Punkim Patch

Today we went to the roadside pumpkin (or punkim as Ava calls them) stand/patch. It was pretty windy and cool, but a nice day and Ava had fun. Except for trying to avoid the Heartland Catfish mascot that was there. She wouldn't go near him no matter how I tried to tell her it was a man in a costume! So, of course she wouldn't let me get her picture with him and I didn't think to just snap one with me until we were leaving. So, of course, as per usual for her, she did her own artistic interpretation of her reaction to Mr. Catfish (or whatever his name is).

Catfish with hat on, the catfish mobile (a VW bug with fins and logo), Ava crying, and me.

Thirtysomething

I can't believe it's been over 20 years since that show came on! And I really can't believe I am and even more so as of this past Tuesday! Back then (I was 10 the first year it was on), they all seemed so much older, I guess because they were/are my parents' age. And now here I am "in my thirties", it's kind of mind-blowing, to me anyway.
Btw, Tuesday was nice overall. Nothing big. We went to my MIL's, she made enchiladas, yum. Another reason we went there was so she could babysit while we went to the movies. Oh, and I don't really recommend Zombieland. Not that I expected Oscar-quality, but we'd heard it was hilarious, and it just didn't even come as close as I was hoping. There were some aspects that made it a little more original than other movies of this type, but it wasn't enough for it to surpass them or anything.
Anyway, I guess 32 is better than what my hubby will be in 2 weeks! (He's 9 years older than me, heheh)

A Wubbzy Halloween DVD Giveaway!

Monica over at Peapod Squad Stuff is giving away a "Wubbzy Goes Boo!" Halloween DVD!

"Wubbzy and his friends are back in an all-new DVD collection just in time for the fall season! Watch as Wubbzy, Widget and Walden clean up a crazy mess with Moo Moo’s magic wand, pick the perfect pumpkin and create the spookiest Halloween costume of all. There’s singing, dancing, trick or treating and kickity-kick ball too, plus plenty of positive values like creativity, patience and responsibility. It’s all here in the Emmy-winning Nick Jr./Noggin hit that’s so much fun it’s scary!"

All you have to do to enter is click on the link above and leave a comment, and of course there are details on how to get extra entries. There's also a trailer on her blog in case you want to actually see what it's like or in case you've never heard of Wubbzy. Ava has loved it since they started coming on Noggin a few years ago. We even had a Wubbzy cake when she turned 2. Below is a picture of my kinda sad attempt, but I guess I did pretty good for a first time.

Reminder: Check 'Em!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month(reason for the new background). It strikes 1 in 8 women! I've two aunts that had it. One is still alive after more than 20 years! She had a double mastectomy and it even metastasized to her trachea and chest wall. So, I know I should probably consider getting a mammogram next gyn visit even though I'm no where near 40 (although I will be getting closer on Tuesday). But I do check mine regularly, and that's one key to early detection which is the best chance of survival. About 6 days after your period, here's what to look for:

• swelling of all or part of the breast
  
• skin irritation or dimpling
  
• breast pain
  
• nipple pain or the nipple turning inward
  
• redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
  
• a nipple discharge other than breast milk
  
• a lump in the underarm area

You just really need to get to know 'em, to know when something has changed. You can help spread the word by "going pink" on your blog. Another great site I found to aid in your self-check is http://www.checkyourboobies.org/. (Hopefully I won't get too many weirdos putting that word on here).

Remind all the women you know to check 'em!

Woof

Ava decided to pretend to be the neighbor's puppy, Hootie. She never lets me put her hair in pony tails otherwise, so I took these pictures.

And my favorite, mean Hootie (although he's never mean in reality).

My Turn Finally Came Today

In a bad way, that is. I ran out of gas for the first time today (on my way to the gas station), ever. I was in the turning lane to turn into the station, and it just wouldn't go any further. I make such short trips around here that I tend to (stupidly) push it to the edge, and well, it had to be physically pushed today. I'm still just sooo embarrassed for being so stupid. I am normally very careful to watch the miles I've gone once the light starts trying to come on. Well, I think with my car getting older, it's just not going as far as it used too, obviously.
So, God may have taught me a lesson and/or warned me about the car getting older, but He decided to shower me with blessings too. First, it was still daylight and not raining. Second, I was on a major road, in a turning lane, right at a gas station. Third, I wasn't sitting there more than a few minutes and a lady pulled up to ask if I needed help, and then almost simultaneously, two guys pulled over on the other side of the road and came over to push me on over to the station. I couldn't stop thanking them (and God, of course). And thankfully, Ava didn't freak out too much.

So, I guess for the first time, it could have been a much worse situation, but ended up not being all that big of a thing (except in my head).

Stormy Monthly Memphis Trip

Ava and I made our monthly trip to visit with my family last week. It ended up being a little scary Thursday and again on Saturday. Some pretty big storms with tornadoes came through Thursday evening doing quite a bit of damage just north of us (we were southeast of Memphis). They even had it on cnn. Two of the tornadoes to the south of us started up our direction but turned away (big blessing, I know). My mother's backyard was flooded for a short time. It was weird to see a small current going by the back door!

I had planned on leaving early Saturday because it was supposed to start up again that evening. Well, God decided to surprise us and brought it mid-morning. It was pretty rough, but after pulling over at a gas station for a bit to let the worst pass, it wasn't too bad. There were periods of heavy rain off and on the rest of the way.

As far as the rest of the time in Memphis, with the storms, we didn't get to do a whole lot. I did finally get to meet my younger brother's girlfriend from Hawaii. She flew in the day after we got there. How in the world did he wind up with someone from Hawaii? An online game, believe it or not. She is very very sweet, but painfully shy. One sort-of-problem is, they've been talking about marriage (hopefully further down the road for their sakes), but families are very close over there, many even live in the same house, so she is going to want them to live there. She wants her children to be raised there (can't say I blame her). I just don't think my mother could handle that (she won't be able to let her baby boy be that far away). And we all know how sky-high the cost of living is there. They should just take their time, as they should have plenty since they both need to finish college. But I know it will be hard, as they've only seen each other a few times in the few years together. Hopefully they'll be smart about it. And keep sending the chocolate covered macadamia nuts!;)