Happy Halloween!!

I know it's early, but we carved pumpkins today, so I had to post this picture. The girls were so excited. I had to take a picture of them all scary and glowing. I am soaking the pumpkin seeds overnight in salt water to roast tomorrow. I have never done it before. Hopefully they turn out good! I remember the neighbor girls having pumpkin seeds when we were little and I thought they were so good, so I thought I would try it. I will probably be the only one to eat them, but I figured it's worth a shot!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!!!

A Few More Days

I just need a few more days to be home with my girls I decided. This weekend was teachers' convention, so I was fortunate enough to have Thursday and Friday off to spend with the girls. Thursday we spent having lunch and spending the afternoon with my friend and her two daughters who are very good friends with my girls. That was great fun. Then Thursday evening we met up with Kory's cousin, wife and their kids who came down from Chinook MT. LOVE talking to them. They are good people.

Friday we put some flowers and little pumpkins on Dad's grave--I think this is the first time the girls have seen it--well I should say that Morgan has seen it up close. Syd wanted to stay in the van, so Morgan walked with me and we placed the flowers on his grave and talked about what the Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal meant that are engraved on his headstone. On the way back to the van, Morgan realized how special her grandfather was as she did not see any other headstones with "BSM" engraved on them, and very few with "Purple Heart" on them. I then drove the girls by my grandparents graves. Then we picked up Mom and went to Build-a-Bear so Morgan could get her asthma/allergy safe bear. Very cute. Sydney got an elephant. Then we took Mom to lunch and went back to her house for a while and let the girls play. What a lovely day! That night, instead of scrapbooking as I had planned, I decided to go to the rodeo with Kory and the girls. We were meeting Kory's cousin and his family there. Syd was freaked when we walked into the arena--before even getting to her seats. Too much noise, too many people, plus clowns. By the time we got to our seats, she had seen a cowboy riding bareback on a bucking horse, and she was cheering and was hooked. It was great to see. Morgan cheered and would cover her mouth and gasp if it looked like somebody was going to get hurt. They thoroughly enjoyed it and want to go again very soon! So, we will be keeping our eyes peeled for rodeos.

The rest of the weekend has been great as well. We went to a wedding reception last night for a gal I work with, and it was lots of fun. We got a sitter for the girls and just had some us time surrounded by friends.

Once again, it's back to reality.

Snow Pictures

 

More Snow in Montana

The Snowman

One more picture from today. . .

Fall in Montana

Most of the people who read my blog live here, so this will not be news to them, but to those of you who don't live in Montana, this blog is for you! Hopefully you saw the picture of the flower in the bush whose leaves are changing color (a couple of posts down). . . that was taken the weekend of October 4th. Here's a couple more pictures I took that weekend. . .

Here's what, one weekend later, our weather is doing. . .

The weather forecasters are saying we can get up to 24" by Monday.

Girls in my Circle

I received this from a friend today and thought I would put it on my blog. It is so true. . . thank you to all of you in my circle. I'm so thankful you are a part of it!!!

When I was little, I used to believe in the concept of one best friend, and then I started to become a woman. Then I found out that if you allow your heart to open up, God would show you the best in many friends.


One friend is needed when you're going through things with your man. Another friend is needed when you're going through things with your mom. Another will sit beside you in the bleachers as you delight in your children and their activities. Another when you want to shop, share, heal, hurt, joke, or just be. One friend will say, 'Let's cry together,'Another , 'Let's fight together,' Another , 'Let's walk away together.'



One friend will meet your spiritual need,Another your shoe fetish,Another your love for movies, Another will be with you in your season of confusion,Another will be your clarifier, Another the wind beneath your wings.



But whatever their assignment in your life,On whatever the occasion,On whatever the day, Or wherever you need them to meet you with their gym shoes on and hair pulled back, Or to hold you back from making a complete fool of yourself .... Those are your best friends.



It may all be wrapped up in one woman, But for many, it's wrapped up in several.. One from 7th grade,One from high school, Several from the college years, a couple from old jobs,On some days your mother, On some days your neighbour,On others, your sisters,And on some days, your daughters.

THANKS FOR BEING IN MY CIRCLE!

We went camping this weekend--our last camping trip for the year. I'm so sad. But we had such a great time. There was this one flower still blooming on this bush where the leaves were all changing color--it was gorgeous, so I had to take a picture. So, until next spring, no more camping pictures. . . . *sniff*

Oh to be Camping!!

That's what I have on my license plates--not exactly, but abbreviated. . . and guess what? I (er, we) get to go camping this weekend! Now I know for CERTAIN that this will be our last outing of 2008 as the weather is supposed to turn cold sometime tomorrow. But, we are going to a KOA with electricity AND an indoor swimming pool! I can't wait. We're leaving tonight and we cleaned and cleaned and packed last night just so we can go. I'm beside myself with excitement. It doesn't take much for me to get excited about something. Especially camping. I just love how relaxing and fun it is. I can't describe it very well. The girls--and Kory I think too--are also excited. And if it rains, I will sleep that much better with the sound of the rain on the camper.

It's been a hell of a week at work. The auditors came in for their initial interviews, and then next week they will be doing audits of some of our processes. I hate these annual audits. I've been through 13 of just this type of audit (one per year) and countless other kinds of audits involving Medicare, Medicaid, the State, Work Comp, and once even the FBI!! They suck because it pretty much falls on my to coordinate them and answer their questions and get the documentation for them and make any suggested changes. I hate audits. And to top it off I've had employee issues this week. I hate being a supervisor. If I could give up the audit and supervising, I would be a happy little camper--well I'm sure I would still complain. . . especially when it comes to crunch time and I have to take work home. Okay, let's just say I'm struggling with going to work every day. Some days are better than others though. . . so I really am ready for a camping weekend to just get away.

Did I say I'm excited to go camping? :-)