My Super Scary Halloween

Loosely adapted from The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Once upon a morning dreary, after I woke weak and weary,

Again checking blog posts, a.k.a. forgotten lore, :)

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my old back door.
`'Tis the workman,' I muttered, `tapping at the gutters core -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak October,
And each separate rain drop falling dripping, dripping on the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; when I would wake and no longer
Listen to the dripping, dripping dropping loudly outside the door
Keeping me awake for ever more.

That was then and this is now – workmen cleaning gutters lightly

Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic joys never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`I will never be awakened by the sound of rain drops dripping,

Dripping right outside my door.'

Then the scariest part happened, I devised a plan of action

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
The gutters now will not be cleaner, cleaner than my kitchen floor!

I got the mop and broom for action, and no longer was I nappin’

Slowly my plan came to fruition, as the broom and mop were swishin’

And so slowly I came a cleaning, cleaning my dirty kitchen floor,

With brush and swish and scrub, scrub, scrub, the water turned an ugly shade -

Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,

Of my clean floor sparkling as ne’er ever before.

But the water dark and dismal was not a sign but more a signal
That I must do this much more often. I must clean and dust and vaccuum
All of this and much, much more.

With the dirt so oft terrifying, I am buoyed up – not close to crying

But if I don’t keep the house clean, whoever knows what else might be seen

Lurking in the deep, dark corners of our apartment evermore.

The centipedes should run with fright, the spiders need move out tonight!

So with resolve I get the Pledge out, hoping praying that Grace won’t pout

‘Cause this Halloween is about cleaning, cleaning evermore!

Thanks for indulging me in a little Halloween fun. And yes (sadly), this is a true representation of my Halloween. The mop water really did give me quite a fright!

Happy Halloween!

Photo Tag

Thank you Andrea for the photo tag. It is for the fourth picture in my fourth picture folder. So, here it is: Easter!
I tag Annie, Taralee, Kira, Shakirra and Natasha to post the fourth photo in your fourth picture folder on your computer. Shakirra and Natasha: this is so you will post something so when I check your blog daily there will be something new to see :)

Not Lying

Thank you all for participating in my little poll. I am so pleased that we got at least one person who fit into each category. Thank you, whoever it is that sent flowers to yourself! With the percentages we got I believe Herbal Essences and won't be writing the scathing and accusatory letter that I was planning (okay, it wasn't going to be that bad, but I have been mentally writing it).

For reference, here are the results of the Herbal Essences Poll of readers of this blog:
1 person (4%) has sent her- (or him-) self flowers
1 person (4%) knows someone who has sent her- (or him-) self flowers
4 people (17%) have thought about sending flowers to themselves
18 people (78%) have never even thought of sending themselves flowers

Ding, Ding, Ding, Round One

Congrats to Rob for completing his Round One MBA applications! Now, we're on to the Round Two applications. Oh yeah, and waiting to hear back...

Our Little Pumpkin

Gweaston Halloween Party

Friday night we attended the annual Gweaston Halloween Party. Here are some highlights:

I got a dollar, hey, hey, hey, hey!
Grandma and Grandpa Gwilliam's Halloween tradition.

The whole crew.

Gracie's first trick-or-treat. She even held the bag herself!

What year was this taken? With the outfit, the carpet and the paneled walls it looks like it could have been 1968!

When it got too hot in the tiger costume, Gracie borrowed some jewelry from Grandma Annette to become Bling Baby.

Kitchen Disasters

I have had pretty good luck with the kitchen in my cooking days. I mean, everything doesn't always turn out great or even edible, but I have not had any major disasters. My old roommates, bless their hearts, had many cooking disasters and I could never really understand why. One roommate caught the trash can on fire (grease fire) and forgot what to throw on it, so tried lots of things and eventually got it out with only the trash can suffering. Another roommate tried to use my pressure cooker as a double boiler to make her spaghetti in (don't ask why...) except she didn't put any water in the bottom pot. Did you know that you can melt holes in your pots if you're not careful? She (we) learned the hard way. (By the way I wasn't home at the time.) I really wish I could find the picture of me peeking through the 8 in. diameter hole in the bottom of the pot that had melted onto the burner.

Now for the pertinent story.... It was Tuesday, I had visiting teaching at 5 pm then Rob and I both had an Activites Committee Meeting (oh yeah, that's our new calling) at 7 pm. Not much time for dinner right? So being the brilliant planner that I am, I decided we'd have soup for dinner and that I would make cornbread right before I left so when we both got home we could eat the cornbread and soup and run to our meeting. So, I made the cornbread, and as usual it spilled out over the pan into the oven. Why, oh why, don't I ever remember to put a pan underneath to catch the drip? Someday I'll learn...maybe. So Wednesday we had lasagne (thanks Dad!), so I pre-heated the oven and sat down to feed Grace. A few minutes later I smell smoke and with a glance toward the kitchen see smoke. So I put Grace down and run to the oven. As I opened it this is what I saw:

Oh yeah, I forgot to clean the oven after my other little mishap. Oops! So I called Rob and watched it burn then I threw water on it and it steamed something fierce and scared the dickens out of me but it squelched the flames. All better. I just can't believe that I had a fire with actual flames in my kitchen.

And this afternoon I have over-cooked every single batch of cookies that I am in the process of making. Here's one of my favorite things about being a mommy: blame! I'm pretty sure that none of this would have happened if it were not for Grace distracting me all the time :) Yeah right, but I can pretend can't I?

Playing With the Camera

Happy baby

Don't worry, I have since trimmed those suckers!

That's the bar on the crib, not my finger.

Obviously I have lots more work to do...but I thought you might enjoy some pictures of Grace since it's been a while!

Are They Lying?

Alright, since no one has fessed up to the whole sending themself flowers bit, I've started a poll to see if the Herbal Essences' facts are correct. I just can't accept that no one who reads my blog has had experience with this. Can it be that the only readers of this blog are the 85% of women who have never sent themselves flowers? So, I have created a poll so that you can annoymously share your experiences. And, please, if you have any thoughts on the matter, leave a comment - my mind-reading skills are much like my nunchuck skills...non-existant! Can you tell I just got out of the shower and have been thinking about this subject?

Trivia

Oh, come on...Someone has to have some sort of experience with this! Please, we're all curious about this issue! :)

First, I would like to thank Herbal Essences for this post and for giving me something to think about during my shower. Now to the trivia on the back of the conditioner bottle: What do 15% of women do on Valentine's Day? Answer: Send themselves flowers. Are you surprised? I was. So in the many minutes and possibly even hours that I have had to think about this while washing my hair, I have come up with a few questions that maybe you can help me to answer. Let me also say that I think that doing this is fairly creative. I would have never thought of it, despite my lack of Valentine's excitement (until you, Rob, of course).

1. Have you or anyone you know ever sent yourself flowers on Valentine's Day (or at all really)? Do you actually have the flowers sent or do you pick them up? I think I would be too cheap to have them sent when I can just pick them up since the surprise factor is missing anyway from this little arrangement.
2. Where did you have them sent? Was it because you wanted everyone at work to be impressed or did you want to get to answer the door at home so you didn't feel so lonely or just because you thought that it was fun (or funny to mask one of the other reasons listed above)?
   
3. Why did you send yourself flowers and did doing it accomplish what you thought that it would?
4. Any other thoughts on the subject?

I'm very fascinated by this subject and would appreciate any input you have on it. Obviously, I have spent a lot of time ruminating over this subject and would like more aspects to ponder that I have not thought of myself. Thanks in advance to contributing to my hair-washing entertainment.

I would also like to give a shout out to Herbal Essences for making their hair care products interesting for those of us who don't have much of a life. I also find it incredibly entertaining that the bottles are personified since I love to personify inanimate objects.

Merry Christmas to Me

I know, I know, it's not even Halloween yet, but Rob just got me my Christmas gift and I get to use it :) I am so excited. You see, I have been having trouble with shooting good photos of Gracie since she moves so quickly. Our photo sessions often end with me being frustrated that all that time and energy was wasted since none of the photos turned out well. She always smiles after I've taken an awful photo and the camera is recording the useless image so I can't take another. So I snap one as soon as I possibly can, but by then she's trying to eat her fist and the moment is gone. It's a vicious cycle. I've also been reading up on photography to try to get some better photos and be more creative in my approach to photography. So, Rob got me this beautiful, new Canon SLR camera!

So, welcome to our little family, Canon Rebel! Don't expect brilliant pictures super soon, but just know that I'm honing my skills. And please, Say Cheese!

Halloween Party

Rob and I love this time of year. It's the beginning of lots of time being spent with friends and family and parties! Plus, who doesn't love a holiday centered around sugar?!? Here are some pictures from the Gweaston Cousin Halloween Party we had on Friday. It was super fun to spend time with the married cousins!

The fun begins
The tools get bigger....
And bigger...
And bigger.
Matt and Julie
Megan and Rob.
She was awfully brave holding that pattern as Rob cut!
Rob working on his masterpiece. It was a really intricate bat outlined in the moonlight.
Ta-da!
Aaron and Miranda

She didn't get the memo

So we've had a few talks, but it hasn't worked. It's time for another action plan: the memorandum.

MEMO

TO: Member of the Carter Household (you know who you are...starts with a G, ends with a race...)
FROM: The Management (the Mama and the Papa)

We would like to express a small concern about certain behaviors as of late. First, it is not nice to grunt, snort, cry, talk, shriek or make any other loud noises while one is sleeping that wakes other members of the household. It is fine to make the aforementioned noises while awake, but not while the Management is sleeping. Second, when in the big bed, please refrain from spitting up all over your parents, the bed and especially the pillows as this creates an uncomfortable sleeping arrangement for all. There is always a burp cloth placed beneath your head for the unfortunate incident that you need to empty your stomach contents. Please be sure to only spit up what the burp cloth can sop up. We do appreciate you sleeping through the night, now if you can work on these two items the Management will be much obliged.

Thank you for your cooperation,
The Management (the Mama and the Papa)

Isn't it a shame that Grace can't read?

Gracie in the big bed.
We have a new ritual of her morning meal in bed, then she naps for a few hours and I can too if I need :)

She's so good at getting out of her swaddle! Note that she has moved her head off of the strategically placed burp cloth...

Crafty Me

So, thanks to Melanie's example, I've decided to make Grace some hair bows to match her outfits. So I have made her a couple of bows.

If you decide to do this little project at home, and you need to purchase a hot glue gun, don't purchase the "high heat" version. I burned my poor little finger. I know it doesn't look like much but it hurt like the dickens!

October?!?!?

This is what I saw when I woke up this morning:


This is what I felt like when I saw what I saw when I woke up this morning:

Doesn't Mother Nature realize that it is only October 12th?

Rise and Shout!

Go Cougs! BYU football is doing awesome! Gracie really is enjoying the games too. These are from yesterday's game when she hung out with Daddy. Note that she's also in her game day Cougar Blue.

I HEART Coupons and Sales

So recently one of my new hobbies has been saving money. Good hobby, right? So thanks to the examples of Taralee and Erin, we ordered a weekend paper and I've been clipping coupons and searching out sales. It is so rewarding to save tons of money! It actually helps me to plan meals I look through the ads and my coupons and make meals from the ingredients that I can get for cheap. It's not too hard, and makes me feel like I'm doing something to help out with the family budget.My greatest find to date was on Friday. I got all this stuff for $1.66! It was awesome! Without my coupons and rebates, it would have cost $33.53. Isn't that amazing?

Hair

I got my hair cut yesterday (thank you Hayley! By the way if you live in Provo and want a haircut, that's who to go to!). I love it. It always amazes me that in one short hour I can go from feeling like a tired mommy to totally re-energized. All from a few snips of a talented hairstylist. I love watching What Not To Wear on TLC as well, and again, it's always amazing how much of a difference the hair can make. You can have a totally cute outfit on, but a cute haircut on top of that makes all the difference! It is my dream to one day get my hair cut by Nick Arrojo, the WNTW stylist. I also love that in the 60's a play was even written about hair (entitled Hair), with a funny song called, appropriately, Hair. I look forward to the day when I can play with Gracie's hair. For now this is what we have to deal with (hence the headbands):

Getting to Know You

I've had this song from the King and I stuck in my head all day. One of the most fun things about parenting is getting to know the little spirit that has been sent to you. It's fun to learn what makes Grace tick - how she acts when she's tired, how to make her laugh, when she's in that quiet time when she's ready for bed without being over-tired. I love that she has her own little personality. I love getting to know her.

I know it's been an awesome day when I pressed "clear" on the microwave when it said 2:38 thinking that it had been stopped with 2 minutes, thirty-eight seconds left to go. Wrong. It was 2:38 pm. I guess part of the fun of getting to know her is when she switches it up to remind me that there is still so much to learn.

Enjoy the photos!

Karate Grace

Fight Breast Cancer - Join the Army

I would like to invite all of you women to join with me in the Army of Women. It is a group dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer. As you may know, my mom is a breast cancer survivor. She has been in remission for over 10 years now. So this is near and dear to my heart. It is really easy to join, just go to www.armyofwomen.org. As I understand it, you will be entered into a database that is accessible to researchers who are working on finding a cure for breast cancer. When research is being done in the area that you live, you will get an email notifying you of the opportunity to help out. This might include donating blood or finger nail clippings or filling out a questionnaire, really anything. You will have the opportunity to help that researcher or not, whatever works for you. So many women are affected by this disease every day. Join with me in helping to find a cure!