halloween prep.

This is our front bay window. The big owl like object is caden's interpretation of a bat, I think that he meant for it to be an owl because I have recently become enamoured with everything owl. Isn't it cute? He did it all by himself, he didn't want to comform to mom's idea of making bat wings from his hand print, we only got one done!

This was my idea, "no mom I want to do it...." Mr. Independant...

I used a template to print out the word "halloween" and strung it on orange yarn from the window top.


We made a whole bunch of just plain old bats and hung them all around the windows. We have pumpkins and gourds grouped all over the house. Having a child is a great excuse to make our house more festive for each holiday.


This is Caden with his prized pumpkin from the farm we visited with his school.


This picture was taken the morning of picture day, he is such a goof...

In other news...we had our first snow of the season, a light dusting..



Caden and all of us send hugs to all family and friends that are far far away!

This week Caden is KinderKing. He got to bring in baby and family pictures and his favorite costume (a huge horse that he wore last halloween) and his favorite book and toys. His favorites depend on the minute you ask him. He has numerous favorites in each category! We also got to bring in a special treat this week, I brought in cupcakes with star wars rings on top. (Caden's choice) But best of all, in Caden's words is that he gets to be the line leader. Yes, we have a born leader here...mr. trouble. he he

.....addition to santa list for Caden.....Toys r Us megafort, and HO scale train parts and pieces. He plays with his train all the time, he can put it together all by himself. I got his a catalog for trains and he circled almost every thing! I think he favors construction additions or something that actually does something like move etc.. I will try to put up his list on the sidebar, just for the fun of it.

Happy week everyone!

tic toc tic toc

Can you hear it? The tic tic ticking of my biological clock? Well, it has been on overtime since Caden has started kindergarten and I turned 31 a couple of weeks ago. We really want to expand our family. Yesterday was my appointment with my spine specialist. And his answer was not what I wanted to hear. But actually not a big surprise. No, no, no. Not going to happen. He said that the fusion would be stressed and that it would cause more unrepairable damage. I am so grateful to have Caden, truly blessed. So that's that. We have thought about adoption a lot, but I think that I just need to be happy with my little family, making our way through the world.

So I got my spinal injections that I get every three months. My legs are still numb, which I quite prefer to what they usually feel like. So I think it will help out this time. The relief lasts anywhere from 2-6 weeks. It decreases my swelling by a ton, though. I am always amazed how much I really swell and I thought I was getting chubbier. I have been walking on the treadmill and doing pilates for the last couple of weeks, and I hope to keep going on that. We haven't had much sunshine, so the time has come for the treadmill.

The lack of sunshine also means that I cannot get a good picture of my latest crafting adventure. I cut up a felted sweater to make a wrap-around shrug. It is cute, but I think that I will only wear it in the house for now, because I think I may have cut it a little short. Live and learn.

Paul was able to work out his Chicago job to a contract basis, so he will not have to leave us for three weeks at a time. He may need to travel a like two days a week for the next few weeks to finish the contract, but at least we don't have to get an apartment down there and basically pay for two houses, etc. He is now working in Grand Rapids and it seems to be going good. He just hated leaving us for the week. The only bad thing is that we have one car right now, so I am stranded home. We do not have any public transportation out here. That is ok, though. It won't be too much longer until we find the right vehicle. Hopefully within two weeks I will have some new wheels, or I will have the Passat back!

I have had a few requests from family for Christmas ideas for Caden. We just bought him three pairs of shoes last weekend, he wears 13.5 but I would buy 1's. Stripey socks are always a popular thing around here. For clothing, he is a size 6. We have recently purchased a play station two, (PS2), so children's games would be loved. He has always wanted a guitar, in fact he has been saving for a nice one (wooden) for a few months, but he is still far aways from the $40.00 goal. He likes to sing and play music, a karaoke machine or radio with a microphone would be so loved by him (not so sure if we would love it so!;) Books are great. He loves legos. He spends hours putting things together and taking them apart. I hope that this helps you all out.

until next time! have a great weekend!!

Michigan Farm Field Trip

Well, it is that time of year again, the trees are changing and the air is getting crisp. Time for the annual school field trip to the pumpkin farm. This time we went to an apple farm that happens to grow pumpkins and other stuff too. I am so lucky to be able to come along on the field trips. Caden was proud to have his mom there, he held my hand and introduced me to everyone. I am not looking forward to when he will inevitably get embarassed of having his mom tag along when he gets older.

I will let the pictures do the talking (well, sorta....)
We arrived and went through an eight acre corn stalk maze that was shaped like the state of Michigan. We had to locate eight different cities. After that we got to see how they press the apples to make cider. The kids also got to see the bees.


Caden is so ready to read, he is studying the letters and trying to read the sign, who cares if is is upside down :)....

Next it was time to see how they make those delicious fresh donuts that is a requisite for any visit to a farm in the fall...

Caden and our neighbor friend Aaron were struggling to get on the top rung of the ladder to get the closest view.

Snack time followed...

mmm, tummy rubbing good, fresh donuts and just smooshed apple cider.

we had to wait a while for our hay ride so it was playtime...

nothing beats a pick up game of football between kindergarteners and an imaginary ball.

tackle!

but still the best of friends.

This was followed by duck, duck goose...



and some rest time...



finally..

hay ride time!




some trees are changing...

some are not quite ready.


The twist on this hay ride was that we actually got to pick some apples right off the tree tops while on the hay ride. We all got to enjoy some fresh red delicious apples picked right off the tree. The lady in the background had her pockets stuffed with like 30 apples! Caden enjoyed his "baby" apple.

A great time was had by all.

Now, if only we can all feel better, I went to the doctor today and picked up some anti-biotics to get over my month long sinus infection that turned to a migriane. fun fun.

Email Solutions

Hi everyone, I just thought that I would let you know that if you want to email me, there is a direct link right under the "stay in touch" on the left. The "email me" is a direct link to my email which is mareal719@hotmail.com.

The blog comments are public, so any personal info left in the comment section can be and is seen by a lot of people.

Please feel free to email me anytime!

Also...I cannot respond directly to the comments because blogger doesn't record email addresses, so if it is an anonymous comment and no email address is given, I cannot respond.

I hope that I have not offended anyone, I was trying to retain your privacy.

Have a great day.

close call

Yesterday I waited for Caden at the bus stop as usual. The bus just drove on past me. I was talking to Paul on the cell phone and all I said was 'they took our kid' and starting running after the bus. I was so upset because what I really was thinking is that he is only 5, they don't stop at the stop when the child is not on the bus, he is only five, he is only five....!!! The bus stopped about a quarter of a mile down the road and the door opened. No Caden. I kept running like a madwoman and I saw Caden at the top of the stairs of the bus, there was a substitute bus driver. Ok, I calmed down. Poor Caden, he has had some bus tribulations so far, not getting along with the older kids and the "pecking order", and once I had to board the bus to get him off because he wasn't sure he was at the right stop yet. This time he said "I thought I was lost in a field" hmmm, no field, but I get what he was saying....It was scary. Today we didn't have any problems, but I think that I will be picking him up after school from now on. He has asked several times, and I just feel more connected to the school and his teachers if I can peak in daily or so.

I spent this afternoon organizing the studio (aka my basement craft room). Paul had ordered some really nice organizing units and they came in this morning, so I made quick work of them. It is so nice to have it a little more organized, especially since my interests have expanded. I have my ceramic studio, am working on my first quilt, and also working on a series of encaustic paintings and collages. On top of all that, we found an old letterpress. I have been collecting letterpress fonts, both wooden and metal, and letterpress stamps that I use for my ceramic work, so we thought that we could use them for the intended purpose also. I also carve my own stamps from clay and rubber, which can also be printed on the letterpress. Now that everything has its own station, I think I will be able to get a lot more work done. Maybe I will even take pics! Paul had the camera card with him in Chicago, so no pics for the last few days.

I also re-scanned all of Caden's art work, but the files were too large to upload on flickr, only a few worked. So I have figured out a way to decrease resolution and maybe I can try to put them on the blog again. He just brought home a whole bunch more art work today, so I have even more for your viewing pleasure! He has been drawing a lot of birds and airplanes lately. Each picture he draws has a little narrated story to it. He is very creative. Today he brought home an 'early reader' book, they are expected to be able to 'read' the book by Monday. He is doing great with it, he almost has it memorized and can identify most of the words. He has been also learning to write more than just his name, so neat to see him grow in leaps and bounds like this. Thursday is picture day, the only problem is that Caden has somehow lost the paperwork between school and the bus drop. I guess I will pick it up after school Monday or on the field trip to the pumpkin farm on Tuesday. Not really a big deal, I just minorly (not a word, just my own special vocabulary ;) panicked.

Up North it is 100% peak color, we should reach peak within the next two weeks. It is so beautiful the way the trees explode with color and then,poof, their leaves just fall off, leaving a whole new view of the woods. I especially like the birch trees with their white bark gleaming in the colorful yellow, orange and red forest. My Dad will be out in November to stay with us for a while, so he will miss the fall and head into the winter chill. For all you friends and relatives out west, I hope you know that our door is always open and we have a spare bedroom, so if you ever want to explore Michigan, you can hang with us. I know I have said this before, but I really am sincere, we cannot go west as much as we used too. I guess that is what happens when we grow up, everyone becomes too busy in their daily lives. I cannot remember when I have had a vacation, we usually are traveling to try to maintain some sort of contact with our widespread family!

have a great weekend all!

birthday gift...

with some of my birthday money I pre-ordered my very own copy of The crafter's companion!

It is full of projects written by quite a few prolific craft bloggers. I am really excited about the log cabing pillow pattern by lisa who just opened up her adorable shop here.

Thanks, Dad for my gift! (my Dad is a true believer in sending something green and is one size fits all! works for me!)

storms!

We woke up at about 2 am this morning to huge storms. My favorite! I kind of think that it is a small birthday gift to me! I think these have been the biggest storms we have had this year. Lots of rain and lots and lots of thunder! We tried to get some pictures of lightening after we dropped Caden off at the bus, but only managed to catch a flicker...it is difficult to catch lightening on film. It was almost funny, everytime we gave up, it would suddenly flash, right as we took the camera down hmph!

Thank you everyone for the birthday cards, call, emails and birthday wishes.

Caden gave me the best gift, he got onto the bus and instead of waving, he signed "I love you". The other day he had seen me looking up sign language on the computer and asked about it. I told him that we used it when he was a baby before he spoke--like "all done" or "hungry". It was really a passing moment where I taught him to sign "I love you" and he has done it only a couple of times. But today...oh it melted our hearts.


I will end it with some of Caden's art work, his favorite site to see....