it'd be plagiarism if i didn't write this

so, the halloween costumes. aren't they cute?

i have to admit, my mom and my sister are mostly responsible for that. i bought the most difficult patterns i could find (by accident, of course. i just happen to be attracted to the most complex or the most expensive of anything. it's a curse) and then i pinned and cut out the lion pattern. then everyone got sick and my mother sewed everything.

all i did was cut out the ribbons and sew them on. until my mom and i thought about it for a minute, realized that seth wasn't going to be able to reach the ribbons in the back of the hood and we glued them on.

so i didn't really do all that much, my mom did.

and isn't she amazing???

we made forts. and then played in them. all. day. long.

introducing. . .a baby cat

ryan and i watched home videos on sunday night. in them we saw our cat, zuma, who was the recipient of all our parental energies due to the fact that he existed before ava and seth. then he ran away. since we live where we live, he was probably eaten by coyotes, but perhaps, just perhaps, he found a nice farm family up north and is spending his days catching field mice and bopping them on the head.

i think he probably is.

so after watching that cat sniff a brand new ava with suspicion, i went on craigslist. and found an ad. for free kittens. so ryan came home from work and i opened my mouth and ryan said, "uh oh. what is it?"

yeah, he knows me.

so i talked really fast, batted my eyes and threw in a charming smile for extra measure. and ryan laughed and said, "sure. get a cat."

he is the best husband. ever.

ava was thrilled. she was in the car bouncing around and saying, "we're getting a kitten! my daddy said yes. he is so nice. he is the nicest daddy. i love him. i love daddy, mommy, sethy and the kitten. but mostly the kitten. and daddy. because he said we could get it!"

i love how i am the advocate for the pet getting and all ryan has to do is say yes and suddenly he's the awesome parent. yeah, i'm a little jealous.

now we have a cat! and he's adorable!

a problem: ryan has issues with naming things. first of all, we have completely different tastes in names and secondly, he knew too many kids named ryan growing up. so if a name i suggest sounds like it just might have some sort of level of popularity, it's out.

so, dear readers, will you help us name this cat? because i'm dry and ryan wants to call it buddah, which i feel is a tad disrespectful. the thing is, if i can't find a name to replace buddah, then buddah it is.

please help me name our cat!

this is the last of it, i promise

halloween in photographs

trick or treating

lion costume complete with stuffed seal

the first house

obviously, he was thrilled

110

confession, list and thoughts. and a reminder.

item 1: it is so very odd how much i enjoy watching the pips kick their heels up and pump their fists in the air behind/beside miss gladys knight. and it is very odd how much i want to be one of them instead of her. but seriously, if you could sing the words, "superstar, but he didn't get far", wouldn't you choose pip? uh, yes. yes you would.

item 2. i forgot that ava used to answer every question with, "yes. sure!" and now i know why tyson would fall over himself inventing questions for ava to answer in the affirmative. because after watching home videos last night, i agree with him: it is totally way cute. and i miss it.

item 3. now that halloween is over, this marks the beginning of my favorite time of year. also the time of year when money is the tightest, i am the most frustrated/stressed and we are the busiest. and i hate all those things (feeling stressed about money, being too busy to enjoy life and feeling frustrated and stressed). so this year, i solemnly resolve to take it easy this year.

is it bad if you solemnly resolve to do something you know you won't do?

confession: i love the smell of cigarette smoke. a lot. i mean, a lot. ryan thinks it's bizarre. people have asked me if i used to smoke. no, i haven't. i just really love the smell of cigarettes. and, if it's cold out and it smells a little like rain, i just might ruin my sense of smell from smelling so hard. because those three things together are amazing. truly.

item 4. halloween started with me rushing to joann's for ribbon and then rushing to my mother's where i cut out a million strips of ribbon and hand sewed them into loops, then hand sewed them on to the hood of seth's lion costume all the while thinking of that one time when i tried to get the hood on his little bald head he screamed and squirmed. so, i might be (probably was) doing all that work for nothing.

well guess what?

HE WORE IT. ALL NIGHT. he is officially the most cooperative child i have ever had.

and ava rocked her little red riding hood costume. and once getting over her very oddly placed fear of saying "trick or treat" (house number one was a good friend's house), she was on fire. so was seth, once he figured out that these strange people in these strange houses were passing out bags of m&ms.

pictures to follow.

a thought: halloween is WAY better when you spend it with small children instead of adults dressed up in as little costume as possible. perhaps the slutty costume is part of the fun. . .you have to give as few clues as possible to what you are and in order to do that you wear as little as possible. . .i don't know. i do know that i didn't feel nearly as grumpy as i usually do this year.

also, enter the giveaway! it ends soon!