NaNoWriMo: The 5th Day In...

National Novel Writing Month is in full swing. My life right now can only be expressed by this clip from The Family Guy:



Oh wait... that's my life every day.

Actually, its not that bad. I'm lucky that I have my husband and MIL here to save my sanity (ie take the kids out of my hair for a few hours every day, so my bum can go numb as I plant myself in front of the computer). They think I'm working hard - which technically I am - but I see my writing time as more of a vacation from my kids than as hard work.

Will I hit my 50k NaNo goal this month? Um. I'm not sure. But if my kids don't drive me crazy before the month is up then... maybe.

Here's a big GOOD LUCK to all you other writers who are plodding along with the goal to hit 50k in Nov! And while I'm doing shout outs - here's a huge THANK YOU to Holly and Jim for taking my broken laptop under their wing and getting it fixed and mailed back in time for speed-typing! Woot!

xoxo,

Goodbye Summer, Goodbye Ice Cream

The first frost of the year just hit the other day, and the weather has been crisp and biting ever since. Last week, however, summer was fighting to stay (this is Texas, after all) and with it... the ice cream truck and her chime that any kid can hear within a 50 mile radius, still rambling down our street.

No ice cream is as good as an ice cream truck's ice cream. I'm not talking taste - I can think of a billion better tasting ice creams. But the magic of an ice cream truck, of hearing that music, running outside with your fingers jingling spare change, and then standing there at the curb, the driver waiting, while you look at the wide selection... I can't think of a better kind of magic.

I've been looking forward to enjoying autumn and winter since spring first hit. When you live in Texas, and that the sweltering heat beats down for months, nothing sounds better than the freezing cold, and snuggling under a blanket with steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

But since the first frost has hit, and I know we've tasted our last ice cream truck ice creams, I can't help looking forward to next summer.

You know its a good ice cream by the intense happiness on Annelie's face. Or maybe that's brain freeze.

xoxo,

Halloween 2008 - Cuter Than I Remembered

I didn't do a Halloween post, with pictures of the girls in their costumes, last year. I remember being so annoyed with the fact that I couldn't get even one good picture of the two of them. All I wanted was one picture. One teeny, tiny, measly little adorable picture of two smiling happy children in their costumes. One. Is that too much to ask for?

Yes.

But about an hour ago, when I was glaring at the photos I took this year - blurry photos because they were wiggling, funky photos because they were smiling weird, photos with eyes closed, photos with tongues sticking out... - it made me want to go back and see just how awful last year's photos were.

And you know what? Last years pictures were pretty darned cute.

"Heeeeey. Your tutu is foofier than mine."

Gracie: As sassy as always.

"Smile, Annelie. Smile. Laugh. Come on. Smile. Say cheese."

Annelie always looked so serious as a baby. Now she'll smile on command, but it is a very forced smile.

"Mmmmm... candy."

"Gimme yours."

"No!"

They might have annoyed me last year, but they sum up my kids perfectly. I wonder how I'll view this year's photos when I look back at them next year. Right now, this is pretty much the only one I sort of like:
I just can't get them to smile at the camera together... Oh well, there's always next year!

xoxo,

Happy Haunting

You just can't have Halloween without carved pumpkins.

This year, my kids conned me into carving fancy pumpkins. Forget about Jack and his grinning pumpkin face... Annelie wanted a silly, spooky monster and Gracie wanted a haunted house.

Gracie thought the pumpkin guts were absolutely revolting and couldn't wait to wash her hands.

Annelie thought the pumpkin guts were fantastic and couldn't slime her hands enough.

A carved pumpkin on a step isn't anything special on its own. But add in the darkness and a candle...

ooooooh.... spooky!

And of course, the best part of a pumpkin...

Roasted, salted pumpkin seeds!

Happy Halloween, folks!

xoxo,

Friday Flashback: Halloween 1990

Of all the Halloween costumes I had in my childhood, this one was by far my favorite. I'm that ten year old colonial girl there, contemplating the best way to pull a powder frosted donut off a string.

Yep. A colonial girl.

Did I forget to mention that I was the world's dorkiest 4th grader? I even remember a boy from my class making fun of my costume that year and I was like, "Are you kidding me? This is the best costume EVER." (Daniel, I'm still offended that you'd make fun of my totally awesome costume. Just sayin')

This picture was taken at a Girl Scout Halloween party. My troop was as Troop Beverly Hills as you could get - we didn't want to wear uniforms (actually, I secretly did), we didn't want to earn patches for building campfires or learning strong leadership skills (secretly wanted some of those, too)... all our troop did was have parties, go on a couple of field trips, and sell cookies. We completely skipped anything valuable about being in a GS troop (minus the cookie selling... VERY valuable. Caramel Delights are the best) and didn't learn one single thing about team building, strong values, social conscience, and conviction about our own potential and self-worth - kinda the whole point of Girl Scouts, ya know?

Anyway, let me just say, I'm totally digging the mullet behind me. And also, how historically accurate would it be for a colonial girl and a Native American Indian princess to eat donuts together, do you think?

Have a flashback of your own? Head on over to Christopher and Tia's blog for the best meme in town!


xoxo,

Small Surprises are the BEST

There are very few things in this world that are cuter than a scrappy little shaggy-haired two year old running in from a walk with Nana, fists clenched around the surprise she picked just for her mom.
Crumpled leaves. A whole handful of them.

I'm the luckiest mom in the world!

xoxo,

Elegant Snobbery is Back!

The last of the boxes are still piled all around, but things are definitely settling for us, in our new house. I'm still up to my ears in things-to-do... but I just really hate not having my shop open so the doors are now open!

Next week starts an insanely busy month for me, as I attempt NaNoWriMo again this year. I'm optimistic about hitting my writing goal, but now I have a beta-reader (a person who is reading my work and giving me editing feedback and challenging my thought-process as I write), so I may not be able to get all of my words done (with NaNo, you pretty much have to type type type without editing or else it is hard to finish).

In any event, I've suckered 3 of my lovely blog friends into signing up and attempting the 50,000-word-novella-in-one-month goal. I'm more than happy to sucker more, so if you haven't signed up, DO IT! and also, be my NaNoBFF! You can find me under Elegant Snobbery!

xoxo,