I see this a hundred times a day...

and... I love it!

Temporarily distracting myself from 'stuff' with...

...HALLOWEEN! Such a fun distraction. What are you going to be?
We have no clue. Gracie has said a witch 2/2 times.

Katie is showing you that we put up our Halloween decorations. She loves to pull the spiders off and eat them. Several neighbor kids have come by and asked when we are going to put up our giant spider. "Soon my pretties, soon and then you better watch out..."

P.L.O.P.

What is P.L.O.P. you say? In the special education system it stands for "Present Levels of Performance." Here is our P.L.O.P:

Katie is walking EVERYWHERE! She puts one hand on her chest while she walks around. So stinkin' cute. And she has hair that is fun to play with.

Gracie is being so sweet to her sister and parents and others. She tells us all that we are her "best friends ever." She even complimented me and our friend Kristin after volleyball tonight. "You did a good job catching the ball mom." Ahhh. And she invited Kristin to a thumb war... and won.

Luke is job searching and being a good dad helping me at home and trying not to get bummed out or depressed. Still wondering what he should do. He is currently waiting to devour some chocolate zucchini bread warm from the oven. Hollie still loves Luke!

Hollie felt all cool getting dressed up professional again for her first job interview since like 4 years ago. Waiting to here back still!! Set a personal record of making the exact amount of meat sauce for the just right amount of spaghetti noodles for the family for one meal. Awesome. Also spray painted inside the house 'again' and made dad mad because we got high all night and he couldn't sleep. At least you couldn't see any paint overspray this time. Sorry Luke I will never do it again. Luke still loves Hollie! He has taken care of the girls twice this week for like 4-5 hrs.

Warning: don't learn how to open multiple tabs!

When Nancy was at my house a while ago, she was amazed at how many tabs I had open at the same time. It was probably about 30. Oh man oh man! I planned to do a couple of things on the computer during naptime. Kids just woke up and so I gotta get off, but how did I get so side tracked? I HAVE 89 TABS OPEN at the same time ranging from sewing to decor to cooking to maps to jobs to wait... I forgot. I think 89 tabs means I have a problem. And now I can't shut down my computer till I do something with them and 2 hours are gone pointlessly.

Solution: I am "waiting" (seriously?) for my invite to Pinterest so I can just pin the things I like.

I know I can get dangerously sidetracked on the internet... so I purposefully go a couple of days without getting on. So sorry internet, just know I love/hate our relationship.

"But dad, they are just having family home evening..."

Luke just went to check on Gracie who we put to bed a half hour ago. He peeked under the door and saw her sitting on the floor with a doll so he opened the door and scolded her to get back in bed. She said with tears in her eyes, "But dad they are just having family home evening!"

Also the other day I was rocking her before bedtime and dad had just left after saying prayers with us. Gracie said to me, "Dad's my cousin. And you're my cousin. I like you. But dad's a furt furt furt furt." (That is what we call a toot or a fart.)

Whenever we are with another mom and her kids, Gracie always asks the mom, "Where's your dad?" --meaning her husband. It is funny to see how they respond, about their real dad or their husband.

Double sink bath...

After swimming outside...
Gracie: "Mom, what's Katie doing?"
Me: "Taking a bath."
Gracie: "In the sink?"
Me: "Yep! You took a bath in the sink too when you were a baby."
Gracie with eyes wide: "Can I get in the sink too?"
Me: "Sure."

If Katie is missing...

...look upstairs. Yesterday and the day before, we couldn't find Katie. Both times I found her at the top of the stairs. She crawls up the stairs and then walks down on her feet while holding onto the rungs. She's got some mad walking skills too. Oh Katie you are growing up. I don't think you would do very well alone walking around the preschool in China or strapped to my back/hip in a baby sling either -- without your mama's attention. You are seriously a mama's girl. If anyone tries to hold you, watch out for the whining. ;)