Marsbarn Designs...

Trick or what?

Pirate Fairy meets elephant girl.

The Trick-or-Treat crew is in bed. The porch light is off. The pumkins are dark. The parties are over. Time to sit back, put up our feet, eat some purloined candy, and share the highlights. My "You have got to be kidding, what are you thinking?" moment of the night? That would be when the woman from a local ballot measure called to bend my ear during prime trick-or-treating hours. Ya, because you know that the perfect moment to talk me around to your point of view is while I'm handing out glow bracelets. Smooooth...

And the weather cooperated!

Happy Halloween! It was a perfect, foggy All Hallow's Morning today. Sweetheart G's Halloween party was the best (translate: calmest) class party ever. Our bubbling cauldron of witches brew was very popular. (Dry ice is super fun! I don't know if the kids or the parents were more impressed with it.) We all had a lot of fun! But now its time for the trick or treating! Gotta fly!
( Oh, and in that last photo.. it really isn't anyones drink. I was just using up the last bit of dry ice.)

Stress relief

Hmm... I found this photo on the computer desk top this morning. Be afraid little archer, be very afraid.. You are at the mercy of Big E and his magnets. Doesn't everyone unwind after work by suspending little men upside down?

I gave in to the book

I have been reading None But You by Susan Kaye. This is one of those guilty pleasures, like eating homemade cookie dough. I should be doing chores, but instead I am reading Jane Austen's Persuasion from Captain Wentworth's perspective. But here is my dilemma; the author has been posting chapters from the second book on her website. Do I want to read the chapters piecemeal, as they come out on my computer screen? Or do I want to wait until everything is final, and I have a real, cuddly book in my hand so I can read in bed? The wait will be at least a year (she has yet to finish her first draft). Susan Kaye is a Oregonian.. do you get good karma for reading locally? Or is that just for shopping?

Next week will be quiet.. right?

This promises to be a very busy week. Halloween is coming quickly. I think Big E's current modeling project has a definite All Hallow's Eve feel. We carved up our Jack-o-lanterns on Sunday before the girls marched in the Monster March, an annual parade around the neighborhood. This is one of those weeks when I wish I could fast forward to next week and see how the it all went. School Book Fair, the class Halloween party, trick or treating, Date Night, and the Holiday Market... Yep, its a busy week.

The Haul

Expo was fun, but there weren't as many surprises (and great deals) as last time. I did score an egg cup in the yellow Harlequin china I collect. I also found a bowl, two saucers, and a teacup.
For paper ephemera for collages, I found two old road maps (1940's and 1960's), a pre-world war one Navy handbook (cool diagrams), a pad of railroad invoices (unused), and a small Japanese image (that may be too lovely to alter). I saw lots and lots of other things that could be used for collage, but price was a major factor. My paper haul came to $10, and after that I stopped.

Ah, the siren song of a show

I can hear it calling to me. The sound of a show. No, not a musical, or a play. Its an Antique Show! Oh collecting I will go! Collecting I will go.. Hi ho the merry-o, A-collecting I will go. And I have the whole day... Big E is watching the girls and I have no curfew! Oh happy day.

Grabbing an easy moment.. and some bacon

In one of those odd twists, Sweetheart G had a teacher planning day today, but little e still had school. So, Sweet g and I had some special time together at a local diner. ("Mom, do they have Bacon?") Little e has been in the midst of Challenge lately. As in, "I will challenge Anything! For I am mighty and must Test the world!" I remember when Sweetheart G went through this stage. Twice G pushed me so far that I removed the bookcase from her room. (This is the ultimate punishment in our house. No coporal punishment is worse than loosing the right to books.) And as I sat with G this morning, sharing a breakfast treat, enjoying the easy companionship, I thought, "Someday, Little e and I will do this." and then I returned to being with G. Coffee, bacon, and an easy moment with my big girl... it was a good morning.

Coolest stick figures around

Auntie I whipped up some new images for my tags/business cards this week. I had them printed up, and can cross one more thing off my list. I am still tempted to make some more pom-pom bags. We will see if I resist and take it easy, or if I decide to stay busy. A book is calling, "Read... Read... lay down and read.."

Fog dog day

Today started as a "fog doggy day", as we call it in our house. When our dear dog girl was alive, she would run off on foggy mornings. I think the heavy wet air carried the sent of the creek to her, and she would dart away at the first chance to explore. Today was a lovely morning to walk Sweetheart G to school. The spiderwebs were especially beautiful.