Nov. 4, 2008

Don't forget to get out and vote!

Not going to lie

This is what happens when the kids are asleep and there is un-guarded Halloween candy in the house. I wish I could deny it, but it wouldn't be right. I will add that I had a partner in crime, Amy, who ate just as much as I did. Unfortunately this picture was taken before we were finished.

Picnic supper

Halloween Pictures

Jazmin (distorted of course for legal reasons) went as Dumbo the Elephant. Super cute!
Damon, Trevor, Ryan and Jacob at the Monticello Nursing Home parade Halloween morning.

Maggie the skunk, and Ryan getting ready to trick-or-treat. He actually drove himself and her to the neighbors, but then we parked the car and did some walking.

My first attempt in years at carving pumpkins. This is usually Joel's job, but he didn't have time to do it before he left. I don't think they turned out too bad considering I did all 3 of them in an hour, and it was 11pm before I even started! Thanks a ton to Sam who sorted the seeds so I can bake them up for Joel when he gets home.

Random shots

Reading in the tub

I've been in the process of trying to re-organize the kid's toys and books. This is a never ending job, and just when I find a toy box or bookcase that works, someone has a birthday. For Ryan's 3rd birthday he got a ton of bigger kid books, which was awesome. What isn't awesome is when he and Jake thought they should add some of their own illustrations to them. So, I took all the "paper" books (left the cardboard books) and put them in a bin. I had them under Jake's bed, but they discovered them. Since there is a lock on my bathroom door, and they are never in there w/out me I figured they would be safe in there. So, now while I shower, instead of wondering what the kids are getting into, and rushing a 10 minute shower into 3, they sit in the bathroom and read. I hardly know what to do with the 7 extra minutes!

A skyline from China

Joel sent an update to his co-workers, as well as some family. He included this picture, which is pretty cool. Here's his description of where it was taken.

"Thursday evening we went out to dinner at a swank little place called “M on the Bund.” The Bund is kind of like a boardwalk on a river. The attached picture is of the east bank of the Yangtze River, taken from the top floor patio of a seven story building on the west side of the river. There are two buildings on the right, one of which is multi-colored and the other reads Aurora at the top and looks like it has a camera’s flash spot on it. I assure, at that distance, my camera is not creating the flash spot. Those two buildings are essentially 40 story TV screens, constantly changing images. "