Quick update...
I caved.  After two nights of a very sad, very tired baby and an equally tired, although more frustrated than sad mommy, Noella got her "Pac" back.  We'll work on this later.

Update on our weekend:
Patrick worked a bit on our soon to be fully functional and newly renovated downstairs bathroom.  He also got taken out to lunch for cheeseburgers.  Tomorrow is his 35th birthday.  He is not a cake person, so I made pumpkin pie (from a pumpkin, not a can) for the event.  Hopefully the pie experiment tastes as good as it looks!
Noella clipped a lanyard with a clip for an ID card to her tongue, an experience that I somehow found to be sort of horrific and funny at the same time (with an ice cube or two she felt just fine).  Right now she is attempting to sleep without her pacifier.  We told her we lost them and don't know where they are.  If she keeps fussing like this all night, I think I might remember very soon.
Mariel had an afternoon playdate with our neighbor, B.  They worked on a haunted halloween gingerbread house, which is now covered in orange icing and candy.  It was very entertaining to listen to them talk while they crafted.  I am also constantly amused by the way that they greet each other.  You know how the stereotypical romantic movies has the long lost lovers dramatically running into each other's arms?  This is what these two girls do, nearly every time they encounter one another.  They call out the other's name and race to hug/ tackle each other.  Despite the fact that they live two houses away and see each other virtually every day.  On the weekends, sometimes multiple times a day.  Parting can also be just as dramatic, despite the fact that they will likely see one another within 24 hours.
Tomorrow is pumpkin carving and hopefully not much else!

 Last weekend at the Pumpkin Patch

What my children have recently taught themselves:
Mariel-
 to tie her shoes
to whistle (OK, she had some help from her dad on this)
to put a ponytail in her hair

Noella-
to strip herself naked and pee all over her bed

A sample of our morning commute songs:
In the darkness, with diamonds,
Glow GLOW Glow GLOW
In the darkness, with diamonds,
Glow GLOW Glow GLOW
....

I have a friend
named Glee
she goes
Under the (cajun?) sea
and she is happy
and everyone
loves her!

And the magic begins to fade...
Last month, I blogged about our mysterious inability to prevent rattlesnakes.  Patrick and I have had a good long run of complete authority, with the ability to cure boo-boos or create helpful creatures with the right touch of creativity.  Toy gnomes, for example, visit our house every so often to take toys that are left out at night.  When they take a toy, they get to keep it until they grow bored of it (so you had better hope it is not a really exciting toy).  Then they bring it back.  They are unquestionably real in our house.
Two nights ago, Mariel woke up with nightmares and came crying to our bed at 3:15.**  She ended up sleeping there with Patrick and I went to her room.  This DOES NOT happen at our house; unless someone is very, very ill everyone sleeps in their own beds.  This is mostly due to my intense need for personal space and inability to sleep when someone is touching me... but that is a whole new topic.  Back to Sunday night/ Monday morning.  All family members involved woke up tired, and so Monday night I had a bedtime plan.  I sprinked Mariel's entire room with dream dust to keep the bad dreams out.  I did it again.  And again, scooping more and more imaginary dust off of her dresser.  I tucked her in and left.  When I came back an hour later she was still awake. 
"Mom, it did not work." she said, sadly.  "I can't sleep because the dreams will come back."
"I can put more dust out." I said, attempting to be convincing.  "I must have just not had enough in my hands."
"Oh, Mom, no." she replied.  "That was just imaginary.  It does not really work."
And so Mariel got to fall asleep in our bed.  Which did not happen until 10:30.  The good news is that tonight she was so exhausted that she climbed right into her own bed and fell asleep right away.  Let's hope there are no nightmares tonight, as I don't know what my next response will be now that my magic powers have faded.
**- The nightmare was apparently about wolves chasing her, biting her arms and trying to eat her.  It sounded pretty scary to me.