Not A Treat

Saturday started with a trick.... or something.  My roots were growing it at a scary rate, so I was sporting a 3 toned hairdo (reddish, dark brown, and gray).  I didn't want to scare anyone on Halloween WITHOUT even wearing a costume, so I decided that morning to finally dye my hair.

I hadn't dyed my hair at home since I was a teenager.  I wanted to save money, but I was nervous.  What if it looked ridiculous?  I decided to throw caution to the wind.  Jim was playing with Dylan downstairs, and I told him what I was about to do.  Shortly after that, he heard me screaming.  "JIM!!!!!  HELP!!!!"  Jim and Dylan found me in the bathroom with gloves on, holding a bottle that had cracked open when I squeezed it, and red hair dye all over the bathroom.  Our WHITE bathroom.  Jim said he has been dyeing his hair for years and years, and he never had a bottle crack open like that.  Must be my brute strength.

(The good news is that my hair didn't turn out terrible.  It's darker than I expected, but good considering).

Trick or treating in these parts was 5-7pm, so we decided to let Dylan nap early (from 1-3).  We figured if he got a nap, he would be somewhat calm for trick or treating.  Um, not so much.  We met my parents at Eat N Park for an early dinner at 3:30, then rushed back to hurry Dylan into his costume at the last minute. One problem - you can't hurry Dylan.  Oh, and asking him to "stand still" is like asking the sun not to shine.  I didn't get a single good picture, because he just would not be still for even two seconds.  And, that was before he got any candy!  All the good pictures I got were taken the next day, when we forced him back into his costume.

After only 1/2 hour of trick or treating, he said he was tired and wanted to go home.  Bizarre, considering the fact that last year we had to drag him home after 2 solid hours.  It was NOT my favorite Halloween, I must say.  Jim and I were tired and frustrated.  But, then again, not getting much candy is probably a good thing all around.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Halloween in November

I have this problem. Well, at times it is a problem. If I am going to decorate for a holiday I like to do it early so I can enjoy the decorations. Once the holiday is over, however, it is over. The decorations need to be taken down the next day. It is now on to the next thing. (This could explain why I am a year behind on my digital scrapbooks).

The problem is this...

Halloween is over. It has been over for weeks. The decorations have been down since the day after. But, I didn't finish my Halloween video until today. Why? Because I do the pictures in this family. My husband does the video. That is our role (as far as I'm concerned, at least). Coordinating my time to upload pictures and his time to upload video proved to be... problematic.
So, here I am posting about Halloween on Veterans Day. This fact makes me twitchy, but if I don't do it now, it will never happen.

As you will see in the video, we are into Halloween in this family. Dylan is following right along in our footsteps, and wanted to hit every single house in our neighborhood. "Dylan, we are going to skip this house". "BUT, NO! THEIR LIGHT IS ON!!!" One highlight was Dylan (who was completely obsessed with gathering as much candy as possible) seeing a pumpkin that another kid was carrying, and going to grab candy out of his bag! He was a little too focused on the task, I would say. The other highlight was me getting a cramp in my foot from my darn boots, and hobbling along, trying not to swear in front of costumed children. Dylan would NOT wait for me, so Jim had to rush after him, while I tried not to look too strange, hobbling along almost in tears, with no children near me. (Nope, didn't get that in the video. Sorry). I would just like to say that we only spent $12 total on all 3 costumes! We needed to buy bandanas, and we got Dylan's costume used. Believe it or not, I've had that puffy shirt taking up space in the back of my closet since the 80's! Who knows what Jim's excuse is? Happy Halloween Everyone!! (groan)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We Are Here

The past two weeks haven't been easy for me. Two Sunday's ago, I woke up with a horrible sore throat. I ignored it, and spent the day at my in laws. The next morning, I woke up with a worse sore throat. I ignored it, and went to work that day and the next. That whole week, I kept pushing myself to do all the normal things my weeks consist of - laundry, paying bills, grocery shopping, preparing meals, cleaning up meals, doing things for Dylan, doing things for Jim. I hate to be sick. It seems like such a waste of valuable time, so if I can ignore it, I usually do, and I did. By this past Sunday, though, I realized I had to stop and take care of myself. I called off work Monday, and went to the doctor's. He said what probably started as a sinus infection was now bronchitis.

I did take a couple days to rest, but clothes keep getting dirty, people keep getting hungry, and messes keep being made. I was tired and frustrated and annoyed. But, then Jim brought in a paper that was placed by our door.

It said... "Many of you may be unaware, but our beloved neighbor, X, recently passed away on October 4th, 2009. Her death was very unexpected after a sudden hospitalization. She left behind a loving husband, and two sweet young girls..."

That put everything into perspective. Most of the stuff we are all grumbling about is so inconsequential, isn't it?
WE ARE HERE. Let's stop grumbling, and make today count.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

(For a related post, please go read this over at Boondock Ramblings. Oh, and grab a tissue).

No, We Didn't Get To Idlewild On Friday

Friday morning, the sky was ominous. It rained from about 8-10am. The forecast said, "Scattered thunderstorms". My forecast went something like this... PHLLPPBBTT!!! So much for positive thinking. My birthday is coming up this week, and Jim has a surprise planned. When I asked him "Does it involve being outdoors?", he answered, "Yes, and it WILL rain, and a tornado will probably pass through, and I'm thinking an asteroid might even crash to earth". I didn't even correct him this time. Maybe it would be better to expect an asteroid, and then I'll be pleasantly surprised by whatever I get.

Well, Jim had taken another day off, so we had to do something fun. We decided to take Dylan to SeaBase for the first time. It's a fun place. I was amazed by Dylan's climbing abilities. He went in the area that is for older kids, and had no trouble keeping up with most of them. There was this wall that you had to pull yourself up with a rope, and a little girl who looked to be about 5 just couldn't do it. Dylan said, "Watch out!", and shimmied his way up in front of her!

Of course, the sun came out from about the time we got there until 4pm, but then it poured again, so I guess we made the right decision. Jim and I actually got to sit down a few times, so I would say it was a pretty great day!

P.S. We went to Idlewild on Saturday instead. I'll post that video and tell that story next! I guess I should mention that this song, and the one in the last video, are sung by Elizabeth Mitchell. Thanks for introducing me to her music, Julia!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Shenandoah Vacation - Part 2

The things I want to remember:

* We loaded the car with so much stuff, that Dylan had to get in the front and climb through the middle into his car seat. At one point, we looked back, and he had snacks all over the seat! He was helping himself!

* How we successfully avoided the timeshare tour. (You're welcome, Jim).

* How Dylan went right to sleep in "the vacation bed" (pack and play).

* Dylan FINALLY drinking from a straw for the first time, and how pleased with himself he looked.

* The Super Nanny-like episode that occurred at nap time, when Dylan realized he could climb out of the pack and play, and how mean I felt when I stuck to the "no pool if you don't take a nap" statement.

* Jim commenting "I'm afraid there is a pocket protector in his future" when Dylan was counting while splashing, and "cleaning" all the numbers on the sides of the pool.

* Watching Jim and Dylan happily playing in the pool. Adorable!

* The deer we saw every single day, so close, and not the least bit afraid.

* Going to the arcade and Dylan getting a "lucky" 8 bouncy ball out of a machine, and how much he loved that thing! (He held it in his hand during his nap).

* How many times Jim and I had to search for that dang ball, and how we wondered (on the last day) how many quarters we would have to put in the machine to get another one. (Luckily, we found it).

* Taking Skyline Drive home, and how gorgeous the scenery was!

* Dylan pulling the coats and pillow down on top of himself in his car seat, giggling and announcing, "I made a mess!!"

* Stopping at Skyland Lodge for lunch, and Jim's chicken sandwich arriving RAW, which resulted in free dessert. What might have been Dylan's favorite part of the trip - Ice Cream! (He kept saying "Mmmm!")

* While we were on vacation, Dylan asking several times to "go home". Us saying "this is our vacation home...We'll go home in X more days". Then, on Sunday, (one day after being home), him saying, "I want to go to our OTHER home!"

I might have gone a bit overboard with the pictures! I took HUNDREDS, and had a hard time narrowing it down. You won't hurt my feelings if you don't watch the whole video. (It is two songs, "Shenandoah", the Bob Dylan version, and "Big Rock Candy Mountain", from the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack. Oh, and the video is almost six minutes long!) I mostly make them for Dylan, who watches them over and over again.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com