Jack-O-Lanterns and a Blog Warning

We'll start with a warning. Crazy does not even begin to describe my schedule this week.  There may not be a lot happening on the blog until at least Sunday (although I'll try to keep up with it).  I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here.

OK, now that that's  taken care of.....

Last night was jack-o-lantern carving night at our house.  Or, to be more specific, it's the night that Duane and the boys carved jack-o-lantern's while I cooked liked a crazy woman for the school craft show and bake sale on Saturday.

The pictures that follow are not an accurate representation of jack-o-lantern carving time - or at least they are only partially accurate. Once they boys actually started carving their pumpkins, everything went really well. However, the half hour or so prior to that was one of the scariest parts of Halloween. And by "scary" I mean, Duane and I were seriously questioning our decision to have children all those years ago and very nearly turned into pumpkin smashing witches and wanted to just chuck the pumpkins in the yard and forget about them.

Wesley and Ryan picked out pumpkins at the school Trunk or Treat about a week and a half ago. The pumpkins have been sitting in our garage, just waiting to be transformed into jack-o-lanterns. Duane pulled them out of the garage last night and there was an immediate fight over whose pumpkin was whose.  Duane finally said he'd decide based on which pattern they each picked out.

The next 15-20 minutes were spent picking patterns for their pumpkins - and changing their minds about the patterns. Duane would just about be ready to start transferring the pattern, when one of the boys would decide that one wasn't really what they wanted after all.  Ryan finally got it into his head that he would draw his own spider and web to carve onto the pumpkin, which turned into a very long discussion of why the drawing he made wouldn't transfer well and would end up being a hole in the middle of the pumpkin. Then Wesley decided he didn't want a cat after all, he wanted a lizard. So I had to try and find a lizard template for the pumpkin.

It was not a good time. Not at all.

However, once Ryan decided to just draw a face on his jack-o-lantern to carve and Wesley got his lizard template, Duane and I turned transformed from being monsters back into being parents and the guys wound up doing a great job.

Duane giving the boys a lesson who how to hold and carve the pumpkins

Ryan worked very hard on his

Success! He removed an eye!

Working on the lizard template

Finished products - Wesley's lizard on the left and Ryan's traditional jack-o-lantern on the right

And the Grumpy Cat my hubby carved for me

I'm really happy with how all the jack-o-lantern's turned out.  I just hope the rest of the week and Halloween celebrations are fun and not scary.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama

I did not start dreading the monthly scout Pack meeting a full two hours before it was scheduled to begin.  Even if I did, I know I didn't end up having to give a nod to the new format and shorter duration of said meeting.

I am not actually looking forward to Halloween and dressing up for a couple of parties and for work. And it has nothing to do with finding a costume that I can't wait to wear.

There is no way I have taken almost a week to finish a book I have to review because I didn't really care for it and couldn't figure out how I was going to review it professionally.

I did not click on a Twitter link just because it said "Sanders" even though I knew it was going to be about a football player and nothing about my cat.

Outside Again

We spent the morning in the yard raking leaves and getting ready for Halloween.  The weather is absolutely perfect today and I'm glad we got to enjoy it for awhile before the football games start. Because, you know, we have our priorities straight.

Today it was Wesley's turn to man the leaf blower.

I don't know what was going on in Wesley's imagination while he was blowing leaves, but from the look on his face in this picture, it was something awfully exciting.

Ryan worked on the yard the old fashioned way

The best part about the kids helping with the yard work is that they bagged nearly all the leaves.

The trees in our yard are beautiful, but we're going to have to rake at least three more times this year to stay on top of it.

I'm not an expert at reading Wooly Bear caterpillars - anyone know what this one says for winter?

Ryan does love his bugs

Adding a few touches to the Halloween decorations

Duane really got into the Halloween decorating

Now we can kick back and relax this afternoon with the windows to the house open. I'll take more days like this!

Scouts on the Farm

Ryan's Tiger Scout den went on their first "Go See It" today to a historic farm just outside of our city.  I have to admit, I wasn't really looking forward to the trip, but it wound up being a big win for the boys - and the parents.

We had a picnic lunch before going into the farm. Here are my scouts looking fabulous!

Ryan is outstanding in his field - or out standing in his woods as the case may be

On the stilts - with Daddy's help!

Ryan gave it a shot too

One of the women in the kitchen asked the boys to bring in more wood for the stove, so they got to work.

We'll call this a good deed for the day

All that hauling wood made the boys thirsty! Time for a drink from the well

One of the farmers told the scouts all about different kinds of wood and what they are used for

Duane and the farmer on the two man saw

Ryan's turn

Writing on a stump with a goose feather

Wesley's turn to saw

The scouts found a walking stick insect

Ryan loved it!

Splitting kindling

Wesley with the horses in the barn

Ryan seemed to have a special bond with this bull calf. It put it's head in Ryan's lap and fell asleep. I think Ryan would have been content to sit there all day.

Grinding corn for feed with a scout friend

My wonderful, handsome husband.

It was a perfect afternoon, and since they guys have been on electronics since they got home, I'm extra glad they had some fresh air. Well, fresh except for around the hog styes.

Learning to Let it Go

Don't worry - I'm not going to channel my inner Elsa and start belting out Disney songs. At least not at the moment.  But I am going to celebrate.

What am I celebrating? The fact that I am finally learning to let some things go.

I have mentioned in the past that I tend to be a bit of a Type A person/perfectionist. I once took a personality test at work and the results came back that I was a perfectionist, but I didn't like that answer, so I took the test over. True story.

Being a parent has helped me get over some of that. My house is never going to be as clean as I would like it to be. It's funny that I am actually concerned about how the house looks, because I was a complete slob as a kid.  Wesley's room still drives me up a wall, but I'm trying to take my mother's advice when I asked her how she stood my room when I was a kid and just shut the door.

I have relaxed my standards somewhat when it comes to the kids' appearance. I still care about how they look, but in the last year or so I've stopped picking out their clothes (unless it's for a special occasion). As long as they aren't wearing the same shirt three days in a row and their pants don't have holes in them, I'm generally OK with it. Same with Wesley's hair. He has to "style" his own hair now and, even though most days he goes to school with weird bits of his hair sticking out, I don't say anything. I take care of his hair for church and on special occasions, but I'm trying to let him figure it out the rest of the time.

I was really proud of myself when I stepped back and let the kids put all the Halloween decorations up. It doesn't look the way I usually like it to look, but they had fun and were so proud of themselves. I might try the same strategy for Christmas decorations too.

I'm trying to relax about some other things too. No one signed up to coordinate snacks for soccer? Oh well, I don't have to do it. I packed my kids their own snacks each week.  No den leader for the Tiger Cubs? I offered to help out for a week or two, but then someone else stepped up to lead and that was more than ok. I'm taking packaged cheesesticks for Ryan's Halloween party at school and that's good enough for me. I didn't send anything in for a book party Wesley's class had because I didn't think I had the time (or the organizational skills with as crazy as the last couple of weeks have been) and guess what? The party happened anyway and no one noticed that I didn't do anything for it.

Maybe Disney movies can teach us a thing or two.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama

I did not leave a vital ingredient out of a coffee cake I was making.  And I know I didn't try to incorporate said ingredient after the batter had already been poured into the prepared pan. And I certainly wasn't a bit surprised when the "cake" turned out less than an inch thick and with a consistency somewhere between a piece of rubber and a sponge. And even if those things were true, I know Ryan and I didn't sit at the table and eat the cinnamon crumb topping off the coffee cake so the whole thing wouldn't go to waste. Nope. Didn't happen.

I did not jump during a haunted trail put on by the Boy Scouts. And if I did jump, it certainly wasn't at a "knight who says nee" instead of at a werewolf, zombie or other ghostly creature.

I did not consider the fact that I wore a single pair of hose for more than 12 hours without getting a run in them a personal triumph.

I did not ask one of the boys to go get me a soda from the fridge because I was charging my Fitbit and didn't want to take any "extra" steps that wouldn't count towards my goal for the day.

Trunk or Treat

Last night was the school's second annual Trunk or Treat. Like last year, the temperature decided to drop for event, but unlike last year, we got added bonus of a steady drizzle all night.  Still, we had a great turnout and it was a lot of fun for the kids. I even kind of enjoyed myself because all we did was man a trunk and hand out candy - no games, no working snacks, no being responsible for the event. Best school event ever!

Wesley dressed as Silly Cat - one of the cat superheroes he has made up as  part of the Family Cat Team. He was so proud of his costume and told anyone who would listen all about it. Ryan decided to be a skeleton this year, which is appropriate because the child is skin and bones.

Wesley and J.  J. dressed up as an author and the two of them made a perfect pair.

Wesley and Ryan guessing how many pieces of candy corn were in the jar.

Silly Cat sporting vampire fangs. Loved this look!