I must be between books right now

In the past few months, I've finished Mockingjay, the Scorch Trials, AF: the Atlantis Complex, all the Chrestomanci books, the Percy Jackson books, the latest Vampire Academy, the latest Blue Bloods novel, all of the Septimus Heap books, Pathfinder (new O.S. Card), all the Fablehavens, all the 39 Clues books, Blackout/All Clear (Connie Willis), the Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson), the list goes on and on.  You'll note that many of the listed books were the first or last in a series (or an entire series), or an eagerly awaited sequel.  I think I've hit a slow streak in good books about to come out.  Sorry, that means I'll probably blog more.  Too bad for you.

 I got a fire bowl for Christmas.  I've wanted one for some time.  Not only am I a pyro at heart, but I love the friendly feeling of gathering around a warm fire and the smell of wood smoke.  Fortunately, we have PLENTY of wood from the trees surrounding us.  In fact, we could probably keep our house warm all winter with the stuff we find just in our yard each year.

 We had a test run with some neighbor friends.  We roasted dogs, brats, and marshmallows.  While the Wudge didn't really go for the warm marshmallows or s'mores, he sure did love the regular marshmallows and chocolate.  He also ate like 3 hotdogs (his current favorite food).  The girls were all scared of the fire--they have obviously been a little too indoctrinated in school about fire safety.  They freaked out every time I adjusted the logs or stoked the flames.  The only one who wasn't scared was, of course, the Wudge who wanted to roast his hands, among other body parts.  (He could probably do with some indoctrination.)

Have I ever mentioned how grateful I am for Netflix?  Not only does it allow me to get a bit of nap most days, but it also occupies very ill young children who have a propensity for crying when feverish.  Surviving influenza would've been much harder without it...

 My MIL showed me how to make these great trivets--I made them for our family gifts to local friends this past December.  It was SUPER easy, and looks adorable.  I am SO in love with the cherry tree stamp (finally found my own).  I think I'll do a nice stamp with it and make my own stationary through VistaPrint.  (Love these guys--lots of free stuff, only pay shipping.)

I know I already posted this on Face, but he is so handsome I had to put him up here too.  Don't you just want to swoon seeing him in pinstripes with a little cravat??  And the miniature bowtie???

 Tell me this is not the very best baby picture in sunglasses that you've ever seen.  Go ahead and tell me.  You know it won't be true.  Look at the double chin, his impassive gaze, the little hand just sitting on his leg, even the sister trying to see in the background...

 I can honestly say this picture was not at all posed.  Yes, they are all reading to themselves in the library.

 Did I ever mention my sister & her family came to visit and see the sights?  We had SO much fun with them.

 

 We also got to see "Grandpa" R (really uncle, but he's def a surrogate Grandpa to our kids).  Note the Rody in the foreground--my nephew took to calling it his Mammal and hiding it all over the house for the other kids to (not) find.  I got used to opening the broom closet or the pantry and having a Mammal tumble to my feet.

We met up w/my sis & fam in Pennsylvania and did the tourist thing.  I was so excited to see Ben Franklin's grave--what's not to love about a guy who took baths in the fresh outside air every morning?

 

Still in love with the mice (of course, this was 3 months ago).  If only he didn't try so hard to squish or munch them when we take them out.

 Grossing out while carving pumpkins.  We never did roast our pumpkins seeds, and the ones I tried to dry & save ended up rotting...  :(

My little princess next to her princess.

Poor kid had been having a meltdown the entire time I was taking pictures of pumpkins, but insisted on getting her picture done.  Doesn't that little face break your heart?

 This was all Bub's brainchild: she wanted to do a haunted yard for weeks & we finally let her since Halloween was on Sunday this year (and thus no trick-or-treating for us).  We invited their close friends and they had fun scaring them to death.  I got to be make-up artist on what turned out to be basically all zombies...

I love this one from our ward Trunk-or-Treat: taken right after Derek left the frame, subsequently jamming his elbow.  The kids are all impassively staring at him rolling around the floor in pain.  Sort of funny if you were anyone but Derek.

 

 Helping himself to Domba's Halloween candy.  Up until this point, he had never had chocolate.  He remedied this by stealing her malted milk balls.

We found him the next night getting into the candy we had set out for the trick-or-treaters.  The start of a really bad sweet-tooth right here, folks.