Halloween 2007

Fred and George Weasley in their Quidditch robes made by the infamous seamstress, NANA!

Here, the CUTEST chicken you've ever seen! I heard she flew the "croup!" (Poor Halle had croup on Halloween!)

Fred and George posing with Andrew the Hippie and the werewolf on roller blades. These sights can be seen only on Halloween!

First Frost 10-28-07

We awoke this morning to witness our first frost!

Our backyard was glistening and Johnny's car needed an ice scrapper!

Halle asked if it had snowed. Not just yet.......

Fallin' for Wheaton

I never knew that I would LOVE fall this much! Seriously, if you had asked my favorite season, I guess I would have said summer. Maybe because it was eternally summer in Dallas. But this weather that we've been experiencing? It's awesome!

September's weather was mild, and October came with more mild weather and the beautiful colors of the leaves. Our daily temperatures were anywhere from high 50's to the high 70's, and nighttime temps could drop as low as high 40's. This left a slight chill in the air, a crisp smell, and a festive atmosphere for our first "real" fall.

And then the leaves started to change color! And everywhere you go it's "raining" leaves! It is so beautiful. As an avid scrapbooker, I've seen so many pictures of kids playing in leaves, and I never really "got it." Well, I get it now! I can't wait to take the kids outside to jump in piles of leaves!

Here are a few pictures of the leaves on their way to full color.

Gateway to the WEST

The St. Louis Arch

Here is proof that we were there!

Not only did we see the OUTSIDE of the arch, we got to go inside the arch and look out from the very top! 630 feet up to be exact.

This is the view from the top.

Good Ole' Abe

Parker had a soccer tournament in St. Louis. Since we were driving down for that, we thought we'd make the most of our new surroundings and make a little stop on the way. We visited the site of Lincoln's home in our new state's capital, Springfield, Illinois.

Here is Abe, our country's 16th President.

Here is my family (minus me as I'm the photographer!) in front of Abe's original home in Springfield. We all know he was born in a log cabin, but he became more affluent before becoming President.

Here is Grayson in Lincoln's backyard. This is the very backyard that Lincoln's own boys played in! I thought his was so cool!

Grayson took this picture of Johnny and me. It's a great picture, and I'm rarely in any of them, so I thought I'd include it. We are sitting outside of a replica of Lincoln's log cabin at the Lincoln Museum.

Here we are with Lincoln and his family. Other than the clothes and the fact that they are statues, we fit right in!

This proved to be a very educational visit as we learned a lot about the life of the Lincoln's. I'm glad we made the stop.

One and a Half Face Cords

Have you ever wondered how much wood is in a one and a half face cords? About this much...

And to think a week ago I didn't even know what a face cord was! And the cost of keeping warm? $174.13 plus 20 bucks for the teenager next door to stack it! Hmmm. Bills like this make me miss my fireplace that turned on with a light switch. I guess you find those only in Dallas. Looks like we'll have to learn to work the real thing!

Grubs

Have you ever seen a grub? I don't think I have, but I can tell you who has become an expert. That would be JOHNNY! The following story is very sad. If you have the guts, read on, but you might need a tissue.

The house we live in has a fantastic yard. Several of our neighbors even commented to us that THIS yard has been the cause of some envy. Evidently the Peterson's, who lived here before us, always took great care of it. This left some pretty big shoes to fill!

So you can imagine our dismay one morning 3 weeks ago when we looked out in the yard and saw a very large patch fo grass that had been torn up. We surmised that it was an animal looking for food. After asking around, we found out that we were correct, and that the food had a name: GRUBS. We didn't really think more about it..........until the next morning! The patch of ripped up grass had doubled in size. The racoon, skunk, oppossum, or whatever was after the grubs had had a GREAT time in our yard overnight.

This really ticked Johnny off, so he set out to figure out how to get this little problem under control. After asking around some more, he was told that your yard doesn't recover from grubs. Besides the fact that critters dig your yard up, the grubs eat the root of your grass and kill it! This was a much bigger problem than we had bargained for.

Poor Johnny had to dig up a very large portion of dead grass from our yard, kill the grubs, and replant new grass. I don't think I've ever seen him so mad! This house requires a lot more maintenance, and that was a giant set-back for him.

I will end this series of unfortunate events on a good note, though. He fought through it, got the grass planted, and the yard looks FABULOUS! Make sure you tell him this if you see him! :)

The Cost of All Things Winter

It has occurred to me that a change in climate is going to require some changes in wardrobe and living. After shopping around, I've decided that this is not going to be an easy NOR an inexpensive endeavor. I will keep track of expenses here. Check back for updates.

1. A pair of snow pants for Parker: $16.99
2. A new, super cold climate, 4 in 1 coat for Parker $54.99
3. A pair of warm gloves for Parker $9.99
4. A pair of bargain snow pants for Gray (found at a second hand shop) $2.80 (BACKFLIP!)
5. A pair of snow boot for Gray (found on clearance at Famous Footwear this summer) $10
6. A pair of bargain snow pants for Halle (from 2nd hand shop) $2.80 (DANCE A JIG!)
7. A pair of snow boots for Halle $19.99
8. One and a half face cords of oak wood for the fireplace $174.13
9. Cost for Kyle to stack the wood $20
10. Log rack for beside the fireplace $29.99
11. Fireplace tool set $34.99
12. An O log ring in which to store the new fireplace wood $24.99
13. A new 4 in 1 coat for Halle $35.99 (on sale)
14. A new The North Face super-duper, walk-in-the-snow-and-cold-to-work coat for Johnny $279.00 (at a discount place. Regular price: $500) Hopefully it will last many years!
15. 20" Snow Shovel $19.98
16. Auto Emergency Shovel & Ice Scraper $8.98
17. Snow boots for Parker $44.50
18. Snow boots for Jennifer $29.99
19. Real snow gloves for Halle $10.00

Running total: $830.10

But hey, let's look on the bright side....at least we'll save money on suntan lotion and flip flops!