Today...

Today, I learned that burnt coffee smells a lot like burnt hot dogs.

Today, I was reminded that a breastfed baby with a cold means boogers in places that you don't want to know about.

Today, I found a used band-aid on a string, inside my old diaper bag.

Today, I enjoyed momentary peace and quiet while everyone else was either asleep or out of the house.

Today, I cried over people who weren't with us this year for the holidays.

Today, I bought two gifts and spent a whopping 38 cents thanks to Swagbucks!

Today, I got an early present from my cute hubby - a TON of tools for the house in their own carrying case!!

Today, I listened to my daughter make up weird songs in her boredom.

Today, I finally caught up with all my blogs I read. Really - all of them!

Today, I put my wedding ring back on my finger after having to wear it on a chain since Wednesday. (I got into something, and have had some kind of chemical burn that itched when my ring touched it.)

Today, I laughed while the boogery baby sneezed on Surfer Pirate.

Today, I managed a blog post! Yay me!!

And the Funk Continues...

First, you have to admire how adorable Pirate Baby is in his pirate jammies! The big update here is that he's growing! When these first arrived from Grandma a couple months ago, they were HUGE compared to him and I was starting to feel like he would never fit in them. But they are on, and they fit! He's 11 months old today (which reminds me, I have to take 11 month pictures today), and is just getting into a size 9 month clothes, but at least we're finally showing progress! He's starting to plump up again too, thank goodness.

I also included this picture to show my blog readers who don't know me IRL that I really DO have a pirate obsession. It isn't just a thing I do on my blog. There are little pirate details in a lot of parts of my life. My mom recently even bought me a pirate purse! I'm having so much fun carting that around now. Plus, for Pirate Baby's combination birthday/Christmas gift from her, he's getting a rocking pirate ship! (Think rocking horse, only this is a little wooden pirate ship with rockers under it.) I'll take pictures of it once it's here and assembled.


Life has continued to be a little crazy. Late last winter when we'd had so many hard things happening, I'd gotten on my knees and told the Lord that I couldn't take anymore. I was at my absolute limit, and I needed a break from stress in my life. He lovingly gave me many, many months of peace and relative calm. Then, a few months ago, I started noticing everyone around me was having difficult things happen to them all at once. It was like He was saying to me, "Okay, you've had some time, let's see how you deal with these issues. Then we'll get back to the crazy things that need to happen in your family!" (Not to downplay the difficulties of my family and friends' issues lately. They certainly were NOT about me!) Anyway, just as we were getting Pirate Baby's growth issues handled, Surfer Pirate's health issues took a forefront in our lives again.

He's okay. Let's start with that.

We've got some answers to something we've wondered about for several years now, and the good thing is now we know how to treat it.

He's got another health issue that also needs to be dealt with, but that's still in the "what do we do about this?" stage at the moment. It will also be handled and be okay. It's just been a little stressful.

That's why I've been so quiet.

Meanwhile, life continues as usual in our pirate household.

Pirate Munchkin continues to do beautifully in school and reads as many books as she can get her hands on. She's also showing even more signs of being my sister's little Mini Me. This child is obsessed with game shows! When she gets a chance to pick whatever she wants to watch, I'm only subjected to kid shows about half the time now. (Seriously? Who writes that drivel?? Even the adults over-act on those shows!) When she's not watching Nick or the Disney Channel, she's got Game Show Network on! It's been pretty fun to watch some of the OLD shows on there. Family Feud from the very beginning, those old panel-type games that always had all the celebrities on them in the 60's and 70's, and some of the ones I remember watching back in the 80's when we only had two (and then three) channels in our home town. She and I play along and enjoy it when we would have won prizes if we'd been on the show.

Snow has returned to Northern Middle of Nowhere North Dakota. Which means the farming season is done again, and we have our husband/father back! He had asked for an X-Box for his birthday/Christmas gift to help him get through the long winter. I asked for a new cordless drill so I can get started on all the building projects I want to do around our house. He has a really hard time waiting to give me gifts, so he'd already declared he was going to be giving me my drill early this year, and wouldn't it be nice if he could have his gift early too? (Not even slightly subtle! LOL) My drill was supposed to be here yesterday, so I'd already planned on him getting to open his present then. The drill was delayed a couple weeks - it's supposed to arrive on his birthday. I didn't think it was fair for me to get my gift early when he wouldn't get his until his birthday, so I let him go ahead and open it last night. He spent most of the evening playing and figuring out all the ins and outs of this new video game system. (I'm excited that I should be able to use it to watch live-streaming Netflix movies!)

And now, as previously promised, Halloween costume pictures!

The finished Indian Princess costume!

She was THRILLED with how it turned out, and thankfully, it wasn't too cold this year, so she didn't have to wear a coat over it.

A close-up of the jewels.

It's interesting to me how much she looks like my cousin Wendy in this picture.

I do not know how the women manage to get those necklace things that hang over the forehead to stay in place! I tried using bobby pins in her hair to hold down the chain, but it still moved around a lot. Maybe they use the same kind of glue they use on the bindi (the face jewels).

Pirate Baby still fit into his snow suit that was too big on him last winter (he's since outgrown it!), so he was a teddy bear this year. Although we kept joking he was Big Scary Bear - GRRR!

I do have a better picture of him in it, but he's sitting on Surfer Pirate's lap, and I don't feel like editing pictures right now, so this is the best you get today.

Alright. I have to get back to work. My dad is part of a Victorian Christmas Caroling group, and I've promised him a new coat for his costume. I'm using this pattern, and I'm making it from a light brown/tan sort of suit fabric. I think it's going to be very nice. I made a GORGEOUS vest for him a couple years ago for a different music thing, and he wears it for the Victorian stuff now. I'll have to post a picture of it on here one of these days because I'm really proud of how it turned out. It's probably my 2nd favorite piece of clothing I've ever made (the 1st being a Southern Belle gown - complete with hoop skirt) The vest was from that same pattern, but we altered it. He wanted the collar to come down lower and we made it double-breasted. It's beautiful, and I'm super proud of it.

So off to the sewing machine! When I finish his coat, I have to make a coat for Miss Dampier. Her short fir is NOT good for our winters. I never thought I would be one of those people who would put clothing on my dogs, but I can't let her freeze. After that I get to start on my new clothes! First up? Navy pinstriped pants from this pattern!