Happy Halloween (and a late WWW)

I got to spend a wonderful five days with the family in College Station to celebrate Kidd's birthday and for some work training.  What a treat!  Tuesday night, we went to a Halloween party and I got to see the kids in their costumes, which was nice since I'm not getting to trick or treat with them tonight.  So, I bring you my version of Halloween 2013.  Presenting Minnie Mouse and Power Ranger Mega Force.

In other news that I didn't get to post last night because I got back late and was dog tired--  a Wednesday's Winning Words:

Like most parents, I sing to my kids.  And like most kids, they tolerate it.  Mine are still young enough to let me most of the time, even ask for it.  Amazing Grace is a song I have always sung to them (who doesn't?).  Well, now that Delaney really knows her middle name is Grace, she is absolutely certain the song is about her so she requests is almost every night.  By itself, I find this adorable.  To top it off, the other night when I was putting the kids to bed, when Delaney asked me to sing it, Justus chimed in with "...and then can you sing Amazing Hayden?"  Poor kid wants a song about him too.  Oh, how I wish in that moment I had more of a creative spirit so that I could have impromptu come up with a tune and lyrics to satisfy his request.

Halloween Recovery

We survived!  A fun few days of Halloween goodness and we are into November.  Whoo hoo!  So, here's the recap of all the Halloween goodness.

We went to the MSC's Halloween party for faculty and staff kiddos.  Super Fun!  There was even a haunted house, which Justus went through with his friend, Radley.  On the way home, Justus said "Mom, can you believe Radley went through the haunted house again?!?!"  Way to go, Radley!  Justus was impressed!  Needless to say, Delaney did not do the haunted house.   It was a great time, overall and we are always up for more opportunities to wear the costumes!  Bonus:  They had early voting at the MSC and the polls were open until 8:00.  Civic duty-check.  Making the day of the poll workers by coming to vote with the cutest ninja and geisha ninja princess around--double check.

Yesterday morning was the Kindergarten Halloween Party at Justus' school.  Wow, they go all out for this.  I signed up to help, which was a great opportunity to meet some of the other Kinder parents and watch the kiddos at a fun event.  Yes, volunteering at the kid's school is where woking mommy guilt really sets in for me (especially now that my office is no longer 2 minutes down the road.  Ugh!).  We have A LOT of SAHM's at Pebble Creek.  I am so thankful for them because I don't feel compelled to do everything, out of fear that if I don't it won't get done.  BUT, I still want to do things as my work schedule allows because Justus LOVES it when I'm there.  See!

It was so much fun.  They had games, food, sensory boxes (remember these--dark rooms with boxes of spaghetti brains, hot dogs fingers, jello guts, etc.), crafts and more.  The kids loved it!  I just worried about the teachers when we sent them back to the rooms.  I would not want to be responsible for keeping them calm for the next two hours after that craziness.

After a quick dinner and change of clothes, we were ready to hit the streets for trick-or-treating!  Now, we live in a neighborhood that is frequented by non-residents.  I mean, the parking lot at Justus' school is completely full and the houses right along there are hammered by visiting trick-or-treaters.  The major thoroughfares have cars parked all along them too.  You get the idea.  I'm so mad I didn't get a picture of this, but this year we had a first-- A BUS!  I'm not even kidding!  A chartered bus rolled into the hood and dumped out kids.  Really???  I know it's part of living where we do, and I welcome visitors, but there are several local business and community events for people to attend that don't involve the need to charter a bus to another neighborhood.  Just sayin'.

Before you judge our transportation (now that I've criticized the bus riders), I want to note that we have small children.  They go and go and go until they cannot go anymore and then they are too tired to walk five more steps and want to be carried.  So, after Justus' first trick or treating adventure, we learned that the best way is with some motorized assistance...

So, here we are--onto the golf cart and ready to go!

 



 

Show me your best smile to get the good candy?

 

  When we had trick-or-treated ourselves out, we went back to our street where our neighbors all congregate and hang out.  PS--I love that we have taken to having block parties on Halloween!  Justus went to play with the "big kids," but Delaney hung out with us...and insisted on driving the golf cart.  She kept crawling into Kidd's lap while we were going before this and got a little steering practice.  She's hooked!

 

"me drive"

"Cheese!"

Show us your loot?

 

The kids had a great time, and got lots of compliments on costumes.  We even trick-or-treated at Justus' teacher's house, which he thought was the coolest thing ever!  I admit that I have never really been a big fan of Halloween--I loathe putting wearing costumes-- but now that we have kids, I thoroughly enjoy it.  Small children in precious costumes is about as good for your heart as it gets.  They are all sooo cute!  We hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

 

Now....BRING ON NOVEMBER!!!

Wednesday's Winning Words

Today's post (and now that I think about it, I may have to do this more often) comes from complete strangers.  It was too good to not share. 

Sunday morning, we were picking pumpkins for our carving and this happened:

A sweet family was picking out theirs too, and were obviouly motivated by something completely different.   No judgement here.  They were walking around and their son (maybe 3-4) asked "How do I know which one to get, Mommy and Daddy?" He was very excited.  It was obviously his first time to pick out a pumpkin.  Mommy said "Well, just pick the one that you think has the most seeds."  Much like myself, the boy had a confused look on his face.    But unlike me, the poor child tried, in earnest in an attempt to respond to his Mom's asinine comment, to identify such a pumpkin.  Mommy continues to walk around the pumpkins and contemplates out loud, "I wish they had stickers on them that said "This pumpkin has this many seeds inside." 

Remember that old comedy/country song--"Here's your sign."  In moments like that, I wish I had one to give...


In other news....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

**The flash on my phone gets Delaney every time.  This was the best after about 4 attempts...

Pumpkin Carving Fool

As you may recall from my cell phone clean out post, I am not a pumpkin carver.  Or at least I wasn't.  Until there was a competition involved.  And a little boy who desperately wanted to carve a pumpkin.  So, over the weekend, we bought ourselves some pumpkins and got after it in the name and spirit of all things Halloween.

Before we got started, Justus got to use his new Mr. Potato head pumpkin decorating kit (thanks Fattig Family)!  He LOVES these things....and we love them too.  Simple. Fun. Clean.

We bought several pumpkins, in anticipation of errors and the need to start over--which never happened.  YAY!  Except now I have two uncarved pumpkins that are just asking to be carved...
So, Justus picked out a bat design that he wanted.  Daddy decapitated the pumpkin and we made Justus clean out the insides.  He was not too keen on this.  But, it's a pumpkin carving must, and if you want a pumpkin carved, you have to clean it.  Look what a good sport he's being!

Then I went to work.  Because, let's be honest, the 5-year-old who desperately wanted to carve a pumpkin does NOT have the patience to actually carve the pumpkin.  He watched some and played some and then appropriately ooohed and aaahed when it was done. He was ecstatic about his, especially once we turned off the lights and he saw it with the light inside.  It went immediately to live on our front porch with our other pumpkin decorations.

Our office is having a carving contest this week and if you wanted to participate, you were to just show up with the pumpkin already carved.  So, here's my entry.  It probably won't win any spectacular prizes, but I was very pleased with myself for doing it because my artistic skill, if I have any, is not in carving, drawing, coloring, sculpting, etc.  I'm more of a music girl.  So, this was a big accomplishment for me!

I'm pretty sure our little experiment made me an annual pumpkin carver!  Looking forward to doing this annually...especially when the kiddos can do their own too.  We may even save the seeds and toast them next time...

Cell phone clean out- October edition

It's been awhile since I've done one of these, so here we go...

Delaney had her first school pictures at daycare without Justus. Sorry for the glare, this is me taking a cell phone pic of the actual picture.  P.S.--the one on your right is her polite "stranger danger" face.  Quiet, pensive, fiddling with her hands.  I'm pretty certain that what is happening here is the unknown-to-her photographer jumping up and down trying to make her smile and she's not having it.  Chances are someone she knows was at least in the vicinity for the pic on the left.  This is why we are so grateful for Sarah and the quality of picture she can get.

 

 

Then, the poor child was sick for a whole week with a virus and pneumonia.  I could have taken this same picture at any point during that week.  She did little else.  Just broke my heart.

 

 

Candy Corn is my October obsession.  Not that I need one for each month, but I actually crave this stuff in October.  It's ridiculous.  And just for the record--no, I don't eat the Easter candy corn that comes out.  Fall candy corn is the only real deal.

 

 

Earlier in October, I had to say goodbye (from work only) to one of my favorite staff people ever.  And wouldn't you know I managed to get a picture of the cake, but not of the two of us?!?!  Missing my Tish, but I know she is L.O.V.I.N.G. her new opportunity and I couldn't be more excited for her.

 

This one was attacked by a tub of Eucerin skin cream last Tuesday, which resulted in this lovely black eye!  She doesn't seem too bothered by it.  In other news, she now knows the aTm (and the color maroon) as indication of "Aggie" and LOVES to point it out on shirts, cars, flags, etc.  That's my girl! 

We hit the pumpkin patch yesterday afternoon.  Can you tell how excited he is to be there?  Admittedly, it was a balmy 90 degrees and very sunny (hence the hand covering his eyes from the sun), so he just wanted to get his pumpkin and get the heck out.  Note that we are short one child here?  Yes, well, you will have to trust me that D was all dressed up for the occasion, as she was sound asleep in dad's truck by the time we got to the patch.  Not a total loss for her--Justus picked her a little pumpkin too.

So, yeah, we're those people--we don't carve pumpkins.  At least not yet.  Not until the kids are a bit older.  And can clean up the mess.  Justus found this Darth Vader pumpkin decorating kit at Target and was super excited about it, so we went with it.  He is so proud of it!!  That's what matters, right?

 

Not super exciting, I know, but stay tuned...big new things ahead!

Wednesday's Winning Words: Halloween Edition

I continue to be bombarded with the "Why?" quesitons, and they are eternally interesting.  The 4-year-old's imagination is a truly magnificent thing.  How do we lose so much of that as we grow up?

Nonetheless, this week's conversation is the true reflection of Halloween.  Justus said a lot of crazy stuff that night, and it was all remarkable, but this episode with his father (which I am relaying second hand) was my favorite.  We had returned home from trick-or-treating and I was getting Delaney ready for bed while Justus had been asked to start getting his costume off and get in his pjs, after he ate his one piece of candy he was allowed that night.   I walk by the kids' bathroom and Justus informs me that he is flossing.  I tell him that's a good idea, and keep on with my Delaney process.  After everyone is in bed, Kidd tells me about his encounter with Justus in the same bathroom a few minutes later. He said Justus had a flosser in one hand and the big Tootsie Roll (chosen piece of said candy) in the other.

He had developed a pattern: Bite of the candy, then floss.  Repeat.

  

 Finally, he said to his father "Daddy, I really wanted to like the Tootsie Roll, but it keeps sticking to my teeth.  Can I throw the rest of it away?" 

 Aah, if only he made the same effort to like broccoli!

From the Royal Pirate Ship:  Happy Halloween!!