Steelisms

1. Our pastor and his wife stopped by our house today to pick up some of these:




Now, we go to a small-ish church (probably a couple of hundred people) and Steele sees Pastor Bert and Grammy Jane every Sunday morning. They've also been to our house when both Adia and Xochi were baptized, he's seen them when they've stopped by to say 'hi', when we became members of our church, etc. etc. etc. My point is: he knows them. Well.

But today, as they pulled out of our driveway Steele whispered urgently in my ear:

Oh no!! We forgot to tell them about following God!

To which I replied (trying to hold back hysterical laughter):

Oh honey... they already know about following God. Pastor Bert teaches us God's word every Sunday.

Steele: Oh?! That was Pastor Bert? I didn't even notice him!

To which I couldn't contain myself any longer and busted out laughing trying to retell the whole thing to Justin in between breaths.


Then, later this evening, while on our way home from picking up tacos at the gut truck and some farm fresh eggs (don't ask... I guess ours are just mooching organic feed off of us) we went over a dip in the road.

Justin exclaimed: Whoa! That made my stomach drop! What about you guys?

Steele's little voice from the back seat: Yah! That made my p*nis jiggle.

Again, uncontrollable laughter from the front seat.


And finally, after dinner, randomly:

Steele to Papa: Hey buddy, good work today! High five!

Favorite Things

Ok... enough Halloween.

I'm moving on to: Christmas!!!

I know, I know. We haven't even had Thanksgiving. But really, isn't Thanksgiving just sort of an extension of Christmas? I think so.

So in order to more fully enjoy the season - I'm going to share some of my seasonal favorites with you over the next couple of months. As I find them, as I get inspired - it'll be like a big seasonal surprise!

To start off - it wouldn't be the holiday season without:

Mrs Meyers! You know my obsession - and this year, their seasonal scent is SO yummy. So yummy, in fact, that I bought up 9 bottles of dish soap, a few hand soaps, some counter spray and a candle. I can't tell you what I'm going to do with them - shhh... it's a surprise.

So without further adieu... I present to you Mrs. Meyer's Orange Clove. I hope she doesn't mind me stealing one of her photos (sorry Mrs M) but I'm hoping she'll have a little grace toward me if I bring a few more dollars her way.

Yum Yum.

I'm also hoping to get my orange-clovey little hands on one of these:

Doesn't it sound holiday-licious?

*Hot Tip* The Orange Clove is on sale now at Fred Meyer! Run!

Next up: Theo Chocolates. Now, I've heard of Theo for a while now but had never tasted their chocolate until recently. A few of my friends have toured their factory and I was impressed with the fact that they're local(ish) - Seattle. And of course, very impressed with the fact that they're organic. But most of all - it tastes a-MAZE-ing. Especially their holiday flavors - of which I've sampled several. Specifically:

Peppermint Stick

Nutcracker Toffee

Gingerbread Spice

And now that I'm looking at their web site, I cannot for the life of me figure out why I didn't buy any of the Milk and Cookies. Must make a trip back to Fred Meyer (which is where you can purchase them - at least locally. AND! They're also on sale right now)


And finally - at least for now - I haven't tried this particular favorite yet but it is sitting on my kitchen counter waiting for me. But seriously - how could it be anything but crazy delish?

Oregon Chai Peppermint Original

So stay tuned! I have my Christmas playlist on my ipod, I'm dreaming of knitting projects and gift ideas. There is more seasonal goodness to come!!

Happy Halloweenies!

We decorated

We carved



We haunted

(ok - not really, but that's what Xochi looks like to me here)


I sewed

Mrs. Potato Head


details on Jesse's shirt


chaps




I glued

belts and bats


We gave

Our little Reformed town celebrates on Saturday night
when Halloween falls on Sunday


And received



We visited

Grammies and Groompas, Mimis, Aunts and Uncles


Friends


and neighbors


We munched


And fell...


into...


a candy coma.

Supportive as Spanx!

Thanx!

You guys are always so sweet when I put up my silly fashion posts. I love it.

Lest you think I am always mindful of the latest trends, I'll let you in on a little secret. Tonight, when we showed up for the banquet, the neighbor who invited us actually did a double-take! "I didn't recognize you!" she exclaimed.

"And why would that be? Because all you ever see me in are my sweats and pajama pants?"

Um.. yah. It's true folks. There are many, many days when that is my daily uniform. Sure, I get dressed to go to library time or to church. Most of the time I look better when I'm on my way to Jazzercise than I do on days when I stay home all day with my kids. And my bedroom is always a mess. And now you know the truth about me.

But here's how this whole get-up turned out.

I drove down to our local boutique - they usually carry some unique jewelry and hair accessories. I couldn't find anything. But while I was there I was inspired - so I asked if they had any fake feathers. Negative. "But," said the saleslady, "you might try the sports shop downtown." So I did. I walked in and said, "Hi! Do you have any fake feathers?" The young man working there answered, "Like for tying flies?"

"Yah, or for making hair accessories."

And he did! (We won't mention the fact that I later found out he assumed I was making a Halloween costume... ahem)

So for $1.39 for feathers (they were even real!), $3.99 for a 3-pack of headbands, a few vintage buttons I got from my MIL last time we visited and a little glue, I ended up with this:



And since Justin was in bed by the time I got home from dropping off the babysitter (our first ever!), all you get is this dorky picture of me standing in the kitchen taken with the self timer.

No seams were ripped during the wearing of this dress.
Phew!!

More Fashion 911

We were invited to attend a "semi-formal" banquet tonight to help raise money for our local pregnancy clinic. The last time we went I felt a little too formal so I decided maybe I ought to funk it up a bit tonight.

What do you think?

Vintage Dress with
$10 thrift store cowboy boots?

I purchased the dress over ten years ago - one pair of Spanx later
and I was able to get it over my thighs! Mwah! Love you Spanx!


Close-up of the lace/neck-line

As usual, I'm stumped on accessories.... am considering a flower in my hair? Perhaps just plain pearls?

Any ideas? I'm really visual - links with photos of ideas would help.

Thank you! You're all just as supportive as Spanx... just in a different kind'a way.

Not On My To-Do List

But definitely giving my mama brain a little creative rest while Justin is working - which lately, seems to be more often than usual.

Glittering up some skulls.

(I like to think of them as friendly skulls)

Makin' sweeties with my sweetie.



Tryin' to get my skinny on.



Feeding my odd skull affinity and Halloween love
(courtesy of our local fall craft and antique fair)



Staying up past bedtime to make a new church skirt



For this sweet girl...

who keeps me on my toes lately!

Where Do I Even Start?

That's how I feel this morning. Do you ever feel like that?

We were gone over the weekend for a Jazzercise meeting in Portland and got home late last night. We left the house in less than stellar order and Justin let me sleep in this morning. Now that I've been awake for an hour and Justin has left for his side job (it's 9:30 a.m.) I'm still finding it hard to get any motivation to do anything.

I should:

• clean my house

• make breakfast for myself

• stop drinking coffee

• put in a load of laundry

• school my children

• make some doctor's appointments

• figure out what kind of haircut I want to get on Wednesday

• make applesauce out of the box of apples I have sitting outside my house

• watch my new Jazzercise routine training dvd

• pick some of my dahlias to put in the house

• pick my basil before it freezes and make more pesto

• order supplements

• can my tomatoes

• finish knitting a baby gift for my friend, Michelle

• make sure Xochi's not eating crayons

• update you on my room re-do

Here's a preview:
Almost perfect naugahyde chesterfield
that took residence in an attorney's office in the 1950's
FREE off Craigslist!

I could go on and on but you get the picture.

I need to prioritize people!!

I think I'll start with facebook...