He's not an astronaut, he's just dressed like one.

Jakson is not the biggest fan of Halloween. Never has been. In fact, I would venture to say that it's his least favorite holiday. He doesn't love candy, hates parties, and is scared of most costumes. Which rules out just about everything fun about October 31st.

Mostly, he doesn't like it when people comment "oh, so you're an astronaut." Because he is not, in fact, an astronaut. He is Jakson. Dressed as an astronaut. Every year we have the same exact meltdown. This year we had two. One for him, and he also had one for Storey. Because she called herself a pink owl. And, you guessed it, she is not really a pink owl. Actually, "There is no such thing as a pink owl!!" Oh, the joys.

Jakson's distaste for Halloween means that he may or may not wear a costume. Rather than spend hours making something that might not get worn, I have opted the past couple of years to buy his costume. He decided pretty early on that he wanted to be an astronaut this year (after watching Bill Nye's space video over and over again). He also wanted a real helmet, but the only tutorials I found online used a glass fish bowl. Kid with sensory issues + glass fish bowl = a lot of broken glass. We opted for a fabric, kind of ugly helmet instead.

We didn't end up doing any trick or treating tonight, but we did have a major breakthrough when he chose to walk from car to car with Daddy and Storey at the very end of trunk or treat Saturday. Maybe next year he won't run and hide every time he sees a princess. Baby steps.

She's a hoot.

Behold! Storey's requested "pink owl" costume.

The beanie was not part of the O.G., but was added out of necessity because it's "cold" here in Houston. Cold is a term I use very loosely.

I love how everything turned out, except the mask. It's completely wonky, but after 3 or 4 attempts to remake it, I gave up. I used to be a perfectionist. Then I had children.

Just hoping I earn a lot of candy from this one.

I like marshmallows too.

And unfortunately, I've eaten so many in the last 10 years that I can no longer fit into the skin tight animal print pants I am wearing in this photo. One more victim on the long list entitled awesomeclothesthatdon'tfitpost-kid.

My roommate Brooke and I were teaching in New Zealand at the time and hosted a little party for all of the American girls and some Kiwi friends. Our friends Jen and Danielle came dressed as "Your Mom" in honor of our favorite comeback. Their hideousness was even more profound against our 1980's beauty queen glamour. Probably the most hilarious Halloween to date.

Well, there was that time that Zak shaved male pattern baldness into his hair......

Alligators like marshmallows. And small dogs.

Almost a family portrait. I'm in the photo due to sunglasses reflection. Definitely the way I look best.

A couple of weeks ago, we took advantage of Zak's Friday off and pulled Jakson out of school to spend the day together as a family. (He's in kindergarten. How much could he possibly be missing???). Across town there's a state park called Brazos Bend. There's not a whole lot of "hiking" here--highest landmark is an overpass, not Squaw Peak anymore--- but this state park is even cooler because it boasts of over 200 alligators. No fences. No walls. Just you and the gators.

Sort of related sidenote: Have I mentioned we have a neighbor with a fan boat? The kind seen on Swamp People? We're not in Kansas Utah anymore, people.

A great time was had by all. Especially since we basically had the place to ourselves. The only negative was that we weren't able to use our awesome bike stroller. We discovered the night before that somehow we left Utah without the handlebar and one tire. Oops. That brings our tally of missing stuff to about $300. Great, just great. Thankfully, my mom swept in to save the day with a wagon.

Storey loved the wagon. She used it as a chaise lounge-it's tough being three. I think at one point she may have asked me to fan her with palm fronds.

And yes, she ALWAYS wears her sunglasses upside down.

I'm an idiot and didn't take a zoom lens (or our binoculars) with us. I certainly didn't want to wade into the weeds surrounding the water to get a closer shot, so a cropped photo will have to do. This was just one of the 32 alligators (you know Jakson took it upon himself to count them all) that we saw.

Come and visit us and we'll take you. No fences! Alligators! There are signs all over to keep an eye on children and small dogs, though I did read that no deaths or injuries had ever occurred in the park. Safety first.

Storey's Lisp

She's memorized the book "Knuffle Bunny" and in her first public performance, will be reciting it for you.



This kid is hilarious. And crazy.

Storey has been sick for the past couple of days. Friday night she woke up around 9:30p screaming bloody murder about frogs in her room. She was literally pointing at them ("them" being the invisible frogs) and shaking. One of the frogs even jumped on me apparently. After we settled her down (I sprayed "frog repellent"-aka water, all over her room and we said a prayer), she continued to wake up almost every hour all night long screaming about the frogs. Weird. And freaky. Fever hallucinations? I have no idea. Still she is convinced that there was a frog sitting on her blanket and no amount of rationalizing will sway her otherwise. I am thinking this is what happens when you have an overactive imagination. Thankfully, last night the room was void of frogs and we were all able to get some sleep.

Getting ahead

Allow me to complain:

Zak has been working long hours. Long, as in, he literally spent the night at the office last week. It's been difficult, but I have been telling myself that this is a blessing in disguise because we will finally be able to finish paying off our students loans and be COMPLETELY debt free (he is salaried, but also bills/gets paid for overtime). We have spent the last 5 years since Zak graduated throwing every extra cent at the students loans and I am looking forward to putting those dimes somewhere else. So, every night/weekend that Zak has been gone, I've just repeated to myself "no debt, no debt, no debt" and the desire to walk out of the house and let the kids fend for themselves lessens a little.

Yesterday, Zak was finally able to take a day at home (he still worked, just remotely) because we needed to take the Subaru in to get safety/emissions done. To make a long story short, the mechanic discovered that the car will not pass and it needs about $1500 worth of work. Which brings our repair tab on this car SINCE JULY 2011 to a whopping $6500. Not to mention the $2000-$3000 paid to repair it in months previous. On a car that is worth MAYBE $3500. That we've only owned for 15 months.

Thinking about this makes me want to go out to the garage and spend my morning kicking the tires. In fact, I may just do that.

So instead of having a debt free celebration when Zak gets paid this weekend, we'll be looking for a new car to purchase. At this point rather than get the car repaired again, we've decided to cut our losses. We've thought over and over that this absolutely has to be the last costly repair, but it doesn't seem to be the case. The car is a lemon. We've come to terms.

But we wonder-when we will ever be able to get ahead????

End of rant.

Because there's some unwritten rule about blog posts needing photos, here's a couple of the aforementioned children that have not been walked out on...yet.



While Zak was working Saturday, my parents took us to a festival that was going on at the local community college. The kids loved it. Bounce houses! Balloons! Candy! The science department even had microscopes set up with slides of bones and blood. Jakson was in heaven. And I was in heaven because the kids were so tired afterwards that naps were longer than usual. At this point, that's how I gauge the success of an activity.

Wow.

I never blog anymore. Things around here have been crazy. Between Zak working 80 hours/week (including a 36 hour sleepoverattheoffice stint), teaching my photography class, Jakson's therapy starting, and regular busyness of school and life, I haven't had a whole lot of time.

A couple of weekends ago (when Zak actually had a Saturday off), we drove up to Camp For All in Brenham. A friend of mine was running a camp for kids with autism and invited us to come and check it out. I loved being up at Camp For All again. It had been 7 or so years since I had been there last with Camp Champions (I was the director for a camp for people with disabilities). I spent many, many summers there and have so many fun/crazy memories. Oh, the stories I could tell you.

It's an amazing facility, built to be accessible to all people. Extra wide sidewalks, cabins with wide doorways, accessible showers and toilet areas--they've really thought of everything. Zak was very impressed and Jakson wanted to stay and live there. He's not quite old enough to attend camp, but I am glad he was able become more familiar with the site and activities. He's a lot more open to things if they aren't completely new concepts. I am really excited for him!

Jakson and his trusty goggles. They apparently make him invincible.
Fun family times.