Still here.

 Yes, I do realize it's been since summer that I've posted.  And I posted about the whole summer.  And now I'm going to post about the whole fall.  Almost.  But if you want it in order, you'll have to scroll to the bottom & read to the top.  I haven't blogged since blogger has a new way of uploading pictures and I didn't know you could do it in a logical order.

So here it goes.


 Last night I took the kids up to the grocery store where they had a witch read a story to the kids & make 'witch's brew'.  Then they got a cookie & walked through the maze.  Both kids were terrified of the scary "people" they had set up along the way, but we made it.

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 Carson had his preschool Halloween program on Thursday.  It was short, but cute.  He had a fun time at the party they had and can't wait to go trick-or-treating tomorrow.

Did a trip to Provo/Orem the other day & had to take something back to the Provo mall.  The kids saw this carousel & had to ride (I'm such a indulgent good mom).  Burke wanted the plain old regular horse (of course).  I said "look at mom" and he gave me this:

 Carson rode on a lion.

My Autumnal front porch.

The pumpkin we carved the other night.
Burke:  Whatcha doin, Mommy?
Me:  Carvin a pumpkin, Burkee.  What're you doin?
Burke:  um.  Hangin out.

wuvv this face!

Carson is drawing great pictures lately.  And getting great at writing his name and letters & recognizing their sounds.  I had a grocery list I kept adding to the other day. I was in the bathroom doing my hair & he came in with a paper and said, "I just want to make a donut list, ok Mom?"  I could see in the mirror that he'd drawn a picture of a donut, so I said "good job".  Then I found the paper later in the day & he'd written "DONNeT" on it!!  He's so smart!!!

2 Different pictures of our family:

Made some yummy concoctions from the garden this year. Mostly involving grilled squash, zuke, chicken, cherry tomatoes & basil/pesto.

Carson started preschool again.  He goes 2 mornings a week & loves it.  He's a lot more engaged & interested in writing & seems to have better muscle control, etc so he can write.

We had a heeuge praying mantis hanging out in our backyard for a couple of days.  We named him Percival (Percy for short).  I got brave one day & took him off with a stick so I could move the hose box.  Pretty sure Mark ran him over with the lawn mower.  RIP.

Burke turned 2.  He got a few little toys & we had ice cream.  and maybe some cake, but it must not have been very special.  Oh, I know what happened.  Mark was out of town, so we put off doing anything until he got home........and then the moment had passed.  Or something.

Carson likes to steal the camera.  There are way too many pictures of random things in my picture files!

This has been a year of canning for me.  I did applesauce, apple butter, apple pie filling, and relish in August.  Green salsa.  Red salsa.  Spaghetti sauce.  Dill Carrots.  Lots of bread & butter pickles.  And probably some more things that I'm forgetting.  I still need to get the beets out of the garden, but I just haven't found the ambition for that yet.  I should do it this week before it gets much colder.  We'll see.

I used to let the kids take the cushions off the couch & "build a castle".  I used to be fun like that.  Now it just feels like a huge mess that I have to clean up & the cushions are getting worn out faster than they should.  It was fun while it lasted.

My mom took some family pictures for us over Labor Day weekend.  They were in Idaho Falls for my cousin's wedding & we were going up later for a baptism, so we met for a couple of hours & did this & then went to eat. These are most of the better ones.

Mark figured in September that they'd been on installs for work for 4 out of the 9 months.  They work double overtime when they're home.  Hopefully in November & December we'll get to see more of him.  Maybe.  I have a new, profound respect for single moms.

We're shopping for a van because my embarrassment driving our car has pinnacled and the fact that it drives like a tin can on wheels doesn't make anyone feel safe......."are you sure your car can make the trip?"  I'm not worried about it.  It's like the Energizer Bunny.  It's been a good car.  But sometimes, you gotta let things go.

Our fenced yard has been HEAVEN this year.  Best investment we ever made.  (Until we get a van)

Mark was released from Scouts.  Now he's the ward mission leader.  I still do Cub Scouts and teach Sunbeams.

I'm working on a window-to-whiteboard/calendar project and will be excited to get it done.  We haven't had a family calendar for a couple of years & I'm excited to have one again.  Not that we're that busy.  And in fact, I tend to forget things once I've written them down, so we'll see how it goes.  Remember star planners in high school?  (is that what they were called?)  We got one every year & were supposed to write down our homework assignments?  I NEVER used mine.  In fact, I lost marks in Mr. Chan's class because he pulled a surprise "check your day planner" quiz to see if we were writing down homework.  Did I ever write any of it down?  NO.  Did I ever miss an assignment or not study for a test?  NO.   Maybe he should've looked at that before he started slashing grades.  Did I ever write anything down in university?  Not really.  I guess there was a syllabus telling me what to do, so maybe that doesn't count.  Anyhoo.  I hope our calendar is beneficial to our family.  And cute.


Um....can't think of much else.

These kids make me laugh every day & I so appreciate it.  And love it!