Halloween Masterpiece

Joe loves Halloween. In fact I sometimes think he likes it more than Christmas. I remember our first Halloween after we were married. I came home from work and Joe had taken a trip to the local DI and purchased several bags and pieces of random things, which I believe included a vacuum. This is what he came up with.

I should have figured out then that Halloween was a big deal! These were our costumes last year.

I have been telling my kids all season that part of Halloween is your imagination. You don't have to look exactly like the character you are dressing up as. Joe however pays attention to all the fine details. This Halloween started out with Joe making this fake nose. We had a lot of fun with this. However after a trip to Kmart his costume took on a different direction that was so good the nose was no longer needed!

Joe tried this wig on at K-mart where we purchased it. He came out of the dressing room and said "HEY" I looked and I literally did a double take, I didn't think it was Joe. From the teeth, to the tattoos, to the fake belt buckle made from a silver dollar and Gerber baby food lid. Here is the Masterpiece! It did win him 1st prize at the Border's Halloween bash!!

7 days of bad luck

It all started when Kaitlyn came home from school and announced that someone at school had given her a "Bad Luck" charm......

My Mom came to visit which is always such a treat for me. I LOVE my MOM!! Her flight was delayed several hours and she didn't arrive until 4:00 in the morning! It is kind of a family joke that whenever my Mom travels or plans a trip you can count on bad weather. Well this one was no different after the worst drought in Kentucky history, as I was driving to the airport at 4:00 in the morning, it started to RAIN! (something we haven't seen in months!) The next afternoon we got a phone call from home. My Dad owns his own construction business. He had fallen off 12 foot roof and shattered his heel up into his ankle. He was told to stay off of it for two weeks to let the swelling go down before surgery.We are so fortunate that only his leg is broken, it could have been so much worse. The next few days were filled with concern and uncertainty not sure whether to send Mom home, or keep her in Kentucky. My brothers all pitched in and helped out when they could, so she was able to stay the whole time. (Thanks guys!)The next day we got another phone call and her roof at home had been leaking. My Dad was stuck in bed so again my brothers ( you gotta love them) pitched in and tore out all the carpet and took care of the leak.
Then came the weather in Kentucky, TORNADO'S ! Not something our family takes lightly after my Grandmothers house was hit when I was growing up. That made for a fun filled evening, Joe was gone teaching a class of 14 Female Dental assistants, who were also panicked, and his girls at home were a mess too! (girl drama overload, poor guy) The week wouldn't have been complete without throwing a few sick kids into the picture. Kaitlyn had strep throat, and Madelyn had a terrible cold. Which is no surprise since we had 3 days filled with drenching rain which we desperately needed. Kentucky went from the worst drought ever to the wettest October ever, in just 3 days! ( You can thank my Mom for the rain!!) We thought things were starting to look up when the day before my Mom left my washer started making a clunking sound! With 3 kids and more company coming in, I couldn't be without a washer for very long! The washer story deserves a blog of it's own!! I am proud to say my mom and I had the washer bought, loaded and even installed by ourselves by the end of the day. That is one appliance I don't think I could live without!
Our bad luck streak seems to be improving. And looking back in each of these trials there was a blessing that also came with it. I was so impressed with my Dad's attitude in all of this. I borrowed this quote he sent me.
"Bad breaks... need not break a good man; They may with God's help even make him better." Neal A Maxwell - Experience, pp 40-41

Even through our bad luck streak we were able to have a good time though. We went to the Zoo trick or treating, Huber's Farm pumpkin picking, Christmas shopping and more.

We told the girls they could pick any pumpkin they wanted, as long as they could carry it. They had so much fun finding the perfect one!

THE RACE

(One of the many shirts we saw at the Race!)

Saturday was the race for the Cure. My friends Cathy and Missy ran it with me. Cathy posted a picture of all the stuff we got for participating on her blog. We went early and it was like trick or treating for adults!! We just walked around and collected all the things the sponsors of the race were giving away. Then of course we had to run. I must say it is a pretty awesome sight to see as far as you can see, people running or walking, united for a purpose. What a way to wake up in the morning! I wish I would have had my camera. I think they were expecting 11,000 participants this year! I always have a sense of accomplishment when I finish, even though I would have liked to do better. I am proud of my comrades too. This was Missy's first race, and I think she had a good time. And in this race we were given 2 different T-shirts which made Cathy's day! (Unfortunatlely our shirts weren't quite as great as the one above!)Way to go Lady's!!

Thinking PINK

Okay LADIES, If you are not a LADY you should stop reading right NOW! Beings this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I thought I would share a very personal story. About 3 weeks ago I went to see my Ob-Gyn. I had a spot on my breast that was bothering me. My doctor had a very quizzical look on his face and replied " If you were my daughter or my wife I would want this checked out. So that is what we are going to do, I am going to send you for a MAMMOGRAM!" (YIKES) I was terrified. First of all I am 28! I am to young to be starting mammograms! I tried really hard not to think about it. But I was a total wreck the night before my mammogram. Partly for the unknown and partly because of the procedure itself! I honestly do not think I have ever been that worried about a test ever! I was so fortunate though there was a Doctor on hand the day of my Mammo. He looked at the images while I waited to see if I needed any more tests done. I am so relieved and grateful everything seems to be fine.
My heart goes out to those women that go in and have that same experience, with very different ending results! My life literally could have been turned upside down in a matter of minutes. I am running the race for the cure next Saturday. I signed up to do this long before my little incident. I am really excited about it though, and just want to put my plug in for breast cancer! I found this link(at the top of the page)that you can click on everyday and sponsors help pay for Mammograms. If they have 500 clicks on their site in October their top sponsor will pay for 150 mammograms! (Might I just add they are not cheap, and I am not really sure why we pay for insurance when they don't pay more for things like this!) Once you click on their site on the right side it says in a pink box click here to give-it's free! Click that box and your done! Okay so that is my ten cents. Do your part and click when you can!

Kids Say the Funniest Things

I have tried to keep track of the cute things my kids have said. Kaitlyn has kind of out grown this phase and I have some of her things wriiten inher scrapbook.Jenna just keeps them coming!
This picture of Madelyn inspired me to finally get Jenna's written down in one place. Madelyn has started the hitting phase. Joe put her in the corner over the weekend. Today she hit Jenna and immediately put herself in timeout, in the corner!!

Kaitlyn: I think I would like to run a race, just with not very many fast people!

We were talking about how carrots help you see in the dark, and Kaitlyn asked what does corn do?
Jenna: Corn helps you hear! ( An ear of Corn)

Mom: When we get home you have to take a bath.
Jenna: WHY?
Mom: Well look at your toes – they’re all yucky.
Jenna: Oh, they’re just naturally yucky.

We went to a balloon glow and they had to cancel and pull the balloons down because the wind was too much. The girls were upset and on the way home were complaining.
Mom: They had to pull the balloons down because the wind was too strong. If they didn’t someone could get hurt.
Kaitlyn: Yeah, and maybe even die.
Jenna: Well, if they did I would make them a headstone and give it to them.

We had the missionaries over for dinner and Jenna was telling the missionary how old she would be next year in her most Kentucky drawl.

Jenna: Next year I’m going to be five (pronounced fahv)
Missionary: You’re going to be fahv?
Jenna: I know! I have a Kentucky accident!

Jenna: Hey, I know! If I ate a hairball I’d have a hairt attack (heart attack pronounced like hair)! Ha, ha, ha, ha!

Mom and Jenna got on the elevator at the library to go to story hour
Jenna: Ugh, I don’t like these things.
Mom: Why not?
Jenna: They make me elevator sick.