Birthday, Hunting, Pumpkins, and, of course, Paint!

Summer is over...but life hasn't slowed down. I've still been busy painting my basement..which is taking FOREVER! My poor children suffer the most since it takes up all of my time. I've only painted the main living area and the hallway...but it's taken me 3 weeks. The hallway alone took me three FULL days...no breaks. It's a long, tedious process, but it turning out beautifully. I just have the playroom/computer room to finish. I've already gone through 6 gallons of primer, and I still have a whole room to finish!
So, I finished the hallway in time for Soren's 2nd birthday on the 5th. The next day Adam was off to Atlanta for a week for work. I stayed home for a couple of days doing chores that had been neglected due to painting, then I headed over to my parents' house to stay the rest of the week till Adam came home.
Since my mom wasn't working for a couple of days, I decided to take advantage of her babysitting so I could start painting my grandmother's house/fireplace. My cousin Wendey and I offered our services to her since her walls were in great need of some color, and she was getting new carpet. She also LOVED the way my fireplace turned out and wanted the same done to hers. So, I thought I'd start her fireplace on Wednesday...Wendey ended up being available to help..so we went ahead and started the ENTIRE project! We went to Home Depot, picked out 3 paint colors, and white for her trim. We also picked out some new light fixtures! We worked from Wednesday through Saturday...finishing the project (for the most part)! It was a lot of work, but it needed to be done before her carpet was laid. I forgot to take "after" pics...so I'll post those sometime later. It looks awesome =)
Adam returned for the weekend and took Monday and Tuesday off to spend with the family. Deer season opened the first week in October and he has been itching to get one. Fortunately, our property corners to logging property and he has acres and acres of hunting grounds to hike through. He hasn't had a lot of time to venture out, but he managed to actually shoot something last weekend...a grouse! He was so proud! Maybe he'll get lucky and get an elk next month??
Anyway, Adam returned to work on Wednesday, and we took a trip to Hillsboro to go to the pumpkin patch with my good friend Shannon, her husband AJ, and their son Josh. It was much quieter going during the week, but I think the kids still had fun.

Here's some pics from the last 2 weeks....

Soren's Birthday party...he got a chainsaw like daddy...with "ear muzzles"
I bought Soren (the kids) a table for his birthday...it arrived 2 days late. I had to go to the hardware store to finish putting it together cause they didn't give me enough parts!

During one of the days I was painting at grandma's, my mom had to work, so I brought the kids with me. They LOVED spending time with great-grandma. She even let Synnove bake and frost cupcakes =)
And here's the grouse. The kids aren't impressed =)
Soren would NOT let go of his pumpkin, he knew which one he wanted...no doubt about it!
I thought this was a neat picture. Someday, when I finally get a new monitor (using dad's old one from who knows when) I'll clean it up and frame it!

Meet Charlie Brown

There's been another addition to our growing family. Meet Charlie...our new kitty...

Now, I don't consider myself much of a "cat person" but a few months ago, we decided that it would be fun to get a cat for the kids. We knew from the start that we wanted an orange kitty, but didn't really pursue it. Then one day, my aunt called me (the same one who gave us a bunny, a rooster, and two hens) and said that a gal she knew needed to get rid of some kittens and ONE of them was orange! A few weeks later, Sherbet (their name for him) was ready to leave his mommy. Sherbet was a great name...but we had always wanted to name a pet Charlie 'Brown.' We will be getting a dog someday...hopefully within the next year...but we want a girl dog, and "Charlie" just won't work. So, our kitty's name is Charlie.

Charlie was quite clingy the first couple of days and the kids didn't like that too much. In fact, Soren is still a bit scared of him. He likes to paw, bite, and play...like most kittens. Fortunately, Synnove has overcome her fear and now carries him around like her baby. Yesterday, she found lots of ways to carry him around, as you can see from the pictures....

Charlie is an outdoor cat, but we like to take him inside on occasion...here's Charlie "shopping"
He actually seemed to love being in that little bag and was in it for a good 15-20 minutes!
Synnove gave him a tour of the basement...it was so cute =)