White Fleece - $4.50, An Adorable Ghost - Priceless

This past week was different for us as we usually, while Justin is at work, spend the evenings with my mom. Since she is in Peru until the end of this week with her siblings and mom, I was left to my own devices. We did just fine, but Levi did miss his Nana, and still does.

I took the extra time given and tried to get a lot of things put away and cleaned that have been piling up around the apartment. I was able to get all but one task completed with an immense help from Justin. I find I am out of breath and exhausted long before I would have ever been before. I also had to realize my limitations since my back and knee were still sore, which is aggravating since I don't like to let anything impede my tasks, even injury. Unfortunately I could not ignore any of these things and therefore had to rely a great deal on Justin.

Speaking of which he is doing well with his sciences. He constantly challenges me with questions regarding things he has learned. I almost always know the answer, which seems to only fuel his determination to ask me a question I don't know the answer to. He did get some joy in quizzing his 13-year-old brother yesterday and had fun explaining several "laws" he has learned in physics, which seems to be his favorite class. This term is different from the rest though, and he has found many struggles with certain areas. But I know him, and his determination, and I know he'll succeed.

This last week we had a great deal of sunshine before the typical Oregon fall began mid-week. I was able to take a few pictures of the sublime array of colors on the trees in the area before the rains came. I hope to get out soon and take more. Every time I pass a tree of wondrous color my heart leaps and I yearn for a camera worthy to take the picture. But alas I digress. Here are some shots I was able to get though.

Well as we all know, Friday was Halloween. The original plan was for Levi to be Old MacDonald, me a pig, and Justin a cow. However, although all costumes we already there and ready for us, I decided I didn't want to wear a costume at all. So I went and bought some white fleece and made a quick ghost costume for Levi, since he seems to be in love with ghosts. It turned out great, and in the end Levi enjoyed being a ghost. We took Levi downtown for some trick or treating after his nap. We showed up around 4 PM, when it began at 2 PM, big mistake. We found half the places were already out of candy. No worries though, so many people thought Levi was so adorable they gave him two or three pieces of candy. I've never gone downtown for this event before, so I didn't know what to expect. I was surprised by how many kids were there! Next year we will have to be a little more prepared with timing. Next we took him to our church's trunk-or-treat. Again, I was surprised, only this time by a lack of turn out. It seems over the past few years the idea has faded and people aren't as apt to join in. I remember a few years back when the whole parking lot would be full. Now, between two wards, there was maybe twenty cars there. Sad, but inevitable I guess. We then took Levi into the neighborhood above us. It is a very wealthy part of town and Justin was sure we would get "the good stuff". Levi actually did the best up there and we stayed longer than we had planned. He really got into it after the first few houses and was running from door to door. Then he would stand on the porch and say to his dad, "Wa-a-a-ait, then say Trick-or-Treat." Basically he was repeating what we had been telling him all evening. It was adorable though, and again he received extra candy from some people because he was so cute! I found it interesting that when some people saw my belly they offered me some candy as well, saying I probably needed it. I laughed and told them just some for Levi. We got some glow-lights for Levi and us to wear while trick-or-treating, and we had fun with them later that evening! All in all it was a good evening, Levi earned his keep this year!

Saturday Justin headed out in the morning to his brother's football game with Levi. This gave me most of the day to do as I wished. Unfortunately half of it was taken up by things I would have rather not done on my day off, but they needed to be done all the same. However, I did get about a third of my scrapbooking done that needed to be. I'm going to keep working the rest of this week to get all caught up if I can. I still have remnants from last year and all of this year to scrapbook. Normally it is a fun and enjoyable time for me, but when I am so far behind it only makes it daunting. Still, a profitable day. However, when Justin dropped me off at my parents that morning, I headed inside only to slip on my parents front porch (it was raining). I didn't fall on my back again, but I did twist and land on my bad knee. So now I am convinced it won't heal for a long time, if ever fully. I know I didn't tear or break anything, just strained it bad. I feel like such a clutz!

Well I suppose that is all from us here in rainy Oregon! Hope you all are enjoying whatever weather you are having!