Our Early Halloween

Here is our little Jedi, or Padawan to be exact.

Note: Did you know that there is a Wookieepedia? (think Wikipedia for Star Wars) No, I am not kidding. How else would I confirm how to spell Padawan?

On Friday evening we took Kendry for his first trick-or-treating experience in downtown Clarkston, where they close the main street and the businesses host all the little kiddos. Kendry was so excited to have such a large open space to run that he hardly bothered with the candy collection. He only came home with 5 or 6 pieces. Apparently his sweet-tooth mommy needs to teach him a thing or two about free candy.

He also had his first fire engine experience - a fairly anti-climactic event since he has yet to understand what a fire engine is/does.



Jedi Lesson #1: Keep all vital body parts clear of your light saber.

Okay, so he has a lot to learn before he is an official Jedi. But he did seem to understand that the light saber was a crucial detail to his get-up and he carried it everywhere.

Then on Saturday Kendry got dressed up again to see his great-grandparents.

Even a Jedi needs a cookie now and then.

And a little cuddle time with Great Grandma.

This year I remembered to get some video as well:

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

Ten on Tuesday

1. I finished Kendry's trick-or-treat bag this weekend by stitching a candy corn print fabric to the handles. I also added a "K" in the same fabric.


2. I am an auntie again! My little niece, Londyn Marie, was born on October 20th.

3. We are currently in the market for a training potty. No, I don't think Kendry is ready just yet to start potty training, but I like the idea of having one in the bathroom to perk his interest a bit.

4. My fall love this week comes in the form of the beautiful maple trees my hubby planted in our back yard a few years ago. They are called October Glory. I'm sure you can see why.

5. Disney Movie Trivia: "I'm packing your extra pair of shoes, and your angry eyes just in case."

{Last week's answer: Alice in Wonderland}

6. To all you Washington voters: don't forget to mail in your ballot this week!

7. After slacking off for way too long when it comes to introducing ourselves to our neighbors, I have met four of our neighbors (and one neighborhood dog) in the last two weeks. It feels great!

8. I met one neighbor at her recent yard sale, where I found a spectacular vintage piano bench to restore. This neighbor had so many wonderful things that were right up my alley when it comes to decor. She just might end up being my very favorite neighbor.

9. I love being a parent with my hubby, and can't wait to do it again...and again...and again, God willing.

10. This Week's Blessing: Our kiddo learning how to pick up his toys! Apparently he has been doing this for awhile at daycare, but he knew how to play the "baby card" when we tried to get him to clean up at home. Not anymore, kiddo!

Fabulous Furnishings and Fall Film Festival

In my efforts to be frugal over the last few years I have discovered a new passion of decorating with what I already have - or decorating with what other people are getting rid of for cheap. Specifically, I enjoy finding good quality pieces of furniture that just need some TLC. And by refinishing them myself they become unique additions to our home.

My most recent project was an old desk given to me so generously by my in-laws. I was in dire need of a simple desk to place in my spare room (where I keep all my crafting supplies), but I could not justify spending the money on a brand new desk. Fortunately, my in-laws were doing some re-arranging and decided to get rid of this piece in the process.

Here is the desk before its facelift. The top was in such poor shape that my hubby removed it and cut a new one for me.

After a lot of sanding and attaching the new top, we moved it inside for painting.




Finally, the finished product:




Yes, I am aware that it looks totally girly in this color, but that is exactly what I was going for - and it fits in with my spare room decor. This will serve as my sewing, crafting and scrapbooking space, so I wanted the desk to be an inspiring piece. I plan to spend a great deal of time here over the next two months in anticipation for the holiday season.

Which leads me to the second part of this post: my fall film festival. When I am crafting I love to have pretty music or a fun movie on in the background. Since I have quite a few projects ahead of me I made a list of some of my favorite movies to keep me company. Most of them have a fall or holiday theme.

My picks:
1. One True Thing (a great mother/daughter movie)
2. When Harry Met Sally
3. You've Got Mail
4. Planes, Trains & Automobiles
5. Little Women
6. Stepmom


Can you think of any others I should add to my list?

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we headed out to Wilson Banner Ranch for the harvest fair. As I have already mentioned, our own garden yielded plenty of beautiful pumpkins this year, but we still couldn't resist giving Kendry a genuine pumpkin patch experience.

The walk out to the patch was a bit too far for Kendry's short legs, so he hitched a ride.

My handsome fellas:

Kendry attempted to lug a big one by himself.

When it wouldn't budge he resorted to climbing.

Then he gave it a few kisses.

Someone is looking a little tired...

Then the search was over - Daddy found the winning pumpkin!

Kendry agrees!

Having found our Charlie Brown Pumpkin (think "The Great Pumpkin" meets the "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree"), we headed back to the pavillion for music and games for the kids. This was a hanging apple bobbing contest.



Kendry was a bit too small to participate this year, but we bought him a farm-fresh apple for practice. Look out for this little chomper next year!

As for the pumpkin, this thing has so much character I'm not even sure it needs to be carved.

The Half-Marathon

Its official: I've been transformed. I've been denying it for several years now, but its time to face the music and fess up.

I have become a distance runner.

{GASP!}

Two weeks ago, this former sprinter competed in her first half-marathon in Leavenworth, Washington. The scenery was gorgeous, the weather perfect, and the company fantastic.

The run was tough.

At mile 3 I was still breathing well enough to cheer on other runners, specifically two moms who were running and pushing their kiddos in BOBs up a two mile incline. At that moment I wished I had Kendry cruising along with me. (This sentiment vanished at the mile 9 incline.)

Around mile 6 I was still smiling and admiring the beautiful fall colors displayed throughout the course, but I was starting to think: "It would be perfect if the run ended right here because I am still feeling great and would love to enjoy the rest of my day in Leavenworth."

By mile 7 I realized that I had erred in my choice of apparel. Although I had trained for several weeks wearing leggings, I opted to swap them out for spandex shorts on race day. Why? I do not know. But my inner thighs paid the price.

At mile 8 I finally spotted my wonderful hubby and kiddo, who had found a playground along the course and were waiting for me to pass by them. Here is evidence that I was still smiling at mile 8:

I don't remember much of miles 9-13.1, except that I kept telling myself "You can do this!" over and over again. And it worked. I ran the entire 13.1 miles. I did partake of the water stands along the way, but always made myself keep running. This wasn't a pride thing - I just knew that if I started walking I may never get myself running again.

One hour, fifty-two minutes and thirty seconds after the starting gun went off I was crossing the finish line...along with this strange guy wearing only a speedo, tennis shoes and a gladiator mask.

And you wonder why I gasped earlier about being classified as a distance runner?

DONE AT LAST!!

I finished 18th of 216 women in my age group (30-34), and 80th in a total of 908 female participants.

A finisher medal and hugs from my little man helped me recover quickly.

In all actuality the smile on my face reads: "Thank you, Lord, that my inner thighs are no longer being rubbed raw."

So maybe I'm not a true distance runner yet since I only learned after the race about Band-Aid's friction block stick that prevents this sort of running mishap. This knowledge will come in handy on my next half-marathon, if there is one.

Ten on Tuesday

1. God bless the young man in the Taco Bell drive-thru who addressed me as "Miss" instead of "Ma'am" the other day.

2. I have already told you how much we love hats around our house.

3. I haven't exercised in over two weeks now, and I still don't miss it.

4. Disney Movie Trivia: "Can you stand on your head?"

{Last week's answer: The Incredibles}

5. I am trying to incorporate my love for fall with each TOT post from now until Thanksgiving. This week its the pumpkin welcome when you pull into our driveway. I don't know how we ended up with so many green pumpkins in our garden this year but I love it!

6. One BIG plus to having a fall wedding: you have enough fall decorations to last you for life.

7. Our five year anniversary is only three weeks away. Wow!

8. I'm pretty sure I'm getting the greatest anniversary present EVER, but its still technically a bit hush hush. Shhh!

9. The professional photos taken during our family reunion in July arrived in the mail yesterday. Justin and I often balk at the price of professional photos, but believe me when I tell you these were worth every single penny.

10. This Week's Blessing: A raise at work. Praise the Lord!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Hooray for a four day work week!

2. Perhaps its a good week to wean myself off my caffeine intake a bit?

Nahhhh!

3. We awoke to a 36 degree morning today, which means Kendry finally got to wear his adorable Levi's winter jacket. As with most of his outfits, I was way more excited about this than he was. I bought this jacket at a yard sale when Kendry was just two months old. Now, fifteen months later, it is finally cold enough to warrant him wearing the jacket, and it barely fits. But its just as precious as I imagined it would be on him.

4. I'm going to be an auntie again any day now. We can't wait to meet you, Baby Londyn!

5. I have recently been inspired by creative mom sites like I Can Teach My Child and FunMoms.org. While I was home with Kendry on Monday I set up his first sensory tub with oatmeal, funnels, and measuring cups and spoons. My clean freak side came close to having a nervous breakdown as I watched oatmeal spill all over my kitchen floor. Naturally, I had to snap a photo of this as evidence to my hubby that I do let my kiddo make a mess from time to time.

And the oatmeal held Kendry's attention for 10 minutes straight. That has got to be a new record!

6. Disney Movie Trivia: "Oh, no. Elastigirl? You married Elastigirl? Oh - and got biz-zay! It's a whole family of supers!"

{Last week's answer: The Rescuers Down Under}

7. Did you know that dryer sheets help ward off deer? All five young trees in our back yard look like they have been TP'd, but its keeping those young bucks from scraping their antlers on them.

8. I am sooo very excited about a new young women's Bible study starting up next month!

9. We have taken to hiding some of Kendry's favorite books from him. In our defense, we only hide them after they have been read for the 20th time in one day.

10. This Week's Blessing: getting to be a stay-at-home mommy for a day.

Fall Creativity

HAPPY FALL FROM THE GIMLIN FAMILY!!

Fall is my favorite season by far; and as such, it inspires my creativity. This pumpkin project was in this month's BH&G, if you would like to try it for yourself. It is fairly simple if you have the right type of blade. I even used one of the pumpkins from our own garden.

I hope you are having a wonderful fall season!

Housepainting for Dummies

Thats right, folks! This is the much-anticipated housepainting adventure post that you have been waiting ever so patiently for. As I discussed here last spring, our major home improvement project for 2010 was painting the exterior of our house ourselves. This big undertaking began on Memorial Day Weekend and was finally finished...

...wait for it...

...four months later.

Do we know how to drag out a project or what? Now, I could use a few excuses, like the fairly constant rain we had during the month of June, the flooding incident that occurred two days after we started painting, our ten day trip to Alaska in July, and the three summer weekends already booked for attending friends' weddings, but I'm not an excuse kind of gal. The bottom line is that we had a wonderful summer, and the painting was eventually completed.

Would I choose to paint the house again by ourselves? (We will likely have to in a few short years.) Probably not. But then, I was never an advocate for painting it ourselves anyway. Yes, it is the cheaper option by far. But let's be honest here: Justin and I both work full time and we have a very busy toddler to keep up with. I would just as soon pay someone else the extra money to knock out the painting in a few days, while I relax in my back yard with a lemonade, admiring their hard work.

On the other hand, Justin is convinced that, all delays considered, he would still paint it himself before hiring an outside party to do it for us.

Suddenly vinyl siding is sounding pretty good, don't you think?

As owners of a fixer-upper, we are constantly learning the ins and outs of home improvement projects. Here are just a few of the lessons learned with this project:

DO get the prep work done prior to painting day. It will take you longer than planned.

DO whatever it takes to complete the project while your mother-in-law is available to watch the kiddo.

DO buy the bulk of your paint the same day you plan to start painting (if you can), because trying to shake/mix a 5 gallon bucket of paint by yourself, after the paint has settled for a few weeks, is an abs and arms workout of hideous proportions.

DO expect your paint job to get smudged or dirty as soon as you have it completed (Murphy's Law), and be ready to let it go. A praying mantis pooped on the white trim of our front door not two days after I finished painting it. (Up until then it never occurred to me that bugs actually poop.)

DO follow the directions for removing the masking tape as soon as feasibly possible.

DO NOT be surprised if you leave the masking tape on for a few weeks and it pulls off a layer of your new house paint when you finally get around to removing it. Or better yet, when you pull it off and it leaves all it's stickiness on your fresh paint, which can only be remedied by sanding down the surface and painting it all over again.

And you wonder why it took us four months to complete this project?

And now I will shutup and give you what you are really after - the before and after pics:

We love how it turned out!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Wow! I find myself at a bit of a loss for my Ten post this week, so I apologize if this one is a little drab.

2. Isn’t this an adorable photo of my little man?

Its another one taken by Auntie Andrea – she snapped it just before Kendry accompanied me on a training run a few weeks ago. He is, after all, my favorite running partner.

3. No, my husband does not get hurt feelings when I declare someone else as “my favorite running partner”. Justin and I love to go on hikes together, but we have agreed that running will not be a joint hobby in our marriage. Its for the best.

4. The half-marathon on October 2nd went great! (more details to come)

5. I am headed for a three day weekend. Hip hip hooray for Mr. Columbus!

6. Disney Movie Trivia: "Welcome to "Albatross Air: A Fair Fare From Here to There." You get it? "A fair fare." It's-It's a play on... never mind."

{Last week's trivia answer: Lady and the Tramp}

7. I am pretty sure I have eaten more candy corn in the last two weeks than any one person should eat in their lifetime.

8. Only three more weeks until I absolutely have to have Kendry's costume completed. Time to dig out the sewing machine and get to work!

9. My sewing machine may be out from now until Christmas because I just found some fun ideas for Christmas gifts. I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!

10. This Week’s Blessing: spending the day with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Amanda. Granted, for part of the day we were both running in the half-marathon – we have a knack for finding crazy adventures to do together. I love you, chica!