Happy Halloween!

Whew! I'm actually glad it's over! I look forward to Halloween every year because I loved it as a kid and I love going trick or treating in our neighborhood. After school, we carved our pumpkins and got them situated on the front stoop. Around 6:30, the boys got dressed up and we walked around the neighborhood with two other friends & one other mom. We ran into so many friends & neighbors, which is always fun. Andrew had to show off his "wings" that popped out for everyone. lol. Jim stayed home and gave out candy. We guestimated that he gave out about 70 candy bars this year with plenty of leftovers (like I need all of that in the house? Ha). I'm posting a few pictures including one of Daisy since she had to get in on the Halloween action. :)

She's into everything!

Daisy is into everything! She's such a social girl and wants to be in the thick of everything. If she can't get up by herself, she will climb up me (by holding onto my clothes). This is Daisy with Jim last night - she was literally falling asleep on her feet, but wouldn't go lie down in her bed. She had to stay where everyone else was. Too cute!

Look where I found Daisy Jane...

She was sleeping with Matthew! I couldn't resist going downstairs, grabbing my camera and snapping a picture. She loves to snuggle! The best part is that Matthew has never really been "sure" about having a cat and he's not a huge fan of dogs. Today, he really seemed to bond with Daisy and to see the smile on his face, earlier in the day, when she was playing with him & allowing him to pet her was priceless. I bet they become fast friends! :)

Learning Mommy's Bad Habits Already

Lookit Miss Daisy Jane wanting to do everything I do today. She's figured out how to get up on the computer all by herself and has even tried out the keyboard. She wanted up on the counter to see what I was doing when I was trying to scrapbook. She's a very curious girl. :)

Andrew got Glasses!

Andrew had been squinting for awhile, but then the school nurse tested him and he failed. So we went to the eye doctor last week and Andrew did very well. He picked out his frame, which are Power Ranger ones (they are black with blue on the arms) and he also got a very cool case. He's still getting used to the idea of having to wear them, he's getting used to wearing them and he's getting used to taking care of them. We think he looks very handsome.

Meet Daisy Jane!

Well we knew we were going to get a new kitty, so today was the day. Jim found an ad in today's classifieds for "long haired kittens, all female". Perfect! We called and they said they had 3 females and we could come & see them around 4pm. Perfect! We got there and one of the kittens was super skittish & cried. We knew it wasn't going to be that one. There were two others to choose from, one was mostly calico and one was striped, but with some orange/brown on her. We loved the stripe one and she seemed to have a great temperment. So off we went (and yes, they tried to get us to take more than one. LOL).

We discussed names in the car. We had talked about naming her Daisy - somewhat for the Disney theme, somewhat cuz it's cute. We kicked around a few other names.... Ariel, Princess Aurora, Tinkerbell, Jasmine, Tiger Lily, etc... but Daisy stuck. Then we were thinking Daisy Jasmine, but it didn't flow well enough. Then I thought of Daisy Jane - for those of you who are old enough to remember, it's a song by America, which was one of the first CDs Jim & I listened to a lot when we first started dating. So Daisy Jane stuck, even though I'm probably the only one who'll keep the middle name. Jim said she could be DJ. lol

We got home and showed her the new catbox (we had gone to WalMart in the afternoon to buy all new cat supplies.). She is a bit more skittish at home than she was at their house. She's not quite sure what to do with herself and basically tried to hide for awhile. Andrew got out a new cat toy (it's like a fishing pole thing with a bird on the end), but she wasn't interested. Then, we found a toy mouse, which was an instant hit. After that, we got out some ribbon and she really came out (from behind the couch) and started to play a lot. After about 20 minutes, she passed out. LOL. Isn't she adorable?

Backyard Fall Fun

I couldn't resist taking some pics of the boys this afternoon. They love playing in the backyard and they were more than happy to throw some leaves around. We aren't yet at the point where they could rake up a big pile, but maybe next weekend the leaves will start to fall more consistently. I'll be very sad when the leaves are gone, though.

Is it just me....

or did blogger change the way you look at comments? Even the way you post a comment is different. Why do they have to mess with something? I hate change, can you tell? Carry on! ;)

Apples, Pumpkins, etc....

Yesterday (Sat 10/19), we went out for the day! It was a 50/60 degree day (just like Jim likes it) and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. First, we went to Windy Brow to get some cider, an apple crumb pie, some cider donuts and to pick our apples. We took the tractor ride out to the orchard and found some great apples (empire - my fave, winesap - Jim's fave, and some red delicious for the boys). Andrew found a "Hidden Mickey" in the apples, so I had to take it's picture, of course. We even saw a few goats while we were there (they *really* wanted our cider donuts, but there's no way I'm sharing one of those with a goat! LOL)

Next, we headed over to Lentini's in Newton, NJ to get pumpkins. We got 4 pumpkins, saw some pumpkin catapulting & sling shotting, saw a pig race and the boys went through the gigantic corn maze.

Afterwards, we headed off to Hackettstown, NJ to eat at an old favorite restaurant, Pietros. Oh wow is the food fantastic there and we have tons of leftovers to eat today. I can't wait to dig into the Tortellini Alfredo. Yum!

All in all, it was a wonderful Saturday and we all had a great time. We had "movie night" later in the evening and watched "Delta Farce" together (not exactly a very good movie, but there were a few funnies).

What a Glorious Fall Day!

Today was absolutely beautiful outside. I drove into NJ to go bowling and was astounded by all the wonderful colors I saw along the roadside. As I drove home, I got the idea to go home & grab the camera, then come back out and take some pictures. I took pictures at the Delaware Water Gap and also by a little waterfall near our house. I'm really happy with this pictures and need to take more one day with people in them! :)

My Newest Layouts

21 of these are from last weekend and the others are ones I did in September 2008. Thanks for looking, if you do! :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/loopner67/ScrapbookLayouts#

Back from the Cozy Crop

Wow, what a wonderful weekend. I went to a scrapbooking crop on Thursday and got home around 6pm this evening. I can't say I don't miss my family, but I love going away for these weekends. The laughter is probably my favorite part. We ate wonderful food, had a massage on Saturday, did some shopping, laughed a lot, had fun singing, shared stories, scrapped, took a Christmas card class, laughed some more and just had a great time. I was sad today, when Linda had to go home early because she was sick, but other than that, it was truly a great weekend. I even got to see a Buggy (horse & Buggy - we were in Amish Country). We want to go back in April and again next October. I'm definitely hooked on these smaller, more intimate crops and it's so great to know I'll have the opportunity to do one in the spring this year. Yay!

Going to a Scrapbook Weekend

I'm leaving today around noon to head out to Lancaster, PA for a scrapbooking weekend. I get to spend the weekend with Linda, Jo & Tammi and then I finally get to meet my friend, Nicole, in person. HOORAY! We always have such a great time on these weekends. It's nice to get away. :)

More Disney Pictures

I put a bunch of pictures on a picasa web album so that I didn't upload too many here on my blog and jammed it up. LOL. I hope this link works.

http://picasaweb.google.com/loopner67/DisneyWorld2008#

Back From Disney World

Wow, I can't believe our trip came and went already. That's always the way, huh? I have a lot to write about and will probably set up a separate area to do my Disney Journal for this trip - I wrote every night in a journal so that I could remember all the little details & write a trip report. Actually, I still need to write up the last day and should go do that now so that I don't forget anything.

So it's back to reality, no more Disney Magic right now. BUT, we took advantage of a BounceBack offer and booked a trip for next September at the Wilderness Lodge. We liked the Beach Club, but we can't wait to return to The Lodge!

I'll have tons and tons and tons of pictures to share very soon. :)