What is up

Too busy. Not sleeping much. Enjoying the sunny days we've had, and the gorgeous fall leaves. Forever trying to get organized, and failing miserably. Trying to catch up on laundry, housework, errands, etc. Same old, same old. Trying not to think about how hard this past month has been. So much loss in such a short period of time, and I haven't been dealing with it all that great. (Very much a part of the not sleeping, I think.) My dear Grandma Pearl passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, October 14th. My step-dad's father passed away the following Sunday. Adam and I attended his services last Saturday while Kira spent time with Adam's parents. Sadly, there were no services for my grandma--that was her wish. My sister and aunt were both out of town at the time, and now my dad has gone south to AZ for the winter, so it will be a while before we can get the family all together. Sigh. (This 3 generation photo is from Easter 2004 at the back door of my grandma's farmhouse.) Miss her.

Kira has been a busy girl--ever the avid reader, she is rarely without a book in hand. I finally tallied up her pages for the PTA Reading Challenge, and this past summer she read 10,563 pages! She's had a good soccer season, though we're all glad it's coming to an end. Her last practice was this week, and to celebrate the girls scrimmaged with the parents. It was a blast, and of course they whooped up 5-3. I've been so very sore and am feeling very old and out of shape. I've also got a nice welt on my thigh from a ball I took at close range. Ouch. Two more games left in the season, and then a break 'til January when I think/hope Kira will play indoor soccer for the first time.

Henry is as lazy as ever. We took him to the pumpkin patch with us on Tuesday, but he was being obnoxious so we left him in the car while we went through the corn maze and visited the animal barn at Sauvie Island Farms. (It was my third trip there after two preschool field trips, and it was gorgeous!) We got a wagon load of pumpkins, and some yummy treats including carmel apples for Kira and I, and a pumpkin cookie for Adam. We finally carved four of our pumpkins last night. I'm pretty pleased with how my Jack Skellington jack-o-lantern turned out, though it took forever.

Our whole little family is excited that it's Halloween, but we don't have any big plans. A couple of month ago Adam and I had talked about letting Kira have a party, but we've just been too busy to pull anything together. I think we're going to go trick-or-treating at the local shopping mall, grab dinner and see a movie. Kira is Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, which she has planned on since last Halloween. Man, when she sets her mind to something, she's serious. I tried to talk her into letting me make her a jelly fish costume, but no go. Oh well. I think she makes a very cute Hermione, and I didn't have to do any sewing (other than add elastic to her skirt)! Happy Halloween!