It's the LEAST Wonderful Time of the Year!

Yes, it's time for the dreaded changing of the closets! This fall it is taking forever . . . mostly b/c I was severely behind on laundry. Our living room is covered in clothes. I know it looks like my dryer exploded in my living room, but there is actually method to this madness. Every tub and pile has its purpose. The good news is that I'm almost done. Boy am I ready to have my living room back.

I am going to frame this picture and keep it close at hand. That way, when my girls are all grown and out of the house, and I'm sad and missing them, I can pull it out and at least be thankful that I don't have anymore changing of the closets!

A Little Project

A few weeks ago I was offered a cute shelf by a family from church (The Callans - Love ya!) Knowing the kind of stuff that John makes (yes, he made it) I said yes, without even seeing the thing! I knew I'd love it. I then decided where I was going to put it (in the dining room), and hoped it would work there. It just so happened that I brought it home the day after we got Tucker, and that a bookshelf in the dining room what just what I needed for dog accessories. We use it for dog treats, clean-up bags, shoes to take him out, etc . . . So not only is it adorable, it's been heavily useful.

The only problem with it is that the outside color was almost the same color as the wall it was against. The inside color is red, and I love it (I loved the blue also, unfortunately it kind of blended in too much) So I started thinking about what color I could paint the exterior that would look nice with the red and not blend in with the wall. Well, it just so happened that I have black paint left over from painting my shutters, and I decided to give it a shot - nervous, of course, that it just wouldn't be as cute as John made it.

Well, I'm excited to announce that it is done and I love it!! I will probably do a little more distressing once the paint has had more time to set. I took some sandpaper to the edges last night and I love the fact that in some places you can still see the blue peeking out.

Thank you John & Carol . . . I love it!

Pumpkin Patch

The pumpkin patch usually gives me some of my favorite photos of the year. This year was rather disappointing. Too sunny. But we still had a fun time . . . here's a glimpse into our afternoon . . .

My 4 girlies


Fun in the corn trough


Emma and Karis looking for pumpkins


Aren't they cute?


Julie tried to pick up many of them . . . with no success.


I love this shot!


Sweet Meg


After being in his crate way too much the day before, we decided that Tucker would come along this time. He had a great time and ate lots of grass.


Ali


Emma


Feeding the goats


The Littles had a great time in the corn trough


Ali & Karis showing some personality!

I Guess It's Better than Nothing

We must be the most retarded family in the whole world to photograph. It amazes me that I can go out and take pictures of the Alligoods and get tons of awesome pictures, but when it comes to the Pattons . . . no such luck.

On Friday we went out with the Thebeaus to take pictures at my in-laws house. It was a nice cloudy afternoon, but I guess it just got too late and therefore too dark. Almost all of my pics were blurry, not to mention the ones where someone isn't looking at the camera, someone is blinking, etc . . . Amber took some of us at the pumpkin patch yesterday . . . nothing worth my blog space. I don't know what our problem is. Anyways . . . here is the only picture that even comes close . . . I guess it's better than nothing!

All 4 girls!

I finally got pictures taken of all 4 girls together. I am blessed to have a in-laws who have a picturesque home/yard . . . and I took advantage of it!

Time to Take Care of Those Apples

Saturday mornings are our designated "family mornings." The kids really look forward to whatever is on the agenda for the morning. This past Saturday, we needed to take care of our three huge bags of apples. They were really excited to make applesauce . . .

Involving the Littles takes some creativity. Daddy cut the apples and Meg and Julie put them in the bowls. I am shocked at how much they enjoyed this!


Ali and Emma took turns with the Victorio Strainer - one cranked while the other push the apples into the strainer. They loved it!


The finished product! (I decided to freeze our applesauce this year since I had lots of freezer space available - saves time on processing the jars, and shelf space to store them!)

School Presentations

On Friday night we did our first school presentation of the year. We got together with the Alligoods, invited friends and family, and then our kids got some public speaking experience. This time each kid chose a state and did a PowerPoint presentation. They also sung a song that they've been learning in music, "Hello to All the Children of the World." I was a slacker with the camera. I took a few before the presentation, a few of them singing, and a few after they were done, but none of the presentations themselves. Oh well.

Our Littles, waiting to get started.
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Since I slacked in the picture department, here are the first slides from Ali & Emma's PowerPoints. They really had fun doing them.

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Singing their song (that sheet behind them is the "screen" for their PPs.)
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Grandpa Klarner is kind of a map junkie. He enjoyed some map time with Meg and Aubrey after the presentations.

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We did video the presentations (Thanks Mike & Lyd for the loan of the video camera!) so I may get some still shots from that. We'll see . . .

And his name is . . .

Tucker. Yes, our poor puppy can now end his identity crisis. He now has a name!

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Fun playing tug-of-war with Meg

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Isn't he darling?

Our Newest Addition

Don't ask me what I was smoking . . . I'm really not sure. But we took the plunge and got a puppy. The Patton home is now officially full . . . no more pets allowed.

We've actually mentioned the idea of getting a dog before . . . I've just always been really opposed to it. I'm a cat girl myself. But since we decided to build a house in Pacific, the standing joke has always been that now I need either a dog or a gun, and I don't want a gun. We always laugh, but I'm only half joking. I kind of like the idea of having a dog to keep the scary people away!

Today we made a trip out to the Humane Society "just to look" and fell in love with our pup. So, yes, I agreed to a dog . . . but here's the kicker . . . it's a boy! I can already here the gasps. Yes Aaron finally has a male companion in our house! He LOVES Aaron. (and thinks Emma is pretty awesome too) He's been following him around all evening, and it's really very cute.

The HS thinks he's a black lab/boxer mix. He's all black with a few white spots on his chin and chest.

I think we're going to call him Toby . . . that isn't set in stone. I guess we'll see. I never thought I'd have to name a boy.

Polly and Kelsey have had their worlds turned upside down. I am actually surprised at how well Polly is doing. I thought she was going to have a stroke when we brought Kelsey home. She has done some hissing and growling, but has been more mellow than I expected. She likes to know where he is, and keeps a pretty constant eye on him . . . loosening up a bit when he's in his crate. At one point she hissed and batted at him, and he yelped like someone had stepped on him. It made me laugh since she didn't even touch him . . . but then again, she is bigger than he is! Kelsey has pretty much disappeared. I guess she's hiding out, hoping he'll go away.

Well, I'm sure I'll have many more posts regarding our little guy. I'd like them to be "Wow! He's housebroken in one week!" and "He only chews on his toys" Somehow I don't think that will be the case, but I'm sure we'll get there after tons of training.

Here are a few snapshots of our little peanut. Enjoy!

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P.S. It's hard to photograph a black dog!

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A Little Sales Pitch

I recently hosted an Uppercase Living home show. If you're not familiar with their stuff, you ought to check it out (http://www.uppercaseliving.com/) . . . it's awesome! They sell these vinyl expressions that you can put on your wall, or wherever. My friend, Jess, is a demonstrator. It was a fun party . . . and getting the free/half price stuff is always a bonus!

I got my stuff today and got to work right away, hanging things up!

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