drum roll please

Finally I can reveal the girls' Halloween costumes.
(enter big sigh of relief here).
They swore me to secrecy until after the big trick-or-treat reveal, but now that's all done and gone and I can finally blog it up!





Now, I normally don't condone this type of behavior, but as you've seen, Julia the Vampire brought it on herself!

from the heart

Sophie's class wrote poetry from the heart, and then they read their poems out loud to their parents in a Celebration of Poetry at school this morning. You might not be able to hear this very well, and I accidentally cut off the first part of it (which starts out..."my dog Sara had brain cancer") but you can tell from what's left of it that it really was right from Sophie's heart!

(And no, I did not make it through without tearing up--though I tried my very best!)

pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins

Today was pumpkin carving day. I don't ever know why we get so many pumpkins--it's not like we need one for each person in the family. And in fact, at the patch, we only got 4 (Bob and I thought we could share) but then Emma's school went to a different pumpkin patch/corn maze where she adopted another tiny gourd. Oh well. The more the merrier. Or is it...the more the scarier!




Man, we really worked up a sweat disemboweling and carving these guys, but check out the results!

(Team Edward, I've Fallen & I Can't Get Up, Deformed Guy, Three Kittens Before They Lost Their Mittens, & Dumb Guy)

CSI: Denver

Now, I have no hard evidence, mind you, but we came home to this fish tank:

(conspicuously absent of Pierre)

And this dog's face:

(in a self-imposed banishment to his dog bed)

And I surmise that said dog ate Sophie's fish after it jumped out of the semi-open fish tank into the gaping canine jaws.
Of course, he could be taking the heat for two gangster cats also housed on premises...
I knew I should have invested in that doggie collar-cam!

first snow

Hang on little buddies!


Camoudog

sock dresses

Sophie says, "Thanks for the sock-dress lesson, Grandma!"
Sophie spent all evening making dresses out of lonely matchless socks and accessorizing their new looks. Don't all the gals look stylish!?!

pagan fun, anyone?

A couple of weeks ago, we were scouting out the location of a job I applied for and ended up in Denver's Hilltop neighborhood. Hilltop is quite the dream neighborhood. Million dollar homes. Lawyers and doctors for neighbors. You know the 'hood. There are no teachers living there, that's for sure.
Anyway, one house had THE cutest Halloween decoration around their front tree...ghosts playing ring around the rosie.

Since I can't actually live in Hilltop...(ever)...I totally copied their idea.
Ha! Here's my little ghosties 'round my little tree.
Take that, Hilltop! We call that 'distribution of wealth' around these parts.

Real Job or Spooky Halloween Prank?

Mortality Surveillance Coordinator--

This position exists to independently manage all aspects of Colorado's data for the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). The NVDRS is a state-based surveillance system that collects data from multiple sources on each homicide or suicide that occurs in Colorado. Duties include, but are not limited to:

•Manage data collection for NVDRS by using research principles and by interpreting and following standard protocols for abstracting information from coroner, law enforcement, and other pertinent records.
•Produce descriptive statistical reports and presentations.
•Communicate with coroners, law enforcement, injury prevention professionals, and NVDRS staff from CDC and other participating states.
•Provide staff support to an advisory committee and make presentations to community partners and other potential users of data analysis results.
•Collect, compile, and interpret operational research and statistical data used in planning and executing programs.

Oh, it's real alright. Not the sun-shiniest job in the world, I imagine.
I didn't apply to this job--just saw it in my search--but the pay and benefits are most excellent if you don't mind murder & suicide.

Pumpkin Time

We (and most of the other residents of Colorado) decided that today would be a delightful day to go pick pumpkins. We arrived at the Rock Creek U-Pick 'Em Farm where there were hundreds of cars, and even more people, but we managed to find ourselves a sparsely people-populated field to hunt for the perfect gourds!
Bob, as you can see, loves all things Halloween so the crowds didn't bother him one bit!

critters at the farm

Some farm animals are creepy--just sayin'


This guy? Not a fenced-in farm animal so...not creepy. In fact, the lady holding him said he eats pigeons if given the chance so he's ultra-cool to me.

lookie!

We made bagels today. Not..."we toasted King Soopers bagels" or "we made miniature bagels out of Sculpey." We actually made them with yeast and flour & eggs & stuff. And there was a lot of kneading involved. And boiling. And waiting. But here they are. And they are surprisingly yummy!

wow

The wind blew these into our back yard today...not sure where they came from but we're in the mood to nature walk to find the giant source of these giant leaves!

something to ponder

This weekend was the weekend for our annual Beau Jo's eating/fall foliage viewing at Ponder Point...our usual spot up the road to Mt. Evans. The leaves (and the pizza) did not disappoint! Someone could have informed the clouds we were coming...but we managed to snap a few good photos before running through the rain to have our picnic in the car...a new twist on the old family tradition.