Halloween Open House!

Thanks Chilihead for tagging me for your Halloween Open House. I know you won't believe me but I DID try to upload pictures (all two of them) of my Halloween decorations, but Blogger is not cooperating. Ugh!! You will be happy to know that in addition to my 97-cent window clings from Wal-Mart I did get the boys pumpkins. And I put stickers on them. And I put them out on the front porch and looked at them for a long time.

If you haven't seen Chili's awesome decorations, go there now. Or she will haunt you!

I'm back...and with some very useful information!

Whew! I have, for one reason or another, been freaking busy lately. Oh, I've thought about pecking the keyboard a time or two, but a lot can happen in the 16 steps on the way upstairs.

One thing burning a hole in my pocket is this PSA: check your cabinet for expired spices! I ran across this ad in the Sunday circular a week ago:

"What?!?" I say to myself. "Who could possible allow a container of any spice reside in their cabinet for FIFTEEN YEARS before using it all??"

Uh, well, that would be me. Here's what lurked in the deepest recesses of my cabinet:

It's interesting to think this "valuable" item was worth packing up and moving from apartment to house to apartment, etc., about six times.

So please tell me I'm not the only one. Please go check your cabinet and let me know if you found any similar relics!

Bittersweet

My little boy didn't nurse today. He's two days from being 13 months old. I've been wanting to wean him since he turned 1 but somehow I just wasn't ready for it either. I think it's a little that I hope he still needs me as much, and a little that it just means he's growing up.

I don't have anything profound to write about this; maybe I just think it's a milestone that ought to be acknowledged. I'm proud of the fact I nursed both boys for a year. I do feel like there are precious few things I KNOW are right with my parenting skills, but breastfeeding is one thing I never doubted...

Foxed in?

Yes, I live in Oklahoma. No, I do not live in the country (or a teepee or a log cabin, if you're really clueless). I live in the middle of town, in a neighborhood, in a city with ordinances such as all dogs must be fenced in or on a leash.

Apparently the foxes of our city do not have to live by such rules.

This one has been roaming our neighborhood for the past several days. I caught a pic of him on the way out of our backyard. Isn't he nicely camouflaged in the first picture?

Now this little critter is about the size of a beagle, but for all I know he could have the personality of a tasmanian devil when provoked or tempted by the sight of a small toddler. Yikes. I think my little guys are going to be playing indoors for a while...

A would-be anniversary I'm not sad to miss.

Today would have been my 8th anniversary at my corporate job. The job I quit almost three years ago to stay home with my first son. The job that paid me quite handsomely then, and I probably would have gotten a couple of raises by now. And maybe I'd have gotten a promotion or two. And I'd probably have a better wardrobe.

Staying home pays me nothing. In fact, it cuts my husband's nice salary in half to support me. Eating out a lot and shopping on a whim are distant memories. My "promotion" was having another baby to raise. More diapers, less sleep, etc. And my wardrobe? Well, we just won't go there.

But I am not a bit disappointed I'm not celebrating today's would-be anniversary. Staying home with my boys has brought me more joy than I could have ever imagined. It is a gift I thank my husband for as often as I can. Every day one of the boys does something that makes me want to pick up a phone to call someone and tell them about it. And then I think, if Son One and Son Two were in daycare, I would have missed that moment. I know, I can't be with them to witness ALL their genius, but I want to drink in as much of them as I possibly can.

I'm an older mom, and I listen to a lot of my friends talk about their kids' early years so fondly. And they say things like "they're only little for such a short time..." and "it goes by so fast..." You know, almost like they didn't savor it enough. I don't want to look back and feel that way. I want to savor every delicious day of their little lives.

So anyway, today's the anniversary that wasn't, and I'm thrilled to not celebrate it. Maybe my two little bosses will give me big sloppy kisses instead...

WFMW: Buying fewer trash bags

I got tired of buying tall kitchen bags so often. Now, during every meal prep, I hang a plastic grocery store sack on the knob by my sink and use it until the meal is over. Then I trash it, full or not, at the end of the meal.

I used to take the tall trash bag out nearly every day but now it's about every third day. This little tip has really cut down on how often I buy the "real" trash bags.

One thing: I sometimes make them "paper only" bags, so if there's a hole in the bottom then I don't have to worry about leakage. It is surprising how much paper a family of four can collect in one day!

My First Meme!

My good friend Chilihead tagged me for this meme (somewhere there is a definition of the word, but the short meaning of "meme" is a bunch of get-to-know-you questions). Here goes:

1. Favorite memory of your mother? I remember how soft and warm she felt when she hugged me, which was all the time. And I remember rocking with her in the rocking chair, even after I was probably too big. And I remember how she would always tell me I was the "sweetest little girl in the whoooole world!!" (And I have 10 siblings!) In spite of our big family, my mom never didn't have time for me. I remember some of her sayings that she had me believing when I was a teenager: "he's not good enough to date my daughter..." which was usually true, and "your car runs better when it's clean..." Good one, mom.

2. Favorite memory of your father? That's hard because I only knew him a short time: he died from cancer when I was four (liver cancer, though he was a non-smoker and only a casual drinker). Anyway, I really just remember him lying down in bed. But if you listen to my mom talk about him, you would think he could walk on water.

3. Favorite memory of your sibling(s)? Wow, a lot there, too. Recently? Florida, Florida, Florida. Several of us and our families have made the trip to the panhandle every summer for ten years. Some of my happiest memories are about the beach. It has brought us closer in so many ways... And my nieces and nephews. They are glue when it comes to keeping the sibs together.

4. What one skill would you like to wake up tomorrow and be able to do (though you'd never learned it)? Figure skate. Olympic-quality. I figure if I have the skill for it I'll also have the body for it.

5. Which one of your dreams has come true? Marrying my husband. He makes me feel like I'm the only person that matters. And becoming a mother.