Halloween Randomness

Parenting Fail. We did not purchase or pick a pumpkin this year. Which means we did not create a jack-o-lantern. Which means we are terrible parents and have probably scarred our children for life.

I did, however, purchase Halloween candy and have hid it from my children so I can eat it all myself. This means that I am a horrible, selfish parent who only thinks of herself first.

*burp*

Things that scare me
-amusement park characters with big scary heads.
-snakes
-rodents of any kind

Things that scare Studley
-his own farts

Confession. I do not enjoy going out trick or treating with my kids. It is dark and cold and so much friggin work and money. Sometimes I think I could just buy them each a box of candy and call it a night. But that would make me a horrible parent and scar my children for life.

Parenting is a never ending guilt-fest.

Oldest child is going trick or treating with his friend (and his mom) tonight. I am completely heartbroken that he would rather be with his friend than his own mom, dad and siblings

Think I could change his mind if I bought him a pumpkin and two boxes of candy?

*sniff

Watch this video and tell me if you can spot the ghost. Turn up the volume though so you can hear the clues.

Cutie and the Beast

Dudes.  Momma has some drama going on at her house.  Between a 6 month old cat {kitten} and a 2000 pound beast named Ike.
Drama=small cat thinks he can hang out and be all cool and stuff with the Beast. 
Thank goodness Momma is around to supervise the play dates and document it all.
Don't worry. No one was hurt and nothing was broken during the making of this soap opera.  Except my tummy because I laughed so much I almost peed my pants.


Smokey: Hey, lets hang out
Ike: Get the F away from me before I stomp on your head


S: C'mon. We could eat grass together. Just chat about life and women.
I: Dude. I am not your friend. Will never be your friend. My shits are three times the size of you. Get.Away.From.Me


S: You're just a big, fat meanie. I will go be friends with Duke instead
I: DUKE IS MY FRIEND! STAY AWAY OR I WILL HURT YOU BAD, MO-FO!


I: *stomp stomp*
S: MEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!


S: OK. If I let you smell my bum, will you hang out with me?
I: *stomp stomp stomp*


S: I guess that is a no. Jerk.


I: OK. Maybe just a little sniff


S: OUCH! I didnt say to stick your nose up my butt hole so hard that it knocks me off of my feet. Geesh. The things we do to make friends.


Blackie {the other cat}: Don't worry Smokey, I will save you!
Now Ike, I am such a nasty, mean cat that I refuse to participate in any social activities with Smokey. He is lonely and just needs a friend to talk to. Do me a favour and be his friend so I can go sleep in peace.


S: I love you Ike. Please be my friend. I promise to stop peeing in your stall and pooping in your field. Pretty please.


I: OK. Maybe it will be fun to have another friend to eat grass with. To shit with. To roll in the dirt with.


S: Nah. I cant take the rejection anymore, Ike. I'm leaving you for Blackie the cat instead. Thanks anyways.

To be continued......

Linking up with one of my favourite bloggers today.
I wish she lived closer.
So we could, like hang out.
Check her out here.

Olden Days

A simple list of activities hubby and I enjoyed together in the olden (before bratty children took over our lives) days.

*eating meals together.  I now cook meals that he microwaves when he gets home from work
*walking around the mall together.  I now know it was all an act.  He hates the mall and hasn't been there since the day before we were married

*watch TV together.  The TV still gets turned on, but we are both on our laptops.
*talk.  I now email him when I remember what I needed to tell him when we were in the same room
*clean the house.  Now we just don't clean because the brats mess it up in .2 seconds.
*go on dates.  Now we stay home because we cant afford to see a movie.
*listen to the same music. After we were married, he informed me that he loves bluegrass music. We have been fighting about it ever since

*we never discussed or openly displayed bodily functions.  Farting is now a part of our family
*spend every available moment with each other.  Now I cant wait to get out of the house away from every living creature so I can just be by myself.
...and he has horses that I am convinced he loves more than me.

11 years later.
It seems to be working.


You can see more workshop stuff here

Pinterest Picks

Confession time.
I do not decorate for Halloween.
And rarely do I attempt any crafts because I get so easily frustrated with my independent, head strong children.
Shame on me.
Just say it.
One thing I do during the Halloween season is eat mini chocolate bars. Alot of mini chocolate bars. In my "non-crafty, but wanna be crafty" mind, I have even thought about creating a mini chocolate bar wreath.
But I would have to hide it so my children wouldn't eat it.
And, c'mon, we all know I would totally eat it all in one sitting.

Since I don't decorate or do crafts during Halloween, I was nice enough to search Pinterest for all of you that I love so much.
You are welcome.
Go crazy with these great ideas and eat mini chocolate bars while making them all.


Q-tip skeleton

So simple for school treats {mini marshmallows}

Spider ice cubes

Simple foam letters and glitter on pumpkin topiary

Paper plate cat

Craft sticks inside mini pumpkins=spider

Worm wreath

Simple printable framed and displayed on mantel

Mr. T.  Someone please do this and send me pictures.

All of these wonderful ideas were found on Pinterest. You are missing out if you are not there. Just sayin.

Happy Halloween.Boo!

Fall Hike{ing}

temper tantrum-ing{because she had to wear pants}

whining{because they didn't want to go}

walking
jumping
laughing

leaf and pine cone collecting
milkweed picking

funny face making
tree climbing

picture taking
feet resting

story telling
name calling

hand holding

hanging
and falling

sitting
posing

smiling
screeching

singing
dancing

standing

whining {again}


The Ending

The importance of cropping and editing your pictures

OK.  Lets just get to the point.
I cannot stand busy photos.If you want a photograph of your child's messy face, than get a picture of their messy face.  Not of the dusty coffee table and magazines in the background.
It is just noise that makes the memory unmemorable.
Make sense?

When people take pictures, it is because they experience a moment that creates some sort of emotion and they want to remember it forever.
But then they do nothing else with that emotion/memory and all is lost in a crappy picture.

This is where editing comes in.
Please, please, please spend some money on a simple editing program.  Please.
Pretty please.
I have Photoshop and Lightroom.
But I use this one 99.9% of the time because it is so much easier and faster.

And I edit every single photograph that I save for my photo albums/blog/frames/facebook.
Let me show you a few examples.

SOOC {straight out of camera}

Edited


That took approximately 5.2 seconds of my life and I am so much happier with it.  Sure, it isn't really a photo that stirred up an emotion but I just wanted to show you how a bit of cropping and colour enhancement changes the entire look of a picture.

Moving on......

SOOC

A photograph of myself and my boys all looking at the camera is a huge accomplishment but I don't really want to remember the coats beside us and I would love a closer view of our beautiful faces because that is what the picture is all about right?
Ahem.

Edited

Looking at this picture makes me smile.And cry.{look at my wrinkles}

And then there is this......

SOOC

An OK picture taken on our walk recently, but there is so much more that can be done to it to make it better.  You can brighten up the colours, crop some of the busy-ness out, sharpen it up to see more details.  But right now it just looks dull. 
Blech.

Edited

My main concern was the sign because, my eyes automatically focused on it and that makes me sad.  I edited it out, cropped it and changed to a simple black and white pic.  Just like that, it becomes a completely different picture and one that I actually like instead of delete.

Editing is excellent.

SOOC

This picture is the perfect example of editing to create emotion and freeze a moment I want to remember.
My big boy was taking a quiet moment with his thoughts.  He wasn't paying attention to his brother howling like a wolf or his sister whining because she had to wear pants.  He was just one with himself looking over the bridge and I loved watching it.  So I snapped.  And then edited.

Edited

And just like that, I have the moment saved, the emotion remembered.

And a happy Momma.

Sunday Citar

My dear old dog, most constant of all friends.
                                                            -William Croswell Doane  There really is no better friend than a pet.One who loves you unconditionally.One who provides warm cuddles and licks when you most need them.I dread the day when all three of my children no longer have Studley to be their friend.And mine too.


More Sunday Citar stuff here

Pinterest Picks

I cannot quit Pinterest.
I am totally, completely fully addicted.
It has become my bedtime routine.
Brush teeth, put on pjs, get into bed, search Pinterest.
Sometimes for so long that the battery dies on my computer and I have to go searching through the house for the charger because I.just.cannot.stop.
It's a sickness people.

Confession.
I am afraid to pin everything I love because then all of my "followers" will think I don't have a life.
Obviously I don't.
sigh.

You don't know what Pinterest is?
In simple terms, it is a site to organize everything you love that you find on the mighty web.
It is a stay at home mom's crack.
Find a recipe you love.  Pin it to your "Recipe board".
Find shoes you love.  Pin it to your "Shoes I Love" board.
You can decorate your home, plan a wedding, design your wardrobe.....basically anything you want to save, can be organized and saved on this one site.

Here are a few things I have loved recently all about Fall Home Decorating.  Because it is Fall right now. And I dream about being the next Martha Stewart.  And I love them both.  And I love Pinterest.
Gahhhhhhh.










Next week: Halloween stuffI know you cant wait.Me too!Eep!

Are you on Pinterest?  Come see me there.