Overdue

It has come to my attention that I am overdue to post a new blog entry.

A lot has been going on around here that has kept us busy.

Chris has been busy being MacGyver around here.

He fixed my vacuum, which I had been limping along since June.

We thought he might have sent the poor thing to its grave entirely when he was vacuuming for me, but fortunately with his handy skills he was able to order a part for it. Unfortunately while the part that had broken was fixed, it still would not work. Fortunately for me, because I'm married to A MacGyver man, he was able to replace one of the vacuums fuses with an automobile fuse and voila, it works! Good thing, as I could barely see my kitchen floor.....it was covered in crumbs.

After fixing the vacuum, my washing machine decided it didn't want to drain. Chris tore the top apart and got it to work for a week. Then, using a zip tie, he got it working for another three weeks.

After getting one more month's use of it, the washing machine finally decided it was over and gave up the ghost. Chris tore it apart, but he said there was nothing he could do for it. I have to say, to its credit, it lasted 12 years (thanks dad!).

So, goodbye old pal.......

Hello new friend.

Next came the toilet that needed the workings of the tank overhauled.

Now, if only my MacGyver guy could fix my printer that just keeled over.

On to other news.....

Myles has been enjoying all the tents and mazes the girls have been making for him.

Rhaevyn has been spoiling us with her good cooking and homemade oj. I almost don't have to cook anymore :)She has also been busy with lots of science experiments. In science right now she is studying solutes and solvents. I think her favorite was the reaction that vinegar and baking soda produced. I know it was her favorite because she used up my all my vinegar and baking soda repeating the experiment several times.

Aeva has been busy plunking away at the piano. Right now she is teaching herself Joy to the World. She is trying to talk us into being her singers for this song. Before this song, it was We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet, which she has been playing by ear. She just came home from church one day and sat down to plunk it out.

It's a girl folks!

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hand and head

The girls are ecstatic that they are getting another sister.

They are under the impression that they will have a sibling who won't beat up on them.

I keep reminding them that Myles really does love them, but he is a boy and therefore

plays a lot differently. Who knows, he might teach his little sister a few tricks of his trade.

We are just happy that the baby is healthy.....as we haven't heard otherwise.

A side note: I've reached the halfway point already!

Myles has discovered the wonders of the Christmas Wish Catalog.

Wow, this brings back memories. I remember how I would sit for hours circling all the wonderful things I would like to have. Although, I didn't just circle toys. I circled towels, sheets, furniture and curtains I wanted for my house 20 years down the road.

Until next time......

Happy Halloween!

This year, we turned to our closets for costume ideas.

Aeva and Myles were farmers.

Myles notified me that he positively did not want spots on his face....

No freckles, mom!

Farmer see, farmer do.



Introducing.......

Rhaevyn Raccoon Girl!




This is Myles giving me the "no more pictures" face.


Chris tried on part of Rhaevyn's costume.

You can't tell from the picture, but I am a beef steak tomato...

on sale for 99 cents a pound.

Myles, at first, was unsure about what the whole Halloween, trick-or-treat thing was and he kept saying he didn't want to do it. However, once he had his costume on and went to the first house he was loving it. He was all about giving a big "Happy Halloween" and "thank you" for being given, as he says it, "Halloween". As always, the girls enjoyed running from house to house and were eager to get home to hand out candy. They get very business like, the two of them, coordinating being lookout and candy hander-outer. What fun, what fun!

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we carved our pumpkins.
Rhaevyn wanted a bat and a spider carved on the big pumpkin.
Aeva chose a cat face to carve on the smaller pumpkin.
I think they turned out relatively well.

This is the cat.

Here is the spider and bat.

I think they look better in person, but you get the general idea.

Aeva has been counting down the days until Halloween.

It's almost here!

Pumpkin Patch

This afternoon we all loaded into the van and went pumpkin pickin'. Well, okay, the pumpkins were already picked from the vine, but we picked out our pumpkins to carve for Halloween.

We walked through a cornfield maze to get to the pumpkins.

Myles enjoyed picking up all the "bebe pukins" as he called them and pretended that they were crying just like a baby.

This is the pumpkin that Rhaevyn and Aeva picked out to carve.

I took a picture of these just because I thought they were very unique looking.

Ahhhh, Aeva has gourds growing out of her ears!

To end our lovely Autumn excursion at the pumpkin patch, the kids and Chris went on a hayride.

The kids got complimentary apples from the orchard at the end of the ride.

Blue Nails and a Halloween Party

In the last week both Rhaevyn and Aeva have had their nails painted, and I painted my toenails and my fingernails twice. Poor Myles was feeling left out. I found him in the kitchen with a whiteboard marker. He had colored his fingernails blue.

On Wednesday I found Myles in the kitchen with a box of donuts, trying to pry it open with a pair of scissors. I promptly removed the scissors from his hands and had him run along to play. About 15 minutes later I reappeared in the kitchen and found Myles on the floor claiming victory over the box of donuts. He had managed to reach the box (even though it had been pushed back pretty far on the counter top) and proceeded to rip the top open.

Today we went to a Halloween party with four other families who are doing WAVA. We made popcorn hands with candy corn for fingernails, little tootsie pop ghosts, a haunted house out of a paper bag and Madlib type stories using candy bars.

The later was my contribution. I did four of them so each family could take one home and they in turn could give it to a friend, neighbor, etc., as a surprise for Halloween.

Each team took turns reading their Halloween story after they had finished taping on the candy bars. I think they all got a kick out of it.

Making popcorn hands.

Tootsiepop ghost.

All in all, we had a fantastic time at the party.

Tomorrow we are off to the pumpkin patch!