31 for 21 challenge - 10/31 it's over!

pics of halloween will have to wait until i can upload them! 

i just had to get this last post in!

i don't even have a picture to go with it!

oh well - tomorrow it shall be

happy halloween!

31 for 21 challenge - Ode to Johnny!

since i assume tomorrow's post will be all about halloween - i wanted to spend today honoring Johnny - who is the inspiration behind this month's challenge for me

 johnny and his remarkable mom cindy

i've referenced my friend's cindy's blog here many times and if you've never followed the links to it before i urge you to visit this time.  in fact - let me point you in the direction of some of her really interesting posts this month about down syndrome and her family's experience with it.

down syndrome creed

just a day in the life of a boy with ds

this i loved - the preferred language guide from the ds society

a heartbreaking post about orphaned children with down syndrome in eastern europe

pic of johnny taken quite some time ago - its the best i could find by

stalking cindy's facebook albums without feeling any creepier!

hopefully those of us in the 31 for 21 challenge this month have done our part to bring awareness to this amazing group of children



31 for 21 challenge - gravewalk

here it is - 2 days before halloween and i have yet to  take my gravewalk.  throughout the year i'll pass a cemetary and think "oh - i'll have to remember this place and come photograph it around halloween!"  i'm not obsessed with death - or graveyards - or ghosts - or anything like that.  i just love me a good graveyard around halloween.

maybe b/c its been so weirdly hot this october that halloween kinda crept up on me. in fact - i was just trying to find a picture of anything to blog about tonight when i stumbled upon pictures from last year's gravewalk - and then i remembered that i had forgotten!!

oh well - tomorrow is supposed to be nice and sunny - and sunday too.  not exactly eerie gravewalk weather. i wouldn't have the time anyway - and i highly doubt the boys would want to come.  so no walk for me this year.

if you drive by a cemetary this weekend - take a moment to think about the history in there...maybe pull over and snap a cool picture or two.  i would - bet you won't regret it.

31 for 21 challenge - thankful thursday.....coming to an end and the library

ok - this is a total cop out but i am thankful this challenge is coming to an end! only 3 more days left - and 3 crazy busy days at that!!

so no more words...just a quick tour of one our most favorite places to visit - our local library!  i am still amazed at how many people do not go to their library on a regular basis. 

besides the shelves.....



and shelves of books that you can get for FREE

think about the hundreds of dollars you save by not buying books that once you bring them home - you regret buying!

oh and MUSIC - tons of cds that you can use to fill your itunes library without costing you a cent!

and all the free events - yoga, gardening classes, oodles of kid programs, lectures...you name it 

open spaces to run (or rather walk quickly)  our library tolerates some noise which is nice b/c it is hard to keep little kids from squealing!



community bulletin boards - free advertising!



a place to bring the stuff you don't want to toss but can't figure out what to do with them - esp glasses and cell phones!!! all while helping a great charitable cause



seriously - if you haven't visited your local library in a while - what are you doing? get over there and check it out.  its not what you remember as a kid - its so much better!!

31 for 21 challenge - 10/27 - wordless wednesday

31 for 21 blog challenge - 10/26.......asking for prayers

the power of prayer is great

if you will

for a family member finishing radiation and soon to start chemo

and a friend's 11 month old son undergoing heart surgery

31 for 21 challenge - 10/25...cubscout hayride

its been a crazy beginning of the school year - and because of that our cubscout meetings and events started later than usual.  one of funnest ones i think is the hayride and bonfire this time of the year.  my den was in charge of setting up the 'smores so while everyone piled into the wagons for the start of the hayride

 the parents in our den hung back and laid out the spread. 

  this year we had a huge turnout and needed extra wagons. 

its pretty neat how the wagons leave in the daylight 

and return in the darkness.  then the bonfire is lit and everyone patiently waits to roast marshmallows

and make their 'smores

even though the heat may be too intense at times - the end result is well worth it