I Freaking LOVE Suckers

Pretty self explanatory!

Autumn, How I Missed You

Oh, it's getting colder.

I hate cold.

I hate extreme cold.

I can handle Autumn.

I HATE January and February.

I LOVE October.

I love the colors. The smells. The crisp air.

I love little girls bundled up!

This year, Poppy gets to play outside, in the cold, for the first time.

So we headed to the store.

And came out with boots and hats and coats all around!

And she is so cute and snuggly.

Poppy loves to be outside.  LOVES.

So I "might" actually enjoy this winter.  And as crazy as it sounds, I'm actually hoping it snows soon so I can take her out to play.

Because she loved the leaves.

Oh.The.Cuteness.Of.This.Day.

And Poppy isn't the only one!

The boy love leaves, too!  Ollie especially loves to throw them at me.

And of course, Lucy and her angels.

And there you have it.  Our day in the leaves.

I love Autumn!

Cute, Cuddly, and Downright Chilly

Can I just say, the temperature should not be able to fluctuate by 20 degrees within a 2 day period.

It's just not fair.

Because when we headed out the door to walk kids to school, I was excepting 50 something, not 30 something.

I was NOT prepared.

At all.

And at the last moment, I couldn't find Poppy's coat!

So I covered her up with 3 blankets to keep her warm.

But isn't she so cute and snuggly?!

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I love soup during the colder months. And since I consider right now to be chilly, I decided it was time to make some.

I asked Emily what kind of soup I should make and her immediate response was...

"Roasted Red Pepper with Monterey Jack!"

And honestly, I was a bit skeptical since my previous run in with Monterey Jack was not pleasant. Emily should have known that.

But I got the ingredients to make it anyways and set to it.

And it was awesome! 

Awesome.

Except for my next run in with Monterey Jack, which did not end well either.

*And I realize that this is one small spot of mold, but you should have seen the other side.

It was covered.

And I had bought it only 3 days prior.

Pfft, Monterey Jack.

*LINKY*

My "Halloween" Hair

Just for fun!

People keep asking what I'm doing for Christmas...

My answer is, "Nothing, I don't want funky hair colors in my family pictures."

But we all know that's subject to change.

Lose Yourself 5k

Let me just start out by saying that Frances sucks.

Okay, okay, maybe that's not nice...no, it's right!

Frances has yet again, convinced me to do a 5k.  The last one was in August and we both struggled with that one, we should have learned!

But no, here we were today, preparing for another 3.107 mile run.

Ryen, Jessica, Emelia, Destiny, and Ashley

Ryen, Me, Emelia, Ashley, Charlie, Frances, and Jessica

Emelia, just hanging around.

And, then it was time to run.  They gathered us around and started telling us the course would be...oh you know, kind of off road-ish.

Which, hey, I could handle....until this came into view. A freaking mountain....At least, it felt like a danged mountain.

About this time I told Ryen to just go finish the race since she kept having to wait around for me. Yeah, I'm not used to running up mountains. Sheesh. 

 The view was quite awesome, though.

So I get up this mountain and back down thinking, "Yay! Back to flat ground," when this little puppy came into view. And, yeah, it was smaller than the last, but that doesn't really mean much. That thing was a beast and I was THIS close to crawling up it.

And now we get to the end. Which won't be pictured because it's just too ridiculous. As if running up the side of a mountain wasn't enough, the last .20 miles of the 5k were actually running through the corn maze.

And at the end, we had to climb into an old bus and run through it...

A bus.  A BUS!  *smh*

But we finished, yes we did.  Even though the terrain was a far cry from what I'm used to, I still finished this 5k 6 minutes faster than my previous.

44 minutes!

And Ryen finished in 42 and I'm sure I'll never live that one down.

But hey, faster is faster.

Reno Hot Air Balloon Show, 2012

My awesome sister, Emily, and her family live in Reno.  Which sucks.  I'll just get that out right now.  It's not easy to convince the hubby that a trip like that is needed...

Often.

But I did just that.  In fact, at one point, he said he knew I'd go whether he said yes or no.   Not true, if he said no, I wouldn't go.

I didn't argue.

Now, it's going to be an annual trip, because he knows he can't say no.

My main reason for choosing the week I did, is the Hot Air Balloon Show. Which is AWESOME, BTW.  87 balloons were launched this year.   

If you've never had a chance to go to one....find a chance.  They are awesome.  And no matter what the locals say, Paul, bring a coat and some blankets.  You will need them.

Okay, so on to the pictures, which again, are taken with my phone.  Takes too long for me to edit the good ones.  I just don't feel up to that right now.

Poppy and Paul
 

And some lovely contrails.

Okay, there you have it.  Pretty awesome reason to get up at 3:30 in the morning.

Taco Taco

Yummy, huh?

Of course it is, was.

Half way through his plate, I turned to the hubby and said, "Pretty good for being meatless!" And of course that gave way to a stare at both me and his plate.

'Cuz, "this isn't meatless?"

Not at all.  This is lentil and black bean taco....filling?  And it was pretty danged good for being meatless.

Here is a LINK to the recipe!

Squishy Baff

Squishy Baff&#153 Is....so gross.

OH EM GEE is it disgusting.

You know when you have a diaper full of pee and it breaks open and spills all that yucky stuff. Oh I know you know.

That's what Squishy Baff&#153 is.

I'm not actually kidding you there, that is what it is.

Sodium Polyacrylate, to be exact.

It's a skin and eye irritant, it causes TSS, and can promote the growth of Staph ( which is basically the whole TSS deal)....and you're supposed to play naked in it....

Well, I'm just going to say now that it was NOT my idea. I wish I would have done the research before I agreed to let Jordan come over and fill our pool up with it. Luckily, the kids didn't eat it.

Ollie refused to get in it, smart kid.

And Poppy wanted out of it as soon as I put her in it.  

And I have 2 boxes at my house that will never be used...any takers?

My Little Girl...?

Guess who this little cute ponytail belongs to?  

GUESS?!  

No takers?  Okay, fine.  

It's Ollie!  My little boy has a ponytail.  Had a ponytail.

And long, curly hair. 

But I got tired of it.  Have you ever dealt with little kid gross ratty hair?  If you have, then you know how I felt.  

Sure, he was SO STINKIN' cute!  But when a little boy gets confused for a cute little girl, no matter the outfit, it's time to do something about it.  

So.I.Did.  

I cut his hair.  Me!  I don't cut hair.  I am terrible at it.  Horrible.  Just awful.  Kagen cuts his own hair 'cuz I.Don't.Cut.Hair.  

But I think I did a good job.  

I tried to get him to smile for me....but he wouldn't look at me at all!