2016 Declutter and Get Organized Thread

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Good morning!
We've decided to stay home this weekend, to the point of declining a dinner invitation. I feel kind of bad about declining because we really don't have other plans. I don't want to spend the money. I also don't want to attend a birthday dinner for an adult who insists on everyone acknowledging her birthday. That annoys me. Her oldest child is 17 months old, and her youngest is four months old. She hasn't hit the stage of parenthood yet where holidays/birthdays aren't about adults. I know I sound petty. I figure if I can't get over my pettiness, I shouldn't be at dinner with her if my bad attitude will potentially offend her during her dinner (which we ended up paying the whole thing last year). 

Today's tiny and big tasks: 
Edit a letter for DH
Deposit check (through my phone)
Vote
order a substitute for Thursday (DH has a doctor appt)
take out the flowers that are dead
deep clean the laundry room
mop the house
create November budget
Dust the mother-in-law's tongue plant
Order "The Economist" for 12 weeks
Create printable versions of 90 student poems

[startsmart]

busymom- yay for closing! I know that's taken up a lot of time and energy so congrats!

Sharon - don't you know the surefire way to make sure it rains is to wash your car?! at least that's what always happens to me  

debthaven - usually health clubs do some January promos but you can also usually attend for a week or a few sessions to test it out. I should do more classes at my gym but with training 3x a week I'm usually exhausted. 

lund - yay for decluttering! Is there any way to keep kids from growing? My mom used to joke about putting bricks on my head but I think that's only because I was taller than her by 12... 


My bench is coming along, I've got to protect the stained top with poly (kinda forgot about that last week) and then screw it all in. I could do it later but then I'll have to keep things super clean and I do not trust my ability to do that at all. Hoping to set it up outside so it can stay kinda dry despite the rain. Poly stinks! 

Since I probably need to put the top in before the sides are finished I'm going to start on the trim. I can cut the baseboard pieces around the bench and touch up the wall paint. Of course I JUST put the miter saw back in the garage so now I gotta pull it out again... then it's on to caulk and touch ups but looking more like a bench every day. 

p.s. once I get it to "done" I'll definitely post a link to my blog with all the pictures. I'm so proud of this thing! 

[plugginaway22]

That makes sense, Debt.  Everyone brings a dish when I have it, we do turkey, dressing, gravy and dessert.  I think it is more the prepping for that many.  Bringing tables and extra chairs in, cleaning, and if I was not working I would LOVE it.  Might take Wed off to have one day to prep.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, so hate to sound ungrateful, hahah.

[busymom]

We do potluck now for most of the family holidays, too. Less stress for whoever is hosting.

A big problem we have around here is, when the weather is nice, people call in "sick" to work on the weekends.  So, since it's beautiful here today, it's happening again at DH's job, which means he's stuck working open until close tonight.  (Now you have an idea why I don't get much help from him.  Wish I could say this happens rarely.) 

I did get through my errands this morning.  At least now I'll have enough candy for Halloween.  Now I'll see what else I can get done on a Saturday...

[debthaven]

Start it's not really a gym, it's a class that's run by the town, so there are no "promotions". Maybe they would pro-rate the year though ... I'm looking forward to seeing a pic of the bench!

Yes of course Pluggin, you'll have more people there than we will lol. There's usually only 6 of us (us, DS3, another couple and their daughter who is DS3's very close friend). This year all the kids from that group are away at college, so we invited 2 more couples from the same group. We're all American (except for DH) and all new members of The Lonely Parents Club lol.

Chloe I have no problem with saying no even if I'm free, especially if you're sort of expected to foot the bill! This said DH has more trouble with that than I do. He thinks we need a "reason" to say no. I think not wanting to do something is a good enough reason.

[Sharon]

Today's List ( Let's see what actually gets done)
Change the sheets on the bed
Clean the bathrooms (including steam mopping the floors)
Clean the litter boxes
Laundry (3 loads done and put away)
Dust the house
Vacuum the house
Do something about the kitchen floor (a bomb might be the only option left) I can put off my kitchen floor longer than any other chore.
        Vacuumed the kitchen floor it needs more but that's a start
Pick up more cat food
Quick grocery store run
Shite Pile - is down to just the stuff I care about
Update YNAB
Iron pillowcases and fabric I washed

Added to the list
Empty the waste baskets
Take the newspapers out to the recycle bin
Return empty cans/bottles to the recycle center

Fun Stuff
Do 4 more sheep blocks (Just the fusible web part)

So far a good start to the day.  The bathrooms may get put off until tomorrow.

[startsmart]

Made really good progress today! I made a run to Home Depot for wall paint and trim pieces since the wall paint had solidified. 

-Poly'd the top of the bench x2 coats 
-Added the baseboards around the bench base - 3 pieces + caulked
-primed the last of the MDF
-nailed in the MDF and top
-Added one trim piece and cut a second 
-painted the underside of the bench seat

Next up is painting the rest of the MDF and top of the bench and then I can think about a bench seat cushion! Hoping to get a good coupon from Jo-Anns so I can pick up a piece of foam and then cover it with some outdoor fabric. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Today's tiny and big tasks:
Edit a letter for DH
Deposit check (through my phone)
Vote
order a substitute for Thursday (DH has a doctor appt)
take out the flowers that are dead
deep clean the laundry room
mop the house This seriously took me two and a quarter hours. 
create November budget
Dust the mother-in-law's tongue plant
Order "The Economist" for 12 weeks
Create printable versions of 90 student poems (um, totally tabled until next week)
forgot to include: give feedback on 53 rough drafts (What!!! Only 53 turned them in!!!)
    9 out of the 53 are done 

I also made dinner and did 45 minutes of cardio. 

I don't feel like I've accomplished enough done today. I still have three and a half hours; need to power through!

[Sharon]

I was really on a roll today.

This afternoon
Cleaned the bathrooms
Changed the litter boxes
Ironed the pillow cases and extra fabric
Got my 4 sheep blocks done

I forgot to list on my earlier extra things - My purse has been purged of all extra grocery lists.

[debthaven]

Well done on the purse Sharon (and all the rest lol).

We are going to the market to get the rest of what we need for dinner tonight. Not thrilled at spending the money.

Ironically, one of the couples had a house built a couple of years ago and they are finally doing the landscaping. So they are bringing ... a trunk full of firewood! Haha! You can never have too much firewood.

[plugginaway22]

Slept in, DH and I went out to breakfast (so much for stopping that habit)...He is now outside working on leaves, I have bills to pay and laundry to put away but not feeling like it.
Going to make a second cup of coffee and sit outside, this beautiful weather will be gone before we know it.

[kjto1]

Oct 29, 2016 11:36:17 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Good morning!
We've decided to stay home this weekend, to the point of declining a dinner invitation. I feel kind of bad about declining because we really don't have other plans. I don't want to spend the money. I also don't want to attend a birthday dinner for an adult who insists on everyone acknowledging her birthday. That annoys me. Her oldest child is 17 months old, and her youngest is four months old. She hasn't hit the stage of parenthood yet where holidays/birthdays aren't about adults. I know I sound petty. I figure if I can't get over my pettiness, I shouldn't be at dinner with her if my bad attitude will potentially offend her during her dinner (which we ended up paying the whole thing last year). 

Today's tiny and big tasks: 
Edit a letter for DH
Deposit check (through my phone)
Vote
order a substitute for Thursday (DH has a doctor appt)
take out the flowers that are dead
deep clean the laundry room
mop the house
create November budget
Dust the mother-in-law's tongue plant
Order "The Economist" for 12 weeks
Create printable versions of 90 student poems

How did you get stuck paying for the whole thing last year?  (Unless it was a birthday party I had planned for my DH, if I got stuck paying for someone else's birthday party - that I hadn't planned on hosting - I would bail for future events, also!!!)

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Oct 30, 2016 11:14:12 GMT -5 kjto1 said:

Oct 29, 2016 11:36:17 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Good morning!
We've decided to stay home this weekend, to the point of declining a dinner invitation. I feel kind of bad about declining because we really don't have other plans. I don't want to spend the money. I also don't want to attend a birthday dinner for an adult who insists on everyone acknowledging her birthday. That annoys me. Her oldest child is 17 months old, and her youngest is four months old. She hasn't hit the stage of parenthood yet where holidays/birthdays aren't about adults. I know I sound petty. I figure if I can't get over my pettiness, I shouldn't be at dinner with her if my bad attitude will potentially offend her during her dinner (which we ended up paying the whole thing last year). 

Today's tiny and big tasks: 
Edit a letter for DH
Deposit check (through my phone)
Vote
order a substitute for Thursday (DH has a doctor appt)
take out the flowers that are dead
deep clean the laundry room
mop the house
create November budget
Dust the mother-in-law's tongue plant
Order "The Economist" for 12 weeks
Create printable versions of 90 student poems

How did you get stuck paying for the whole thing last year?  (Unless it was a birthday party I had planned for my DH, if I got stuck paying for someone else's birthday party - that I hadn't planned on hosting - I would bail for future events, also!!!)

Sigh. You know when you're super young (early 20s) and have no money and people who have financially settled into adulting tend to pick up the bill? Yeah, I'd say that's mostly what happened.  The ire is that this couple isn't super young. They're only a few years younger than I am. They just cannot manage their money well. She stays home (which is fine; I did also when my kids were the same age as hers are now I just had my kids 16 years  comparatively earlier than her), and I make more money than her husband. Well, my husband makes twice what I make. It seems like they just assume we should pay for things because "we can afford it", and this was her birthday which she is obsessed with acknowledging and having other people acknowledge. Another time we went out to dinner, we split the bill evenly which I didn't know we were going to do until the bill showed up. I intentionally don't order anything to drink with dinner. I cannot financially stomach the upcharge on drinks, and I figure it's easier to avoid the calories and just drink water. They ordered non-alcoholic drinks and wine. Plus, they ordered dessert and we didn't. But when the husband says to mine, "Should we just split the bill?" my husband doesn't want to be rude and say, "Well, you spent $20 more than we did" because he doesn't think it's worth quibbling about. Another time, they had us pick up something from Costco for them because she was having a pregnancy craving and it could only purchased at Costco. Then, they invited themselves over for the Super Bowl, let us cook for them, took what we got her at Costco and didn't even offer to pay us for it. She also thinks that they should get to borrow our 2015 F-250 anytime they need it. Hello It costs more than his annual salary; how are you going to pay us to fix it if something goes wrong? DH won't let them use it on their own. Twice now he's driven their stuff to the and we helped them move.   At the moment, I'm trying to figure out why we socialize with them. 

[startsmart]

I cannot believe how quickly this bench has gone together! 2 weeks ago I came back from my bday trip and started moving furniture and assembling the base and last night I put on the first full coat of paint! It's still pretty streaky so I'll need to do another layer + touch up the wall paint but it's soooo close to being done  

Deciding whether or not to risk Jo-Anns for the foam today since it's the last day before Halloween and people will be crazy... The foam will probably end up being the most expensive single piece for the whole project. 

Hoping my assistant is coming this week because the whole dining area and living room need to be cleaned up from all this dust and work has been insanely busy. I knew this launch would be keeping me active but I did not expect the other team members to fail so spectacularly. We're just a few weeks away from firing the dead weight and I cannot wait! 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Today's tiny and big tasks:

• Get bag of stuff together for DD#1
• Go through work emails
• Set Nov cleaning schedule
• Make brownies for a friend
• Make six labels and adhere them
• Fill in some blanks for a form for the real estate agent
• Edit a letter for DH
  
• Vote
• deep clean the laundry room
• create November budget
• give feedback on 53 rough drafts (What!!! Only 53 turned them in!!!)
  17 out of the 53 are done
• Set up Trick-or-Treat candy 
• Lesson Planning for next week
• Prep for Monday's teaching
• Pay four bills
• Menu Planning for next week's dinners
  
  
  
  
  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

startsmart, if you have time, please post a picture of the bench. I do not have the skill set for those kind of creations, so I love to see other people's work!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Don't be in denial! The holidays are upon us!
Here's The Fly Lady's Holiday Missions List

#1	Chloe cannot find this email!
#2	Your mission for today is to create a Holiday Planning notebook. Now before you break out the colored index tabs and sheet protectors DO NOT get caught up in having the "perfect" holiday planner and think that you need a fancy notebook or specific type of planner. I have done this for the past few years and I usually go and grab an old spiral notebook from one of my children and rip out the used pages. I am able to take this with me shopping and I try to make sure I take it in the car with me. You can also add some lined notebook paper to your control journal and make it a holiday section. Just remember not to get so obsessed over what you use that you end up not using it because you are spending too much time making it perfect. You use this notebook to plan ahead for menus, meals, gift lists, decorating, grocery lists, etc. This is what you can use to keep track of catalog orders, church schedules, phone numbers and miscellaneous errands that need to be taken care of. Tape or staple an envelope in the notebook and this is where you can keep track of your receipts. For today, grab a notebook and start jotting down some of the basics that are necessary for the way that you celebrate the holidays.
#3	Your mission for today is to gather up all of your Holiday greeting cards, wrapping paper, bows, ribbons etc. Do not go overboard on this one. Just gather all of these items together into one central location to have ready for when you need them. This is one of those things that we always seem to say we are going to get to but yet end up tearing the house apart trying to find that certain roll of paper or certain box of cards that you are just positive you remember where you put them last year. Gather them together and place in a box that you can keep in one place to be able to use when you are ready. One member last year told us of how she used an old suit bag that hangs in her closet to hold the rolls of wrapping paper and used the zipper pockets on the side for the tape and ribbons. This is very clever and allows you to use that old suit bag that has been hanging around or you can pick up an inexpensive vinyl one at your local discount store.
#4	Your mission for today is to pick up any detail items that you can. Postage stamps, scotch tape, packing tape, markers etc. Try to get these things together and put them with the supplies that you gathered up yesterday (the holiday cards and wrapping paper). Having these things early and ready will prevent those late night dashes to the store that end up costing you far more than just tape.
#5	Your Holiday mission for today is to take time out to establish a budget for the Holidays. Look over your gift lists and menus and try to work on a budget for these things. When you establish a budget and try very hard to work within that budget you will find that you do not go overboard on your spending because you have taken the time out to plan and think things through instead of shopping impulsively. Try to establish when you can start your shopping and to break it down into small manageable tasks. You need to figure out how much money you can afford for: gifts, mailing, wrapping supplies, travel expenses, meals, baking etc. You can put these numbers into your Holiday planner that you were to create in Mission #2 (remember all the missions are available on FlyLady.net). This way you have your lists and budget all in one place.
#6	Your Zone Mission for today is to clear off the hotspots in your Living Room to prepare for your holiday decorations. Your Holiday Mission for today is to jot down in your Holiday Planner that you were to put together (Holiday Mission #2) what decorations you want to use and what rooms you want to put them in. That is it. You are not to drag out the decorations just yet. We will get there! For now just make a plan of what you want to use and what room you want to use them in. This is to plan what you want to use that you already own. If you have candle lights that you put into the windows, centerpieces, advent calendars etc. Just jot them down in your notebook.
#7	Today review a bit in your planner and start filling in a few more things. Have you decided whether you are traveling this year or staying home? Have you decided who you want to invite to your home or do you want this year to be immediate family only? You need to make some decisions and start to plan for this: If you are traveling then start to work on your travel dates and transportation. If you are inviting company to your home, start planning a guest list and how you will prepare to have them in your home. If you are staying home with no guests, start planning how you want to spend your time, church events, community events etc. Don't get carried away and spend 4 hours making every single decision today, just take care of some basic details.
#8	Your mission for today is to do a "What size are we?" mission! This means that you write down the sizes for your family, height, sizes for shirts, pants, pajamas, dresses, shoes etc. Place this list in your holiday planner and have them ready for when a dear friend or family member wants to bless someone in your family for the holidays. When they ask you "what size is little Timmy?" you won't have to do the zany brainy shuffle and try to remember what size you bought in September for school and then try to add to it since that was two months ago! Trust me, I know this trick! Make sure you do this for yourself and your spouse as well. No more racking your brain trying to remember, you have your trusty holiday planner and can refer to it whenever you need to.
#9	Chloe cannot find this email either! Sheesh!
#10	Today is desk day and your mission is to review your budget for the holidays and look to see how and when you can take care of the shopping that you will need to do. Not just presents, you need to take into account meals, postage, cards, wrapping supplies, decorations etc. Be careful and thoughtful, you do not want to rack up huge credit card bills that you will be paying until spring for the holidays. Try to fit your budget around what you can afford to pay for. If this means a little less than what you would like, try to remember how great it will feel not to be overwhelmed in January when the mail comes. Set limits and try to work within them. Don't look to buy presents that will impress, look to give gifts that will be loved. Be creative. Talk to your friends and family and see if they would like a challenge for this year. Talk about theme gifts such as an ornament or t-shirt exchange with a price limit. Look for fun and creative ways to express your love without busting your budget.

#4 

[Jaguar]

Well I'll finish cleaning and getting my place comfortable for the winter time. I'm using 2017 Feng Shui colors of first colors of brown, terracotta, yellow and gold or secondary colors of royal purple and blues. I got my space all nearly done, just a bit of cleaning and organizing and it's all completed.

[debthaven]

Chloe she sounds absolutely insufferable! I'm glad you were off the hook for this year at least.

Our dinner party was great, I'm glad I finally agreed (DH pushed it). I hadn't wanted to spend the money but DH is a lot more sociable than I am. I tend to hibernate at this time of year but DH gets antsy.

Plus since they all play music and / or sing and brought their instruments I was able to clear up and even unload the dishwasher before joining them to sing. I always clear up / run the dishwasher as I go.

I bought ice cream and sorbet, another friend brought dessert w ice cream too. I sent most of the ice cream / sorbet back with the guests. Unfortunately it would have been rude to return the chocolate (2 boxes!) since those were gifts rather than dessert. So now there's chocolate in the house.

ETA: Chloe I don't do Flylady. I do plan to check out Peter Walsh's 31 Day Challenge but with the new job / class it comes at a bad time of year for me this year.

[moneysquirrel]

This week's list (with quite a few lingering on from last few weeks)

Home/Personal:

*Maintain progress
*Clear off flat surfaces in BR -- maintain the one done and work on other
*Re-pot plant
*Exercise -- Monday ??
*Craft Show -- Thursday
*Play -- Saturday
*School Play -- Sunday
*Tutoring -- Saturday morning

School:

*Meeting -- Wednesday
*Continue correcting 7th project 1-- @8 left
*Start correcting 7th project 2 --  @ 40 left
*Finish correcting 6th project 1 -- only 2 left -- emails worked-- 11/13 came in after I sent them 
*Rubric for 6th new project -- create and run off
*Correct 1 set of 7th tests @24 (Due this week) 
*Correct 5th projects -- @ 60

Crafts: (Not Adding to this list as I don't think anything will get done this week on it either)

*Finish CR Necklace
*One new item for Craft show --
*Repair Bracelet 1
*Repair Bracelet 2

Lots of activity in the coming week -- not sure what I can knock out.  I managed to get all of the laundry done, the dishwasher is running and I got to the grocery this morning so I should be good for the week on that level.  Lots of after school activities this week so not really sure what will be done.  I will be putting my planning periods to good use this week.  Glad that the presentation is over and that the bulk of the current grading got done.  
Will pop in when I can.

[busymom]

We're setting up the house for Halloween early. The racket of kids constantly coming to the front door drives Bad Boy Puppy crazy, so we'll be crating him upstairs while the kids stop by for candy. So, tonight the crate will be put together so it's ready to go.

Also trying to clean the line of sight so when kids are at the door, they don't see a mess.

[startsmart]

Spending a massive amount of time cleaning today + I finally pulled out all the Fall and Halloween decorations. I rearranged some chairs and bookshelves in the living room to account for the new bench/build. I still have to clean up some table fans and clear off the kitchen counters but making good progress! 

Tonight I'm catching up on laundry, prepping candy for tomorrow and if the rain stops in the morning I can get the front yard cleaned up a bit. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Monday's tiny and big tasks:
Get bag of stuff together for DD#1
Fill in some blanks for a form for the real estate agent
Drop off ballot
deep clean the laundry room
give feedback on 53 rough drafts (What!!! Only 53 turned them in!!!)
23 out of the 53 are done
Prep for the remainder of the week's teaching
Dust the house

Hopefully have lots of trick-or-treaters! We had 30 last year. 

[Iggy aka IG]

debthaven, thank you for the party well wishes!  It was fun.  About 16 people showed up, most of the food was devoured, and people had a great time.  A lot of work, but we might consider hosting again next year if no one else wants to.

Y'all have been busy!  Great job!

[debthaven]

I'm glad the party went well Iggy!

Yesterday we got a pumpkin which DH carved, but we went to the movies last night. We rarely get trick or treaters here, especially now that my kids are big. When they were younger they'd bring their friends .

Today is a holiday here, so my school is off yesterday and today. I plan to catch up on laundry. Just 5.5 weeks left to the semester!

ETA: Done:
- laundry
- put away extra firewood
- donation bin (DH)
- bottle bank (DH)

I donated a medium-sized bag of clothes and a small bag of shoes.

[countrygirl]

Took 1 Halloween decoration down and put away, 3 to go but the ones are unplugged.

I decided to pick up clutter, took extra bedspreads from our room put in plastic bags and

on shelves in basement.  Went to spare bedroom, was sorting sheets by size, we have had

all sizes of beds, bagged them up and put on shelving in the basement, can remake them for

current beds or if we get different sizes again or can use for something.

Bagged up curtains I washed from MIL's house, if we don't reuse them will be donated.

Took old printer from basement to donate, also donating our big Brother printer, tired of

messing with it.  We got a new HP 6978 and I just finished hooking it all up, was really

easy.  Does print, copy, scan, and fax like the other.  I hooked up to the new service of HP

monitoring and when we need ink send it to us, we will see how that goes. It will be handy

living out here but I think the cost may be prohibitive, you can cancel at anytime and the first

3 months are free.

Opened and removed my new heavy duty mechanical sewing machine to use for sewing

draperies, canvas, awnings, jeans, coats and things.  It was very inexpensive because it is

mechanical and not electronic,  its a Necchi, they set the presser foot really high for me for drapes.

I packaged up packing material in case I would have to send it back.  Getting ready to go

out and take all boxes to our dumpster, then to library to donate a big stack of books for

the sales they have.

The place looks neater already.  Need to vacuum yet and empty litter box!!

[startsmart]

Well despite only seeing 10 kids last night all the candy disappeared when I left for my party Maybe my neighbors got high and got the munchies! 

I've got several things to get done this afternoon so here's the list: 

-sweep, vacuum and then wet vac in the living room
-do a final white coat of paint on the bench
-clean and pack away 3 table fans
-pull out 3 space heaters and set them up  
-sort through the dog costumes & pull out the ones too small
-put away laundry
-catch up on dishes and wipe down the kitchen counters 
-wash the blankets and comforters (rain = muddy paws) 
-take out all the trash and recycling 
-take the bricks out of my car trunk
-make the beds 
-sort through papers in the office

[moneysquirrel]

Decided to pop in and update before the crazinss begins again.

Oct 30, 2016 19:34:39 GMT -5 moneysquirrel said:

This week's list (with quite a few lingering on from last few weeks)

Home/Personal:

*Maintain progress
*Clear off flat surfaces in BR -- maintain the one done and work on other
*Re-pot plant
*Exercise -- Monday ??   My Trainer cancelled so I skipped it.
*Craft Show -- Thursday
*Play -- Saturday
*School Play -- Sunday
*Tutoring -- Saturday morning

School:

*Meeting -- Wednesday
*Continue correcting 7th project 1-- @8 left 
*Start correcting 7th project 2 --  @ 40 left  @25 left , Emailed about their projects and will see the other group tomorrow.  All that have been turned in have been corrected.
*Finish correcting 6th project 1 -- only 2 left -- emails worked-- 11/13 came in after I sent them   Still waiting foe these to be submitted. 
*Rubric for 6th new project -- create and run off
*Correct 1 set of 7th tests @24 (Due this week) 
*Correct 5th projects -- @ 60

Crafts: (Not Adding to this list as I don't think anything will get done this week on it either)

*Finish CR Necklace
*One new item for Craft show --
*Repair Bracelet 1
*Repair Bracelet 2

[WholeLottaNothin]

I just realized I am only 127 items from my goal. I am going to aim to pull that off by the end of the month . 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I just finished ten scoring ten small assignments. I now need to give feedback on 32 rough drafts. I must finish all of those this evening plus cook dinner.  
I did get the rest of the Halloween decorations down from the front porch. They're all piled on the kitchen peninsula, but they'll have to wait either for DH tonight or me tomorrow. 


We did have 76 trick-or-treaters last night. That's more than twice as many as last year.

Plus, lots of the parents of toddlers who came before dusk took pictures of their kids in our yard. That was pretty fun.