Happy Birthday, Amy!

Today was my dear friend Amy's birthday so in celebration we took the boys down to Gardner Village to see the witches & other cute HaLLoWeeN shenanigans they have going on down there right now. It was pretty chilly, but fun, & worth the drive for the tasty cinnamon roll. Happy Birthday, Amy!

Halloweenie Roast

Monday night we ventured to Paradise (it literally is paradise) for good times with family & friends & our annual visit to the HaLlOwEeNIe RoASt. What is a Halloweenie Roast you might ask? Well let me tell you. There are a couple of retired sisters in Paradise (Mrs. Tams ring a bell, any NOJH alum?) who were left their father's farm & years ago they started decorating it for Halloween & doing hayrides for their

grandkids. Since then it has grown every year & this year they've seen over 700 visitors. They do a hayride & also a little train ride, made out of plastic barrels, pulled by tractors where they take you out through the field & show you all their fun little decorations. They also have a little spook alley in the barn & a bonfire if you'd like to roast a weenie or a mallow. Good times, folks. They go to a ton of work & I sure hope they keep it up so we can take Mr P for years to come.

Ogden Nature Center

Last week Mr. P & I joined Grandma Olsen & 3 cousins for a picnic & other fun at the Ogden Nature Center. We looked at the birds (which were in cages & therefore unable to peck our eyes out), took a walk to the tadpole pond & Blackbird Pond & ended up at the treehouses for a delicious & nutritious (c'mon, this is my mom's picnic we're talkin' about) lunch. A splendid day for all to be had. Thanks, little nature friends!!

It's Over.

For another year, it's over. There are all kinds of possibilities for what this title might entail, but for anyone who's in primary, you know it's the season of the primary program, & yes, ours is over for another year. Don't get me wrong-- I l.o.V.e. the primary program & I don't mean to sound negative. It's just that being a Sunbeam teacher I sit on the stand with approximately 2,000 questions running through my mind whilst saying over & over 'sit on your bum,' 'ssshhh,' 'yep, we're almost done,' & the like, trying to keep a smile on my face & hear what all the kid speakers are saying. It's a chaotic 45 minutes to say the least. What questions are running through my mind, you might ask? Well here are just a few:
*Is my kid going to be this crazy when he's in primary?
*Is this kid's mom staring me down, thinking I'm being mean because I'm repeating the above phrases over & over to her child, & never going to talk to me again?
*Is Ty letting Mr P eat copious amounts of sugar to keep him quiet while I'm up here?
*Is that mom giving her kid that evil eye, or me?

And other such questions. The most rewarding being: Is hearing these kids sing 'I Love to See the Temple' with such conviction (yes, even my tiny little Sunbeams) going to make me cry every time? I think that's the only one I can answer & the answer, my friends, is yes. Every time.

Beware: Politics

OK, so most of you know I steer clear of political conversation & debates for many & varying reasons. But, as I watched the debates tonight I made a few decisions & came to a few conclusions. Here's what I'm going to share. I believe they're both left-handed. What are the odds?! And the rest will stay locked in my mental archive.

Birthdays Aplenty!

Last week we celebrated Lee's 24th birthday with ice cream at Casper's in Providence. Some faves from the night:

Birthday boy & his gal. Special.
Owen & Jakers sharing/teasing Mr P with their cones. Poor chap fell for it every time.

Contemplating if he made the right choice.

Positive he made the right choice.

No doubt about it, right choice! It's ice cream, isn't it?!

Then on Saturday we braved the stormy weather to go celebrate Lincoln's 1st birthday! Which was well worth it for Kate's culinary abilities. And to hang out with the fam, of course!

Woo woo!! My own cake!

I guess I can share.

That was some tasty cake!

Happy Birthday, Fellas!! Love you!

Blech.

Well, so much for my bright, cheerful garden. I think my zinnias are done for. Snow the second week of October is just harsh. The weather man better be right when he says it'll get back up to around 70 by the weekend. I need some fall weather to transition my old bones into winter. My lack of enthusiasm for the coming winter season is, however, nearly made up for by my vivacious enthusiasm for sweater weather. Yes, I said vivacious & I meant it.

BUT... Our house still has this going for it.

I love the classic look of the grape vines with the red brick, & the ferocity of the color is seriously indescribable. These pictures make it look blah compared to what they look like in real life. It's my favorite part of our house right now. Come visit if you'd care to enjoy them as well. But you may want to hurry. The snow may have tainted them when it planned it's assault on my zinnias.