Happy Halloween!!!

We've had a few Halloween activities this month. Starting with going to my aunt and uncle's house to get some pumpkins. I'd show you the pictures, but... ummm I forgot to take my camera.

Once we had the pumpkins for a week or so, it was time to carve them.

The carving crew:

Conor, Ceara, and Adam (Ceara's boyfriend) were the chosen ones to carve. Allie had other pressing matters to attend to that day - Kings Island.

Conor cut the top off and proceeded to get all the guts out of it.

Almost there!

Boy, that was hard work, time to break for cookies while Mom puts the pumpkin design on the pumpkin.

"I already carved the pumpkin!" Apparently carving a pumpkin is limited to cutting off the top and getting the guts out. Because that is what Conor did. I put the pattern on the pumpkin that he chose, and Jeff and I carved it out.

Ceara and Adam working hard on theirs.

Conor supervising the carving of the designs.

Whew! That was hard work, but they are all done!

Let's light em up.

*Ahem* Conor's headless horseman pumpkin.

Ceara's ghost with the headless horseman.

Adam's witch / moon design with Ceara's ghost.

All three together. I took so many pictures to try to get them all to show up. I need a new camera!

With the flash it was just like it was still day time. But I assure you the above picture was taken when it was dark!

Fast forward to two nights ago. On a Thursday night when I made 96 cookies, decorating only 72 because I burned one batch.

Conor took some in to share with his class, and I made some for Alli to do the same. She tried, she took them with her, but she left them in Sara's car when she was dropped off. I took some to my work too, and they all went quick!

Mmmmm chocolate dipped spiders. It's a good thing there are so many spiders around my house, I may not have had enough!

Just kidding! Sheesh, like I would touch a spider! I can't even step on them to kill them.

Now on Halloween night, we are preparing to go scare some treats out of our neighbors. Well, Conor is anyway. Did I ever introduce you to Sara? She's the cowgirl up there. She lived with us for a while at the beginning of the school year. She's back home now, but still comes over to visit. She also ate all the cookies that Alli left in her car yesterday... she was supposed to bring them back for our movie party last night!

And that is the outfit that Conor put together to wear this year. I say put together because it is last year's gladiator chest with a new weapon, one of my capes I had from costume parties I went to in the past, and a new skeleton mask he found this year. Oh, yeah... he's the short skeleton up there.

Why yes, Allie's hair is black now. No, it's not just a Halloween thing. She dyed it again.

And on the other side of Alli is Chrissy - another one of Alli's friends.

Chrissy is the one who supplied the pajamas with feet that Alli is wearing. They are going to be passing out candy to all the kids who come to our house while we take Conor around the neighborhood to get some candy for Jeff... or wait. For Conor. :)

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!!

Don't forget to check your candy before eating it!

The Man Cave

guest blog by Jeff

This is the "Man Cave"

I try to take Conor camping at least once every year, but I didn't make it this year. We did get to go kayaking, but I thought it would be a good idea if Conor and I (Jeff) had a place where we could go and hang out together that was kind of like camping. I have been trying to organize stuff in the garage to sell at a flea market or something. I sure would like to get a flat screen this year. Anyway, the idea came to me that the shed in back could be a cool place to hang out. The idea of the "Man Cave" was a sure win! Even if I never make it to sell all the junk we have, you can't lose by creating a little more room by organizing a few things and finding a great way to spend time with your kid.

Come on in if your a man!

Do you have what it takes to protect the Man Cave?

We got a lot of cool stuff in here, like the triplane kite Nana got Dad for his birthday one year.

No "Man Cave" is complete without hot drinks like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate!

We have many "man" tools in here too. Let's see -

hose, weedtrimmer, chainsaw, scented candle (Say what?!?)

" Back away from the man tools!"

IM SERIOUS!!!!!

"Someone else guard for awhile."

"What's there to eat or drink around this dump?"

"Did you say, 'hot chocolate'?"

"Hit's the spot!" "Ahhhhhhh!"

Remember: No girls allowed

Ceara's 15th

Ceara is 15 YAY!
No Conor, its not your cake!

Oh well!

Happy Birthday Ceara!!

Ceara at Homecoming

... more Fort Ancient

I started this post before Jeff said he wanted to do it... Jeff posted it when he did his guest post.


A couple of weeks ago, we wanted to go hiking somewhere and Jeff thought of Fort Ancient. So we packed a cooler with water and juice, a few snacks, and we went on our way. We took Teddy with us, too.

In the picnic area there were these buildings made of sticks and rope.

Jeff said they were watch towers. There was a ladder going up the center of the structure.

And there were the ones with a bench and a fire pit.

I saw some cattails growing on the side of the trail and I was reminded of my childhood - they grew around one of the houses I grew up in. We used to pick them and then watch in wonder as the brown part expanded as we picked it off.

Fort Ancient Trip

- guest post by Jeff

"They engineered the position of the walls with reference to the most secure places with admirable skill. Think of thousands of men and women toiling on the brow of this high hill with wicker baskets, skins, etc., piling up such an enormous earthwork by mere strength of hand and back. They had no shovels, no picks, no barrows; in fact, no tools at all, such as we use." --Warren K. Moorehead 1890 It’s amazing how many people go on vacation on the days right before school and Labor Day.
Some people went to Florida, some Gatlinburg; but we went to Oregonia -because it is cheaper.
I guess Mickey and SpongeBob will have to wait another year; besides, there is a diamond in my own backyard.

Just a few miles down the road and at $6.00 per adult - $4.00 per child (Conor is 6) a record of a civilization that lived centuries before at a place called “Fort Ancient”.

http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/ftancien/fa-01.html
http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/places/sw04/index.shtml

Is it dumb to take pictures of signs? I don’t know, but it may help to tell a story. I read this sign thinking about what a sight this must have been like, with giant glaciers easing their way across the land and melting while that little squirrel thing is scurrying to get his acorn out in front. Did you catch the part about the “270 foot deep gorge”? Yeah, not even a football field – but tall as a 20 story building! Did you read the part about “steep sided gorge”? To me, the sign basically says, “Abandon hope; all ye who enter here!” - from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Except in this case, there are 20 stories of hell; because the further you go down, the more you have to climb back up.

20 stories
We would have went to the museum, but we had the dog with us.
Abandon hope all ye who enter here!
Thank God for stairs.
Don't pull!

The trails

A bridge!

Taking a break.