Pumpkin Walk

Jenny's family had the awesome idea of having us all dress up & go in costume to the Pumpkin Walk this year. Everyone looked awesome in their Halloween wear & it was fun to show off our costumes as we enjoyed the artistic pumpkin display.



I brought Jon the grass skirt & coconuts to wear as his costume. It was a gift Jake brought back for me when he went to Hawaii when he was 18. Seth was the cutest Tigger.


The viking preparing to eat his meal.

They had M&M's hidden in each display for you to try & find.

Ummmmm............? We couldn't figure out what was going on here.

Jon didn't quite fit the grass skirt. Good thing he had on a pair of shorts underneath & he wasn't going Braveheart style.

I went as Alice but had my costume covered up cuz I was cold. I was trying to look like a fierce viking wife but I just look depressed. I guess I need more tips from Tyra.

Tigger konked out.

The sneaky bandits tried to steal the M&M's from the pumpkin displays.

The fierce pirate stoped them with his sword fighting skills.

I made Jake's costume from top to bottom except for the hat of course. It was my first time making a pair of pants & I didn't have a pattern to work from. I cut up a pair of old sweats & used them to make the pants. I was really confused & luckily Debbie was a pro & walked me through how to sew them. I still managed to sew one butt cheek in front but I was eventually able to get things right. Woot!

Jenny's costume was rockin. She was one hot pirate wench with some fierce knife fighting skills.

This display was awesome & disturbing at the same time. Double click on it & you can see the pencil in the pumpkins eye. Nice.

This was my favorite display. I was so sad Julie wasn't here this year to see it.

The displays this year were really incredible. It seems that they keep outdoing themselves each year.

I loved this peacock.

This witch seriously looked real. At first I thought it was a real person holding still to try & scare people but it was just a pumpking witch.

The bus ride was a lot of fun. The driver was cracking pirate jokes & Jon was complimented several times on his coconuts.

It was fun to have Derrick join us this year. He came without costume but new exactly what to do when he heard we were in costume. He had on a black shirt & black pants, so he put white tape on his back the said "Stage Crew."

Jeff & Desi rockin the bus.


I was busy taking pics on the bus & smacked my head really hard on a pole. Ouch!

I got this killer fur hat in an antique store when I was 20.

The sacrifical offering.

I love Jake's face in this pic.

Jon & I got excited this year about reliving the childhood memory of making rock monsters. We slaved all morning & came up with the following master pieces.

Jon: 5th Element Rock. Maren: Bug eyes Pixar rock & Purple raisin monster. Amy: Watermelon monster. Jeff: Evil eyebrow monster. Derrick: Spiked Duck.

I made the wicked witch of the west & the wicked witch of the eat. Desi was awesome & made the house to go on top of my witches legs. Jake put together a rock monster & it ended up being a great throne for my witch.

Thanks to Jenny & family for throwing such a spectacular party! We had delicious pumpkin soup cooked inside a pumkin. Yummy desserts by Desi, & Butter Beer served up by Jeff. Good times!

New Family Member

We recently I found a dead mouse underneath a set of my dishes. I also found holes in my bag of rice & holes in my fish food in my shed outside. Then there was the poop in the cupboards & the poop on the table in the shed. We tried mouse traps & didn't catch anything. So we got the best mouse trap around. Welcome to the family Gidget.

We got her at 9 weeks old & she's now 11 weeks. I've decided she's like having a ADHD 2 year old with a splash of bipolar. She either sleeping or in what we've labeled "hell cat" mode. She loves to lick my chin, bite my nose, nuzzle my eyes, suckle my hair, climb my legs & gnaw on my ears. We've started a training program with her because her behavior is so wild. She's really intelligent & taking to it well. It won't be long before I have her using the toilet & flushing.

I couldn't help myself & spoiled her with a few good toys. She loves her crinkle tunnel but her favorite toy is a fishing pole from the dollar store.

Gidget is working on her knowledge of literature. She recently studied Band of Brothers as a way to get ideas to improve her hunting skills.

She is very helpful with turning pages.

She is quite the hunter. I feel as though I'm being stalked all day, although her favorite thing to hunt is Mysha.

The great hunter in action catching a lazer.

Gidget is a cuddle monster. She loves to sleep on my shoulder when I'm sitting or sleep on my stomach when I'm laying down. She also likes to sleep between my knees or on top of my calves when I am cutting out material on the ground. She's so funny.

Mysha has handled the intruder pretty well. At first she was dejected & wouldn't let me give her love. Then she decided she needed attention 24/7. She has now made piece with Gidget & they are working on their friendship. They tend to have a morning play session each day. It's fun to see Mysha be playful.

First she darts out from her tunnel.....

......then she attacks.....Kapow!.......

.....then she's off like a shot.....

Bonk!! Mysha needs to learn to put her paw on her nose between her eyes.

My favorite.

I found her today snuggled up in her sheets cuddled up with her pink mouse. Life can be very exhausting after playing so hard each day.

Witches Night Out

Sandi Collet invited me to Witches Night Out held at Gardner Village. I had never been nor ever heard of it & I didn't know what to expect. It was so much fun! We arrived & there were hundreds & hundreds of women dressed up as witches wandering around Gardner village. There was a costume parade, dancing, shoping, food, photo booths, face painting, & lots of fun. The witches ranged from infant size to old women using rockers. All of them were dressed up. My favorite was going to the bathroom & seeing all the tall pointy hats sticking up out of the stalls. So fun!


Mmmmm....potato cheese soup in bread bowls.

I only had a few hours to come up with my costume, so I went as a punk witch. The boa isn't part of the costume.

There were so many fun costumes. Some elaborate, some very simple, but all fun.

Double click on the hats so you can see the details. They were amazing!

I saw the ice queen from Narnia walking around. Her costume was awesome. About a week later I found out that she was my friends sister & also a big family friend of the Garners. How funny.

Glenda won the costume competition. She was hilarious. She would randomely walk up to people & say "You're prettier then me," and then would bonk them with her wand & turn them into a toad.

These glasses were awesome. I wish I would have purchased them.

The village was full of witches in various forms. There was the occasional man pushing a stroller with a baby in a tiny litte witch hat. Some of the men were also dressed up in fun costumes.

Sorry this is so dark. They had music playing all night & a section where witches were dancing all night. I wish you could see all of the hats bouncing up & down. I was trying to film the teenage witches in the tiny little slut outfits with giant heels. The worst part was a lady was dancing with them that looked like their mom or their adult chaperone. I wanted to cast a spell on her that forced her to read parenting books 24/7. Muwahaaaaaa!

Mountain To Metro

I got a bee in my bonnet this summer & decided I was going to do a 7 mile trail run. I learned to run 7 miles in under 20 days. It was such a good experience for me. I really learned how to accept pain & push past it. Julie was a great inspiration & helped me to understand how to have a life despite injury. I ran with my friend Kristen who I met on a fitness blog.

It was a grueling run. Held at 3pm in the burning sun & straight up hill for the first couple of miles.

This little came out & ran the last leg with his dad across the finish line. It was so cute!

I finished at about 1 hour & 18 min. I finished 95th out of 132 and placed 4th in my age group out of 9 women. The fastest runner averaged a 6 1/2 minute mile.

My swag.