in case you haven't laughed enough today!! happy halloween! we'll see how our little ghost turns out...he's napping right now, finally!!

daddy & i at the pumpkin patch when he was home!! thanks daddy!

grandma & i running off our big lunch!

grandma pulling me in my little blue wagon at home!

either i'm getting exceptionally whiney-er, or mommy is getting tired!! we're glad you're coming home (once was) tomorrow daddy!! we've been picking you up at the pretend airport for two days now!! see you in the morning!

article on the fire at barefoot sage~
http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/local/story/Fire-damages-popular-spa/snZWfNMQ2k2rTQVygZ62zw.cspx
news clip ~amy is the reporter here at both links, she has been a regular (we call them barefoot junkies!) at the barefoot sage for years! it just so happened, that one of the fire fighters sent her a text from the scene of the fire! "honey, hope your feet feel really good, cuz i'm at the barefoot sage!" (something to that effect!) i don't remember her husband being a firefighter! but he was one of them on the scene at 4am!
http://www.koinlocal6.com/content/mediacenter/default.aspx?videoId=12805@koin.dayport.com&navCatId=156

making rice krispy treats! (we made them green!)

our local joe's place pumpkin patch :)

these next few are at lauralhurst park in portland~

twisted trunk!

it is pounding! rain outside -it's awesome!! & blustery!! woa!!!

very rarely does it pour here like it is right now! in sheets & buckets! how exciting!

this weekend was a tough one, as grandpa (papa) had to put alaska down. he's had a long, good life, but recently he's lost so much weight, not to mention his sight & hearing. he was a really good boy & i love him, see you in heaven alaska!

on a brighter note, the event brought uncle luke down! and rebecca! this is the first we've met miss rebecca, she's very sweet! hopefully she comes around some more! we didn't spend too much time together, but we loved her! on our way out, i insisted we stop for a quick pic:

aww pickles!!!
anyone aware of a particular saint to pray to about dishwashers?!?!?
it's running but doesn't seem to be cleaning a thing! a switched soaps because i was being cheap & bought the "finish" brand. then tried cascade...but the soap dish still won't even open! then i thought it was because junior turned down the hot water tank, but that didn't seem to change anything. guess i'll go back to what my 'rents taught me. scrub & clean the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher...
ps, i ask to go to the pumpkin patch everyday now, so daddy, guess what..when you come home!!!!!

http://www.fancast.com/tv/Its-the-Great-Pumpkin%2C-Charlie-Brown/99326/1078053714/Peanuts%3A-Specials%3A-Its-the-Great-Pumpkin%2C-Charlie-Brown/videos

it wasn't letting me post (or rather i haven't figured it out!) the display of the video so you could just press play, but it's the great pumpkin charlie brown :)

http://www.fancast.com/tv/Its-the-Great-Pumpkin%2C-Charlie-Brown/99326/1078053714/Peanuts%3A-Specials%3A-Its-the-Great-Pumpkin%2C-Charlie-Brown/videos

i've had seven clients just this week reschedule!! what in the world? think someone is trying to tell me something?! geesh!!

a snippet of where we're at on our (was)home. last week, an offer was turned in! (yay for that right!?) (two offers in one day in fact!) it can take a very long time to get a response from the lenders since we're doing a short sale. we were told it took 3 1/2 weeks just for bank of america (NOT our lender, just an example!) to simply acknowledge the arrival of a fax/offer. one offer our agent spoke of has been submitted for eleven weeks and there has been no approval or disapproval yet. SO...there is no telling how long our situation will take. hopefully, since we have (until all this goes through) very good credit, the process should move a bit quicker than the rest. the house is still to be in proper showing condition for further potential buyers. the turned in offfer is less than listed price, so if we get an offer for full price, of course we'll turn that one in. being a short sale, this whole game includes a ridiculous amount of financial nit picking. absolutely amazing. it has been quite a learning experience on so many levels. from our finances, to home owning, from higher powers to family dynamics and friendships.
speaking of friends, with the barefoot sage going out of commission for a while. this should not jeopardize our sale on the house. one of the very important factors is that brian & i are employed. should anything come up, i can have my owners of barefoot submit a written letter saying i am still "employed". even if i am not planning on returning to work there. (sniff sniff, i really love that place!) (we are looking into unemployment for the time the business is down.
as of today, we're looking at the second week in november to make our final move.
citi mortgage (our lenders for the first mortgage) claims it is taking them 30-45 working days to accept or decline offers for short sales. this puts us in december. so hopefully the new owner can spend christmas in his new home? our agent says it would be a miracle if we could close by the nov 30th deadline (for the 8K$ tax credit for the buyer)~but she is being proactive & praying for the best! there are so many little (and not so little) factors involved, but we're hoping that because of our good credit, & not missing any payments, we can have a sooner than later closing date. our agent also told us of another clients time span was a 14 or 17 (i don't remember which!) month process.
on a brighter note, brian is very happy with his new workplace. he's living with his mom & dad for now. charlie & i will soon be joining him. thank goodness for video calls! we can chat with daddy about daily on skype!
charlie's food obsession today is (besides the consitant oatmeal) mini bagels with cream cheese dipped in yogurt! yummy yet messy!!
better run..will keep you posted on our events!
ps, i went to the doctor for a prenatal check up(haven't been in a while) & she determined my belly is two centimeters bigger than i should be. odd! right?! i just told her we're not expecting a petite child! ;)

ooh! praise God we don't have to pump the septic!! just about nap time today, a large tanker truck showed up at the house to inspect/pump our septic! but guess what!!! yay!! no pumping!! this of course means less dollars out for mommy & daddy!!

some beautiful colors displayed

so happy to see my kitty again! i've been out at grandpa's since friday & i'm sure action missed me as well! we're having a lovely nap together this afternoon! i won't be spending hours/weekends at grandpa's anymore since mommy's workplace had a fire last night & will be closed until further notice! the place has to be gutted! luckily, nobody was injured. (except maybe the mice that resided in the building! (mostly the neighboring restaurants!)) guess she's done working a little earlier than she thought! it was an electrical mishap within the walls, per the investigator. One more family to add to our prayer list right!? this will put a lot of therapists out of work for a while! hopefully it is up & running before the holidays are over! love you guys~

today i'm eating a humongous pile of broccoli!!! i think i've eaten 3/4s of a bag from the stir fry (pseudo stir fry) for dinner! mommy's really excited, but she knows i may decide tomorrow i don't care for it!! i've been starting to get finicky about my veggies!
daddy, your contacts went out in the mail today ~love you

ooh my goodness!! we just saw it snowing in minneapolis!! wahoo!! i am calling for mommy to sit in the rocking chair & sing the "abc song" while i sit on the floor playing the guitar!! love you!!

sorry we didn't get your contacts in the mail today daddy, is tomorrow okay? shoot!! and annabelle, we've got an envelope for you full of those labels for education too! you look soooo cute missing your front teeth!! are you getting new ones yet?
we made tomato soup out of the ton of tomatoes from yesterday! took some over to our neighbor & he made us put it at his doorstep claiming "stay back! i have the swine flu!" OH NO!~!~! guess we won't be visiting him soon !
mommy's belly is getting large!
i'm spending a lot of time with grandpa lately! i am going out there tomorrow, thursday, fri, sat, & sun this week!!
we lowered our price today on the house. a whole six thousand!
i'm begging to watch levi, so we'll talk to you soon :)

not a whole lot new going on. just living in limbo for a while. daddy is in spokane, we're not! our original plan was to be over there by october. HA! not so much! the thing is, mommy can make a decent income as long as we stay here. and keep the house up for showings. and even if we do get an offer, because it is a short sale, it sounds like a minimum of two months before anything will be acknowledged just to accept or delcine an offer! SO...what do we do!?! kinda wanted to get over there before having to travel in the "weather", but our hours are slim for avoiding that i think. (daddy said today that a few of the puddles in the alley at his place are frozen over already! brrr!)
mommy & daddy haven't set a date yet for the final move. seems silly to leave the place we're paying mortgage on while we still have to pay. but we sure miss seeing daddy everyday. :(
*sniff*sniff* there's too much involved to vent here! this is a family fun site!!!
clark county is expecting temps in the 20's this week (only at night!). we picked over the tomatoes in the garden today -harvested a half (5gal) bucket! guess we'll be making some marinara sauce this week too! daddy found a pretty good recipe. although, every time mommy makes it she subsitutes about four things & skimps on others!!...but it always is eatable! we made a birthday cake today! mommy says it was just a chocolate cake, but i kept calling it a birthday cake! we had a piece for dinner! yum!

"snot bubbles!!!" mommy's so proud!