sleep is for the weak

that's what peanut said yesterday, at nap time. Oh, he slept....but only for about 20 minutes.  

the beautiful start to a very short nap

Then he was up up up to party.

We went to my moms. A first in many years. We usually go to Detroit but the people we see there, J's fam, moved too far away to visit at thanksgiving. 

Dinner at my moms went better than I thought. E melted down a bunch, but when you skip a nap, that happens. He was super cute with his cousin and ate turkey, which is a big deal because he doesn't like meat very much.

 

yyyyyyuuuuuum!

with  the cousin

This good holiday makes me feel cautionarily optimistic about christmas. We are in town for both holidays this year. certain people i know who d not live in my house are a little stressie and sad at christmas, but it comes out as anger.

More on that later, or not.

For now, I'm going to leave it with the fact that we had a great holiday!

did you hear about the giveaway? You only have a few more days to enter to win your very own custom made softie. See the give it away now post for more details!

Give it away give it away give it away now

Ok. For all my readers, yes, even you, I am offering a super fun for me and you (yes, you) giveaway. Not familiar with the concept giveaway on a blog? It's simple, I offer something, and you all, all my readers, you all comment, post about the give away on your own blogs, sign up to follow me, that kind of stuff (full details below) and on a given date (in this case, December 1st) a winner will be announced. Winner will be picked randomly.

Now, why is my (MY) giveaway special? Well, I'm giving you the chance to tell ME what YOU want. That's right. But wait...it's not, "i want an eye-phone." the giveaway will be a dance peanut softie and this gives you chance to think up a softie you want to see, and have me take a swing at creating it.

Winners will be selected randomly. You have to enter to win.

several ways to enter.

• need some ideas? ask your kids, tell me your dream monster, think of a ridiculous combination (cat-horse or, um, elephant-fish --you know a fishaphant)

• what the hecks a softie?

• where's peanut? you're sweet to ask. asleep right now, but here he was in a leaf pile.

How to enter the "Dance Peanut Softie Adventure Giveaway":

1. Comment on this post and leave a detailed suggestion for a softie, for ex.: "wow sarah! I'm so excited about this giveaway that I wet my pants. Please make a rhino, a pink one."

a comment will give you one entry

2. if you Follow me that will give you 1 MORE entry. (but only if you comment. I wont know what to make you, otherwise.

3. Post about this Dance Peanut Softie Adventure Giveaway on your blog and that will get you 2 more entries.

So you could have a potential of 4 entries!!! right now, based on current comment trends, that would really make you have an unfair advantage, dear reader. But i won't tell if you won't tell.

full disclosure: since i started posting every day, I have felt a need to receive more comments than i generally do (oh, seeker of approval). I'm hoping this giveaway will bring quiet readers out of the woodwork and will also draw more readers to my blog.

And for those of you wondering, still no pop tarts. Today was hard but my resolve was strong.

Leaves

So e and I raked leaves this morning and he loves leaves. He loves jumping in them, throwing them, filling buckets with them...everything! We ran out of bags so more fun will ensue next weekend I'm sure. Here's a cute pic of our fun time. I love how focused he is!

I am not sure what else to say right now other than that I'm in the planning stages of a giveaway of a craft. So stay tuned. For real. It's the kind of giveaway that you don;t want to miss. Let's call it, choose my own adventure. That's right. Oooooo, you're going to love it.

thwartsville

i do, i do....i do, i doooooooo.

thwart

1. To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of: They thwarted her plans.

2. To oppose and defeat the efforts, plans, or ambitions of

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved

Today, I had an early appointment training a dog. I got all parked and got my stuff, went in the trunk to get my alternate bag, set my keys in my bag(thinking literally, "i will bring this bag"), decided 3 moments later I didn't need said bag, forgot keys were in there, closed the hatchback went into front of car again, locked the doors, began to walk away, realized I wanted the bag afterall, reached in pocket for keys, and remembered location of said keys. Thankfully, I had my phone, so I called j right away and she and peanut hopped on a bus to meet me. pretty thwarted. I went to my appointment and it was good. I got out and J and e were just about there. so I met them walking, got the biggest hug ever from e.

The reason I feel like I'm in thwartsville now is in part due to a general sense I've built up all day.

Like right at this moment, I'm trying to blog and I'm having a hard time. i'm sleepy and hungry, but before that I had to feed the dog, before that the cat was pestering me, before that the baby had woken up and was having a hard time getting comfy again. All of that started to happen as soon as i sat down to blog.

other thwarts arts of the day?

little old ladies at the grocery store in front of every thing i needed

peanut tried to thwart everything

ok' I'm actually dozing between lines. I'll post more tomorrow.

foto story friday: fall frollic

c'mon!

this way!

a buck!!

cool, i climb

yeah!

help from mommy is good too

and mama

under, i fit

another deer, time to rest against this tree

Perfect Fall Day

Here in Chicagoland, as everywhere, I think, the weather has been crummy since, well, for a while. We had a mediocre summer, a crummy start to fall with very cold temps and lots of dismal rain. My backyard is a mud pit. When I say that, and I mean dismal, it rained for days, it makes what I am going to say next all the more meaningful. This weekend made up for everything!!

Made up for the days as dark as evenings, for the constant battering rain, the 45 degree days with gooey leaf puddles, made up for everything.

We took Peanut to the north park nature center today, kind of a wild place in the middle of the city. It feels like you are in the woods, though you can hear the traffic go by and the planes overhead from time to time. It's so beautiful and serene. And what's fun is being able to let peanut run free because there are no cars to worry about or houses for him to walk into. There was even some very interesting deer drama between two stags courting a doe. It was quite interesting. I was in heaven watching Peanut enjoy nature the way I do.

I will post pictures later. I want to now but my computer is very slow and I'm not in the mood to deal with it. Downloading the camera takes awhile.

this is a picture of peanut at a different nature center with his mama. She gets him out and doing things often.

one or two brief last notes...I want to without sounding pathetic, say that i really need to lose weight and am looking for some busy person ideas for that. I saw a picture of myself today that I couldn't believe.

Anyway, if you have any ideas, drop me a comment or two. And read my other posts this week. 8 posts in 8 days, and only 3 comments: thanks Leslie, Meg and Kristen!

apple orchard

these apples are delicious. As a matter of fact they are she said. can all this fruit be free?

It was awhile ago now, but we hit the apple orchard this year. It was tons of fun. We always go with my mom and sisters. This year it was super cold and we went to a place in Wisconsin called Apple Holler. A hootin tootin good time if also a bit expensive and commercial. Still, it was one of those times that was super fun, and it's always nice to have a good time with my family, since that isn't always the case. Peanut loves my mom, and she's a good cha cha (that's her grandma name), but her mothering leaves something to be desired. I've mentioned it before so I won't go into it now. We all know I will mention it again as the holiday season approaches and I grow stressed from it.

I love apple orchard day though. It kind of brings out the best of us all. We come together, pick together, try to stay warm together, enjoy the crisp sweet taste of apples and the warm sugary taste of apple donuts together. This year, peanut was so mobile and loved eating his apples. I think this warmed my mother's heart. Whatever happens, whatever ugly passes between us, I like that we have this. A healthy fall day to celebrate harvest, the earth and going forward. We got a lot of apples that day, but since peanut is an apple or 2 a day kinda guy, and i am a apple or two a day kinda mommy, they are all already gone. So we are back to buying them from Trader Joes.

Here are some pictures from the day.

cha cha picking the first apple

My sister's friend M, Auntie M (my youngest sister who is in High School), My nephew K and apples

Cha cha and Auntie J (K's Mom)

Peanut and his cousin K

Mama, Mommy and Peanut