Trick or Treat and the Leader of the Pack

We had so much fun today. Well the first part of the day not so much.....Clancey had his one year check up, which went great but there were shots involved. Including a flu shot for big brother that was not the highlight of his life. But I digress....Halloween...it couldn't have been better....gorgeous warm weather, a Halloween party at preschool yesterday, a party at the library today and trick or treating. We wrangled Clancey into his cow getup, which he played along with for a while....then became a bit of an agitated bovine near the end of the evening....a little hugging on the trek home from Daddy calmed the wild beast. Marsh had a BLAST portraying his rock star alter ego one more time tonight....and he got A LOT OF LOOT!

This afternoon at the Library party Clancey hammed it up for the kids...getting right in the middle of things and getting jiggy, entertaining the crowd. He's his own guy. Loves the attention and laughter. He led the kids on a crawl around the library, having a ball until he realized everyone was mimicing everything he did....found that a tad distressing and the bottom lip made an appearance until the little girls all cooed and made lovey faces and the world was set right.

Rocker Boy

This Halloween Marsh decided he wanted to be a ROCK STAR! Ok, that sounds good....what kind of a rockstar? Not a silly one, he tells me, after googling "rock star costume" and seeing the millionth interpretation of Fat Elvis. He wants to be COOL. Ok, that sounds good....the problem is most "rock stars" nowadays would be hard to spot in a crowded room. ;-) They wear jeans, t-shirts...the normal getup of any 15-35 year old man. Now how do we make this a little jazzier for Halloween without making him silly? This is pretty much what we landed on. He was thrilled with it, which meant I was thrilled with it. Baby brother auditioned for the band as well....a one, two, a one two three four. He got the gig.

Smiling Pumpkins

I'm not sure how many times I'm going to go on about this....but I just can't believe how great it is to have time for myself and my family again! Marsh and I made a jillion smiling pumpkins for his preschool Halloween party tomorrow....so much fun. We also made tiny devil's food cupcakes with Halloween sprinkles. Speaking of sprinkles...aren't they great? I'm truly addicted to sprinkles...it started with Christmas sprinkles, then the sprinkle geniuses decided to make Halloween sprinkles...and did you know they even make EASTER sprinkles? Bless me, I'm in sprinkle heaven. If you missed my post about the Stringtown Grocery check that out too....they have sprinkles there in every shape and color. How I resisted I still do not know. A whole TUB of pink sprinkles for $.69!! Bless the Amish too and their menagerie of beautiful sprinkles.

Channeling My Inner Martha

I really do think we all have a little Martha in us....I know, I know some of you won't or can't admit it, but I think we all enjoy celebrating with family around a beautiful table, eating yummy food and trying to be gracious and calm while doing it all. As I've mentioned before, kicking my manic volunteering habit has brought out my crafty/domestic side once more and I'm really enjoying it....as are my husband and children who have been the recipient of many more home baked goods lately. ;-)

I thoroughly enjoyed preparing for Clancey's party...probably went a little froo froo, but hey, he didn't complain. My husband said it felt like we were getting ready for the holidays...what a wonderful holiday kickoff event we now have in our family! I know I am going to enjoy these upcoming holidays more than I have in several years....holidays dedicated to the people who mean the most in my life.

First Birthday

Our beautiful boy celebrated his first birthday on Sunday. Where does time go! I swear we were just at the hospital, with our second false alarm...thinking this baby may never come out! Now here he is, walking, talking and charming the pants off anyone who comes near him. Mommy loves you Clancey Dylan.

Tentative Baby Steps Toward Winter

Today over lunch Marsh and I were talking about the weather....he wanted to go out and pick a bouquet for me and I told him there were no flowers left in the yard....it's just too cold now. He asked why? I said because it's getting colder and turning to winter. Marsh informed me he didn't want winter this year. I said me neither after the winter we had last year. I told him we needed to get ahold of Mother Nature and ask her to accomodate our request. He said "Why do we need to call her? The news are the ones that run the weather."

All meterologists, you've been informed by the boy genius that you are in charge of the weahter, so go easy on us this year. ;-)

Books and Past Lives

Wow, tonight we put books onto our beautiful new bookcases. Papa has been working SO hard on these and they are absolutely goregous...it almost felt naughty to put anything on them, like we're defacing them! Marshall was so excited to help decide where the books would go, which genres made sense next to each other and made sure we put some where he could reach them. He informed us tonight, as he was carrying a load of books that included The Art of War, that he had read that book.....right before he jumped in the big hole into my tummy. He's told us on many occasions now that he "searched for a home" before he chose us and then when he found us he jumped in the hole and came into my tummy and was born.

Sort of makes you believe in the soul searching, from one life to the next, for its rightful place in the world, doesn't it?

Sometimes It Takes a Mess

My darling almost one-year old helped me remember something the other night....I never send handwritten notes anymore. Email has become so commonplace that I type out a quick message to my chosen recipient and hit send....never sitting down to thoughtfully compose my feelings or write about what my family has been up to lately...the kind of personal reflection that everyone needs to have once in a while to stay grounded. As my stash of cards, note paper, return address lasbels and the like were scattered all over the kitchen floor before bedtime, I sat there, on the floor with Clancey and took it all in. This is one more thing that I had neglected and hope to get back again. Check your mailbox, a special note may arrive soon from someone you love.

Stringtown Grocery

On a fun afternoon trip last week a couple friends and I (and the munchkins) hopped in the car and headed down to Kalona to see a few sights.

We had lunch, then took in the Stringtown Grocery and the Cheese Factory.

Stringtown Grocery is an Amish-run bulk grocery store in a beautiful country setting. For bakers and cooks, this store is like mecca....every spice, noodle, grain, flour and sugar imaginable! I bought the fine whole wheat flour as well as a little crispy bear for Marsh. I used the flour this weekend in my blueberry muffin recipe...just halvsied it with white flour. Turned out pretty good!

Step Back and Enjoy the View

This fall has been so pretty and so warm. We've been blessed this year. The leaves are gorgeous, ranging from golden yellow to firey red. The view out our front door is so peaceful and pretty right now. The harvest is slowly getting underway, so the view will get a little noisier as the tractors make their way to the co-op, but that's okay...makes us remember why Iowa is so special. We've enjoyed getting ready for Halloween this year. Marsh and I made little white ghosts to go in the front yard and made the 'witches' sign for the front door. These are the things I realized I was missing while maintaining a frantic pace volunteering here in town. Now that I'm stepping back from that I'm finding myself again, a self that I really enjoy! I'm calmer, quieter and am taking in the minutia again.

The Masterpiece is Nearing the Finish Line

The den bookcases are nearly complete. Hurray! Papa has outdone himself this time....they are absolutely gorgeous. I can hardly hold myself back from loading them with all the books we have stashed in closets, under beds and laying here and there. Our homeless books will finally have a home! And what a beautiful home it is.

Anywhere Better?

Is there anywhere better for a little guy who is enamored with his Papa? Mema is quickly catching up...she has "the touch" when it comes to naptime.

God bless wonderful, attentive grandparents.

Looking Back Over the Summer

As I was browsing back through our summer photos I COULD NOT resist posting this one. This is the laugh-a-minute circus this house tends to be. Marsh was practicing to be an Ironman like Daddy...as for Daddy...I'm not sure what he was practicing for. ;-)

Clancey the "Laban" Pirate

I had to take photos of Clancey in his Swedish "Laban" pants. The character Laban is a friendly ghost who refuses to haunt people...I suppose like Casper here in the US. They're adorable and SOOO soft...came back with Daddy from Sweden. I think he looks like a little pirate. First he seized the embroidery thread booty, then moved upstairs to make Marshall walk the plank...into the pirate ship tub.

Hairdressing

To acheive this VERY fancy hairdo:
Cut up grapes on breakfast plate.
Eat said grapes.
Turn the plate over on top of your head, rub vigorously.
Let dry.

Voila!