halloweiner

watch out world, the "e" machine superhero has been born
eli bundled up to at least say he left the house last week and collect a small amount of candy from the neighbours.
e-machines trusty sidekick "snooty monkey"


ida "stonewall" burton
a lot of this has been going on...

there isn't a morning that goes by that, as i lay here in bed, that i can look out the window and something is walking through mom and dads backyard. this morning it was some deer. the other day it was a moose. one night, it was a loudly grunting porcupine. a few weeks ago a deer was literally right up against the window eating moms dying tomato plants. that same morning, i got out of the shower, began to towel off, felt like something was watching me, looked to my left and i swear it was that same deer! face pressed up against the glass about 4 feet away.

creep.

oh, it has been a long haul it seems like. not a lot of sleep. but a lot of snot, coughing, gagging, barfing, pushing tylenol, nursing, sleeping sitting up, worrying, checking temps, sucking out snot, more snot, wiping sad eyes, holding, carrying, patting, wondering, praying, watching.

we weren't tested, but i am going to say/predict/shout-it-from-the-rooftops we had the flu here this last while. it presented as a croupy cold for the kids, but we got all the flu symptoms, fever, aches, sore throat, etc. i will say it is quite miserable, especially for ida. i have not been able to put her down for a week. day or night. there was a short moment when the tylenol had peaked in her system where we were able to squeeze her into her monkey suit for a token "1st halloween picture" but that was about it. this morning, as she lays here next to me, it seems her snoots have thickened up instead of the lava flow of snot that has been erupting since last wednesday. her poor nose. all she had to do was see was me pulling a kleenex out of the box and she would start shaking her head back and forth and start to boob.

hey! don't you know, the more you boob the more snot is produced! stop it! stop it! stop it!

i wrote yesterday i was going to take a break. how do you take a break from weighing in on life? i keep a personal journal, i kind of always have. it is important to me. i was a communications major at ricks college when i was attending there. i had a class where i did a weekly radio show and the only thing i could talk about and play was mormon contemporary music. that stunk. i have a established blog now. i can post anything i want. i am documenting daily life, things that make me happy and sad, pictures of the kids, c.j.'s accomplishments. that doesn't stink. it keeps me on my toes, it makes me a better writer, a grateful person, a better observer, a better mother? does it? i would have to agree with sandras comment on my "over and out" post. but last night c.j. came home and twice insisted that i not stop. it is a creative outlet, our family reads it, it is worth it.

eli was a superhero for halloween. we bought a "build your own" superhero kit that had generic "superhero-y" stuff in it. a mask. a cape. some fancy cuffs. with the help of c.j., eli was transformed into the "e-machine". the funny thing was, as soon as he put on that mask, he was someone different. he walked different, talked to us like a goofy old-timey superhero, made serious superhero-y faces. it was kind of hilarious and very eli.

ida was a monkey. you know, the old navy version. i bought the costume 2 months ago and she wore it about 7.5 seconds before she burst into flames due to her fever, the costume and the ridiculousness of it all. why am i sitting here, in a thick fuzzy monkey suit, INDOORS, boiling and you are taking pictures of me???!!!!!!! ah, she will never remember the experience until she looks back at baby pictures and we will reminisce, "remember when it was your first halloween?! ooohh, you were a H1N1 infected monkey, that's riiightttt..."

good times, good times.