totally called it

In this week's episode of Glee, the glee crew were going to sing a song to Quinn & Finn, and I knew it was going to be Lean on Me. (Yeah, not really such a big deal, but it made me happy to be right!)


Such a great song. I want to teach it to the kids.

And (one of) my favorite thing(s) about Glee is how unabashed it is in its own hokeyness.

Here's another fabulous song:

highlights of the week

1. Spud read FIVE early reader books. (See details here if you are so inclined.)

2. I watched all the episodes of this season's Ugly Betty. We'd kind of decided not to keep up with it, but I ended up having enough evenings alone when I was working on sewing projects that I decided to watch it.

3. Glee was hilarious. So was 30 Rock. (I'm very grateful for good TV shows during the long, cold, dark winter.)

4. I got to order FREE photo cards! I also found another promo code and made up some flier type cards for my photography business.

5. I took pictures of my friend's daughter who turns 8 next month. She (and the pictures) are both very cute.

6. I sewed the hair on one of the dolls I'm making. It looks fabulous! I'm having so much fun making them, if only I had more time. I think I'll finish the ones I need to before Christmas, but it might be close!

7. I got to go out with a good friend to have milk shakes. It was yummy and fun, but next time we'll go to a place that isn't FREEZING so we can sit and chat instead of escaping back out to her car!

8. We finished up our second term for the year, and had a Fun Friday party to celebrate. Hooray for dance parties!

ups & downs

Rough day today. Sprout was particularly fussy (as he was yesterday during the day), and I just felt really alone. Noodle and Spud were really good, which was nice, but as I tried to slog through some of the chores I had to do, all I really wanted was to have a friend come over and chat. I had a real need for some commiseration today, but it just didn't happen. I hate feeling lonely. I think one of the harder things for me about being a wife and a mother is dealing with the down moods. When what I most need is just some quiet time to think, read, pray, etc., I just have to keep my "game face" on and try to muddle through until my mood clears a bit. (And try not to bite anybody's head off.) I've opened up a dialogue with Noodle & Spud about how sometimes I just need a break, and they are remarkably good at giving me some time & space. Unfortunately, babies don't have that skill.

Such is life.

today I'm happy about...

...feeding my family dinner & dessert for under $5. ($1 can of yummy soup, $0.29 package of cornbread mix, $0.99 half gallon of chocolate milk, $1.99 - $0.65 coupon vanilla ice cream, $0.69 2 liter root beer). Granted, it wasn't fancy or super nutritious, but they loved it and we can have root beer floats again tomorrow!

...Sprout's ultra-deluxe car seat arrived today. We could barely buckle his other one, and I know it had to be uncomfortable the last few weeks. Thanks to my awesome mom and (one of) my awesome SILs for helping with the purchase. This one should last him a good long time!

....it took me four tries, but finally I got a good fire going in the fireplace. I guess I'm rusty after 8 months of no practice.

....learning a useful embroidery stitch that will help me make cute faces on my Christmas projects. No more "fake" embroidery. Now I know something! (This video library of stitches is so awesomely helpful! It's like having your very own granny!)

....David's business is slowly but surely acquiring clients! There might be an actual income in our future!

The Obligatory Halloween Post

The best things about Halloween this year:

1. The kids wanted to be things that were very easy for me, as we already had bunny & cat ears, and Sprout conveniently was the right size for the little cow suit.

2. As it was on a Saturday, our friends had an afternoon halloween party that was very fun. I ate way too much yummy food (which was fun for me).

3. The kids actually didn't trick or treat that much, so rationing their candy (after the first couple of days) wasn't that big of a deal. They finished the last of it this morning.

4. We get free pumpkins thanks to my in-laws' garden. Yippee!



And because I'm messing around with the picture size, some of them look a little blurrier than they should. Click on them for a crisper version (if you care that much).

for some reason....

when I widened my blog, it deleted my "blogroll" of friends' blogs. I'm in process of remembering/tracking down all my favorite blogs again, but if you could help me out by commenting here and I'll follow the trail back to your blog, that would be helpful.

Like, Don't Like

Fish Edition

Like

Cute little porcupine puffer fish. Doesn't he look like he's smiling and waving?

Don't Like

This fathead fish. Okay, maybe I like him a teensy bit, just because he's so ridiculously ugly, but overall, Don't Like.

Really Really Don't Like

I think these fish might actually be the spawn of Satan. The data isn't conclusive at this point, though.