My friend Kim posted this on her blog the other day, and then I heard it again this morning on NPR.

It made me laugh both times, not that it's hard to do that... but come on- I gotta share the Jack Handey love. ;)

Plus, I never get sick of a little skeleton humor.

Crop Addict November layouts (click on the image for a larger view):





A few projects (the altered tray is a Christmas sign/hangy thing that I am making for a Christmas Bazaar I am participating in):


And mini album:

Sorry for the delay in posting- for some reason, the days we are at home seem to fly by even faster than the ones full of plans.

I have been waiting to post so I could update with new ultrasound pics, but I haven't had a chance to scan them in. I will *hopefully* do that tomorrow (can't now as I would wake the hubby).

Anyways- just a brief note to say that the baby is most definitely still a girl. :) No doubts about it. Game plan is still on.

And the situation we were watching (a low laying placenta) has fixed itself so no worries there too. Yay! 9 1/2 weeks to go....

Hopefully I'll have pics of her sweet face uploaded tomorrow.

ETA pics:

(If you click on the pic you can see it a lot bigger.)

The top pic is her facial profile. Look at those luscious lips! ;) She was actually drinking in this image... it was cool to see. The bottom pic is her looking straight on at the camera; she's got her little hands tucked up under her chin.

I thought of a couple more random facts about me, today in church.

1. I have this image in my head, every time we have communion, that I'm going to be passed the tray full of bitty grape juice glasses... and I'm going to drop it all. The thing is, this could totally happen to me.

2. Also, when we take communion, I always feel like I am taking shots. Plus, because grape juice is disgusting to me, I always kind of shudder and grimace afterwards. I don't think that's supposed to be my response to what's going on.

3. My brother once drew a little cartoon for me in church. It was on our bulletin insert with the song lyrics for "Change My Heart, Oh God." There's a line in the song that says, "You are the potter, I am the clay." Donovan drew this silly little picture and then crossed out the words to say "You are the Potter, I am the Snape." Every time we sing that song now, I burst into giggles.

Wow, so I'm really irreverent, hmm? This is just some of the inner workings of my warped mind, y'all.

***

I'm waiting for some paint to dry on a layout, so I will share some pics with you. The quality of the pics aren't super, but the subjects... ;)

Kids so live in this house:


This is part of our nightly routine (brushing teeth and such). I love how little dude looks like a grumpy old man. Taking after his daddy, methinks. ;)Hehe



We played outside today. It was nice, although still too dang hot. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and chilly. Wahoo!

[Speaking of tomorrow- I've got an OB appt. first thing and it will include another ultrasound. (There's a few things they want to keep an eye on, but nothing major.) Anyways, a few nights ago, Shaun says, "I think it's a boy," after feeling her (?) kick around a ton. He's starting to freak me out a little. I don't like change. I suppose we'll find out tomorrow if the first ultrasound was correct! Gulp! ]


Ok, guessing the paint is dry on the layout now. Later dudes!

The lovely Jana has tagged me to do the 7 random facts thingie going around, so here's mine! I can't remember if I've done this one already or not- how pathetic is that?! hehe

The rules:

1. Link to your tagger, and also post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of you post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

My random facts:

• I'm obsessive compulsive about leaving "unread topics" on the two message boards I visit daily (Crop Addict & Scrap Etc. ). Basically, whenever you have "unread topics" on these message boards, it leaves a little colored mark next to them. If you don't mark them as "read" or click on them, the colored marks stays colored. I have to go through and make sure all the colored marks are clicked on before I leave. It's become so much of a habit of mine, I didn't even realize I was doing it until recently. *blush*
• When I was a kid, my ambition for years on end (and recorded in my school scrapbook) was to be a detective/model/cashier/mom. Yes. All of those. Simultaneously.
• I get really grouchy when my house is dirty or messy. And also, as I've mentioned before, when my feet get rough and scratchy.
  
• I have over 100 blogs that I keep up with via bloglines.
  
• I have a brother that was just accepted into the police force. I have several stories as to why this is ironic to me, but he'd probably kill me for posting them. ;) Seriously, though, I am super proud of him.
• My 16 year old sister doesn't know it, but she is drop-dead gorgeous and gets looks from guys all the time. I give them the evil eye when I can.
  
• I once lived in Germany for three years.
  

And there you have it. Fascinating, hmm? ;)

I am not tagging anyone, because I'm not sure who all has done this and who hasn't. But if you want to play along, let me know in the comments!

Here's some pics from our visit to Grams' house. We went to the park one day, which is so much more fun for everyone when there is at least one adult per kid. :)

Em also got to make some cookies with my Grams... which she unfortunately threw up later that night. [Forgot to mention that part earlier.] Stomach bugs are SO much fun. Fortunately, my mom and sister were able to jump right in and help clean up everything. I can't imagine trying to deal with all that on my own... :P

(Sorry there's like a bazillion pics here. Gotta show off the cuteness.)

Also, has anyone noticed my ticker up there at the top?!! When did I hit the third trimester??? Wowza. That's insane. It's down to crunch time, folks. Time to start buying little diapers, boiling bottles, assessing the clothing situation, picking up a package of pacifiers that she probably won't use, and packing bags "just in case."

Oh, and making sure Christmas stuff is all ready. Ai yi yi.

We finally made it back home last night, and it feels so good. Just something about your own environment... I have to echo my kiddos' sentiments they so clearly express by running around the house and dancing.

We love going to grandma's house- don't get me wrong. It's just nice to be back in our own beds.

This trip was obviously a bit different from our other ones; filled with family drama and sorrow. Going to that funeral was one of the hardest and saddest things I've ever done. Seeing my cousin's heartbreak- overwhelming at times. I think that they are starting to make the long journey of healing, though. Just continue to pray for those moments when they seem to be washed over with grief...

There were a lot of thoughts that went through my head this weekend; so many things to think and feel through. I felt pretty awkward being so obviously pregnant, but I know that I made the right decision by going. I know that just being there, showing support, was one of the things really needed. For some of us, this grief strengthened our family bonds together.

One of the things that is difficult to deal with during times of grief is the different ways people react to things. Everyone's emotions are right beneath the surface, so things are revealed about their character. Sometimes it's not even a surprising revelation, but it's still frustrating to be around.

We're so glad to be home. I'm so glad it's a rainy day and we are snuggled inside our house. I'm so thankful to be back in the same bed with my husband. I can't describe how much - especially today - I am grateful to hear my kiddos' sweet voices.

Ciao, bellas. I'll be back later with some pics from the happier moments of our trip. :)

I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words about my cousin. I am leaving tomorrow morning to visit my grams for a few days. The funeral service for my cousin's baby is Monday, so I will probably be MIA around here for a little bit.

Prayers are still needed for them... for comfort. For strength. For the ability to face the day.

Thank you.

I just found out my cousin lost his baby son- his wife was around 20 weeks pregnant with him. My heart is just breaking for them. Please pray for them.

You know, I think for some people a rainy October day would be crummy, but for me- it's renewing. Refreshing. Something about it rejuvenates me. So I was digging the weather this afternoon.

Today started out m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e. I think I got around 4 hours of sleep last night, and woke up very early with both kids in bed with us. Then, I rouse myself to Em saying "Atticus pooping!" and smelling something gross. Suffice it to say, every bed in the house got a thorough sheet & bedding changing today.

Once all the baths and loads of laundry and such were going, I got the kids ready to get out the door and we hit the park. It was overcast, which made it an eense cooler and bonus- there weren't many kids there. We played for over an hour and wore ourselves out. ;)


Little dude is pretty happy to just wander around and check things out. I wish I could get more pics of him sliding and such, but I always feel like I should have my hands free to catch him. Hehe


After a few more errands, we came home, and I checked emails and such. I looked over at my bed and found this.So I joined her. :)

At the moment, the house is pretty clean (kids pooping & peeing on things makes you have to clean it a lot!) and I have a miniBOOK about halfway finished (with the new Basic Grey Mellow line- lovin' the rich fall colors, even if we aren't seeing any around here yet).

Even with such a *dramatic* start to the day, it was actually pretty mellow. Nobody had any temper tantrums (which have become daily occurrences at our home) and we spent some good times together. Em even did a little painting, and Atticus got to watch his precious cartoons (he's into "Madagascar" big time).

And mommy got some me time this evening. Yahoo.

I've had two really great weekends with the most amazing, fun times- in a row.

However, for some reason, it just makes Mondays all the worse.

Can I just say:

If I hear one freaking more time "You've got your hands full!" from some jerkbutt, smirking person, who watches me struggle with my two little ones and their multiple bags, blankies, and Lambies, I'm going to say some words that a mama really shouldn't say outloud to strangers.

It's been a rough day.

And tonight we are trying to get the kids to sleep in the same room together.

Fun times. Fun times.

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with a much more cheerful & entertaining post.

Oh and Carol- I'm so using that heatpack thing for my back tonight. It feels so nice. :)

I need to give a review of my weekend- which was so fabulous- but since it's like... a quarter after midnight... I'm just going to upload some layouts I did and hopefully blog when I'm a bit more refreshed. ;) (The first three are older ones that I never scanned in, the last three are new from this weekend!)