Lately

• I have been a scrapbooking fiend.  Like, I forgot how much I actually enjoy scrapbooking. (Why am I embarassed to admit that?  Is that so shameful?)  I am LOVING my 8x8 scrapbook that is dedicated solely to Halloween and I started on my 8x8 scrapbook that is dedicated just to Christmas because frankly, one of my favorite things about photos is comparing events from year to year to see how people changed and I don't want to have to dig through huge scrapbooks about everything in order to find each different Christmas.  I usually scrapbook only during Clara's one afternoon nap (usually from about 12:30-2:00) because I like my evening time to spend with Paul or to clean the kitchen while we are watching a show on TV.
• Clara is obsessed with our giant spider and our pumpkin decorations that light up.  The first thing she does every morning is run to the pumpkins and point and whine until I plug them in for her.  And every night when Paul gets home from work he chases her around with the giant spider, which she loves.  I was a little worried that it might give her nightmares (because it is a really creepy decoration) but she has been just fine and she thinks that the best game ever is to run away from the huge spider and claw her way up to mom for safety.  I love the game too because she clings so tightly to my neck while giggling her head off as Paul prepares the spider to attack.  We will have to try to get a video of it.
• A group of moms in our ward has started doing "Toddler Time" where we get together on Monday and Wednesday mornings and it is one of my favorite things these days.  On Mondays we take turns hosting and focusing on one letter of the alphabet.  When it was my turn we were doing the letter "C" and I read a book about clouds and gave all the kids cotton balls to hold while I was reading and told them that they were clouds.  We ate cheese and crackers and cookies for our snack.  It is super low-key and lasts about an hour and a half usually mostly because all the moms have fun chatting and hanging out.  On Wednesdays we do more of an outing type activity.  A month ago we went to this awesome free petting zoo/farm, sometimes we just do a park, we are planning on going to a pumpkin patch either this week or next, etc.  It is awesome. 
• Paul has been really busy at work.  He usually leaves between 6:45 and 7:00 in the morning and doesn't get home until around 7:00 or so each night and lots of times he is working through lunch.  Then he is busy with church stuff at least one or two nights a week.  But he likes his job and the people he works with and he almost always makes it home in time to hang out with Clara and go for a walk and read books before she goes to sleep.  He told me the other day that he is loving his commute these days since I checked out Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for him on CD from the library.  He just finished it and is on to the second book and he said that he actually looks forward to his drives to and from work, especially since there are so many books and they are so long that he knows he will be listening to Harry Potter probably all the way through Christmas. 
• I've been jonesing for a new wardrobe but haven't wanted to spend the money for anything new so I've been trying to be more creative with what I wear and digging through my closet and jewelry drawer to reinvigorate my look with forgotten items.  I've been heartened to receive some random compliments - like the other day at the grocery store when two ladies at the deli counter started raving about my bow-and-drop-pearl earrings that I hadn't worn in ages and then the deli gal chimed her admiration of my bling as well and I admitted that I picked them up from Forever 21 back during the first season of Glee when I had seen Emma Pillsbury wearing similar ones. 
• My iPod has been stuck playing Weezer, Imagine Dragons, and Lumineers.  Clara and I have been dancing to "Hey, Ho" in the afternoons lately.  Go ahead and try it yourself if you haven't already heard it.