Why it is called "Fall"

It is definitely fall back here on the east coast, the weather has turned a bit cold, the wind has picked up, the leaves have changed colors, and they are falling. I know that you are all thinking that it is because of the leaves that we call this time of year "fall." I used to think that too, until I lived in a house with 16 oak trees in my yard. If we were naming the season after the leaves it would be called "flutter," the reason that it is called "fall" is because of the acorns. Before the leaves ever even change colors, the acorns start falling, and they fall in ridiculous quantities. You have to wear something on your head because after falling from 70-80 feet, the little bastards hurt! And if you don't go out and clean them up, the squirrels get to them, like this guy: 

                                      

Look how fat he is, just sitting there outside my door. We have quite a few of those brick pillars that he is sitting on, and every single one is covered with leftover acorns. They do it just to torment me. Oh well, we'll talk a little bit more about the wildlife later.

Funny Random Pictures of the Boy

Before we get to the Halloween pictures, here are a few random pictures of the boy doing whatever he happened to be doing when we took his picture.

This is just the Boy hanging out watching a movie on netflicks. Beki found the sweatshirt at some thrift sale, a pretty good deal if you ask me.

 We are pretty sure that the Boy is going through a growth spurt, mostly because his food consumption has almost doubled. We had chicken nuggets one night, and apparently 5 was not enough for him, so he insisted on sitting in front of the oven and watching more cook.

 Owen got a Halloween card from Grandma Nettie...

and his cousin Maddy wrote a book for him! It was really neat, Maddy is such a good artist, Owen really enjoyed it.

Owen's school class was supposed to go to the Pumpkin Patch a couple of weeks ago, but it got rained out. Now the public schools would have just said "too bad," but Owen's school just rescheduled it for a later date. Owen had a lot of fun, he got to ride on a school bus and that was just as awesome as can be. But the thing that he was most excited about was his little pumpkin that he picked out. He had been waiting to turn it into a Jack-O-Lantern, and finally Beki and I got our pumpkins and we had a little carving party.

 The Boy tried scooping the guts out, but quickly decided that Papa was much better at it, lucky me.

 Mommy and Owen drew a face on his pumpkin - it was the same face as the one on his trick-or-treating bucket. Then when mommy turned her back, the Boy figured that he would have a turn with the cutting saw.

 Yup, I was soooo good at scooping guts that I "got" to do all three.

Owen with his Jack-O-Lantern

We are pretty sparse on the Halloween decorations, but our Jack-O-Lanterns do a pretty good job of setting the mood.

                                      

Unlike the public schools out here, which do not allow holiday parties, Owen's school did things the way that they should be done, and after the students had spent the afternoon partying, they had a parade with all of the elementary students. The 6th, 7th, and 8th graders don't get to wear costumes, they come out to cheer on the other kids.

 So in case you don't know which one is the Boy, he is the one that the teacher is telling to hurry up. There was a big fire truck parked in the parking lot, and it really was distracting.

 He had never seen Toy Story until this summer when he watched #1 and #2 on the way from Utah to Idaho, but he loves Buzz Lightyear. He has a Buzz Lightyear backpack, so when he saw a Buzz costume at the thrift store the decision was easy.

 Giving the older kids high fives! I don't know why, but all of the older kids know Owen. Probably because he is ridiculously funny. His big thing now is calling you "Nacho." It comes from a CheeseIts commercial, it makes no sense, but I would rather have him saying that than some other things he could be saying.

At the ward Halloween party with his friend Moroni.

 It was like a trunk or treat, except that everyone took a room and decorated the door, then the kids went around the hallway and scored their loot.

 Hmm...which one to eat first....

Apparently he chose one he wasn't even holding.

So these last four pictures have nothing to do with Halloween. The weather was nice one day, a little cool, but not windy and not rainy, and I was feeling particularly motivated - it must be the new meds the doctor has me on - so I took all of the crap out of the right side of our shed. (Quick side note: Our shed is divided into two sides. The right side is unfinished, and looks just like you would expect a shed to look. The left side is finished, like it is sheet-rocked, has a linoleum floor and a big window. People used to live in the left side of our shed..)

 As I was taking everything out, I found that our shed was inundated with stink bugs. Stink bugs don't really make any effort to escape, I guess that they figure that their chemical warfare is enough to send people running. Well, apparently I have superior genetics, because the smell of stinkbugs doesn't bother me. I must have squished hundreds, maybe even a thousand stinkbugs and I didn't smell a thing. They do however, make a delightful crunch when you squish them!

Nice and clean, and no stink bugs!

And lastly, when we got home from Stake Conference today - by the way Beki is now the 2nd Councilor in the Stake Primary Presidency - there was a visitor in our neighbor's back yard. Beki picked up the Boy so he could see, and he kept saying, "Get closer...Get closer."

Looks like we'll be eating this week!

In case you are wondering, No, I still don't have a job, I'm not sure how we have survived for the last two months, and I have no idea how we will survive the month ahead. Right now I am rooting for us winning Publisher's Clearing House.