TV

This might seem like an odd post coming from someone who just blogged about canceling her cable, but our DVD player just broke. Almost every movie we own is a DVD, not a videocassette.

So. Instead of just buying a new DVD player Joe and I have been thinking we should probably buy a new TV too since I'm pretty sure our main TV was manufactured in the Stone Age.

I don't really know why we think this. We've been bewitched; captivated by all the gigantic TVs with pictures so sharp and clear you feel like you should be able to walk right into them.

What should we buy? Plasma! LCD! HDTV!

Anyone have an opinion?

Happy Halloween

No, Halloween isn't until tomorrow, but we trick-or-treated last night so to me it feels like the occasion has already passed. Superdad (disguised as Paul Bunyan) and I took out our princess, dinasaur and spider for almost two hours last night and came home with an absurd amount of candy that somehow keeps finding its way into my mouth.


This house took the cake last night, decoration-wise. The kids were deliciously scared but also savored the fun/scary feeling and jumped right into the tent only to find tricks (dressed up scary guy) and treats (a bowlful of candy).

Happy Birthday, Elisabeth! Happy Birthday, Hank!

Two of my children recently celebrated birthdays and I didn’t honor them here. Don’t feel too badly for them though as they were remembered and showered with love, affection and, most importantly, cake and presents in real life. Just not here. But what do they care; they can’t read.

We celebrated with family and friends in Door County, Wisconsin at the Landmark Resort the thirteenth through the fifteenth and then again on October seventeenth at our house for family unable to make the weekend festivities.

Happy Belated Birthday, Elisabeth!

Elisabeth turned one on Sunday, October fifteenth.



The extra candle seen above is a family tradition; an extra candle is added for good luck.

Elisabeth gets to try out the pool:



And, back home, she gets to try out a new toy:



Clearly, being one is exhausting:



Happy Belated Birthday, Hank!

Hank turned four on Tuesday, October seventeenth.



My Hanker-buddy loves to swim:



Who's the most interested in Hank's presents; Hank (middle), his cousin or Superdad?



The party moves home, as more guests and presents arrive:



And yet another tired birthday honoree (that's Madeleine on the other side of the bed):

Cable Television

I just cancelled our cable subscription. I love TV. And I love cable especially.

But I don't like paying an absurd amount of money for, mostly, trashy shows.

So it's gone. I wonder if I'll survive (just don't suggest cutting the high-speed internet, Superdad!).

Snow

It's October. Mid-October. And snow is predicted tomorrow or Thursday. Snow! I love winter just as much as the next Wisconsinite, maybe more, but this is ridiculous!

Attic Treasure

Last weekend my brother came up to Wisconsin for the weekend to go through the attic in our childhood home (which he talks about in his blog).

The attic, over the thirty some years my mom lived in the house, evolved into the catchall room in the house and accumulated a lot of interesting treasures and, unfortunately, a lot of useless junk.

Fortunately a lot of the junk was removed last weekend, much of it making its way out to the road for garbage day and the remainder held onto for a spring garage sale.

The treasures, though, we hung onto. One treasure I re-discovered was this adorable Mouse House:

My great-aunt Cloe made it for me and gave it to me for a Christmas present in 1983, I believe. My mom made sure she saved the card that came with the meticulously made Mouse House, in which Cloe noted that the lace curtains were made from the lace in Cloe’s corsage from my mom and stepdad’s wedding that previous September.

I spent many hours as a child playing with my Mouse House and I really wouldn’t hesitate to say it was one of my favorite childhood toys.

And now Madeleine is enjoying creating her own memories with the Mouse House and I’m taking pleasure in watching her playing with it, somehow reliving a bit of my childhood through her with each giggle I hear and with each story she creates for her new mouse family.

Signs of Fall

This gorgeous red maple tree three houses down:


Face painting at Fall Harvest Festival at Madeleine's school this afternoon:


Here's the newly painted fearless tiger showing off his fantastic and ferocious ROAR!

Little Red Riding Hood

I bought Elisabeth this beautiful edition of Little Red Riding Hood today. With that I am now done with shopping for both Elisabeth and Hank's birthdays (which are the fifteenth and seventeenth of October, respectively).

I love the story and, amazingly, it's a classic tale we don't already own.

And get this-- when I flipped to the first page I discovered that in this edition Little Red Riding Hood's real name is Elisabeth-- with an "s", just like our little Elisabeth.

Where I've Been

I'm the sister referred to here. I realize though that it's now Wednesday and I've been back since Sunday night, but I've had a lot of house catch-up to do and haven't made blogging a priority (shame, shame!).