we've gone mad!

Take a shirt from grandpa.... cut down the sleeves and even out the bottom

and you have a Lab coat.

Borrow a tie from dad, and use a button up shirt....

find some old gloves, test tubes and some scientist glasses~

and we have a MAD SCIENTIST on our hands.

total cost of costume~ $8 (I bought new glasses~ I could have goodwill'd it for less).

a happy trick or treater~ priceless.

my front porch

this is Halloween weekend......

one costume is done (because he has worn it every year- since he was 2). By the way~ those are the best costumes ever!!!!! I am glad I made it BIG so that he could wear it this long. I tried to actually convince him to wear something different this year- but, nope.... it shall be another year of Mickey Mouse (and I am SO okay with that!)

The other costume is in my head.... and will be in the workings this weekend.....

but until then,

I wanted to share with you my front porch.

I love my porch. There is space to decorate and to have some fun with... as well as some room to move around and be out of the rain.

This year I saved some seeds from a few squash that we ate last year and grew them out at my aunt's farm. We dont have space to grow large vines (yet!). so imagine my surprise when I found that two seeds (one sweet pie pumpkin, and one kabocha) grew and grew and grew..... making plenty of pumpkins for a "sweet" autumn display on my porch. This year we have not bought one single pumpkin..... making this year even sweeter!

view from the street

some old tombstones I made years ago... before Bjorn was born.

(Paul is a cousin of ours)

the pumpkin party

BTW- this is only a third of the crop...

many of the pumpkins are still at the farm,

or were shared among friends and neighbors.

gift knit

a gift for a friend....

my first cowl.

I used a seed stitch with this pattern The pattern asks for a cotton yarn but I wanted to use a more wool like yarn.... I went with the NEW Stitch Nation's Washable Ewe in Zinnia. Not many can wear this bright pink color but my friend Carrie~ can.... and she wears it well!

It took me 7 days~ in my "slow as molasses" style but my excitement for her gifting tonight is worth all the efforts.

This cowl is about 70 inches long, and 7 inches wide. Making it long~ for up to three wrappings around the neck.... (although I prefer the double wrap).....

so so so so cute!

perfect for the chilly winters in the city!

now excuse me while I go and start another one.... for me.

this is corny- I know

okay.... so we have been GF/CF for a season.... Egg-less for just over a month or so.....

there have been some things that have been difficult to adjust to....

but somethings- I have embraced, and have found alternatives.

It was a huge transition for us.

Especially when they found out Bjorn had an intolerance to eggs the second week the girls decided to "pay rent" around here. but, we have endured.... seen the humor of it all.... and laughed!

many things we have learned to do without....

Rolls with dinner have been the main one,

but the hardest for us was what Bjorn could eat at a restaurant if we were out (which, isnt very often.... but it does happen)

Bjorn.... his love is in a corn dog. He is not a french fry kid, nor is he a cheeseburger dude..... He goes for the corn dog when given a chance.

He has gone almost 8 months without one~that is until this weekend.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs~ The Pioneer Woman~ and she posted this recipe for homemade corn dogs. Sadly, I never even thought to try to make them..... the idea of filling a pot with oil and then sticking something into it- kinda grossed me out a bit. I am from California~ we dont fry things at home. That is a job for the professionals.

of course I adjusted the recipe... to meet our dietary needs (that is weird using the word diet, when talking about a corn dog).

I make a homemade GF pancake mix that I substituted (with brown rice flour and almond flour- for a higher protein), I used ground flax in place of egg, and no nitrate hot dogs~ ( because that is how we roll!)... I was hesitant with the outcome....

but it got rave reviews.

yes- they even look homemade!

Both boys loved them! LOVED!!!! which earned me the "Mommy Hugs Award" for the weekend.... and boy, did I feel special.

so, go ahead..... fill up a pot with oil..... and make some magic!

this is his "don't bother me~ I'm eating" face.

Fruit Loop

no not these!

but this.... HOOD RIVER FRUIT LOOP

With all of the great progress we have had with B's behavioral and social interaction issues we decided to attempt a family trip to Hood River for the day..... now you think, who cares... right?!? but when one has a child that does not process the idea of people around, plus the element of not knowing what to expect~ let alone not being able to eat (say... pie, Caramel apples, BBQ, Fritters.... all that great harvest treats) the foods around him..... we dont normally go on trips like this as a family. Bjorn's social issues have grown and changed as he has begun to learn to cope and process things in relevance to his self.... but, we still have our struggles (especially in new situations). But, if we never took him places~ the experience would never have a chance to become familiar.... thus creating a cycle of inability.

So this trip was an experiment as well as a fun time out and about. And we are sure glad we did. Both boys were amazing. They were patient, kind, full of wonder and joy. I cannot tell you how proud I was, as a mom, to see my two boys hold hands and talk about apples, pears, pumpkins.... they loved the corn maze, and shared the experience together~ like brothers (which is one of the first times we have had the cohesive bonding between the two of them). In the past it has been one parent with one child~ one parent carries the role of autism manager, as the other parent share the experience of the environment. Two very separate but shared experiences..... minimal to a family experience.

This trip, this day, was different.... and as I share this I have tears of simple joy.

What a gift yesterday was.... what a gift.

Odin was very aware of Bjorn's needs and talked everything through with him...

Bjorn even yelled once "Odin come look at this"... wanting to share a moment with his brother.

Odin understood he could not get a caramel apple because his brother couldnt.... but accepted the bag of popcorn as an alternative. Bjorn, knowing we had a bunch of pumpkins already, accepted that we did not need to buy another one for our house (that was huge people... HUGE!).

As a Mother..... yesterday was a glimpse.

As a Family.... yesterday was a miracle.

tractor ride.

double fruit fisting!

"hey Bjorn show me how happy you are" (this is what I got)

making apple butter

helping make apple butter

corn~mazing!

hood river waterfront park

stripped.....

Today we said goodbye to our veggies, and began to prep the soil for a winter's rest......

one perk is that we have very very happy chickens!

They are loving the worms and bugs that are being tilled to the tops of the soil.

a little

I did a little sewing this morning....

oh how accomplished I feel!

now to tackle the real stuff that needs to get done...

like laundry.

This panel is called TRICK-OR-TREAT STREET.

It was so adorable in the store I couldn't pass it up.

Look at how cute those three costumed kids are!!!! LOVE THEM!

of course I thought I had a wooden dowel to hang it from.... but one of the littles has used it for a craft project already......

I guess in this house... if you snooze, you loose!

but it looks great at the landing of our stairs! It carries out the holiday theme in our entry.

Just Perfect!

Kite Festival

we are always here ( Lincoln City, OR) for the kite festival~ and when we visit we seem to catch the kites, but not the festivities. This year we went (on time) and found a whole different world.....

I never knew there was a community of kite fliers that are totally "into" kites.

we made a kite.

we saw massively huge kites,

synchronized kites,

Dancing kites~ with like 7 fliers working together (to music even!)

even a world record set by the first balloon kite ( and let me tell ya... this guy was serious about his balloons!)

remember this guy....

from America's Got Talent????

Connor Doran.... the first time I watched him on this show, was this try out, and he brought tears to my eyes with how beautiful this performance was. He went onto being in the top 12 of the competition.....

He was there flying.....

it was a windy day, absolutely perfect for a kite ( or two... or hundreds). If you get a chance to see a kite festival~ don't pass it up! It truly is a must see!

Joys of camping!

One must test your strength and manly-man skills by chopping wood!

"how NOT to do it" by Josh

to be fair... he did know how to swing an ax.

but Paul... now there is a force of power!

and play a little football....

eat a "few" bags of chips

(and its more fun when one licks the crumbs up like a dog!)

maybe go for a walk.....

or a bike ride....

That is the great thing about camping...

no agenda... no phones.... nothing to do but

hang out and have fun!