Garrett took the girls to the Pumkpkin Festival at Four Mile Historic Park a few weeks ago. Maddie's been there a few times, Fi's been there once. This was Lib's first visit.

This is one of the best loved activities: panning for gold.






Look! There's Roisin in the background!


Success!!

Splinty

remember when I told you about Fi turfing it on Mad's scooter last month? Here she is the day of the exam & x-rays and "Splinty". In fact, this is immediately after the x-rays. As you can see, she doesn't appear to be in much pain:

elections

good news: I got the official letter yesterday stating that I will be an election judge next week Tuesday! Yay! It's very exciting! 6am-8pm will be a long day, though. I guess no partying for me on my birthday the day before :(

bad news -well, not really bad news, but just an opinion: Is anyone else so sick of the election just because of all the junk mail? I swear I have never received so much junk mail in my adult life. Every day, there's 4 or 5 pieces of mail addressed to me -mostly in support of the Obama campaign. Okay, it's his money, his grassroots, non-stop campaigning that's allowed him to have money to spend on more campaigning (e.g. the infomercial last night that I did not watch because we were carving pumpkins). But ya know what? It's starting to feel like overkill. So I'm a registered "unaffiliated" voter. Does that mean I need alot of crap in my mailbox -that I have to take the time to shred (yes, everything with my name and address on it)? How about if Obama took all that campaign money & did some good works with it instead of spending it on increasing our landfills with useless phamplets and flyers -glossy, no less. THAT would make a better impression on me than the junk mail that I don't even read. I've gotten a few McCain flyers. And just based on sheer advertisement volume, I suppose it's no wonder Obama is ahead in the polls thus far. But I tell ya what, I almost want to not vote for Obama just because of all the junk mail. It's really a good thing election day is next week. Another couple weeks of this nonsense & I would for sure vote for Nader again.

if you need a good laugh, watch this:

Did anyone catch the original Andy Samburg as Mark Wahlburg skit on SNL? G laughed his ass off; I didn't think it was that funny (typical of SNL these days -except Tina Fey as Sara Palin -or any Justin Timberlake as host). Here's the follow-up:



Then last week we were watching a DVR'd SNL with the girls. The following skit came on:



& OMG! Now that was humorous! (Yeah, the Marky Mark eye candy was nice.) Even the girls enjoyed it. It has been quoted during many dinnertime conversations, randomly quoted during the week -as in "Hey mom. You're doing dishes. How's that going? Say, hi to your mother for me."- and of course it got a lot of play at the pumpkin patch on Saturday when the girls saw the livestock. Yesterday after school Fiona ran up to me, "Mom! I told Stella 'Say hi to yuh muthah fuh me!'" (yes she has the perfect "r" for that Boston accent.) Hmmmm, I wonder if anyone else will understand what she's really getting at, or will it just be her own little joke?

...Mark Wahlburg, still hot.

sigh

why oh why is it sooooooo disappointing when the Steelers lose?

just futzin' around

OMG. It's like 70 degrees outside & here I sit at my computer. I'm feeling homesick these days. Trying to convince G that we should move back East. To Pittsburgh, particularly. Everyone would fit right in -even he admits that the girls are all Penguins/Steelers/Pirates fans (yes, I've taught my young padawans well). He said he got a job offer...in L.A. That would be well and good (albeit FARTHER away from home); we'd be near the ocean, the weather would be milder in the winter. Stuff like that -all good. BUT I imagine we'd be living far from L.A. proper & instead of a 20 minute drive to work, G could plan on adding a couple hours. AND I'm trying to save money by lowering our cost of living -not spending more money on a higher cost of living.

There are other advantages to moving to the 'burgh. Closer to family, friends, friends who are like family. A return to traditions celebrated. Stuff like that- stuff I miss that we've never yet been able to even come close to replicating out here.

Maybe I should make a list of pros & cons. Shop the job & housing market.

Ideas, anyone?

Autumn Leaf Festival yum

The littles have never been to the annual Fall festivities in my hometown, Clarion PA. Thankfully, my sister thought of us from afar & texted to ask if I wanted any taffy. Sounds like a rhetorical question to me. OF COURSE I want taffy! Just the thought of it brings back olfactory memories of cinnamon wafting in the air. I think by the looks on the littles' faces, they too are quite pleased with the sweets. Fi chose the grape flavor, hence the very purple tongue. Lib just wanted what was "pretty". I love her little devilish grin...suuuuuuugaaaaaar mwahahaha!

more pics from the Denver Zombie Crawl '08

Denver Zombie crawl '08

I did Snick's, Lib's & my own make-up. Mads, Fi & Garrett each did their own. Fi was a little freaked out & wanted to go home. We tried to explain to her how EVERYONE was wearing makeup just like us. I suggested that G put her on his shoulders so she wouldn't be so little & "vulnerable". That kind of helped; she still didn't want to be amongst the melee at the end of the crawl. Lib was okay with being there, but she wouldn't do her brilliantly executed zombie walk -not even for Snick. We stopped for a little refreshment on our way back to the car. While G was with me inside the Jamba Juice, the girls sat outside on the mall with their "brain juice". Come to find out later that a few over-zealous zombies walked by the girls & one of them came up behind Lib & growled at her, scaring her. Lib turned around & in her biggest, bravest voice told the jag-off "GO AWAY!!" Good girl!

the family photos:

happenings

What we are doing tomorrow...yes, as a family. the 2008 zombie crawl. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

And what I did last weekend. the Great American Beer Festival. It was my 3rd year of volunteering. I'm looking forward to doing this for as long as I live in Colorado. This year I even talked our friend V into volunteering with me. Mark your calendars for next year (Laurie!); I already have.