We really tried to start our Christmas shopping early this year, but now it looks like the best we can hope for is to be on time. We finally got the call that our name has reached the top of the Harman pellet stove waiting list, and we are expecting to have one delivered within the next two weeks. We had to move the living room around to accommodate the upcoming addition, and as with everything in life it turned out to be a bigger project than anticipated. You see there is only one spot in our living room that meets the specs for the pellet stove and our two 7-foot bookshelves were there and... there was only one place in the living room where we could fit those two 7-foot bookshelves and... our computer desk was there and... there was only one place to put the computer desk and... we had two 4-foot bookshelves holding two aquariums on top of them, so I guess you know how we spent the last two weekends. We did it right though and went through everything instead of just moving it all. Oh, the things I found on that desk. Three blank wedding cards, several blank birthday cards, a blank Mother's day card, the receipt for Bimbo (my cat who died over 6 years ago and who I acquired almost 18 years ago), and the post office receipt for the package that Amber never received (don't worry, Amber, I'm on it).
We got the Wall-e dvd, and Zakary hasn't wanted to watch anything else (not even Toy Trains). Corie enjoyed it also, but after Zak put it in for the third time she decided to retreat to her room to make things out of our garbage. You should see the lovely Mother's day present that she made out of an old tampon box. The first thing she does when her dad drops her off is go into our recycle bin to see what she can salvage. Oh, the things that girl can do with an egg carton!
Our Saturn has been deposited at the junkyard, and fearing that he would only have two cars to work on every weekend Eric has been on the look out for another car. He and his father, Bob, went to a junk car auction. They actually called it a used car auction, but if you saw what Eric (tried) to bring home you would agree with me. I say tried because it died on it's maiden voyage and will be towed to our mechanics before actually seeing it's new home. You know you are in trouble when the title labels it as an "abandoned" car. I'm sure between Eric & Randy, our mechanic, the new Saturn will be up and running which is good because our Taurus needs to go back to the shop... and now you know why we always need 3 cars! 
It was a beautiful autumn. All the leaves have fallen to the ground by now, but most of them retain their lovely colors. They make the woods behind our house look like one of those quaint pictures that you see on the cover of a 1940s "Better Homes & Gardens". The weather has been unseasonably warm. Our high temps for the Halloween weekend were in the lower 60s. The whole family was busy outside with our usual fall activities. Eric worked on our cars (as always) and cleared out more of the scrubby trees from the edge of our woods. Zakary worked on covering every square inch of our yard with some sort of toy construction vehicle, and Corie spent her day continually reminding Zakary that he was going to have to "pick up every one of his toys before he went in". I was cutting back the perennials and pulling up the remainder of our garden. While doing my gardening I started to notice that my arms were getting sore, and I was sweaty and out of breath. Eric told me that it was the result of "exercise", and I have decided that I don't like it.
Halloween night was great. The kids came home loaded with candy. I let them eat as much as they wanted whenever they wanted for the weekend, and they still have a pile left. Of course Monday’s sugar crash wasn’t much fun, but I think the kids would agree it was worth it. The costumes 
met all the required criteria… they were warm, comfortable, and finished on time! BTW - they were tarantulas.
I am looking forward to winter for the first time since becoming an adult. I had just started sewing last spring and was really enjoying it. Summer is too short to spend indoors though, so my new hobby was pushed aside for the season. I took my birthday off, and decided to sew something for my sister. It came out funny looking, so I had to make her something else to compensate. I’m going to post the picture even though I’m not sure the package has arrived.
The doll is from a free pattern I found on Martha Stewart’s web site. Here’s the link: Black Apple Doll pattern. I enjoyed making these guys so much that I made these next.
The pillows were copied from pictures that I found on the web.The kids are doing great. Zakary still loves school. He is starting to get bossy with the other kids though (something he learned from his sister), and we are having a lot of talks about the Golden Rule. His favorite DVD, “I Love Toy Trains” Vol. 1-13, has temporarily been replaced by “Twenty Trucks”. Corie is doing much better in school, but her attention has started to turn to boys lately. I know she is only 9, but she is a Sprague. She has started writing scary stories, maybe I’ll post one. She never finishes them, but they start out pretty good. Eric has been busy with work, school, and fixing on our cars. The Blazer has been put up for the winter, and the Saturn is officially dead. Now he only has to work on the Taurus and Rav4 every weekend.
We really tried to start our Christmas shopping early this year, but now it looks like the best we can hope for is to be on time. We finally got the call that our name has reached the top of the Harman pellet stove waiting list, and we are expecting to have one delivered within the next two weeks. We had to move the living room around to accommodate the upcoming addition, and as with everything in life it turned out to be a bigger project than anticipated. You see there is only one spot in our living room that meets the specs for the pellet stove and our two 7-foot bookshelves were there and... there was only one place in the living room where we could fit those two 7-foot bookshelves and... our computer desk was there and... there was only one place to put the computer desk and... we had two 4-foot bookshelves holding two aquariums on top of them, so I guess you know how we spent the last two weekends. We did it right though and went through everything instead of just moving it all. Oh, the things I found on that desk. Three blank wedding cards, several blank birthday cards, a blank Mother's day card, the receipt for Bimbo (my cat who died over 6 years ago and who I acquired almost 18 years ago), and the post office receipt for the package that Amber never received (don't worry, Amber, I'm on it).
We got the Wall-e dvd, and Zakary hasn't wanted to watch anything else (not even Toy Trains). Corie enjoyed it also, but after Zak put it in for the third time she decided to retreat to her room to make things out of our garbage. You should see the lovely Mother's day present that she made out of an old tampon box. The first thing she does when her dad drops her off is go into our recycle bin to see what she can salvage. Oh, the things that girl can do with an egg carton!
Our Saturn has been deposited at the junkyard, and fearing that he would only have two cars to work on every weekend Eric has been on the look out for another car. He and his father, Bob, went to a junk car auction. They actually called it a used car auction, but if you saw what Eric (tried) to bring home you would agree with me. I say tried because it died on it's maiden voyage and will be towed to our mechanics before actually seeing it's new home. You know you are in trouble when the title labels it as an "abandoned" car. I'm sure between Eric & Randy, our mechanic, the new Saturn will be up and running which is good because our Taurus needs to go back to the shop... and now you know why we always need 3 cars! 
