I Refuse

Today I refuse to have a pity party. So I'm going to do what I know I need to do.

1. Keep saving money.
2. Focus on my family.
3. Buy another gun, before I can't.
4. Determine what is a need and a want.
5. Make sure our kids know how to work.
6. Figure out a way to convince my husband to come home from Japan.

Layne, if you are reading this, see what I made for you. You love cake.

By the way, Banana-Sour Cream Cake, easy, pretty, & yummy.

Or maybe if the cake doesn't tempt you back to the good ol' USA....maybe these guys will.

Only kidding! Can't wait for you to get home Friday. We miss you!

Halloween

(Thanks for the pic Bec)

Every year at Halloween I feel like I just go through the motions. It just isn't on my list of 'can't wait' holidays. But the kids have fun and there is nothing wrong with four pumpkin buckets full of candy.

As you can see...

Josie was a cowgirl, and a cute one too.

Justin was a cowboy, like he is on most days.

Mitch was Darth Vader. We were at the church in the picture so his mask isn't on.

Todd.....Todd has inherited the gene that doesn't get into Halloween from his parents. So this year (with the help of our friend Chris) he was an E-mail. (Get it??? The letter E is on the chest of a 'male' body. It took me a while to figure it out, but I did get a laugh out of it when it all clicked.)

The one thing I do kind of like is carving pumpkins. Josie walked in and found it odd that we were having fun carving jack-o-lanterns while the radio was on full blast with Christmas music. I'm just ensuring that the kids know how to multi-task.

Now we are on to the next holiday. I've started the menu for our Thanksgiving Feast. Then ONLY four weeks later is Christmas! The end of the year goes too fast. And at the store they all get rolled up into one big, calorie counting countdown.

my very political post

I guess it is the cross we must bear living in a 'swing' state, BUT STOP CALLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Mr. Obama, sir. (yes, all calls are from the Obama Camp.)

I've even had young children from Texas call me to ask if I'm voting for Obama.

* I keep telling them I voted a month ago.

* I was telling the pollers that I don't have to tell them who I voted for since we live in a country that has secret ballots.

*Now I just pick up, say I already voted for McCain and hang up.

Wednesday will not come fast enough!

Layne is in Japan right now. That is why I keep picking up the phone when I see strange numbers. Just in case it is something to do with him. That and Judd answers the phone 90% of time before I can even get to it to look at the caller I.D.

Before Layne left, he told me that if Obama wins that he will just stay there and wait for me to get the kids passports ready and we'll join up with him later. Seems a little extreme, I think. He could at least come help me pack. He's only kidding, of course. Although the idea of living in a socialist country does make me want to pack up and go.

Yesterday a friend of ours gave us a number to register our names as a 'do not call' list for political campaign calls, but it is a little too late for that now. Although, I'll keep it on hand for another year.

Sorry. Just had to blow off some steam. Maybe in 2012 I will like my options better and not have such a bad attitude.

8 is Enough

8 Shows I Love to Watch...
1. The Biggest Looser

2. Burn Notice

3. 30 Minute Meals

4. Mobil Home Disasters

5. Designed to Sell

6. Sell This House

7. Most anything on Food Network.

8. Most anything on HGTV.

8 Favorite Restaurants...
1. Noodles

2. Doc Hendersons

3. Penn Station

4. PF Chang's

5. Quizno's

6. Taco Bell (because I LOVE their sodas the best)

7. Rothschild Farm Cafe

8. Black Tie Cafe

8 Things That Happened Yesterday...
1. Ate Cream of Wheat for breakfast because Layne made it for me.

2. Made cinnamon rolls.

3. BYU, Ohio State, & Texas all won their games (my boys just came to tell me this very important information).

4. Caught up on blog reading & even posted a new one myself.

5. Laundry

6. Dishes

7. Went to a youth dance in Dayton.

8. Almost hit a deer on the way home from Dayton (missed her by an inch!).

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To...
1. Layne's 40th birthday (Layne's not!)

2. Becky's 40th birthday.

3. Going to Idaho for Christmas.

4. A hard freeze (no more allergies...till next year).

5. Thanksgiving dinner.

6. Sending Christmas cards.

7. Receiving Christmas cards! (The best thing ever!!)

8. A trip to WI next June.

My life may be pathetic.

8 Things On My Wish List...
1. A maid.

2. My fall/winter clothes fit again this year....here's hopen.

3. Going to bed on time for a whole week.

4. Not having to remind everyone to practice the piano.

5. Having as much fun loosing weight as I did putting it on.

6. I was better organized.

7. Those people would stop calling me about my credit card interest rate.

8. Obama doesn't win President.

8 People I Tag...
1. Geri Annie

2. B.J. (I haven't even thought to call you that for YEARS so I did just now.)

3. Audrey Fernie (didn't want to leave you out Aud, so I thought I'd say your name weird too.)

4. Rachel

5. Chris

6. Kristi

7. Mitzi

8. Shelly H.

It's the most WONDERFUL time of the year.

It is October in Ohio!

This is my favorite time of year in Ohio. The weather is perfect with cool nights and warm days. I find myself taking the long way to places so I can see the new colors that seem to change every day. The only problem is that it goes too fast. Autumn doesn't seem to last as long as the rest of the seasons. So I'll just take a few extra drives, keep my camera in my purse, and enjoy life in Ohio.

Last month was just too much fun. We had our little 'extra' girls here for a little over two weeks and then the day after they left we picked up Layne's sisters Jill & Holly from the airport. They got to stay for a week. We had such a great time. Found great places to eat, shop, and play. They knew that I was so tired after doing the seven kid thing and we didn't get to do much for our anniversary, so they sent us away for the night. We went to Columbus and had a fabulous meal at PF Chang's...and then....at 8:30 I passed out in the hotel and slept and slept and slept. I think Layne found some ballgame and a movie to flip between to keep him company.

THANK YOU HOLLY & JILL!!

Layne is NOT going to love that I put this picture on here because I took it just a few hours after his nose got hit with an elbow in a backyard football game with the neighborhood kids. It is quite swollen. He won't let me take any more pictures of it now, but I'll just say that he has two pretty good black eyes and the doctor told him today that the bone is just cracked and it should all heal up okay. Right when it happened it had a huge bulge and was the wrong color. If he took his contacts out and put his glasses on, the lenses would have been up on his forehead. I would have paid money to see what he looked like in his safety glasses at work the next day. But it is getting better. We just need to get the old guy a helmet.

Today is a perfect autumn day so I decided to make a couple of yummy things I'd been wanting to eat.

I have been wanting to make my own sliders. If you aren't from the Midwest you may not know what they are. (Although, I think they are also found in the Northeast and South.) They are tiny little hamburgers. They are about the size of a silver dollar. I bought a caramelized onion and balsamic spread to put on them with a tiny piece of provolone cheese. Can you say YUMMY!?! So that made lunch extra great today and then I just had to use the rest of the dough for cinnamon rolls.

I guess I've caught you up on everything. Now I need to get ready to go to a youth dance. I always drag my feet getting there, but after we are there I always end up having a fun time. Have a great weekend!!

Finally Four!

How fun is this for your birthday?

Not only is he not feeling well, but I didn't get one good picture of him opening his gifts this morning and we haven't even gotten close to singing and eating cake.....so for now here is our tribute to Juddy.

J - Joy

U - Unique

S - Silly
T - Teaser
I - Intelligent
N - Nonstop


Since March he has been asking for a scooter for his birthday. We figured if he stuck to his guns on that request for six months we should try to get him one. So we'll get some pictures of him on his Spiderman Scooter soon.

(BTW-he didn't get to invite his five girl friends over, although he did tell us who they were last night, and there were five of them. YIKES)