Then we headed up to school for Alex’s class party!  He insisted that Elliott join him on the carpet.  In fact, the other day he asked me if Elliott could just go to school with him every day and have her own desk….but I’ll save those big brother stories for another post.

He did great at the Don’t Drop The Eyeball race!

After that party and a couple of hours celebrating a friend’s party at Chuck E Cheese, we came home to freshen up for Trick-or Treat time!

Along the way, we ran into lots of friends and saw so many wonderful costumes.  My shy little girl wasn’t sure what to think of the whole trick-or-treat concept at first, but quickly warmed up to it and enjoyed it immensely!  Alex was a sweetheart, of course, with his gentle voice and wonderful manners.  He helped little sis with her bag and made sure she said ‘thank you’ every time.

My tired kids came home with insane amounts of candy and huge smiles on their faces.  I don’t know about you guys, but I’m already ready for next Halloween!

Oh…and while Shayne didn’t dress up this year, he was inspired for possible costumes next year.  I’m not sure what I’ll be, but I’ll be brainstorming.  How about you guys?  Did you dress up this year?  What were you?  Do you have ideas for next year?

She loves it and carries it everywhere, calling it her purse.

We carved our pumpkins this week, too!

Halloween is a big deal in our house.  We love it!  I love the planning and anticipation.  I love the excitement in the kids’ eyes.  I love the smell of a cut pumpkin as we’re carving into it.  And….umm…I love the candy.

What do you love about Halloween?

And by deskunk, I literally mean how to get the skunk smell out if one of your pets (or god forbid, YOU) have tangoed with one of these smelly critters….its actually pretty simple, you just need 4 ingredients. White vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and water. If your carpet or couch are affected, I recommend a steam-type cleaner, I used a “Little Green Machine,” made by Bissell.

For carpeting (or upholstery, I’m guessing), sprinkle a liberal coating of baking soda on the affected area….don’t be afraid to use too much…we’ll take care of it in a moment or two. Now, if you don’t have a carpet/upholstery cleaner…you’re going to have to let the next step dry for a bit before you can vacuum it up…but spray some of the white vinegar directly onto the baking soda. It’ll fizz a bit, maybe a lot, depending how much of each ingredient you’re using. My entire house reeked before we did this…and I think if not all the smell, we got most of the smell out in about 10 minutes.

If you’re using a carpet cleaner…spare yourself the spraying and just add as much white vinegar to the resivoir as you would use cleaning solution….fill to where its to be filled with warm water….and apply to the carpet. I recommend spraying it on and letting it do its thing with the baking soda for a few seconds before extracting it all.

For the pet who’s been affected….do this as quickly as possible after the encounter. However, I rinsed our dog w/plain water last night and some shampoo, just to make sure her eyes were ok, and left her sleep on the old couch in the garage….so about 7-8 hours had passed before we tried this….

Mix two quarts of hydrogen peroxide with 1/2 a cup baking soda and rub into the pet’s fur. Let sit for just a moment or two…as long as you can with a wiggly critter. Then, rinse them well, and voila! They’ll be clean and should be stink free. If it doesn’t work, its safe to repeat…hopefully you’ll be lucky like we were and not have to repeat a second time.

If you actually need these tricks….I’m so sorry. We discovered very quickly that its not a pleasant experience. Hoping you never need to know this stuff….. Diane

I may be a bit partial because of my obsession with the color green and, well….the fact that I adore this kid, but….I’m pretty sure she’s rockin’ the Babylegs this fall.

And, just for kicks, I had to share this next picture.  The story that goes along with it is as follows:

We were outside that morning enjoying the cool air when the trash truck turned onto our street.  Now, while Elliott is the toughest, bravest, most fearless person I’ve ever known, there is one thing that sends her running to Mommy….and that’s the trash truck.  She whimpers and hides from it without ever taking her eyes off of it.  Just after I got this picture of her, she turns to me and says, “Mommy!  Truck!  EAT!!!”

So I ask, “The truck eats?”

She’s looking very concerned as she watches it continue down our street. “Uh huh!”

Understanding that the truck must seem like some fearsome, prehistoric animal when you’re under 3 ft tall, I play along and say, “Yep.  The truck eats the trash.”

She looks at me and shakes her head.  “No.  Truck.  Eat.  Mimi!!!!”

“The truck is going to eat Grammy??”

With her lip quivering, she very gravely nods and says, “Uh huh.”

Once I got her to understand that the truck only ‘eats’ trash and will not harm her Grammy, she felt a bit better.  She is still a bit suspicious of it and keeps her eye on it every second while it’s doing its business.

]]> http://www.thegreenwife.com/family-life/mossy-missy/feed/ http://www.thegreenwife.com/frommetoyou/product-reviews/there-is-something-you-should-know-about-me/ http://www.thegreenwife.com/frommetoyou/product-reviews/there-is-something-you-should-know-about-me/#comments Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:21:43 +0000 abbie http://www.thegreenwife.com/?p=360 And it is that I have a very deep love for, appreciation for, and addiction to handmade items. I get a lovely warm and fuzzy feeling when I think about the creativity, planning, expense, time and love that go into each creation. The mind of a crafty person fascinates me and thrills me to no end.

This is why I’ve been on Cloud 9 ever since getting the mail today. Another of my husband’s clients sent a magnificent package in the mail and I think the whole world should know just how cool this stuff is!

Look!
It’s a wallet:

And a bag!

How wonderful are those??

How can you get your hands on some? Slaughterhead.com, baby. They’ve got bags, wallets, shirts….good stuff! And the thing is….it’s a really cool couple handmaking these things in a beautiful team effort. How cool is that?? Their designs are beautiful and their craftsmanship is impeccable.

So what do you think? How many are you going to order??

Campaign signs. Sure, the candidates will have them posted on every available surface. That’s just what they do. But…here’s my hang-up….why, oh why do everyday people feel the need to post signs in their yard? Or put stickers on their car? Or tattoo it on their foreheads?

I understand feeling strongly about certain issues. I do! I really, really, reallllly do! But at the same time, I realize that when it comes down to it, nobody cares what my stance is. My opinions, in the long run, are not going to affect theirs. I don’t post signs in my yard that state my feelings.

I feel like some people think having an opinion on the election somehow makes them seem more intelligent or more educated. Hey Bubba….that campaign sign doesn’t raise your IQ. I really hope that each sign posted has come from someone who has a good, thorough understanding of the issues and the candidate’s plans concerning those issues.

If posting publicly makes people feel that they’re making a difference, then great! Good! However…my stance on your stance is:

A) While I do care about the outcome of the election, I do not care one iota what your stance is.

B) Seeing that thing stuck in your sod out front is not going to sway my opinions on the issues.

And, after talking to friends and family about this, I find they have similar views.

I guess what I’m saying will have just as little effect on the world as the campaign yard signs do. But, I just really needed to say that. So thank you.

Now….while I try to digest the fact that while election day is looming over us like a dark cloud and I still get sick when I picture myself actually reaching my hand out at the ballot and voting for either candidate, maybe I’ll go drive around the neighborhood and see which one of them has the most signs out.

**Disclaimer for my ranting: I love you all even if you have campaign junk posted. What I really care about when it comes down to it is how we’re going to survive this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. Let’s all do our best to conserve where we can and work together on bring our USA back to good. Signs and all ; )

He looks so handsome and grown up!  He was a bit disappointed that the kids in his class said that, “Peace doesn’t matter.”  I was kind of at a loss when he told me that.  I wasn’t sure what to tell him except that without peace and love, our lives would be so sadly different and that one day they will understand that, too.

This picture of Elliott captured her look that can mean two things.

A) “I’m going through a really bashful stage and have no need to make eye contact with you, so pardon me while I chew my fingernails.”

B) “I’m ignoring your instruction and will do whatever I darn well please the second you look away.”

And here she is getting to know our neighborhood gargoyle:

Also, she would like you to note that the gargoyle has eyes.

(Thanks, Sara and Steve, for the use of your gargoyle.  Elliott likes to play in your front yard while you’re gone.)

Also…orchids.  Today, we received a huge, lovely shipment of fresh orchids…direct from Singapore!  A client of Shayne’s sent them as a thank you gift and they were such a lovely surprise!  I’ve got them decorating my house…and the houses of friends and family.

Aren’t they lovely??

Everyone in the crowd was quickly coming to realize that they didn’t trust either candidate enough to put themselves at risk like that…..and, in turn, realizing that they didn’t trust either of them enough to put their vote of good faith toward that candidate. Over the course of the dream, the general emotion went from excitement to dread to panic to just plain depression. It was a heavy blanket of realization laying upon these people as they accepted that neither candidate earned their trust.

So….it doesn’t take tea leaves, palm reading or a crystal ball to figure out where I stand on this election. During the presidential debate last night, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, vomit, or take my family and move deep into the mountains never to be seen by other human eyes again. At least the VP debate made me laugh a little. Then again, McCain did take a stab at a hair plug joke. Ugh.

I just hope that after I vote, I won’t sickly regret my decision. I hope that the lesser of the two evils is voted into office….and I hope that we all survive it. I hope that our country can heal itself in so many areas and earn back the trust of its citizens and countries around the world.

Oh….and when can we dispose of this electoral college b.s.?

How could anyone resist these?

I found the original recipe at allrecipes.com, but made a few minor changes to make the recipe a little more to my taste.  Here’s my version:

Abbie’s Fudge Puddles

1 cup softened butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar*
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla**
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Preheat to 325.

Mix butter, peanut butter, and sugars until creamy.  Mix in eggs and vanilla.  In a separate, smaller bowl, mix your flour, baking soda and salt.  And to peanut butter mixture.  Once you’ve got your dough mixed well, roll into 1 inch balls and place in greased mini-muffin pans.  Bake for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.

Immediately press center of cookies with melon baller ( I use a round teaspoon) and then let cookies cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.  Any less time and they’ll be too soft to transfer in one piece and any longer, they might get too hard and stick/break.

For fabulous fudge filling:

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips***
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla.

You can use a double boiler to melt this, but I just put them in a Pyrex bowl and microwave them for 1 minute.  Stir, then microwave in 20 second increments until nice and smooth.  Spoon into cookies and allow a few minutes to set.

*I love using dark brown sugar for a richer taste.
** I keep the huge bottles of clear Mexican vanilla on hand. I prefer the clear, because with the Mexican clear, you still get the amazing flavor, but it doesn’t affect the color of my icing when I decorate cakes.
*** I prefer semi-sweet to the sweeter milk chocolate, but do whatever appeals to you.

Now, if we can just be patient for the next few weeks until Halloween is here!