I ventured to the dark side today...

...and it was a little satisfying!

Yes folks, I fear I am becoming what was once foreign and strange to me. Something that just never made sense to me before. Something that was so creepy and scary and abnormal that I swore I would never become one of those people. But, I think I may have made my first step into that world today. It was all so innocent - the girls were with me for crying out loud! I didn't realize what I was doing at the time. But, worse than that, I realized what I did soon after and (gulp) didn't do anything to correct it! And you know what? It felt GOOD. Liberating almost. I'm sickened by it and thrilled to bone all at the same time.

Good lord I'm at the edge right now, about to step off into that world. And I'm not sure I want to stop myself! What is happening to me? The pull is soooo strong I fear I can't resist it much longer. I don't think I want to resist it. Oh why me? Why, why, why? Don't I have enough things to worry about right now? Is this really necessary for me? Oh won't someone help me? Help me to stop the madness before it starts! Or maybe help me through the initiation into becoming one of those people. What am I saying? I can't think clearly....my knees are weak....is it hot in here?...I'm.....So.....Scared....

I know my life is about to change. Some of you are going to look at me differently. Please don't judge me. There are so many out there that have done what I've done. It can't really be all that bad if so many people are doing it, right?

Okay, I'm just going to put it out there. Ready? I know some of you can handle this but I'm not so sure about others. Those that have serious medical conditions and expecting mothers should use caution if they decide to continue reading from this point forward. Okay. Deep breath. Here I go:

I BOUGHT CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS - IN OCTOBER!!! I know how horrible that sounds to some of you. It almost hurts to see it in print. But I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I knew something like this was going to happen! I've been having these thoughts lately. Thoughts of Christmas. Thoughts of getting presents early this year. First they were just thoughts of "oh, the girls would like this" whenever I'd see something at work. And then I started to worry if whatever toy it was would still be there in a couple of months. It is Costco after all - if you don't buy it when you see it, you probably lost your chance! So then the thoughts started to come. Buy it for Christmas. Sure they'll still love it as much in two months as they would now. Who cares if it's just going to sit in a closet for two months? At least you'll have it! That's one less thing you'll have to do in the next two months. Not to mention everyone around me buying things up so they don't have to do it in two months. And so they have whatever it is that is not going to be there in two months. They made it look so easy. Like there was no stigma at all attached to it. Like everyone in the world was doing it. They were professionals!

At any rate, I just bought two boxes of ornaments, a wreath holder and a jingle bell wreath. That's all. I feel so ashamed but glad I don't have to do it in two months. It wasn't hectic, trying to pick it out. There was a huge selection so I didn't have to settle for whatever was left. I could take my time, take my pick even. It was pure heaven. I'm now thinking about picking up a gift a week for the next few weeks. Just one. I'll take it slow. I don't want to rush into this until I'm sure it's the direction that I want to go.

And thus concludes my journey to the dark side. But you sometimes have to go through the darkness to reach the light (good lord they've got me! aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh).

The things that come out of her mouth - and butt!

We had a busy and hectic day yesterday. Busy because I'm trying to get my freakin house cleaned up once and for all and hectic because I had a lot to do with not enough time to do it, two 'want to help' girls I was tripping over and PMS on attack!

After Quinn's class we had K.C. meet us over at Fred Meyer because I decided we were going to get bar stools. We have a fabulous island area and while I was cleaning yesterday I was getting more and more mad that 1. anyone in their right mind would put carpet down in a dinning room and 2. my kids make a game out of dropping the messiest things they can on the carpet. So, the thought struck me to get bar stools and eat at the island where there is linoleum (another issue I have - why the heck do they make it textured?! I know it's suppose to look like stone or whatever but trying to get dirt and gunk out of those cracks and crevices just drives me nuts!). Since our table broke and we had been using a folding table, this idea was perfect. And it also helped that I wanted to move the furniture around a little in the living room to open up the spaces downstairs. So, the piano is now in the dinning room and this is also where the downstairs toys are housed. The folding table is folded up and put back in the closet with the folding chairs. And all is right in my world again - at least in the downstairs portion of my house.

All of that just to tell you what Quinn said! We were eating our first dinner in the kitchen and Quinn made several comments about how she loved eating in the kitchen. True to form, she eventually tooted, then laughed and said "hee hee, my toots bounced!"

Mexican Coke & Persimmons

Those are just two of the things I never heard of before working at Costco. Well, I guess I probably had heard of both but to my knowledge had never seen a persimmons before let alone tasted one. I kept seeing them come through my line so finally asked a member/customer (they are called members because you have to pay to shop there) what it was. He told me and told me how to eat it (like an apple) and promised that they were sweet and good. I decided to buy some and, of course, we were out. I saw them come through the line again this weekend so bought some. They are a little sweet and are crunchy like an apple. Don't know as I would seek one out though - maybe mine aren't ripe or over ripe or something. I'll have to look up more info on line. The girls will eat a little of it, K.C. doesn't like it so that leaves me to eat the rest of them! I paid around $6 for eight of them.

As for the Mexican Coke, I've seen it in the grocery stores but had no idea it was different from Classic Coke - or would that be American Coke? Either way, I just didn't pay attention. I just figured some people liked to drink coke out of a glass bottle and that is why it was more expensive. I guess the Mexican Coke is made with pure cane sugar as opposed to the high fructose corn syrup that Classic/American Coke is made from. Everyone told me how much better the Mexican Coke was and how I had to try it. So, I bought some. I can't really taste a big difference. Which is good considering I paid $20 for 24 - 12oz glass bottles! K.C. said he could taste a difference but not enough to want to buy it again. The girls have yet to try it but I'm sure they'll love it!

So, as always, I like to share my new finds with you. I love trying out new things (as long as it's vegetarian of course - no Donkey tongues or monkey testicles for this girl) so working at Costco is a good way to see what's out there! Next up is some kind of traditional Christmas cake (it looks like bread) from Milan. I'm told by a member that it is kind of like fruit cake but oh so much better (I happen to like fruit cake)! It seems odd to me because it really does look like bread! Can't wait to dig into it!

Big Sister + Pull-Up = ABUSE!

I never thought a pull-up could be used to abuse anyone but looking at Sydney's face makes me think that she may be scarred for life because of Quinn's weird obsession with putting underwear/pull-ups on her head (that has to come from the paternal side - right?!).

Poor child. If I wasn't laughing so hard I'd try to help her out.

We've Been Booed!

It happened again this year. We were Booed! I had never heard of this tradition until we moved here. I don't know who starts it but someone buys little treats for two neighbors, puts them on their door step anonymously and includes a sign to hang on their door so they don't get booed again and instructions to boo two more neighbors. It's fun and for the past two years we've gotten good treats. Now I just have to find two neighbors to boo! Oh, and get the stuff to boo them with!

This year we got some candy, pumpkin cups, tattoos, play dough and these silly glasses.

Family Fun Day!

It's not often that we are able to go do things as a family with my work schedule. So, K.C. took yesterday off and we crammed a ton of things into the day.

First up was dressing the girls in the dresses I bought them and then taking them to our favorite park to take pictures. I don't know what it is about these dresses but as soon as I saw them I knew that I had to take them to the park and put them in this great old tree trunk and take pictures. It's just too bad that it was cold outside! Sydney was freezing but both of them were good sports. I got great video of them feeding the ducks and 'dancing' in the meadow like the little fairies they are. Look for that footage on the Year In Review DVD. I had a hard time picking just two pictures to post but opted for ones that I envisioned when I first saw the dresses hanging on the rack:

This is probably my favorite of the day but when I zoom in to view it closer, the girls are all blurry so that really sucks!


Poor Sydney was so cold she couldn't move! Look at that view behind them though! That is Lake Wilderness.


After a stop at home for lunch and a shower (for me) we headed to a local farm to pick a couple of pumpkins. This was the very first trip for all of us to a pumpkin patch! It was a lot of fun and we highly recommend this great family farm - http://www.thomassonfamilyfarm.com/.

We took a hayride, 'milked' a wooden cow, drove a tractor, rode some wooden horses, slid down a hill, went through a small corn maze, played with bubbles, raced rubber ducks, played in a corn box, rode some John Deer tricycles around a track, slide down a haystack, pet a miniature horse & donkey, cows, pigs, goats, rabbits and kittens and, finally, picked out two perfect pumpkins for our perfect little pumpkins! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I took so many pictures and so much video before the pumpkin picking that my battery died so I don't have any pictures/video of the actual picking of the pumpkins. That's okay, that part wasn't as fun as the other stuff anyway!

Here are a few pictures from the farm:

At the top of the corn box - after walking through it and climbing up on the hay, we slid down into it. We all got corn in places where corn really shouldn't go! I love Quinn's little leg kick in this picture.


Quinn & Sydney 'driving' the tractor.


Milking the cow.

And our self portrait on the hay ride.

It was a fun day and we all slept really well after being out and about in the fresh fall air! We didn't get around to putting up Halloween decorations this year. I know, there's still time and if I really wanted to I could. But, I'm not real excited about putting them up for a week and then taking them right back down so we'll just wait until next year!

Flashback....Pumpkin Patch

I started working on our Year in Review DVD and was amazed at how much the girls have changed in just a year! So, I thought it might be fun during this holiday season to show pictures from last year along with current pictures.

(On the subject of the Year in Review DVD, I plan to give one to everyone who got one last year. If you didn't get one and would like one, let me know. If you did get one but don't want one this year, let me know.)

The first set is the Pumpkin Patch. Last year we just bought the pumpkins at the store and then posed with them in our front yard. This year we actually headed out to a pumpkin patch (more on that in the next post) and picked the pumpkins (up off the ground). It was so much fun. Sadly, my camera battery died right before we picked the pumpkins so I don't have the girls posing with their pumpkins - yet. The funny thing is that they are wearing the same jackets in both pictures!

Pumpkin Patch 2007 (Our front yard)


Pumpkin Patch 2008 (Thomasson Family Farm)