Oh the Bliss!

Let's start with Halloween. I'm not a fan. That shouldn't shock anyone. I was raised to not be a fan. My family was the family that handed out tracks. We did the harvest carnivals at churches and avoided all things evil. I was baaaaaaaaarely allowed to dress up for the parades in Elementary School. I think I was a Crayola Crayon one year, and Little Bo Peep. I trick-or-treated at four or five houses, and those were the four or five houses where our friends lived. So this battle has been going on for decades. (I can say decades because I'm 30 now). Halloween has never reared it's ugly head so much as it has this year because this year I have a kid that is old enough to see, and be drawn to, the evil side of Halloween. Up until now it's just been a slightly silly day where my kids wear the costumes they wear out of the house on a regular basis anyway, except they get candy for it. No biggy. But this year something happened in the big kid. He notices the evil all a

Halloween. The gifts I received/gave. It's a boy! Training Hearts for Jesus. New house rules. These are the titles of blogs I have written - in my head. One of these days I will put down the stinkin' Angry Birds game (thanks Hoolay!) and start writing again. No, it's not really that, although I am tempted to be epically distracted by that senseless app, it's just that these are things that really mean something to me, and try as I might I am unsure about accurately writing about them. So they build up in my head as I stick to silly pictures and one liners, but there is more mulling around in here - I just need to pray about how to get it out there. In the meantime... Stick with me. :)

Birthday was AWE ... SOME. Here are some outtakes from the evening... More to details to come...

Tonight I will say goodbye to my 20's. Not gonna lie, it's a little sad. I liked being 20 something. I felt young, even when everything in my life made it seem like I was old, or old er , I should say. My 20's were good to me. Full and rich, busy. Stats on my 20's... 2 colleges (yes community, they still count) 8 moves 5 churches 1 engagement 1 wedding 2 major house remodels 1 turtle, 3 cats, 1 dog, 8 chickens 7 trips outside Cali 4 pregnancies, labors, deliveries, births, kids 127(+) grey hairs So, you know, my 20's were nice. And, truth be told, the "baby of the family"-attention seeker (read:attention LOVER) in me will miss the look of shock and awe on people's faces when I tell them I'm a mother of four and still in my twenties. Mother of four and in my thirties? Meh, no biggie, isn't everybody? I've kind of always felt like that's what made me special... (Time to dig into the real reasons I'm special.) I'm exited because

Tonight I'm going to write about something that is heavy on my mind. Something that I have to face, to deal with, to devote time to multiple times a week. Packed lunches. This is what Ben's lunch looks like almost everyday he goes to school, which is only three days a week. I can only imagine what it would look like if he went five days. I've even made a complete lunch mainly consisting of these and these. How those even got into my house is beyond me. (Not that far beyond, though). There are so many things wrong with Ben's lunches, the plastic baggies for one... the lack of protein, the quantity of processed foods, blaach. I want his lunches (and mine for that matter) to look like this: or this: I promise I will not re-purchase any of those nasty things. Pinky promise. **The delicious looking lunches pictured up there are from a fabulous little website called Weelicious . They have a fan page on FB and they post a picture of their packed lunch for the day, everyday. No

It's only been one week and Birthday Month is off to a great start. Monday night brought a much needed Fitzselson Night. Mark surprised us and came home early from work on Tuesday, can you say awesome? Wednesday I started a Book club and had pie with this girl , who happens to be 12 days OLDER than I, which warrants a "Happy Birthday Month Becks!" Mark stepped out a bit early again from work today and met us at Pumpkin City AKA: "Temptationville". It was reeeeeeeeally close to being fun, until we (quickly) figured out the wonderful little city is really a front for a money sucking, child torturing "fair" that smells like farm animal poop. Don't you fret, little kids, you can ride these ponies all day long if you want. What? Not as fun as a bounce house? Super Mark swooped up our pumpkin-crazed kids and took them to Trader Joe's where any sane person will buy their pumpkins, HUGE ones, 3 for the price of 1 tiny one from Rip-you-off-Land. It'

Birthday month has arrived! And it's a big one folks... in just 19 short days I will be celebrating my---- Woo, that's big. This requires a party, no? How should I celebrate? I'm at a loss... small and intimate? Big and rambunctious? Girls only? Couples only? Entire families? Day at the spa? Night away with the hubs? Gifts? No gifts? In-and-Out truck? The options are endless! Thoughts?