Going Down the Halls-way

Mikayla has been a handful lately! A lot of it is whine, whine, whine, then cry, cry, cry if she doesn't get her way. When she's happy she jabbers on and on a lot, which sometimes can drive one a bit crazy, but at least it's not as annoying. :) She's also been really into sneaking out of bed to change into her day clothes. *sigh* I try to remember the cuteness of it all, because when she's a moody teenage girl, I know I'd rather have her do what she's doing now! LoL

I have LOVED this fall weather. It invigorates me and it's when I love being outside. Mikayla and I spent two days filling up trash cans with the branches/twigs we've cut off the trees. I'm hoping next spring we can make it a backyard we enjoy being in. This year I hated it, with all the mess that dropped from the trees all over the patio, the giant spiders, and general ickyness. After cutting back the branches and bushes, it already feels less jungly and more like some place I'd actually like to be. I/we have also been re-caulking the windows, which I hope will keep our house warmer this winter. Obviously it won't hurt...

I'm going to complain a bit... this last weekend wound up costing us a lot of money. 1) We took my van into the shop and found out the rear brakes were metal on metal (bad, I know!), so they had to fully be replaced. 2) That night our stove/oven 'exploded'. I was cooking dinner and we suddenly heard a loud POP sound and a bit of smoke came out of it. Nothing in it worked after that. Another punch in the budget. 3)Then the next day the light to our ceiling fan decided to stop working. The fan still works but not the light. Okaaaaaay... All these expenses meant building our deck has to be postponed to next year. Bright side? 1) Van drives great, yay! 2) Our new oven/stove ROCKS! We got a great deal on it from craigslist, and it's a DOUBLE oven. oooh, fancy! The top doesn't get scalding hot with just the oven on, which the old one did. Plus, we got a matching microwave out of the deal too! 3) Um... maybe we'll be able to get Lowes to exchange it and get one that can handle more than 40 watt bulbs? Yeah, I'm reachin' for that one...

Two weeks from tomorrow is my eye surgery. I'm a big wimp. I'll be out of commission for at least 10 days, and the first few days supposedly reading, the computer, or tv isn't feasible. I'm going to stock up on lots of audio entertainment... we'll see how that goes. :) Nana was kind enough to offer her services when Ian has to go back to work, which means Mikayla is going to have a FUN week. :)

The spiffy new stove/oven!