Halloween Pics

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!


To be completely honest, I am not a Halloween girl. 

I LOVE the fall but I am not into the witches and goblin kind of stuff.  

We do go trick-or-treating and the kids love that.  

We only for a couple of blocks and then give out all our candy.  

I always buy the "good candy" from Trader Joe's and the kids eat that instead.  

I hate all the sugar and artificial crap the put in stuff.  

Kids do not need that junk!

They actually have no problem swapping out candy.  We do it every year and they are used to it.

Do you go trick-or-treating?

How do you feel about the holiday?

How do you feel about all the candy?

What did you do tonight?

I wanted to share some photos of our night with you!

Grace was a sailor girl!  (I couldn't believe all the inappropriate girl's costumes in the stores.)  I thought this was cute and modest a different than the usual "princess" that she has been the past couple of years.

Michael was a Star Wars guy and Matthew was a little rocket.  He freaked out when we found that costume because currently he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.   


And Andrew was a little monkey!!  I just love when babies are animals!


Baby's first Halloween!


 Matthew was always the last one to get the candy! :(



The kids loved racing house to house!  


He also got easily distracted. Lol!


We had our cousins come over and trick-or-treat with us.




I bought costumes for us to dress up but we ended up not using them so I will just save them for next year.  Did you dress up?


Yup, the candy is still there....just checking though!


One of our neighbor's had a jumpy out and were handing out hot dogs and hot chocolate!  They are so nice!!  


Andrew loved his stroller ride!


The kids loved everything!


Trying to catch up!


Happy Halloween!




After we went out, we came back home for chili and hot apple cider!  We ate with our cousins and talked with them until 8 or 8:30, did homework, got ready for All Saint's Day tomorrow, read books, and put the kiddos to bed!

Scott is studying for a mid-term tomorrow for his MBA so I decided to hop on the computer to catch up a bit.

What did you do tonight?

Bonnie :)

Halloween 2012 - a story

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I love my garden in every season, but things take on a special aura come autumn...








There is something about the autumn that I find to be especially enchanting...












When the thick recedes, things and long forgotten treasures resurface by way of magic...


 








 



Rosebuds get to be frozen in time forever...







The butterflies would migrate south; the chrysanthemums would be in full bloom and bright orange and yellows would glow in the mellow light of late October casting their autumn spell.







Ah yes, autumn's enchanting. Is it any wonder the season of enchantment and witches is celebrated in the autumn? From Halloween right on through Thanksgiving!








Autumn is sending messages for me to discover.  Is it doing the same for you, in whatever part of the world you are?  I mean have you seen anything out of the ordinary happening in your garden lately?—a sign, a message from the natural world, a hidden note amidst fallen leaves, perhaps to be discovered?









Long ago and far away, wise woman in my lineage made predictions based on their observations of the natural world. Frogs croaking more than usual, moles digging up soil more than usual, cats not wanting to go outside, owls hooting and screeching during bad weather... every thing spoke to them in marvelous ways... swallows flying near the ground, robins coming near the house, sparrows chirping a great deal, sheep turning into the wind, oxen sniffing the air; restless horses and swine... all and everything in Nature had a meaning to them. They knew what was about to ensue just by observing the world around them. And thus, last evening, the autumnal leaves were telling me something… the colors of fall conveyed some mysterious secrets; strange happenings were about to mingle with the changing of seasons.

 







In fact, some minutes later I saw something very peculiar from my kitchen window… sparkles twinkled low in the ginger sky and… hail, thou garden of fairyland filled with beckoning apparitions!







Ah yes, there was someone strolling the gardens... But who was she? A witch? A ghost? Perhaps some apparition from the past?  Of course, I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, anything and everything can happen on the onset of Halloween... spirits would roam the neighborhoods at night, and witches and ghosts are let loose upon the Earth…



I had this strange feeling the woman in my garden had to be someone from my past… she looked so familiar to me… could she be my great-great-great-grandmother Arabella, Countess of Aragon? Or perhaps was it the spirit of the intriguing Otilia Micaela de Luna? Oh I didn’t want to miss a single thing she would do, or was about to do.   So I hid behind the curtains of my kitchen window as best as I could... silently observing every one of her movement; the body language, listening to the silent swish of gypsy sarong skirts as she strolled the gardens...






 


 



 


She was so mysterious looking, and moved so silently...  She made me think of Miss Havisham, the character in the Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations. Dickens describes her as looking like “the witch of the place.” And certainly the witch of “this” place—I would say.  For that’s exactly what she seen to be to me.


 






She collected autumn leaves over in the enchanted area known as Rosewood. She made wishes into the wind... she smelled the fall, the leaves, the wetness, the crabapples on the lonesome tree and whispered a prayer of thanksgivings too…


 


Was it a dream? Did I dreamt all that, or was it all real? Hard to tell if you ask me. The only thing I can say for sure is that dreams do come true sometimes… why, could you believe what I found in the garden right after the apparition vanished… like that, like a whiff of magical air? Yes, her gypsy shawl!





 


A most bewitching tune swirled through the trees. It pirouetted through the leaves, like a warm summer breeze, and when I went outside to see that really had transpired out there, then that’s when I saw it—the loveliest of things I would say… left on a tree branch.
Left there by her, of course…  it’s the truth, and I have the remnants of proof from the tales to show you…


 




 


I wrapped the witch's shawl around my body and made my own wishes into the wind... I smelled the fall, the leaves, the wetness, the crabapples on the lonesome tree and whispered a prayer of thanksgivings all of my own into the autumnal wind…










What more can I say? Enchantment is all around us, if only we would open our eyes and see, really see... so, enjoy this enchanted season while it last my friend. Enjoy autumn and all it has to offer. Breathed the air and imagined that maybe the same particles had circulated through the lungs of angels. Imagine, believe, wear a leaf draped skirt and dance under the full moon. Whisper memories and wait on the edge of dreams...


 


See you soon!


 


 



More roses...

Saturday, October 27, 2012


Autumn rains are falling; refreshing the garden, while serene fall colors fills the landscape with magical hues. And in the house, apple cinnamon delights and pumpkin breads in the oven. Warm quilts and cozy comforters have been dug out of the back of closets, and my favorite "Mrs. Santa's" red footed pajama is ready for cold winter nights... but before I start writing (and whining) about my life in Snowland, I should brag a little more about my roses... why, roses are almost done for the year and I should take all the hope my spirit can muster, for soon I shall live without them for far too long a time.. so I hope you won't mind ;)













Bonica and Queen Elizabeth roses...








Love unopened blooms...












Chicago Peace roses in my favorite ever color...









Roses are never a disappointment... some of my bushes are miraculously still holding their blooms, while others are filled with late buds that will remain unopened; frozen in time... 










Fresh, wilting, fading, dried.. yet still so beautiful to me.








I'm always changing things up and decorating, 



so last week, I filled my favorite room of the house with the last of the roses... 


roses from my own garden... how lovely!



















I sure going to miss my roses. There is nothing quite like 


cutting beautiful, fragrant roses from your own garden. 
















My girly room.... no boys allowed! ;)













I hope you have a wonderful rest of weekend friends 


Cielo







Some favorite quotes...

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Some pretty pictures and favorite quotes...

 








 




 




 




 








 


 



You're welcome to copy any pic you want... paste, pin, use them as you wish. Enjoy!