Happy 7th Birthday!

Happy 7th Birthday, Teresa Rosemarie!

It's a busy day of cake baking, costume wearing, and trick-or-treating!

It's beginning to look a lot like . . . Halloween!

Of all the available fall traditions, I have to admit that carving jack-o-lanterns has not been among my favorites these past several years of having kids.  As a child, I loved it!  As a parent, not so much.  

It's messy and involves sharp knives--not exactly the ideal kid-friendly activity in my book.  For the past few years, I have waited to see if the kids would notice or not.  They forgot at least one year and I breathed a (silent) sigh of relief as Halloween passed without my hand fishing seeds and guts out of a pumpkin.

This year Nathan remembered with plenty of time to spare.  We received some massive pumpkins from our neighbor's garden earlier this fall that were just begging to be carved.  We decided that Tuesday after school would work out best.

Landen prepped the table with our usual garbage bags and newspaper.  Then an amazing thing happened!  Each of the three big kids began carving their OWN jack-o-lanterns.  I was close by to supervise, of course, but I barely had to touch any pumpkin guts at all.  Wohoo!

As a side note, we discovered that the Pampered Chef My Safe Cutter knife works GREAT for carving pumpkins.  The boys used the two knives that I had from beginning to end and they wouldn't give them up.  Teresa was stuck with a usual paring knife, but that worked out just fine, too.

Rachel wasn't too excited about the whole carving idea, but she did show up to make some funny faces for the camera.  

Here are each of them displaying their creative ideas and carving skills--

With a row of jack-o-lanterns now lining our deck, it's beginning to look a lot like Halloween!

Moms' Night Out

Moms' Night Out was in theaters last summer, but it never worked for me to go.  Yes, it is true.  I couldn't even find a night out to go to a movie about moms!

I finally watched it on DVD and it was even better than I thought it would be.  It is true to life, funny, and inspirational, but not preachy.  I was laughing and also at times holding back tears at how much we moms have in common and the pressure we put on ourselves.

I was expecting to have most in common with the TV mom with which I usually identify (Patricia Heaton), but lead character Allyson (Sarah Drew) was definitely my near-mirror image in this one.  She is even a blogger . . . who sometimes struggles to have anything to say. :)

This movie is entertaining enough for men, but women will most identify with what these moms go through in their lives and their quest for just one "Moms' Night Out."

This is one I will be adding to my movie library.

A Big Day!

Today, October 27 is a big day in my family.  It was my great grandparents' wedding anniversary, my grandpa's Godmother's birthday (which I just learned), is my grandparents' wedding anniversary, my grandma's birthday, my aunt Marian's birthday and my cousin's son Jordin's birthday!  Whew!  With so much to celebrate, we had to start on Saturday!

Our family held a Family & Friends Open House on Saturday to celebrate my Grandpa and Grandma Kallas' 60th Anniversary.  Eight of their twelve children were able to be there, as well as in-laws, out-laws, grandchildren, and the like.

To add a little life to the party, my mom, aunts and uncles shared memories of growing up that we used as part of our centerpieces.  My aunt and uncle read these, and some more were added.  

My favorite story was from 1980-something when several (or all) of the 5 boys brought baby skunks into the porch.  Grandma was worried about the smell, but they assured her the skunks weren't old enough for that.  By that night, they called her where she was in town to let her know that they were "old enough."  

I don't know how my grandparents raised 12 kids, worked hard on their dairy farm, and still look so young for 82 and 88!

I love them so very much and they are an inspiration to me every day!

American Girl(s)

I really didn't see this coming.  This is big.  Like if I went to SDSU and called myself a Jackrabbit big.  Out of the blue.  Unexpected.
The American Girl catalog arrived last week.  I pondered throwing it away, as I often have in the past to simply bypass the begging. Then I decided to let Teresa have her fun.  They don't make JCPenney catalogs anymore, so when does a girl have a chance to dream?  She was so very excited to find the catalog on the counter after school, but not so much when she started asking me about prices.  (Seriously, these dolls wear more expensive clothes than I do.)
A few days later we came across adorable hand-made doll clothes at the Faulkton Arts and Crafts Fair.  I let each of them choose an outfit for their treat for the day.  $11 versus $40?  Yes, I can do that.  It was then I realized (or maybe remembered) that although my daughters have several baby dolls, neither has an 18" doll to dress. 
**Big moment right here!**  Out of nowhere, it hit me.  I was going to buy my girls American Girl dolls for Christmas.  A splurge, yes.  But, Santa could make it happen.
Before jumping in too deep, I did a little non-scientific survey and asked what the difference was between the American Girl dolls and their less expensive friends.  What I learned was many are very happy with their non-AG dolls.  The big difference was in the quality of the doll's hair. 
I decided I wanted good hair.  Who doesn't? 
Good hair comes with a price.  Who's doesn't?
I turned to eBay to help me find a bargain.
I used to read the American Girl book series when I was growing up, and those characters are among the first dolls.  American Girl has many, many more dolls and their pets and, like I said, more expensive wardrobes than my own.  Dolls may also be ordered with customized features, including skin, hair, and eye color, as well as freckles and earrings.  If you do this, you can give your doll her own personality.
*Evidently, you cannot do this if you buy a doll who already has a name and personality of her own.  It's strict Doll Code.*
I decided that THIS is what I was going to do.  It would be neat, since I'm going through the process of this anyway, to find dolls that have similar features as my girls.  (Personalities would be up to them.  I have enough personalities in this house to deal with already. . . .)
I haven't made any purchases, but Teresa's features have been no problem to find.
Then I hit a little snag.
Red heads with blue eyes and freckles are the among the rarest red heads.
The same is true for American Girl dolls. There was one with long, curly hair, but it wasn't quite right.
Back to eBay I went to try to find a deal.
As it turns out, with a little clicking and searching, I learned that Nellie is the girl I'm looking for!  Light red shoulder-length hair, blue eyes and freckles!  Perfect!

Guess what?  It's the same Nellie that has been retired for several years.  

Of course she was!  And some, OK many, sellers are asking for a lot more pennies than I am willing to spend.

Thankfully, I did find several others on eBay and finally placed a bid on a slightly-loved-in-excellent-shape Nellie.  We will see if she is "the one" or not in 1 day and 22 hours.  

I just hope she has a pleasant personality.