Halloween Mishaps

I always say that parents practice and make mistakes on their oldest child. We ruin them and scar them for life with choices we think are correct at the time. My oldest has had enough happen to him that he will be in therapy for his entire life, due to us! That being said, I would like to share two stories that I am sure he and his therapist will be analyzing for a very long time.

Being new parents we wanted to make memories for Matt since he wouldn't remember his first Halloween, plus we were looking for that perfect Christmas card shot. My husband went out to find the biggest pumpkin he could, carved it, and decided that Matt needed to be placed inside the pumpkin and have his picture taken! Where we placed the pumpkin for prime picture-taking was on the kitchen table. Oh yea...you know where this is going. Right off the table he rolled! Thank goodness, Andy was there to catch him! I searched and searched for the picture just before his big roll, but couldn't find it. Crap! But, being first-time parents we didn't stop with the roll off the table. Oh no, we continued on and insisted that we get. the. "picture". for. the. Christmas. card! Poor Matt. I do have that picture! Even our dog looks pissed!Fast forward to second grade when Matt was obsessed with astronauts. That year we searched the Internet high and low for the perfect costume. There it was. A cool astronaut costume and it even came with its own helmet---with shield. Off we went trick-or-treating in town. Everyone was commenting on Matt's costume and how original it was! We were about halfway into the evening when Matt started to walk a little slower. Thinking he was only tired from the long day..we as parents, told him to hurry up. Slower and slower Matt continued to walk until someone, NOT US, looked at him and noticed that he didn't look too good. Being clueless parents, we didn't notice that Matt had slowly begun to pass out on his exhaled breath. We whipped off this helmet and in no time he felt better. This year they will be Ghostbusters...although they were talking this morning that they might change to something scary. Who knows what tonight will bring. Hopefully not more stories for the therapist. Happy Halloween everyone!

Wisp

This wasn't a fun project for me. The yarn, Kid's Silk Haze, gave me many problems so I had to rip back many times. For those of you that have used this yarn, KSH is not a fun yarn to rip back. This was suppose to be a gift...but I'm not happy with the results and therefore I am keeping it. Enjoy the pictures....I'm just glad it's done.

The Art of Living In the Country

I didn't know what I wanted to write about today, but then my mom sent me this link. I apologize in advance if you think I am laughing at all the city dwellers out there, but this is kinda funny! Especially the quote that says,

"I feel I’m more of an intellectual artist and they’re kind of machine people,” he said. “Everyone has their own backhoe up there, and their kids have A.T.V.’s and motorboats. And they all have guns, which scares me.” or maybe this one:

"After disturbing a camouflaged fellow in a tree during a family hike last autumn, Mr. Wolf wrote a letter to the hunting club that leases the land beside his, asking members to “please make sure your bullets don’t cross my property lines.”

Maybe showing off your money in the country ain't all that it's cracked up to be.

Have a great weekend everyone! I'm off to put on my camo, jump on my ATV and go shoot things with my gun!

Added later: My brother told me that the pig looked dead and it didn't go very well with my camo quote...ie: it looked like I killed the pig. Here is a picture of our country landscape that I view every single day.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Actually, I don't want the rain to go away because it allows me to get some inside work completed. It's time to hunker down and start to hibernate. Made these muffins this past weekend. Try them! It's a terrific recipe!Another view of our road. Sadly, with this rain, the leaves have come down. Can't complain though! We have had a glorious Fall!

TGIF!

That's all I can say. I am one tired person! The whole event was a huge success! We made well over our goal and the President of the Association is very happy with me and my committee! Only had one ticked off( never at the meetings , but always the first to complain) board member that sorta deflated my sails last night. But after much reflection and speaking with the people that count, I'm over it! Thanks for your kind comments through out this adventure. Now it's time for a break...or in a couple of hours, a nice cold one!

Kids are home with a half day today, so we off to buy books and new fish for the aquarium. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Catch You On the Flipside!

After months and months of preparation we are ready to go. All that is left, is to sell 8K of handbags in two hours. Our goal is to make half of the retail! It's all up to the bidders at this point.As I am always late to the party, I discovered another new site called Parent Hacks. I guess it has been around for awhile. Who knew? It has great tips for parents from parents.

Lastly, another view down our road. Not too spectacular this year due to the warm weather. The boys are still wearing shorts to school. It's October 18th people! We usually have had snow by this time!

Blog Action Day

I wish I had some wonderful advice about how to "go green." or simplify your life or all the other environmental topics I have seen out in Blogland today. The only thing I can speak to is how thankful I feel to live in a part of the country where green areas are all around us. It's a hot topic in our community as of late as the suburbs continue their creep toward our rural community. It has divided neighbors and more people have come out to vote in town and village elections. It is a topic worth discussing. My husband and I have made choices that have affected promotions and incomes to stay and raise our children in our little area of the world. For now, we think we have made the right choice. And hey, where else can you buy any size pumpkin for a buck!?

Cooperstown!

Cooperstown. Just say the word and a baseball fan will perk up his ears! It's the place where the true diehards of baseball dream to visit and that's exactly what we did on Monday. The thing is, Cooperstown isn't half a country away from us. We didn't plan our vacation around the visit. In fact, it's an hour and half drive from our home. It was our boys third trip and my fifth. Let's just say, the men can go on their own the next time. Cooperstown is a beautiful little village. The houses are immaculate, as are the gardens. You drive in thinking that maybe you might be able to get a little shopping done while the guys are looking at the umpteenth baseball that flew over the Green Monster at Fenway. Wrong! Every shop in the entire village is devoted to baseball. Oh, I'm sure I missed some small gift store, so I apologize to those who live in Cooperstown. But, I think to myself every time I'm there about that poor mother that forgot to buy a birthday gift...where exactly does she go in a moment's notice?Anyway, we did have fun and the old hubby took off from work so that was a nice addition. I didn't get too many good pictures because it was a gloomy day! And baseball is fun in October! GO RED SOX!

My Five Seconds of Fame

This is what I had to do this morning for the darn purse auction. I will be so glad when this is all over!

http://www.9wsyr.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=204349@video.wixt.com&navCatId=1127

Enjoy!

New To Me

FAGE Greek Yogurt

I heard people talking about it and had to try it! Yummy! It should be at $2 a container, but they've converted me!

Friday Round-up

It's been a busy week here at Chez Upper Pond. I'm knee deep in the silent auction preparations that I am chairing. Two weeks from today it will be over and I will be a much different person. A view of my work space:Of course, I can't say no to anyone who asks me to do anything and so I present the felted handbag that I made for a Ronald McDonald's House silent auction. This was done way before it was due. Usually, I am knitting right up to the last possible minute. Not this time! The handles and fringe were bought on my NY trip. I still get a chuckle over the fact that the clerk asked me if I was a designer. I felt so Project Runway!

Sophie Bag minus the handles

Cascade 220I know that I am getting older because I focus on the weather a lot more. It has been a beautiful Autumn here in the Northeast. The trees are just beginning to turn. Usually by this time I have changed my closet over for the winter, the heat has been on regularly, and we have had a hard frost. Not so this year. I leave you with one of my favorite parts about where I live. The trees on our road always perform spectacularly in the Fall. Over the next few weeks I will let you experience it with me. Have a wonderful weekend!

A New Site!

Remember this sweater?It was gifted to a very special baby and ended up here.Joslyn is a friend of mine whom I met through my brother and sister-in-law. Check out her site called Simple Lovely.

I only wished she lived closer so she could help me decorate my fireplace mantles.