True or false?

Did I hang my wash today?

If you answered TRUE, you'd get an A+ on the pop quiz!

Wind at 17mph helps, even when the sun is not out.  Currently I am only hanging on 2 lines.  Soon I hope to have a new pole up to increase line space.  And yes, I realize this is a boring post, but when I started this month of posting every day, I warned you!  And besides, hanging wash is one of my all time favorite activities.  It's my blog and I'll write about what I like!  Maybe tomorrow/Friday I'll have something more interesting...=)

Retro + Grading

Retro + Grading is not equal to grading by light of a lava lamp while wearing a polyester pantsuit and listening to The Mamas and The Papas.

Today was a crisp fall day...we went and picked apples at the orchard - they were quite cheap since we picked our own and it's the end of the season.  Always nice!  Moses stumbled, almost quite literally, on a bunny nestled in the grass.  She didn't even move!  Maybe she was a momma on a nest...?  We unloaded some compost and coffee grounds on the garden too.  We had prepared for all this outside activity by putting on our rubber boots!  I love days like this!  We also raided a store's 75% off costumes rack.  When we came home we put the new costumes on and swapped masks, trying to make silly combinations of superpowers and names...oddly entertaining...!  During Fabi's nap, Moses and I counted money.  All of a sudden he wants paper money instead of coins.  I got him started, but for the most part he counted out $14 in change by himself.  I was pretty impressed that his attention span lasted that long.  That's a lot of coins!  Anyway, the day seemed to go down hill.  It 'declined to an inferior state' as the dictionary says.  I try not to let the end of the day spoil the best parts.  I also try to think about tomorrow.  One of the phrases kicked around here a lot lately is that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.  So tomorrow's plan is to start laundry right away, work out, make dinner, clean the counter and put some love into lunch!  Then when everyone gets here we can eat, do a quick family photo project and make some pie during nap =)  Pie always makes things better!

ketchup day

Since I am doing 2 posts in one day for the purpose of catching up...this one is going to be short.
This is what November means in our house...
N - nesting.  No, not the pregnant kind, but the kind where you bring up winter clothes, re-arrange furniture, pile blankets on the bed, clean things more thoroughly since you spend more time inside, make lots of hot meals...
O - observing.  Observing football games, holidays, school programs, the thermometer dropping...
V - voting.  Today!
E - entertaining.  I have been thinking of all sorts of things to keep the kids busy inside now that the weather is cooler.  They still play outside, just not all day like they were accustomed to doing.  That means I need to keep plenty of art supplies, activities and books handy!
M - making.  This year I am going to try to make almost all the kids' Christmas presents, w/the exception of books and a food item. 
B - baking.  PUMPKIN PIE!!!  I have so many pumpkins, we were eating 2 pies a week for a while.  Then life got busy.  But I hope to get back into this week.  We also have been missing the zucchini chocolate chip muffins.  Mmmm, I'm getting hungry!
E - energizing.  Those of you who live in climates w/a cold season like our winter, you know that it's so hard to get out of a toasty bed in the morning!  People always complain of Seasonal Affective Disorder, like the winter blues, when they just feel sluggish and depressed.  So in November we do what we can to energize each other!  Music helps a lot, but so does exercising, laughing, and sharing new experiences.  
R - recognizing.  November is a great month to reflect and recognize the blessings in life.  We choose to thank God for all that we have been given and even for some of the things that we lack.  That might sound weird, but there are days when I thank God I didn't have a bunch of my own kids.  If we had been given the 12 we wanted, I doubt we would have ever become foster parents.  Don't get me wrong, there are also days that I am not so grateful for that...but as a family, we recognize that God's will is perfect and so we thank Him for both what we have and what we lack.  


What does November mean for you?

Because I can

It's November.  I seem to remember doing a post a day during November in previous years.  I will again attempt to complete this task...even if they turn out to be short and mundane!  So here goes...

It's November 2010.  We painted various parts of our house before November 2006.  We are just putting pictures back up on the walls again!!!  I am having so much fun finding the old frames and the pics that were in it.  Dave's brother had 2 or 3 kids in some of the pics, now there are 5 kids in that family!!  It's funny to see Dave's varying degrees of bearded-ness and long vs. short hair!  I found some really great old ones that I put up on Facebook and some of people that I cherish.  I took most of the pics out of the frames and I am slowly choosing new ones.  It has been a week of reflection.  I am remembering a lot of good times w/great people =).  I am also a little sad that we don't print very many pics anymore, thanks to the digital technology.  One of my favorite things to do at my Grandpa's house is go through the old pictures.  Will my kids/grandkids have any to go through, or will they need to hack into my computer to see what crazy hair and fashions were in style?  Will they remember the good times on family vacations or will they need to make up the memories?  Only time will answer my questions...but I'm issuing this challenge for everyone w/a digital camera - go print some pictures!!  Hang them in frames on your wall, put them on your fridge, shove them in a book somewhere, slip them into the 'important papers' for others to find later, send them in the mail to someone, put them in your kids' lunches, cut them up and glue them onto the backs of playing cards, put them on popsicle sticks and use them for puppet shows, etc...trust me, the smiles will be worth it!