Candy!

Our Halloween started with pumpkin carving! Yes, a bit behind but, it didn't stop us and Logan sure loved to stick his hands in the cold pumpkin goo. Last year may have been Logan's first Halloween. But, this year was the first time he got to Trick R Treat! We dressed him up as super hero Batman, Daddy was a punk rock clown, and mommy was a referee. Hey why not right? I play referee pretty much on the daily. "Stop hitting!" "Share the toys!" "Tiiiiiiiime OUT!".  This time I was clad in costume! Our first stop was Trunk or Treating in Mountlake Terrace. Cars line up and decorate their trunks and hand out candy. We knew it would be a safe and easy alternative for Logan. Although he didn't feel like walking his little batman boots himself he still really enjoyed it. He even really got the hang of it and yelled out something in the form of baby gibberish that might as well have been "Trick r treat" and reached in candy bowls to select his treat (usually tootsie rolls). After that we hit up the brand new Dick's Drive in to get our budget burger fix! Went home and grabbed our wagon and hit the neighborhood before calling it a night. Logan sure loved to knock on the door and yell until the candy came out. He even invited himself into a nice old ladies house! After we got home we checked out his treat haul and put our little bat boy to bed. Now we have way more candy than anyone in this house needs. But, holiday traditions are so much fun and so important to me! Hope you had a happy Halloween!

Coupeville

Tonight my little family, along with my Uncle Jeff, are staying in my moms cabin on Whidbey Island. My granma who also lives on the Island, just down the road, was recently diagnosed with Melanoma Cancer. She's been so strong and positive through her surgery but, now she's had some complications. She was hospitalized yesterday due to an infection. Then in the early hours this morning my mom took the steps down from her loft wrong and broke her ankle. She was taken by aid car to Whidbey General Hospital in Coupeville, where my Granma is also admitted. She really did a number on her ankle! She was taken into surgery minutes before we arrived. We brought her and Granma roses to brighten their rooms. After a visit with my granma we decided we'd venture down the road to the super cute beachy, waterfront town of Coupeville while we waited for my mom to come out of surgery. We had dressed Logan up in his lion costume since it was so close to Halloween and we thought it might bring a smile to our patients. We discovered while in Coupeville that they were holding a torchlight parade through town for all the kids in costume to march in! We were able to see mom after surgery and she was very groggy. But, she got to hear Logan say "Ahmama" (her grandma name) and also see him blow kisses. She needed her rest so we kissed her goodbye and headed to the parade through town. I love the holidays and had such joy seeing all the little ghouls and goblins! Logan had such a blast and was only freaked out when a kid just a bit bigger than him approached him in a Darth Vader mask. So, hopefully my mom and Granma are resting up tonight. We will be cleaning moms cabin tomorrow and hopefully bringing some home cooking to the hospital. Nothing is certain so well wishes are very much appreciated.

Connecting

I've decided, due to some very nice requests, to start a new blog. It will be a chronicle of some of my very most favorite things and some of the things that are part of my everyday life. In this day and age of social networking blogging is all about connecting right? So, my first blog is me connecting to my readers. I am a mom. A new mom/young mom trying to figure it all out. I don't claim to know all the answers. Quite the opposite, I have a lot of questions. I love figuring it all out and making it as fun as possible. I have my own child, a 15 month old boy named Logan. I also provide childcare in my home to my 3 year old niece and another 4 year old girl. Sometimes it's crazy and sometimes it's just a blast! I love to cook, and do crafts, I don't love to clean but it's something that I have to stay on top of. I've also started couponing to help keep it all together. Living on a single income isn't always a walk in the park but, I wouldn't change being a stay at home mom for all the money in the world. What you're in store for when you subscribe to my blog is a real mom. Real silly everyday life stories and journeys, some of my favorite recipes, and how-to on arts and crafts. I also love to enter contests and will post about the most recent venture I've gotten myself into and how you can to. Or stay tuned for me learning my way through couponing and feeding my family on a budget. Something that has changed in importance to me since having a baby is cleaning green, and using natural remedies. These are my 'C' words. I invite you to come on this challenge with me!