Halloween Trial Run

Our church had its annual Trunk or Treat last Friday night.  Its always fun when it falls a few days before Halloween.  We get sort of a trial run with all the costumes and its one more use we get out of them.

We were all really excited.  Elise had a friend coming with her and the kids were all excited about how their costumes had turned out.  Elise made an adorable witch.  Cute and classy, with just a little creepiness.  Ian's Zombie costume turned out well after we "altered" (in other words, destroyed) his old suit in the name of Halloween.  A few rips, cuts and tears later, along with some make-up to dirty it up and some face paint and fake blood to top it off, he made a pretty awesome zombie.  Merry Grace looked super cute as a vampire.  I loved her personal touches (sparkly silver boots) and the fake blood really made it perfect.  Paige finally decided on being a dinosaur, which was fine.  She pretty much looks adorable all the time, so the costume is just icing on the cake. :)  Usually I don't have time for a costume, because after getting the kids ready, there just isn't time to put anything together.  But this year I had this awesome wig from my Grandma that I couldn't pass up, so I went as a Mad Scientist.  Or as Cory said a Madder Scientist, since I'm already crazy.  Which gave me a good laugh, because I think he's right. :)

On the way to the church the car started acting a little funny--lights on the dash fading and stuff.  Eventually it seemed to be losing power before jerking to a complete stop in the turn lane not far from the church.  It was completely dead, with not even enough power to turn the hazard lights on.  So the kids and I piled out and walked to the sidewalk, while Cory sat with the car and called a tow truck.  Fortunately, we weren't far from the church, so we could walk there.  Although walking carrying a 4-year old dinosaur made it seem a lot father. :)  Of course we felt fabulous walking down street in our costumes and we did get a lot of stares from the cars going past.  The kids thought it was great.  They told me it was the best Halloween ever.  Which made me think we have been way over-planning our fun activities. ;) But we made it in time for the kids to get candy, Cory got the car towed and arrived at the very end, just in time for his sweet sisters to get us all safely back home.  Also the repair ended up not being as major as it could have and it was fixed the next day.  So even though the evening ended up different than we'd planned, we still had fun and made some memories and we were definitely blessed through it all.

As the evening was a little hectic, I ended up without one picture of my cute kids.  However someone at the activity happened to snap a picture of Paige and I, so at least there's a little photographic evidence.

It was definitely a fun night.  We've thoroughly enjoyed Halloween this year and hopefully we'll still be healthy enough to do a little trick or treating tomorrow night, too.  Or at least some of us.

That's the Way it Goes

A week or so ago, Ian told me that for his field trip, they were supposed to wear skeleton or bones shirts.  They've been studying bones in Science, so they wanted the kids' shirts to represent that as they went to the Science Museum.  This seemed like perfect timing since Halloween was just around the corner and I was sure we could find something at the store that would work.  The paper that came home also mentioned that you could get really creative and make your own shirt or outfit, to which I thought, "Are you kidding me?  Like I have time to MAKE a skeleton shirt!"

Fast forward to yesterday when I picked up the kids from school and Ian says, "I still don't have my skeleton shirt for my field trip tomorrow."  And there you have the story of my life.  We made a quick stop by Target with NO luck at all in the shirt department.  So, we ended up with a long-sleeved white shirt that I was going to use to draw some sort of skeleton on.  The night before the field trip.  Of course.

At 11:00 p.m., after spending the evening carving pumpkins, cleaning up and getting the kids in bed, I finally finished Ian's skeleton shirt.  Cory and I tiredly crashed into bed, only to be awoken by Ian coming into our bedroom at 2:00 a.m., and promptly throwing up on our bedroom floor.  Followed by more of the same throughout the night.  Which, of course, meant no field trip today and no use for the skeleton shirt.

However, he still put it on after showering this morning.  And even though I'm not an artist and its not perfect, he loves it.  And that makes it all worthwhile. :)

And hopefully this kid and the other kids can get well and stay healthy!!!

Halloween Hi-jinks

We've been getting ready for Halloween for weeks.  The kids have been talking about costumes for months. Elise has committed to being a witch and Ian a zombie.  Merry Grace has costume-hopped from one to another for weeks.  She had said a cowgirl, then Johnny Appleseed (because she really wanted to wear a pot on her head).  This weekend she surprised me by telling me she wanted to be a farmer and then a vampire.  Yesterday I finally made her commit to one thing because I had to make sure I had everything for that costume.  So vampire it is.  Paige has said she wanted to be a princess, so last night while Merry Grace & I went on a GNO, we picked up a princess crown for her to wear, since we already have a dress on hand.  She was THRILLED when we gave it to her and immediately tried it on.  Then she saw the face-painting kit I got for vampire girl.  She looked at me and said, "I'm going to be a beautiful princess.  With blood.  Dripping down my chin like this."  As she demonstrated how and where it would go.  I just had to shake my head.  Really?!

Thankfully she quickly decided it was actually too disgusting for a princess to have blood on her face.  Although this morning she told me she was going to be a pumpkin for Halloween.  A princess pumpkin.  Which is basically a pumpkin who wears a crown.  So we'll see what Halloween night brings.  I'll be honest. This is not a battle I'm fighting.  She will have to use something we have at the house, but if she decides to be a princess pumpkin (or something totally different) that's what she'll be.  I think I may have bigger fish to fry. :)

Fall Fun & Motherhood

You may have noticed that we're big Scotty McCreery fans around here.  He's so adorable and down to earth and a little bit goofy, which I think makes him all the more endearing.  So Elise and I were thrilled to be able to go to his concert at the State Fair the other night.  My sweet sister-in-law, Amanda and niece, Emmy, went with us and it just made the evening even more fun.

 The girls got all decked out in their boots and coordinated their outfits.  Although I think they look adorable ALL the time.

 We stopped by the "wall of water" to eat quick bite of yummy fair food (tell me a cinnamon bun drenched in cinnamon butter and a funnel cake doesn't make your mouth water!!!!) and get a picture or two.

And then there was the concert itself...which was awesome!!!  We had good seats and thought Scotty was just wonderful.  (Although I'm clearly getting old because I desperately wanted a pair of earplugs!! Haha!)

Elise got a t-shirt and an autographed CD, which I think might have made her whole night.  Although both were overpriced, we sucked it up and went for it.  Plus the t-shirt was a peace offering for Merry Grace who didn't get to go, but who "loves" Scotty and is going to marry him.  I think it worked because she loved it and wore it to school the next day. :)

I seriously love these girls to pieces.  They are just cute beyond words.

I didn't take a single picture of Amanda and I, but I have to say, we were pretty darn cute, too.  Just not as cute as the girls.  Hence all the pictures of them. :)

A huge thanks to Amanda for driving us there, which I was unusually nervous about.  We had a great time and hung out until the fireworks at the end of the night, which may have been better than July 4th.  We ended the evening with some hot chocolate and chocolate dipped cheesecake.  It couldn't have been more a more perfect night.  Well, maybe with the earplugs.  But that would be it. ;)

I'll wrap it up with one of my favorite Scotty songs, which totally epitomizes how I feel about being a Mom.  Its called "Dirty Dishes".  I love it, because there is a lot about being a Mom that is tiring, exhausting and overwhelming.  There is always work to be done when you're a Mom.  But I love taking those things that are tedious, that are repetitive and just back-breakingly hard, and turning them into a blessing to be grateful for.  Its something I have to be reminded of from time to time in the daily routine of it all.  But when I look at my life with an attitude of gratitude it changes everything.  Not that I have fewer dishes or that I have any less to do, but that I am profoundly, deeply grateful for all that those things represent.

Science

This afternoon on the way home from school, Ian began telling me about all the bones in his body.  Apparently they are learning about the human body and bones in science, and he seems to have learned well.  He listed the clavicle and radius, all the way down to the patella and phalanges.  It was quite impressive.  After almost a solid 15 minutes of his explanations and naming of bones I said, "Wow!!!  That is really something.  You know a lot about bones!  Have you enjoyed learning about the human body?"  To which Ian replied, "Well, not really.  We just learn about it all the time in Science and I really just want to learn about something else in Science."  I saw this as an opportunity to find out what he was interested in, and maybe do some fun learning on the side.  So I asked, "Well, what do you want to learn about?"  "Well," Ian said, "I don't really know what I want to learn about.  I just really want to blow some things up in Science." Which is the point at which I burst out laughing and tried to decide whether to warn his Science teacher or not. ;)

Its About Time

Sometimes, enough time passes that I don't even know where to start.  My poor, neglected blog.

So I'll just start with a few random tidbits.

I love my kids so much.  They make me laugh.  The other day I walked into the bathroom and saw a headless Polly Pocket lying on the edge of the tub.  I don't know why that made me smile, but I love seeing the little evidences of my kids in unexpected places.  Like yesterday when I found a bowl of Littlest Pet Shops taking a "bath" in a bowl on the bathroom sink.  I. Totally. Love. It.

I love conversations that start like this:

Ian:  "I have something to show you from school today."  Pause.  "You're not going to believe what it is."  Pause.  "You're probably not going to want to see this."  Pause.  "Its actually kind of disgusting."

At this point I was borderline horrified, so I just asked one question.  "Its not vomit, is it?"  To which he replied, "Oh no!  Its definitely not that!"

Turns out it was owl pellets, which included the skeleton of a squirrel.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have come up with that in a million years.

Yesterday, Paige and Merry Grace had well-child check-ups and flu shots.  They are healthy and wonderful.  Merry Grace opted for the flu mist and did wonderfully (in a landmark event!!!!).  Paige had to get 3 vaccines, so I just had her get the flu shot, too.  To say it was traumatic, would be an understatement.  I may be a mother of four kids, but sometimes I still get surprised.  This was one of those times.  She screamed at the top of her lungs for 45 minutes.  Solidly.  She screamed through checkout.  Walking through the waiting room.  To the car.  In the McDonald's drive-thru, as I tried to bribe her silence with apple juice and french fries.  In the car.  Until at last, she quieted down, 45 LONG minutes later, and asked for apple juice.  A few minutes of peaceful silence later, she had just one thing to say, "I hate my shots."  That pretty much sums it up for me, too.

There is much to catch up on, but for now, its a start.