realized what was wrong. The little bottom attachments were pushed through the fabric cover but not slid through their slots and secured at the underside of the car seat. Easy fix.

You know what wasn't an easy fix? Getting Isabella back into her car seat.

It was like Satan and Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch, you know this, people) had mated and their spawn was PMSing, drunk, and looking to take a lot of other people down with her.

I tried over and over again to buckle her little ample thighs in, but I was worried I was going to pinch her legs since she didn't have anything but a diaper on. I am sure the situation looked incredibly worrisome to passersby. My frustration level was high. Insert clever metaphor describing exactly how high my frustration level actually was.

Ok, buckled, angry, belligerent, but buckled. The entire ride home she fought against her car seat. It was like how a little frail grandma can lift a truck off her grand-baby. What Adrian calls "retard strength".

The boys tried to keep her maintained in her car seat while I drove, drove, drove. The pinnacle of this awesome experience was when Xavier shouted "OWW" and then began sobbing.

She bit him. Savagely, like an enraged...well, like an enraged toddler.

She snapped and snarled at Orian too, but Xavier was the one who was wounded in the ordeal. He was bleeding, he told me. I got very concerned and asked him to tell me if it was just bleeding or if it required stitches. I entertained the thought of driving to the hospital and dropping all three kids off with Adrian. Xavier could get stitches, Isabella could get some xanax, and Orian could...spend hours in various bathrooms. I would drive away and never be heard from again.

The rest of the drive home, Xavier whimpered and Isabella alternated between "Ow" and "hurt" while she writhed against her restraints.

I got to the house after the longest drive of my entire life and my neighbor, whom I rarely see, was outside looking chatty. Seriously, of all the times to be interested in me...NOW? I got my screaming, sweaty, diaper-clad baby out of the car and smiled like I wasn't thisclose to a nervous breakdown.

I got the crap in the house and Xavier's wound cleaned up. Isabella had some rub issues on her thigh from struggling against her car seat, hence the ow. I gave her a little Tylenol and lots of hugs. I felt guilty because I was seriously not liking her for a while there.

She went to sleep. We decompressed. Everyone is still alive.

Here are some pictures, unrelated to the misery I have endured:

Xavier and I did a science project Thursday night involving the last, precious bit of milk we had. You drop food coloring into milk -



Then you touch a q-tip dipped in dish soap (I think Dawn is preferred, and luckily, that's what we have) to the milk and watch the colors dance -



He really enjoyed it. The results are different depending on the fat content of the milk. See if you can guess why.

And today we finally painted our Halloween clay creations once babyzilla was asleep:

Xavier's work (a melted goo monster, a flesh-eating snowman, and a severed finger) -





Orian made a monster and then did some painting on a pumpkin I shaped -





My crappy little pumpkin -



They had a lot of fun finding places for their creatures. The severed finger is poking out of the flower pot on the stair landing!

Aaaaannnnddd...on the $$ front, I now have $280 saved up for Christmas. I gave Adrian $8 for cafeteria food today, so it would be $288. Is it bad to borrow from the Christmas fund? I'm pretty sure it is. It was the only cash I had, though, and I didn't want him to waste money on an ATM.

*Not really, but it was seriously a long time

Oh, Fudge!

Well, today I am 26 weeks pregnant (I lied to some friends and said I would be 27 weeks today. D'oh! Pregnancy brain!). 98 days until my due date.

It seems like just a couple days ago that I got an unexpected positive test. This is my fastest pregnancy yet, I think. Of course it could be that I have so much going on. I don't have a lot of time to sit and ponder pregnancy.

I remember when I was pregnant with Orian and Xavier was in pre-school I would scour the house and have it spotless in like an hour, and then I would have NOTHING to do. In those days we didn't have cable or internet, either. I finally bought a bunch of beads and started making necklaces and bracelets, haha.

The days seem to be just passing by so quickly now. My kids are growing up so quickly.

Here's my 26 week pic. If I had realized there were so many smudges on the mirror I would have cleaned it before taking a picture, but now I'm just too tired and lazy to re-take a picture, so just pretend it's not there.



I weighed myself this morning, and my home scale has me at 2 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. I don't *feel* smaller, but I have not been eating nearly as much lately and I wondered if I might be losing weight. I don't think I've lost a ton because the scale at the dr's office always weighs me heavier than my home scale. Maybe by 3-5 lbs. I may have lost like 4 lbs or so. Or not. I guess I'll find out for certain on the 28th. Or is it the 29th?

I made some fudge the other day and Isabella has gotten into the habit of moving dining room chairs into the kitchen to get into stuff. We thought she was quiet...



She is such a mess! Here's a pic of her wearing the Halloween outfit. She wore it to Bumble Bee Book Club yesterday. And BBBC was great, in her opinion, because they had CAKE!!



You can't see it in the pic, but I had bought her some Halloween socks at Target (a buck a pair!) and she had on bright orange socks that looked so cute with her black mary janes!

Last weekend we got Sonic drinks (Happy Hour, woohoo!) and she spilled a bright red slushie all over herself and her car seat. I actually got the stains out of her outfit and the car seat cover and got it all cleaned up, but it took a while for the foam mat that goes under the car seat cover to dry completely, so her car seat has been sitting in the living room.

She LOVES that. She hates her car seat in the car, but she loves to sit in it inside the house. I put it away yesterday because it's so bulky and gets in the way. She was not happy. Especially since she knew where I put it:



The Christmas fund is coming along nicely. I'm up to $265! My goal is $450 to $500. I think I will get there.

We are also putting ourselves on a really tight budget to try to get our finances back in order. It's actually been going well so far. It kind of sucks, haha, but it doesn't seem impossible yet.

I really wanted to order pizza last night instead of cooking, but I cooked anyways! Major victory!

Paper Christmas, Grosgrain Halloween

I have been b-u-s-y! I decided I want to pay cash for Christmas, so I have been working my ass off selling things on CL, and doing some writing/editing projects (thanks, Jeremy!) as well as all the normal mommy and housewife things I have to do. Doesn't sound like much, but trust me, I could spend every waking hour working and never *really* be finished!

I think I am going to keep track of my Christmas fund on here, just for fun. I don't think it's going to be possible to save up enough to have the kind of Christmas we're used to since I'm just now starting, but I think it will feel GREAT to pay cash for everything! We will just have to be smart about gifts. It might even be fun to do it this way!

Since Thursday I've earned/brought in $125 (edit: Make that $150!). I am going to add a couple rebates (I overpaid a bill and have a check for that that I need to cash, and I have a rebate for my contacts) to that. That's about $60. But I guess I shouldn't count those until they're in-hand.




Get Myspace Christmas Countdown



I've got 79 days to make some $$!!

This weekend I also worked on another outfit for Isabella. I have a few different ones I want to do for Halloween, and it's already October, so I figured I needed to get started.

It's far from perfect, but I think this one is an improvement over the Thanksgiving Abomination (official name for the outfit). It's all stitched up and was a lot quicker project than the T.A. The top has a spiderweb but the camera didn't pick that up.

The t-shirt was $5.99 at Target, and the jeans are 2nd hand Old Navy jeans I got for $5. Probably under $5 in ribbon, fabric, paint, thread, etc. So, $16?





I think it looks cuter IRL than in the pics, but the real test is how it looks on. Isabella is going to wear it to Bumble Bee Book Club on Wednesday.

I really want to do an embellishment project with the fabric and sewing but I don't have the skills or tools to do something like that. Maybe someday.

Isabella is so cute today (in her $3 dress!) that I had to post a pic:

Riddle Time: What's Black and Yellow and Noisy?

Answer A:

Our new (to us!) car, given to us by our wonderful, generous friends, Matt and Dana! I had mentioned the difficulty of only having one vehicle, and Dana offered us car. How cool is that?!

It's a bright yellow Ford Aspire with black flames on the sides (which Matt assured me, do not add to the speed of the vehicle). It's a stick-shift, which Adrian is still learning to master (hence, the noise!), but it is going to be such a life-saver when we get it incorporated into our routine.

I will get to go to the grocery store during the day! Woohoo!!!

Thank you SOOOOO much, Matt and Dana!!



Answer B:

A bumble bee, as in Bumble Bee Book Club!

BBC is going to be meeting weekly, and I am looking forward to our little outings, even if Isabella behaves like babyzilla.

She's actually not THAT bad, but she is more interested in exploring the room than in gluing and sitting quietly. LOL. We got to make a fun paper doll, sing songs, and read a neat book.







I had a prenatal check up yesterday, and it went pretty great and pretty quick. When I got into the waiting room a guy beside me complained to his wife that their appointment had been at 12:30 and it was already 1:30.

Imagine my surprise when I had been seen and was out the door 10 minutes after my scheduled appointment time.

I have gained about 7 lbs at almost 25 weeks, and this was in jeans and after a big meal. I am not happy with my weight, but I don't think my pregnancy weight gain has been bad. It could be less, but it's not outrageous. 15 or so weeks left, so a half a lb a week gain would put me around the 15 lb weight gain goal for the pregnancy. We'll see!

My BP was 122/78, and I was happy about that! Dahlia's heart rate was a healthy 140 and my fundus measured 24 cm, so right on target.

Here's me doing MySpace from-a-high-angle photos before my appointment since I actually had make-up on, LOL. I know, I know, I'm too cool for school.

-- Serious --



-- Happy --



Ah, the many moods of Brandie's MySpace-esque photography!