October

Now that Katie is a little older I'm finding more time to be crafty again. For Halloween this year I found a fun idea for a necklace that I changed into a garland for my mantle. I took Elmer's glue and made the outline of a bunch of little ghosts on parchment paper. The ghosts were all about 3 1/2 to 4 inches tall. After drying for about 5 minutes, I filled in the whole thing with glue. I let them dry for a couple of days. Then I peeled them off the parchment and drew on 2 little eyes with a sharpie. I used a tiny hole punch in the top and stung them on jute. I think it looks darling if I do say so myself.

Bradley had his birthday this month. It's hard to believe that he is really 11 years old. He is officially taller than me now. I am 5' 2", and I think Bradley is almost 5' 3". I knew it would happen, but I didn't really expect it to happen before he became a teenager.

He earned his Webelo, his Arrow of Light, his World Conservation badge, and a handful of the Webelo requirements badges. You can see the stack in his hands, and Sister Christiansen wasn't done handing them out yet. He did most of them on his own too. What a good kid!!

Bradley showing off his Indian paint (tube frosting) after his Arrow of Light ceremony.

Bradley had his pumpkin patch in the backyard again this year. Every pumpkin you see in the photo was grown by him. What you can't see is that there are 20 + more lining the sidewalk. It was a great crop, and there were several large ones perfect for carving. Bradley and I each carved 3 pumpkins this year.

For Halloween the girls were both little strawberries, and Bradley was a Barbhurst protection squad soldier guy. What is that you ask? Well, you can ask him if you want the real explanation, all I know is it is something he and his cousins made up in Marysvale.