October

There are so many things to love about October! Firstly, the weather.  It was 85 for more than a week here. You just can't stay inside when it's that nice.

At the beginning of the month the canal downtown is dyed pink for breast Cancer Awareness month. Of course we went to see that.

It was a lot easier to see the pink in person, here it just looks like dirty water.

We went to Kelsay farms with some friends where I fell in love with the Corn Crib. What a genius idea!

Jenna Gunnel & Jamie Thompson

 We played on the Hay bale mountain and network of tunnels

 Daphne and Macy did some pumpkin bowling

 We rode the Moo Choo Train

 And took a hay ride through the fields.

 This was a really fantastic farm, and totally worth the groupon.

Then of course there are the fall leaves. Usually I don't relish yard work, but I was looking forward to taking a picture of little missy in the leaves. As it turned out, I couldn't keep her out of them She just played and played while I raked and raked.

There's also general conference, apple picking and Halloween projects to love about October. I seriously think it's my favorite months.

Jena ate a little lamb

Tonight some friends invited us over for dinner. Lamb was on the menu.

Now, lamb happens to be just about my favorite food, but it is especially tasty when it is home-grown, like this one was.

YUMMY!

Goodbye October, hello cold!

We love Halloween, so October is basically the best month of the year. Unfortunately our camera is just about the worst one ever made, so I don't take many good pictures. Sorry.

We started off the month apple picking out at Anderson orchard.

Round 1 of pumpkin carving with our friends the Nehrings

Mine

Bryce's

Bryce and Lindsey carving away

We had homemade donuts with the Jones family.

We carved a second round of pumpkins with our friends the Brooks, and made you typical pumpkin sugar cookies.

You know Bryce loves his dog.

Do you see the resemblance?

We saved our milk cartons for two months to make these cute front porch ghosts. I think it's going to become a tradition.

We went to Hanna Haunted Acres on a very wet night.

This is what a haunted hay ride during a downpour looks like. All of the haunted attractions are a lot more fun when you have to squelch through 4 inches of mud the whole time!

We had Halloween themed food

We had fall break

And the highlight...

Our 2nd annual Halloween party with our dental school friends.

Everyone is so creative. There were great costumes

Juno and Bleeker
Pillsbury dough baby

Me being and emo creepster

Bryce looking way too good as an emo boyA scarecrow and a crow

A ninja turtle and swine flu

Pippi long stocking, the other turtle, and my personal favorite, the pregnant 50's housewife (her husband was dressed as the milkman!)


The show stoppers, batman and joker. Jenna worked on those batman abs for months

And of course it's not a Halloween party without Halloween treats!

Purple People Eater Punch

Vampire Apples

and a cheese Mummy

Goodbye October, I miss you already!

Theft

Um...somebody stole my newspaper today.

It was there at 8:52 when I left to go running, and it was gone at 10:07 when I got back.

I shouldn't be terribly upset, it's only a newspaper that I hardly even skim. However, I am deeply attached to doing the crossword puzzle.

I only get the paper Thursday and Sunday and I look forward to those days with anticipation so that I can spend a stimulating hour or two solving the day's riddles. Today, someone has deprived me of that joy. That's just rude! What's next, my mail?

I suspect my next door neighbors. I think they might be mad that sometimes my dogs poop in their yard. (I ALWAYS make sure Bryce picks it up, though.)

Maybe on Sunday I will hold a stakeout and watch from the upstairs window to see if I can catch the thief. If somebody steals my Sunday coupon insert...ooh, their will be trouble!

Now I am going to have to be productive for the next hour without that crossword!

There Are No Cats In America And The Streets Are Paved With Cheese

Do you remember the movie An American Tail?

Fivel and I have two things in common.

#1: Neither of us like cats (sorry Meghan); Fivel because they eat him and me because I am allergic.

#2: We both LOVE...

CHEESE!!!

Some might even say I am a bit fanatic in my love, devotion, craving and obsession for cheese.


I love all kinds; hard, soft, smelly, melted , on top of things, under things, mixed in, as a garnish or as a main dish.

Cheddar, Provolone, Gouda, Pepper jack, Monterrey, Munster, Brie, Feta , Cream Cheese, Cheese Cake, Cottage Cheese, Mithra, Mozzarella , Cheese balls, even spray cheese...I love it in every variety

For one month every year I give up cheese. It's a matter of self-control, and it's always good to set goals. So this year I did not seek out any kind of cheese for the ENTIRE month of June.

There were a few accidental indulgences, namely when I ate dinner at someone else's house and cheese was on the menu. I couldn't very well be rude, and I promise you I didn't enjoy it!

But as today is July 1st...

For breakfast I ate mozzarella sticks and cheddar jalapeno poppers.

For lunch I think I'll have a grilled cheese sandwich and an extra cheesy pizza.

For dinner, the possibilities are endless!

You'll have to excuse me now, I need to go eat more cheese!

Flower Power

These are my very favorite flowers!



PEONIES!!!

Lucky for me they are also the Indiana state flower, so they are EVERYWHERE right now. I'm in floral paradise! I love the bright colors and the wild pink hues they come in. Their soft, sweet rose-like smell sends me into raptures. I'm amorous over their playful little buds and the big ruffly blooms that droop all over the place. The way their scent fills my whole kitchen sends me into giggle fits. And I adore the crazy looks strangers give me when I knock on their doors to ask if I can please pick one. I don't love when I bend down to inhale their glory and in so doing inhale an ant that gets stuck in my sinus cavity for two days. Gross.

I wait all year for these flowers to bloom. Apparently I am not the only one...

Peonies by Mary Oliver

This morning the green fists of the peonies are
getting ready to break my heart as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers
and they open ---pools of lace, white and pink ---

And all day under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,
the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air, and rise,
their red stems holding all that dampness and recklessness gladly and lightly,

And there it is again --- beauty
the brave, the exemplary, blazing open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly, and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,
with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness to be wild and perfect for a moment,
before they are nothing, forever?


You can definitely expect another ridiculous post about these beauties from me next May because I get this excited about them every year.