Carving Pumpkins…

Welcome Back!!

This year Jack took carving pumpkins into his own hands (with Jason right beside him.) 😉

They had bought a carving kit and they both agreed certain tools were amazing!  Jack planned out his idea and got right to work.

 The small cutting blade was the best!

And the end product!! Jack was pretty proud of himself and he should be…only 2 out of the 4 people in our family can carve pumpkins!

Where’s Sam’s carved pumpkin? He got one whiff of the insides and off he went as far away from the kitchen as possible.  His pumpkin is still fully intact who’s is a-ok with him! 😉

 

A Minimalist?

Hello!

The other day Jack told me he was going to turn his room into a hotel room so he could create a spy movie. (The kid is always thinking about a movie to create.) So, after not hearing from Jack for a bit, I went up to his room and much to my HUGE surprise, he had taken EVERYTHING down off his walls. OH MY!

Please remember, that every inch of Jack’s walls had a poster, drawing, pennant, sports towel or bulletin board of some sort. I was a bit taken back.

“Why is everything off your walls?”
“I told you I was going to make my room look like a hotel room.”
‘”I guess you are. What else are you going to do?”
“I am going to take everything out of here and rearrange.”
“Where are you going to put all this stuff?”
“In the hall.”

Well, basically putting his bedroom in the hallway was NOT going to work and I suddenly found myself helping Jack for the next 4 hours clear out his room.

Here is Jack’s bedroom AKA a hotel room!


(The TV has been taken out and is not longer on the desk) Can you see all the white marks on his walls? Those are from the many tacs he used to hang everything on his walls.


Nothing on the shelves because hotel rooms do not have items on shelves.


The shelf unit in the lower left corner is no longer in the room.

When Jason saw it he said, “Cool dorm room!” He was quickly corrected.
Jack still hasn’t shot the movie. But, he has discovered “Basic” channels with is rabbit ears on the TV and is enjoying old shows on Me TV, such as Star Trek and Leave it to Beaver.

Priorities.

True Story…

Hello!

October is fire prevention month and I am glad to report the boys had an opportunity to practice their exit skills.

I was cooking dinner and suddenly the smoke alarms went off. (I must share this has not happened for a looooong time!)

Sam suddenly announces, “Get LOW, Jack!! We need to get out!” Of course, Jack headed down to the floor to join Sam army crawling to the front door. And then, this is true, CHARLIE got in between the boys and made herself low to crawl out with the boys.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea. I thought Charlie was on my side…that we gals were going to stick together! Nope, even she enjoyed making fun of my cooking!

Just Finished…

Hello, Fellow Readers!

I just finished
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas

Image result for the hate you give

From Amazon:

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

Wow. This book was hard to read at times due to the range of emotions that you go through chapter by chapter, but a HUGE eye opener. It brings a different perspective of police shootings of African Americans. It made me start to think how shootings are reported by the media. We usually hear about the police side of the story and rarely do we hear from the victims family or friends. This story is about the issue of police brutality from the perspective of the victim’s loved ones. Too many people are quick to jump to the conclusion that somehow the victim “deserved it”, particularly when the victim is black. Lost in all of this is how the families and communities are affected.   The Hate U Give isn’t about a movement. It’s about black lives living, and about black lives loving, and about black lives pursuing happiness and deserving freedom—just like everyone. This novel’s protagonist is sixteen years old, and she lives without an ulterior motive or agenda. Starr is just a girl who experienced a horrific tragedy, and the novel follows her journey through her grief and self-actualizations.

I am actually going to have Sam read this book. I think it provides a different insight with everything that is gong on in the world.

Definitely a 5 out of 5 stars.

Happy November!

Welcome Back!

Happy November Second!
(That smile just cracks me up!)

(This post was scheduled for Nov. 1, but since the Halloween post went up yesterday, everything is set back a day!)

You lucky viewers! Now with our new little girl, Charlie, you get to see all sorts of pictures, enjoy stories and hear about our adventures with her!

Going Old School…

Happy Halloween!

Jack (on the right) and his good friend since preschool, headed out for Trick or Treating on Monday night. It was VERY COLD! The wind made the temperature feel like 26 degrees! Brrrrr!

The boys planned and made their costumes last weekend. They went as  Old School Ghosts. They took a sheet, cut some eye holes, HOT GLUED the sheet to a stocking cap (so they wouldn’t have to fight it flying off in the wind) and they were good to go!

As you can see, the eye holes were a bit of a challenge.

They also chose to carry Old School Plastic Pumpkins, but knew the handle would be uncomfortable when the pumpkins became full of candy. So, they found some small/mini paint rollers and made them into their handles. You can see the end on Jack’s pumpkin. Perfectly comfortable!

When Jack got home, I started to check the candy for razor blades and took out what he wouldn’t want to eat (heehee.) I mentioned that he didn’t have as much as other years. He said he and his friend had so much fun hanging out tonight…it really wasn’t about the candy anymore.  That’s awesome you two enjoy each others company so much, I told him.

And then I realized, I am going to have to start buying Halloween candy for myself, because Jack’s stash just isn’t going to cut it anymore.