Happy Halloween!

Hi!

Boy - Have we been really busy. We are usually busy, but we were really busy the last few weeks.

One thing we did was fly out to Idaho Falls, jump in a 16 foot truck towing a car and drive with our daughter, Alex, her husband Lawson and son Jett, and drive all the way to Michigan. Out of Idaho, into Wyoming (YIKES - MOUNTAINS!), through Nebraska (flat - I got to drive in this part of the country), through Iowa (rolling hills - lovely to look at, not so much to drive in a big truck), into Indiana (the only construction and it was a doozy - wall to wall semi-trucks stopped for an hour at 12:30 in the morning) and finally into Michigan. It took two and a half days and we were never so glad to see our little house. We are thrilled to have our daughter and her family living so close!

So there was that.

We had the usual craziness that comes with planning a trip - getting everything done that you would have been doing if you were not traveling - that kept us from doing anything on the house. In fact, the stairs are not any farther along than they were in the last post. But we will get that wrapped up soon.

And just the everyday "we have this and this and that to do today" busy.

We did have a super fun project to work on for our church Halloween party last week. (The party was the evening of the day we got home.) Hero and I spent a few hours getting into the Halloween spirit painting a photo backdrop.

Hero and I work together so well. Here is just a sample of how projects work around our house:

Me: I got a canvas drop cloth to paint the photo backdrop for the party. I have an inspiration photo and I am pretty sure we have the paint. Let's paint!

Hero: Where are we going to spread it out? How are we going to keep paint off the floor?

Me: Downstairs. Piece of cardboard. Let's paint!

Hero: Cardboard? How about a sheet of plastic? It will fit better. What are we going to use to paint with?

Me: Plastic sounds great. Brushes. Let's paint!

Hero: How about a roller for the bulk painting? Do we have enough paint?

Me: Roller sounds great. I think so. Let's paint!

He is so practical - I really need him to help me get things worked out. I always want to start right now and he is the voice of reason. 

Once we got our hands on everything we got to work on the canvas, backed by plastic, using a paint roller, down stairs.

Recognize the color? One of the colors we used on the stairs. Sweet.

This why Hero asks me if we have enough paint - It's big! It's actually a little too tall, so we did not go all the way to the bottom.

Hero likes to do the bulk painting. Even when we paint a room, I am the one to do the cutting in and trim work. If I outline it, he does the middle. It's a great system!

To make a moon, I needed a big circle to trace. Hero suggested my Bosu - It worked like a champ!

I am all about Halloween spookiness, as long as it is on the fun side. I get scared way too easy - I need a little humor with my terror. 

I never go to haunted houses. But maybe I would if it were quirky like this one.

We added a friendly little grave yard. Creepy tree. No big deal. Not scary.

Hero doing the bulk painting on the house.

Adding a few neighborly bats. Not the kind that sink their teeth into your neck to suck all your blood out.

Got this baby done in just a few fun hours. We hung it up on the clothesline to dry for the rest of the day.

Watch out Hero!