Laughable.

We woke up to snow. Approximately 2 inches of it. School is cancelled. So much for making a trip down to Eugene, since there were more than 35 accidents and 5 jack-knifed semi-'s on I-5 this morning. Maybe we should think about investing in more than one snow plow for the city, and teaching these Oregonians a few things about driving in the snow, eh? (In their defense, there is a layer of black ice under ALL THAT white. Even Cory was sliding around.)

I couldn't resist.

Every time I have to go to our storage shed, I "shed" tears. It is horrific, and unorganized, and chaos, and ugly, and the worst! In an effort to make myself feel better, I purge some area of our minuscule apartment when I get home. I was running out of areas, then thought I'd clean out my files a month early. (I do my files after the New Year; this is very adventurous and daring of me.) And look what I found! I'm sorry Cory, I couldn't resist.

This girl looks like she could eat him for breakfast, and that she might be his teacher.He looks like a baby here.And this one . . . well, I wish ya'll could've seen the girls' faces when they saw this one. PRICELESS; eyebrows raised, not quite sure what to think about this girl, and her boa, all over their dad. I still can't stop giggling.

And the hits just keep on comin' . . .

Tessa told me the other day, as I was getting out of the shower, that she "didn't want to grow up." We have a Peter Pan enigma that hangs around our house, so I wasn't totally surprised. Until . . . she closed her eyes, squinted really hard, grunted a little, and said, "Good, no more growing; cuz I don't want a big bum like you." Really.
Then this morning she told me, "Stop saying naughty words or I'll throw-up on you!" Seriously.

The time has come, the Walrus said . . .

To scratch, until we bleed.

You'd think, for how wet/humid-ish it is up here that this wouldn't happen. Like Father (my dad), like Daughter (me) and like Daughter (Tessa)! Bring on the Curel and Aquaphor.
Finishing up our October festivities were some traditional Hot Dog Mummies and babysitting.

Tessa is baby hungry. When we had the opportunity to watch a baby a couple weeks ago, she was over the moon. She was, literally, by his side for most of the two hours. Everyday since that she's told me to, "Get a baby in that tummy!" Which is laughable because I've had to dispel a few rumors because my kids were telling people we were having a baby. ("Congratulations!" "For what?" "Aren't you pregnant?" "No . . . do I look pregnant?" "But Tessa told me . . .") So, in conclusion, I'm NOT pregnant, nor will I become so, anytime soon. So, yes, much to the dismay of my children and extended family, no more little Maughansters for us. For awhile.

More Visitors

My mom and sister came for a UEA visit a couple weeks ago, and we had a great time entertaining them.
We walked to The Wetlands, obsessed by the water-drop laden spiderwebs. We wake up to this type of fogginess about 3 times a week.
There was some nature hiking in McDonald Forest. We saw caterpillars, slugs, a newt/lizard thing, huge Maple leaves, toadstools, and the last of the blackberries. There have also been a ton of cougar sightings, but luckily, we didn't see one of those.
We did a science experiment, and learned about the chemical reaction that makes Flubber. We had a little too much fun with the Flubber.
We went to the Coast and had AMAZING seafood! We also found out how Patrick Starfish got way up on the dock. There was a family crabbing and they catch all sorts of stuff, and show it to the kids on Saturdays. The beach was fun with kites and seaweed junk, but then got ultra cold. Cory lost some man points when he was unable to light a fire in gale force winds with no kindling ;) Also found a super cool road along the way!
The cutest chefs ever, with a super talented Grandma who made the aprons and hats. (We also did a little sewing project called THE PETTISKIRTS OF DOOM! We only finished half of one, so I had the pleasure of finishing the skirts on my own. I had nightmares about ruffles.)
Good times with Our Girls!