Halloween 2011

Nope, no live bodies here. I think that's what the candy is for, because they definitely come alive later. 

Noble caught on fast, "trick-or-treat"ing like a champ.  And I know it's obvious, but...
SO. FREAKIN. CUTE! Oh my goodness...

We traveled to a friend's neighborhood because 1) They were making donuts from scratch (!!) and 2) Morgen's classmate Iva, and Noble's best friend Ada Gene live there. Noble is in L-O-V-E with Ada Gene and whaddya know, she was a cowgirl to his cowboy. So sweet!

See, Vampires aren't that scary. Just give 'em a sucker and a book about Halloween, that calms 'em right down.

Oh. No.

GRIMM

Beautiful and gothically creepy in a good fog, our little neck of the woods is sometimes host to some movie and TV-making. The movie The Music Within was filmed in a friend's house down the street and we actually got to tour the set! It was really cool to see how they transformed her living room to another era. And in one of the shots, you can see the corner of our roof and the tree in our backyard! We're famous!

Grimm is a new police crime drama set in Portland, taking "Keep Portland Weird" to a whole new level. Personally, I think it's kind of a cheezy drama, and the acting is meh, but we can't stop watching it for all P-town cameos! We are glad that the show has been renewed for a second season, bringing a lot of business to local shops, and exciting neighborhood moments! Noble and I went to check out the filming of season 1, episode 9, "Of Mouse and Man" and we stood chatting with a guy guarding the steps up to the street. I was a little surprised when this scene in the episode was so short. It took them half the day to shoot. I guess that's the way it goes. The water truck (that sprays the streets to make the scene consistent with the rest of the episode) parked in front of our house. That makes us cool, I'm sure of it. So cool, in fact, that one of the key grips bought the house across the street!
Between Grimm and Portlandia, we're dodging film crews everywhere!

So Here's What Happened

Around five o'clock this morning, David and I sat bolt-upright in bed to the most sonorous rumbling we've ever heard. At least... I thought we were sitting up. I think we were just jerked into consciousness and were still laying there, staring into the dark. The traffic on the bridge behind our house is a constant white-noise for us, so we both thought a horrible accident had occurred. A trash truck had driven off and crashed into the park below! The bridge itself was somehow coming undone, cable's ripping out of the ground for sure!

"What. Was. THAT?" We were both sitting up in bed now. We realized it was thunder...and we had just torn a huge hole in our roof. We jumped out of bed and ran willy-nilly around the house; I'm not sure what we were doing. I went to the back door to see if it was raining and a light mist was coming down. I was about to stick my hand out to see how it felt when the air crackled and popped (yes, quite like Rice Crispies) the sky lit up with a flash and then "BOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!" Another tremendous rumbling of thunder! Now the dog was running in circles and I beamed like I'd just pulled up to the gates of Disneyland.

I ran to get my shoes on-- we had to get that hole covered; it was really starting to rain! By now 2  kids were in our bed and the dog was underneath it when David informed me we were out of tarps. We laughed at the irony of tearing off the roof because it was leaking, only for it to rain the very next day. We should know by now that when the weather report says sunny and 80's all week (no matter what the weather report says, really) in Portland that means "rain". Our only option seemed to be to haul our backyard canopy up onto the roof.

It was...ridiculous. Even the neighbor, who had thought we were being bombed, saw Dave on the roof in the rain and asked if he could come over and help. We finally got the awkward and useless canopy onto the roof (although Taylor and I feel a little victorious over that) and the rain had stopped! Neighbor-dude got a tarp from his house and he and Dave put it up, letting us know he's ready and willing to help us with anything else we need.

Seriously, we are blessed with the nicest neighbors. I once won an Ice Cream Block Party from Dreyers for an essay I wrote on "Why I Love My Neighborhood". It's just that great. My block, not my writing.

So here we are today, Father-and-Son Demo Team, under shelter of plastic.

Taylor (who's awesome) made these handy-dandy hammer-holders! This is not the best photo, but he was proud of those hammer-holders and I wanted to get them in the picture.

 Nothing fills a boy with a sense of worth and purpose more than some good, hard work.

He spent all day alone with me (at Taco Hell and the grocery store and running errands), and only a couple of hours doing this with Dave. He comes up to me at bedtime and says,

"I had a good day today with Daddy."

(Hm. Chopped liver.)

Where are the other boys, you ask?

I had the settings all wrong for this picture, but I had to take it quick before anything changed. I love finding my little guys just reading away amongst a scattering of literature.

...and all our attic junk.

...and a moose antler.

Alright Thunder & Lightening....bring it on!! Of course, now it will only be hot and sunny for the rest of the week.

Coming up.... the Weird-Wire-Cage-Thing-From-the-Attic-Eves mystery is SOLVED!

Stay tuned. (Riveting, I know....)