Why the potato peeler I found at the Dollar Tree really wasn't all that great of a deal...

I was doing great until I hit a bruise on my fourth potato and tried to "gouge" it out with the "gougy" part on the peeler.

Here's what I found in our bed after I got out of the shower this morning. :)

Heard from the other side of Ellie's door

Blake, Ellie and Charlie were in Ellie's room with the door closed.

They were piling stuff up in front of the door to block the "giants" out.

Ellie's voice: "Charlie, get on, we need more WEIGHT!"

These are the kinds of things I hear from the back seat of the car

Mommy, I have a new song. It's called "I don't want to be a finger anymore."

Okay...

Some pics for Devonna

Here are the other pictures from last Friday.

Love ya, Devonna!

A friend loves at all times

...even when it is heartbreaking.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Yesterday was an extremely long, hard, emotional day. I know she's in the right hands now and among people who love and care about her. I won't go into the whole story, but I can say that I shed many, many tears yesterday. It just breaks my heart in two. It was also a good reminder to me of where I am and where I want to be and where I need to be.

Something serious, for a change

I normally use this blog to share with you all the crazy/silly/funny happenings in our little family. But tonight I come here with a serious request for prayer.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be driving a very good friend down to Rainrock to walk with her through the intake process. This will be her second stay at Rainrock, and all I can say at this point is that she's very, very sick right now and needs to get better. If she gets any worse, well, she really can't, she won't survive it. Please pray for her and also for me, as it will be a difficult and emotional day for many reasons. I'm so scared for my friend, but I know she will be in the right hands within the next 24 hours. Also, just being back there is going to be really hard for me. The one time I visited back in July, I had to leave early because I couldn't stop crying. It's a very emotional place for me to be.

Shawn and Charlie, on a visit down to see me while I was there.

"Friend", you know who you are - and I know you check my blog. You are in-flight on your way here to Portland as I type this. I love you. I care for you. I want more than anything for you to find healing and hope. Please be strong, I know you can do this, I believe in you. I know you are still in there somewhere and you can hear me, although you're very sick right now.

Breathe. It's going to be okay. And know that I am always, always here for you. And if you need to be reminded of all the people who love and support you...

Halloween...and stuff

I've been putting off posting about Halloween for a variety of reasons, among them:

1. Shawn and I were "mustard and ketchup" and I really don't need any photo evidence of this fact. Just take a good look at Shawn's costume and think RED.

2. We hung out with the likes of these people...and others like them.

3. Does anyone in the world really need to see this?

4. Or, more specifically, this?

5. It was a wedding. On Halloween. Officiated by the dude in the gigantic glasses on the far left.

6. The bride and groom were dressed as Frankenstein and his bride and their vows included things like, "I'll love you until my guts fall out and my head rusts and falls off".

So, that pretty much sums up our Halloween.

Moving on...

Yesterday (Tuesday) Christine and I took the kids to the zoo. It was totally random, unplanned and fun! It was a little cold and rainy, so we were practically the ONLY ones at the zoo. Here's the kids on the way to the car, all excited for the zoo!

We squeezed all 3 into the backseat of our car - I couldn't manage to get a shot of all three, but here's Ellie and Charlie.


Everybody wanted to ride in the cheap-o rental cart thingy, rather than the "deluxe" stroller - which I ended up just pushing around empty for most of the day. Whatever. At least we had a plush, comfy, all-terrain stroller to stash all of our backpacks and purses and stuff - complete with drink holders.

The leaves were amazing - Ellie collected a bunch of huge ones.

Here's a shot I took at the EXACT moment that Charlie had just run out of the log and right into Blake, knocking them both to the ground. You can see part of Blake's leg and arm up in the air as he was falling to the ground. It was a very sad moment for Blake!

A few shots on the good ole' tractor seats.

For comparison, here's one from about a year and a half ago:

Stupid Parent Tricks

On Saturday, Charlie was really sick with a bad cold. By late morning, he was super cranky and tired. Even though he doesn't take naps anymore, I really thought he needed one. So, I had the brilliant idea to just drive him around in the car for awhile until he fell asleep, then drive him back home and transfer him into his bed for a nice long peaceful nap.

A good idea? Yes. Very. And it was working like magic. Charlie was just nodding off, his little eyes were fluttering shut, his breathing becoming slow and deep...when we realized we were getting close to IKEA. Yes, IKEA. The 280,000 square foot store filled with noise and brightness and thousands of crazed shoppers. So, what do we decide to do?

(Giddily): "Gee, let's go to IKEA!"

We were doing okay for about the first hour or so. Charlie was just kind of quiet and sleepy and calm. Then he pooped and I hadn't brought any diapers in so I had to use a "courtesy diaper" from the bathroom that was a size 3. Charlie's size 6 diapers are tight on him. Let's just say it was a bit of a stretch. Then he decided he didn't want to ride in the stroller anymore, he wanted to walk instead. And then I had to go potty and Shawn and I decided we would just use our cell phones to reconnect. Our cell phones have no coverage inside the store. Oh, and did I mention the store is 280,000 square feet? Took about a half hour to find eachother again...and then it happened:

THE BIGGEST TANTRUM IN ALL OF CHARLIE HISTORY

And we were upstairs, about 3 miles away from the exit. We had to transport him across the entire upstairs of the store, through each of the showrooms with all the pretty lamps & cute rugs & 99 cent oven mitts, down the elevator filled with happy shoppers, and out the huge main entrance through the parking lot to our car: all the while screaming, kicking, flailing, flopping, and, oh, did I mention screaming?

Can someone please tell me what we were thinking???