Happy Halloweenie!

Twinkle Toes

I made the mistake of just "stopping in" at Old Navy this morning in search of some perfect fairy slippers/winter church shoes for Lucy. It didn't hurt that there was a huge sign in the window advertising 50% off all clearance items. We found these little beauties and came home with some adorable riding boots as well. What can I say? They were only $5! Since we were in a hurry, I didn't try the boots on her in the store only to discover that tragically, I think my little beauty might not have, shall we say, the right physique, for boots. I pulled and pushed and they wouldn't slide gracefully onto her sturdy feet. Granted, she was wearing chunky socks, so maybe it will work with just tights. Or some butter...

The Usual Suspects

One boogeying mustachioed man of mystery...

And a tiny fairy...

Trying out some disguises...

And getting plenty of beauty sleep...In anticipation for tomorrow's big night of trick-or treating!

Lucy J. Haws and the Blustery Day

Poor Ohio. In the words of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, it "can't get no respect." To the uninitiated, it lacks culture and noteworthy attractions, stuck here in flyover country with long, dreary winters and little unique topography to recommend it. Yet there are many good things about Ohio (lovely fall colors, great zoo/library system/kids' museum, family friendly atmosphere, easy to navigate) and there are few things I enjoy more than a good Ohio thunderstorm. They come quick and furious from the west with buckets of rainfall pouring down in a matter of minutes. Luckily, our front door faces east so we love to open it up and watch the storms roll through. Today we even had a tornado warning to liven things up. So after dropping Ben off at the bus stop, Lucy and I hauled in all the outdoor chairs, secured the patio table, and pushed the newly-covered BBQ against the house so it wouldn't blow over. We also rescued some unripe tomatoes from our still-producing plant, which Lucy has happily carried around and gnawed on for the past hour. A wonderfully slow afternoon at the Haws household. I'm learning to just be content at home instead of always needing to be out doing something. We'll see how long that lasts into the winter. For now, I'll relish the warm days of fall.

P.S. Random question: Does anyone know how to resize pictures using Picasa?

We Are Now The Proud Owners Of...

Our same house, but a new mortgage, courtesy of the economic downturn and the newly "reformed" banking system. When interest rates dropped to 4.5% we decided to look into refinancing and we're now going to save $300 on our monthly payments. We began the process in July so it's taken four months to emerge from the process due to stricter lending requirements. As we spent 30 minutes signing our lives away on the three-inch-tall stack of contract documents, I mentioned to Andy that with two kids and a mortgage we're living the so-called American dream.

What's your idea of the American dream?

Just Your Average Trip to Sam's Club

Tomorrow our church women's group is holding an activity where we'll assemble 72-hour kits for each family to have in case of an emergency. Being one of the leaders in charge of the shindig, I went with another gal and picked up a few things to fill our kits. Behold the wonders- $650, one stuffed car, and two sore backs later.

P.S. No, the kits will not include raw ground beef. Since we were there, just had to provision mi familia as well. I was strangely fascinated by the packaging - A ginormous tube o' meat.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Not really, but for a few days at the beginning of October it dropped into the 50s so we decided to pull out our winter gear and take an inventory. Lucy, who would NEVER keep a hat on last winter decided she loved her fuzzy topper and wouldn't take it off for the next two hours. Wonder if that will hold for gloves as well? Ben's adult-sized noggin fits nicely into an earwarmer that comes in the perfect shade of Buckeye red. I mean, scarlet.

We're back!

It's been ages since I posted any actual pictures of our comings, goings, and daily happenings. I think my mom may be about ready to hop on a plane to OH to get some glimpses of the grandbabies. The reason/excuse behind the blogging absence is that I got a new camera (hooray!), but still had to face the prospect of actually downloading pictures when the card reader my mom gave me (a.k.a. picture dowloading for dummies) wouldn't work with the new memory card. Yipes! So with 100 pictures from our summer adventures freshly loaded onto my hard drive, here are the most recent ones.

Why, you may ask yourself, are you bothering to post a picture of an empty backyard, with only a blanket spread on the grass to keep it company?

Upon closer inspection, you will find that the lump is Ben asleep, wrapped up in a blanket with Harry Potter #2 beside him. We've been basking in the glorious fall weather and he begged me to read to him, but I'd only do it if we were outside on the grass. I'd spent an hour on the couch with him that morning reading, and he's really loving the book. Lucy and I also spent an hour outside earlier that afternoon while she played in the leaf pile and I soaked up the sun while reading my latest book club assignment. A truly glorious afternoon, considering the book was "The Happiness Project" and I was outside reading, both things which get my happiness juices flowing.

Found...

The perfect costume for the trend-setting baby: Lady Gaga. I'd buy it for Lucy in a heartbeat if it weren't for two things:

1. She's totally bald and people already think she's a boy, so the costume might be a little too androgynous. We need somthing that screams, "I'm an adorable littl girl, dang it!!!" Every time we go out in public, not matter how feminine her outfit, people unfailingly mistake her for a boy. Case in point: Today we were at Sam's Club nabbing the free kids' cookies at the bakery. Lucy was dressed in her cute new tuquoise long-sleeved onesie and coordinating dark purple corduroy overalls, both festooned with flowers. She started making eyes at the guy in the cart next to us and he said, "Hey, buddy." I am not exaggerating. Somehow people (mostly men) cannot get past the hot pink clothes to make the correct gender connection. A true mystery of the universe.

With that said, I'm now having to reconsider my original Halloween plan. Since when it comes to Halloween (and all holidays in general) I am the tragic combination of lazy, uncreative, and unable to sew/craft, I was going to dress Lucy in Ben's old zip-up leopard costume. Simplicity is my mantra and recycling is always virtuous, right? Now that I think of it, that won't help our cause. Anyone have a girly 18-month getup they wouldn't mind lending out? Last year a friend let us borrow a baby mermaid costume which was basically like a pint-sized teal sleeping bag with strategically placed purple shells. It couldn't have been easier. Ben wants to be a ghost this year, so I'm breathing a sigh of relief because it means all we have to do is go to a thrift store and buy an old sheet. The downside of the whole ghosty fixation is that it stems from Andy's mom telling Ben ghost stories while he was in Utah and now he's terrified of being anywhere by himself. A few days ago he wanted me to stand outside the door while he went to the bathroom.

2. This look may be a little too edgy for Ohio. Fashion trends end up hitting the Midwest a little later than other places. I can just see us trick-or-treating and being met with a plethora of blank stares and quizzical looks upon seeingLucy in full Gaga glory. The upside of the costume: At least it's not made of meat.

And for those of you who are wondering how we got into Sam's without a membership, here's the secret: We use a friend's expired card. Don't judge. Flash it at the door, walk around and get the samples, look at the goods, read the magazines, let Ben watch the TVs, buy a cheap lunch, and escape without the guilt that usually accompanies shopping at warehouse stores because you never leave without spending less than $100. The dowsides are that we get strange looks for walking around with nothing in our cart and that we can't score any of the great deals. Today I wanted to be less conspicuous so I threw a mega-sized bag of candy in the back and when Ben's eyes lit up, had to break his heart and tell him we weren't actually buying it. It had to go back on the shelf before we went to the food court. Thankfully he was easily pacified by some samples of Life Water and caramel apple dip.

What was your best Halloween costume ever? What will your kids be this year? My little sister and her husband are classic when it comes to outfits. Last year they dressed as a polygamist and his wives (had to recruit a friend to help), complete with poligafrump* hair and frocks. This year they've talked of being Steve Jobs and an Ipad. Love it.

*I can't take any credit for the amazing word "poligafrump." Have to give credit to TAMN from SSB for that one.