October Love List

Nothing says "get it all in" like a love list post.  Just so much to remember, yet not enough time to capture it all in single posts, so here it is.....

My October Love List

1.  My new Lisa Leonard Designs necklace.
Somehow through the blogging world I got turned onto Lisa's blog and bam! I am in love with everything she makes (and she seems to be a very sweet gal too!).  I have hummed and hawed about what I want...really I want so much of what she creates, but I had to make my final decision based on my very first "oh, I want that one" remark, and I love it.  I was looking for a necklace that I could wear everyday, dressed up or dressed down.  This is it!  It was my gift from Kevin for our anniversary.

2.  The colours of fall.
I just love how my neighbourhood bursts into colour this time of year.  Serious bright orange, red and yellow colours.   We even had some snow cap that just added to the gorgeousness of our surroundings!

3.  Fall walks in the sun.
Is there anything that feels better than a warm fall afternoon in the sun?  I just love how much Kamille loves this kind of family stuff.  Its the stuff that I grew up on and I am so excited that she will too!

taking karis on a fun ride!

4.  Speaking of walking....
She's sooooo almost there.  Check out the progress that she has made.  I'm talking from so cautious, to full blown storming down the road, "get the heck out of my way" style.   She's awesome.  I love her excitement!

she's even fast when she's pushing it backwards. zoom zoom!

5.  Sister Snuggles.
They are full on loving each other (most of the time).  I am one lucky mama!

Oh, and 5b.  I love how they both have new words.  Kamille always says "sure" all the time.  As in, "Kamille do you wanna make muffins?" and she says "Sure" all cool girl-like.  And Karis is all about "dadadada" which is definitely for Daddy, but she uses it a lot when she points at other things too!  She's also go a really neat way of saying "strawberry" (if you can believe it or not).  She points at her strawberry on her arm and says something like "szwa-ba-ba."  I swear!

6.  Bite sized, barely-know-your-eating-it-all-until-you-find-all-the-wrappers, Halloween Candy.
DAMN you delicious treats!  As if I thought I could just put it away until the 31st.

"I'll just have a couple" looks like this!

7.  Being a Witch (for one night only!)
Every year my great friends Dawn and Tara host a Witches Gathering night.  Its the only time that I dress up but it is so worth it to spend a full night cackling with my best girlfriends, playing ridiculous games like eating donuts from a string only using your mouth, and eating delicious food that has been prepared and named in the spirit of Halloween (ie. my orzo salad was Maggoty Brain Salad - yum!).

8.  My Handsome Handyman.
Kevin is super handy.  He knows how to do just about anything.  We never hire someone to do or fix things, Kevin just knows how.  I love that about him.  He's super creative too and when you give him a project, he knocks it out of the park with the quality of work that he puts into it.
Thank you Kevin for all those random things that you've done this month to make our life more comfortable (Vern, our shower, our garage, our crawl space, our dining room light, our bathroom fan, our new office, and my favourite...

since this is the way we heat our main floor, our fire place is on all the time...and its so close to karis' play area.  i don't even worry at all anymore.  its sturdy, subtle, see through and allows the heat to circulate.  why buy, when he can make.  that is the work of my handyman!

9.  People drawings!
I have been waiting for these little guys!  Kamille is drawing people and I love them!  One day she just presented me with a drawing and now they are getting more detailed by the day.  I especially love the freckles, the fingers and pony tails (not captured in a photo just yet, but trust me, they are cute!).

fingers on these ones!
essentially they are faces with hands and legs.  can you spot the freckle faced me above?

10.  LUSH Candy Cane Bubble Bar
Every year at Christmas time I get these for stocking stuffers.  Aunty Jilly was the first to buy one for us and i. love. it.  I savour our bars over the year (usually getting about 6 baths from each bar).  Not only do they smell delicious (and its unlike any other delicious smell!), but they bubble up like CRAZY!  I'm talking major bubbles and the more you swoosh the water, the more you get!  Can you believe that when I was a kid my parents used to give us a bubble bath in Palmolive Dish soap?  I'm sure it was lovely that I smelled of clean dishes every night!  No dish soap for my girls.  Shop online if you don't have a store near by, they are so worth the $6.00 shipping cost.  Shop soon, its a Christmas time only item!

these bubbles promote sisterly love...and i love that!  

she has no idea!  

And a very big drum roll please........ I had to make room in my Top 10 and stretch this out to 11 because...............

11.  My 60D!
Kamille and I counted down the sleeps until it arrived in the mail!  I. love. it.  I am just one full day in with it and there is so much more to learn with this one!  I was sad to say good-bye to my Rebel XT after 5 wonderful years of capturing memories, but I know that the 60D will win me over...it has already.  I love the sound of great shutter!  The lens that my set came with is a 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6.  Loving it!
Now I just have to work on strengthening my wrist, hand and finger muscles.  Its a tad heavier than the ol' Rebel!  You are going to see magic happen with this one baby!

And in the words of Carrie Bradshaw who while window shopping gazes in at a gorgeous pair of shoes (or it could have been a purse) and says,   
"Well, hello Lover!"  

Oh, there is so much to love right now!  

Happy Fall!  

Great Pumpkin Expectations

Ah, the joys Halloween are upon us.  Although I love everything about the idea of  kids looking adorable in costumes, trick or treating and all that candy, I have never been a fan of dressing up or partying Halloween style.  Not sure why?  I just was never interested in dressing up like something and parading around for others to look at me as whatever I was dressed up as.  Maybe too much attention on me?  I definitely prefer to sit back and look at everyone else.

Anyway, I do love a good pumpkin!  Last year when Karis was so wee, we packed up the gang and headed north to the farm where the great patch was littered with orange spots of pumpkin goodness.  It was our second annual October visit to this pumpkin patch and from each experience I have delicious photos of the hunt for the best pumpkin.  Fall colours are bursting, horses are providing hay rides, kids are squealing in their toques, gum boots and puffy vests (so gorgeous!)  and it is just such a fun family outing.

However, given that this years circumstances are affected by a big fat Master's program, sadly I had to swallow the disappointment of just not being able to make a day out for this adventure.  And I know that this is just the first of many great expectations that will have to be put off for later.

So, in an effort to still make something of a great pumpkin hunt, we dressed the girls up in their rain gear and went to check out the selection at our local garden centre.   And ya know, it did not disappoint.

Kamille and Karis were thrilled to be able to roll them around in search of "the one."  

although kamille doesn't look so thrilled in this photo!

and there it was!  sitting on the shelf just waiting to be carved!

And what I loved most of all was that despite being miles away from an actual pumpkin patch, there were pumpkins scattered everywhere and gorgeous displays of fall.

this guy was rockin' the pumpkins!

So just yesterday, the girls and I opened up our $1.47 Walmart pumpkin cutter and scooper with  great intentions of creating a couple of pumpkin masterpieces.  Last year Kamille was so great at the whole pumpkin carving thing.  She was totally into it and really excited.  This year, not so much.  She didn't want anything to do with the guts, she flicked seeds out of her pumpkin all over the place and once she reached a point where she would have to get her wrist into the pumpkin she gave up.

Karis on the other hand was a handful.  She was obsessed with the seeds that Kamille sent flying everywhere.  She was grabbing them by the handful thinking that they would be a tasty treat.  I spent more time pulling pumpkin seeds out of her mouth between trying to capture a photo of this annual event!

guilty...

a mouth full of guilty

In the end, we completed this fun activity with two gutted pumpkins and a wack of seeds that will get toasted up.  Kamille thinks that she and Kevin will have a great time carving faces into the pumpkins this weekend.  I look forward to seeing what they come up with!

And speaking of pumpkin expectations.  One day Kamille and I cut out some cute pumpkin shapes out of orange construction paper and she decorated them with her cute little people drawings. The intention was to send them to our family - grandmas, grandpas, Aunty Jilly and cousins, but if I look down to my right, they're still here.   They're not making it in time for Halloween this year.  That's just how things are rollin' these days.   Oh well.  We had great intentions!