It's The REAL Halloween

Wow! What an end to a crazy week. We have been running around all week doing various Halloween type activities or activities that involve Halloween. It has been tough explaining to a 4 year old (well 3 year & 363 day old) when actual Halloween is. Today on the radio they said something about today being Halloween and Julia freaked out and said..."It's the Real Halloween!" This was followed by Jimmy & Julia shouting Happy Halloween for about a minute. Ahh! She must have been drinking this morning, because I told her. Guess she didn't believe me. So here we are on the Real Halloween!"

We had a full house tonight. Kurt's mom, Aunt Fran, Jeff & Michelle and Grandma Cindy all came over for the festivities. We were not deterred by the pizza order that was all jacked up (a phone call later scored us some free pizzas on our next order). We all patiently waited for it to get a little more dark for the kids to go out. Halloween in our neighborhood is pretty cool. Our sub is pretty small, so we know pretty much everyone or at least recognize them. The kids pretty much run in a gang, so we know most of them. It's nice to be close knit like this in the land of subs.

Seriously, isn't he just the cutest little dragon?

Here's a Dragon, an Overworked Mom & Ariel with Olive Skin

Last year Julia was Cinderella and I thought that she needed a carriage, so i McGuivered (or Magrubered for SNL fans) one out of some weather stripping, tape, tulle and a plastic tablecloth. She loved it and requested princess transportation again for this year. Since she was Ariel, she got a clam shell (or as close as I could get to one). It turned out pretty good for doing it the night before Halloween. Although, she wanted to ride in it for about 5 minutes and then wanted to run around with her friends from house to house. Had I had a little more insight to this, i would have built in the cooler for the beer that the dads (and Uncle Jeff) drank as they followed the kids around the 'hood. But it was all worth the look on her face when she saw it this morning. Although, I think I will be hanging up my miniature-float-building-skills hat.

Julia showing off some of her loot.

The kids have so much candy & treats I am going to have to be generous with spreading the wealth, or it will be spreading on my thighs. Ugh. I hear the 3 Musketeers calling my name.

Preschool Trick or Treat

Today at Julia's school, the kids had their Halloween Party. The weather was perfect! They made caramel apples - Julia said she "LOOOOVES Caramel" and got to stir the cauldron of treats the kids brought in. The kids were all so cute. Every little girl was some type of princess or fairy tale creature. It was so cute. They had fun trying to "guess" who everyone was.

Ariel shows off yet another treat bag.

Ariel & Tinkerbell

Jimmy also got to dress up to go to Moms Morning Out. Pumpkins were pretty popular today, but he is still my favorite.

Trick or Treat Parade!

This week has been just a bunch of Halloween activities. We sure are getting our money's worth out of the kids' costumes. One of the highlights of Halloween week is the Trick or Treat Parade at our gym. It's really great. The kids weave around throughout the facility and each room is decorated in different themes and the workers hand out candy, community groups and politicians also set up displays and hand out candy too. It's something we have done since Julia was 2 with the neighbors, so this was our 3rd year. We all loaded up and caravaned over and the kids had a ball. Jimmy got the hang of what to do in minutes. He made sure to inspect each piece of candy that was put in his bag. It was cute.

Jimmy, Julia, Kyle, Rachel, Clay & Megan

Ariel shows off her Treats
There is no shortage of Candy here!

Posing by the Pumpkins

Over the River and Through the Woods...

Yesterday i took the kids to visit their Grammie and Great Grammie. They won't see them on Halloween, so thought that it would be fun for the kids to show off their costumes. First stop was my mom's office. Julia got a kick out of her not "recognizing" her because she had on a wig. They were then dragged through the whole office so everyone could see them. I think that both mom and the kids got a kick out of it. They got a few goodies and little Halloween baskets from Grammie. They are so spoiled.

Next stop was across the street to where my Gram lives now. She lives in a retirement community (aka Dorm for Seniors). She's 92 and fortunately has all of her wits about her. She's losing her eyesight, but still as sharp as a tack. The kids were tickled to see her and had fun looking through her place for stuff to play with. My step mom's parents also live in the same place, so they came up to see the kids too. It makes things convenient to be able to see all the great grandparents in one stop. We were asked to make a quick trip through the care facility part so some of the patients could see the kids. I was really proud of Julia, she was very polite and didn't get scared when she encountered a lady that had hands like the old lady witch from Snow White. I seriously don't want to be old...it has to be so hard to see yourself deteriorate. I will try to remember this when I am old and some little kid stares at me wide eyed. Anyway, I was happy to help brighten some old folks' day.

Next we took Gram with us to the local toy store. I let the kids pick out 2 small toys and then found a few things for their upcoming birthdays. The kids loved it. There are lots of things to see and the toys are easy to look at for the kids. Jimmy was beside himself, running between the Thomas display and the big electric train set. It was cute. Of course he had a mini melt down that was only satisfied with a balloon when we tried to leave.

All in all it was a busy day. It was a beautiful afternoon to make the drive, the sun was shining, the leaves were so pretty. I just love fall. I am always amazed at the beauty of it. I always get sad when the leaves all drop and it's time for the long cold winter. Ugh...but it's days like yesterday that keep me going.

Thank God for DVR, we recorded The Great Pumpkin so the kids could watch it. I know that families are busy and that there are shows that millions of people depend on (like Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune, Entertainment Tonight), but why do they put it on at 8pm? The set of kids this show appeals to are probably in bed by then...what do the poor families that don't have DVR do? Anyway, we all enjoyed watching it together...it brought back such great memories of watching it as a kid.

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight is garbage night and I thought that it would be a good night to carve the pumpkins, so I wouldn't have to smell the guts all week in the garage. So we carved out the innards together...rather the kids watched me do it. Jimmy kept saying "Yuck" and Julia kept saying it smelled. Kurt's mom was nervous as I was wielding the knife. I also made the comment that in most families, the dad does the carving (because a knife is involved and it's manly), but Kurt responded "I don't like pumpkins and I don't like Christmas Lights" Neither of which he is involved in. He also made the comment that most men don't vacuum either. Nuf said on the bending gender roles in the house.
After the kids went to bed, I carved the pumpkins. Julia wanted a Cinderella and a witch, so hopefully this will suffice. I think they turned out pretty good. Although, I have to say, that online templates are pretty easy to follow. The witch was freehand from a picture. I think I missed my art calling. Let's hope they last the week in the cold and gasp - snow?

Go Green!

Wow! What a game! The Spartans have had a pretty good year so far and they topped it off by beating UofM on Saturday. It's always a big game here - a nice rivalry in the state. The original plans for the day were to go tailgate in AA with a bunch of friends (and their kiddos), but it was cold and they were predicting rain, so we decided to tailgate at Cherie & Shea's house. Which was a fantastic idea, since all the kids could run around and we could all minimally parent. There was a nice mix of MSU vs UofM fans. It never got ugly, and i saw a few UofM alumni eating my Sparty cookies.

This was just a few drinks in...

The Kids watched movies in the basement with Kate & Kyle.

Aww - It's Barrels!

Julia is so freaking cute. We have been "searching" for Disney Princess and or Barbie cereal. I use the term loosely, because I have not been looking for it...Julia has. I don't have the heart to tell her that they don't make the Disney Princess cereal anymore. Whenever we go to the store, I tell her to "Keep her eyes open, maybe she'll see it." I am sure that this is going to harm her for life, but it keeps her busy.

So, tonight after dinner we had to run to the store to get a few things and I took her with me. The store we went to is a higher end type store that i only buy our meats, bakery stuff and the occasional off the wall item. They have it all. Anyway, they have little carts for the kids to push around and Julia gets a kick out of it. So, she's tearing around the store...saying these weird things like she's a little adult. She's got on a little pink fleece outfit and her down vest (she has to have the hip mom look). Anyway, she goes down the cereal aisle...checks all the varieties out, doesn't find what she's looking for. Dejected, we go through to check out. She puts all of the stuff on the belt, tells the man in front of us in line that she is 3 and will be 4 in a few days and then she'll be 5. This particular store has free suckers for kids (and mommies too) and she asks if she can have one (I am doing something right). She reaches in and pulls one out - it's Root Beer (my favorite) and she yells out "Aw, man - it's Barrels!" The 18 year old checker snorted and said he would now always refer to root beer dumdums as "Barrels", as will I.

I Have Been Surpassed by Technology

My iPod is on the fritz. I have troubleshooted (or troubleshot?) it on apple.com as well as google to all of these random blogs & message boards. I have come to the conclusion that my hard drive needs to be replaced. I am pretty good figuring out things, but this one is something that I am pretty sure that I have no idea how to do. I think that I may have to take a trip to the apple store and see how much this type of thing is and if it is even worth it. Kurt bought it from a friend 3 years ago and it was probably 1 or 2 years old then. It is pretty old looking compared to what's out there now, but it does store 1000 songs and worked fine up till yesterday. And it totally put me in a bad mood. Finally, Kurt brought me to my senses and I listened to him (for once). There is nothing I can do about it right now. He also is the best husband in the world, because he gave me his iPod to take to the gym today. So now I can listen to the perfect workout play list that I created and tried to sync to the ancient iPod. Did my vanity and quest for a toned body cause this or perhaps it was when I went to put it on because I couldn't stand to listen to the kids whine anymore last week that did it? Who knows? Who cares?

TGIF!

This has been a long week for us. I have had tons of stuff to do to prepare for the preschool auction in November and most of it took place this week. Fortunately I think that the hard part is over. Every night this week I have had to meet with someone or be up late doing work on the auction. I have a good team this year and they make the job much easier. I know that I say that I hate doing so much, but when it comes together I am very proud of my dedication & talents. I may not be contributing to the bottom line of our family, but I think that I am contributing so much more to the lives of my family and that of others. At least that is what i tell myself when I am feeling frustrated.

Tonight is the neighborhood Bunko and I am really looking forward to getting together with the neighborhood girls and chatting. Since the weather is cooler, we're not outside as often talking for hours on end while the kids play.

On a nice note, Kurt & I were given an award for our landscaping from our town. It was quite an honor. They gave out about 20 awards to different homeowners. I was quick to notice that we were one of 2 couples under 40, the rest were most likely retired or old enough to be our parents. Kurt is very meticulous about the lawn; fertilizing it, edging it, mowing it, whatever. My job is the bushes and flowers. I am lucky in that my mom and Aunt Marcy helped me plant bulbs to start the gardens when I was 8 months pregnant with Julia. I have added here and there and every year plant impatiens or vinca in the summer and mums in the fall. While I don't get excited about seed catalogs like my mom, I do enjoy putsing around out there, weeding and keeping things tidy. This year we actually had a nice crop of tomatoes that we were able to share with the neighbors several times when I would pick 20 or so tomatoes at once. Anyway, I have a whole bag of tulip & daffodil bulbs that I need to plant in the next few weeks, which I will look forward to seeing come up in the spring.

Apple Orchard Trip

Today, Julia's preschool had a field trip to a local orchard, along with every other preschool, daycare, young child group. It was a little crazy, but I guess that goes with the time of year. The day started out a little crazy, but it all worked out in the end.

All of Julia's field trips are on Fridays and most of them start at 9:15 or 9:30. Some are pretty local, like this one, but some are 20-30 minutes away. This poses quite the quandary for us, since Fridays are the day that Jimmy goes to a Moms Morning Out program from 9:15-noon. I can't take him earlier and I have to be back to pick him up. Today, Julia went with one of my neighbor's whose daughter, Kylie, is also in her class. I took Jimmy to MMO and literally waiting in my car until 9:15 to walk him in. Then drove to the orchard for Julia's trip. As I was pulling in, I saw a hayride leaving and recognized some of the coats on the hayride, so I knew that I missed it. As well as another mom and her daughter. So, we waited for them to return, because apparently you can't walk out into the orchard/pumpkin patch. Whatever. After a while the hayride stopped within our sight range and one of the farmers said we could walk back. Thanks.

Each of the kids gets to pick one apple ("Watch out for the ones with spots and worms!" - Julia said) and they also get a pumpkin.

After the hayride, we went inside and enjoyed a cup of cider and a sugar donut. Julia told me that Kurt told her to save him some, so she refused to finish her donut. She is so sweet.

After the eating was over, the kids sort of roamed around and played. They have tons of cut outs for the kids to take pictures in and some farm animals. There were so many kids running around that it was hard to keep track of them at times.





It was a little chilly, but the sun was out and it was nice to be outside on such a wonderful fall day.

New Look...

Thanks to my old pal Cas for showing me up, I had to change my blog background to this very fancy one. I love it. I can't wait to change it again. Thanks Cas! Perhaps my pal Christine will be next to be affected by the update.

Cute Things the Kids are Doing...

• Jimmy has been using the horizontal wood blinds as a road for his matchbox cars. Really, it's genius and a very efficient use of road space.
• The other night Kurt went to the high school football game and as we were approaching the stadium (you could see the lights from the road). Jimmy started yelling "football, football" - he warmed his sports loving dad's heart.
• Julia has decided to be Ariel (the Mermaid) for Halloween, but has already picked out her costumes for next year (Wonderwoman) and the following year (Princess Lea from Star Wars). We'll see if she sticks to this.
• Last night at dinner a Barak Obama campagin worker rang our doorbell. After I came back I told Kurt that it was an "Obama" campainer - Julia asked if it was "Rrr-ack Obama." It is obvious that there is too much polictical stuff going on right now for a 4 year old to say that. This isn't as funny as my neighbor's son's diatribe on McCain. During cartoons, he turns to his dad and says "Daddy, John McCain is going to take away a woman's right to choose. But if she puts on her listening ears, he'll give it back in 2 days." Seriously.

What We Do When the Kids are Gone...

This past weekend the kids went to my moms. While I don't take it for granted...it has become a part of our lives...getting rid of the kids once a month. Sometimes we have big plans, nights on the town, fun with friends. But typically we just hang around the house and get stuff done that we can't do with our 2 little helpers. Which is what we did this weekend. We cleaned windows, steam cleaned the carpet and did some other outside jobs. The most important thing we did was go through the kids rooms and the basement. We are approaching the Apocalypse in our home...known as Birthdays and Christmas. While we appreciate the generosity of our friends and family, the kids get so much stuff. It compounds itself when we have the influx of stuff in just one month. Plus, Kurt is a minimalist married to a reformed pack rat - so usually by New Year's Day, he's ready to explode. So, we went through their things and made piles of things they no longer play with and things we could give to others. It was a good job done, we'll see if they miss any of it, or recognize it when they see it at someone else's house. Sorry kids...it has to be done.

He is His Father's Son

Jimmy is so much like Kurt in more ways than looks. He's super neat and picks up his toys, he loves cars and he likes to run around with the boys. But today's development made me smile...it's the Kurt I met. I had to drop something off at Julia's preschool for the Auction that I am co-chairing (always ask the busiest person to take on something, since they will get it done). Anyway, the 3 year old class was on the playground and Julia ran to say hi to her old teacher and Jimmy was off to the sand box to play with another boy. I did my thing in the school and came out to collect the kids and where is Jimmy? He's dragged the boy from the sandbox to the tire swing where there are 2 twin girls. He's all talking to them and smiling and being super cute. He is like his old man...trying to hook up his buddies with the cute girls...because he'll go talk to anyone. Which is how I met him. I am just glad he kept me for himself. I guess Jimmy has his eye on another girl...he's must not be into cute twin blondes...he's probably into the cute ethnic looking girls...like his old man.

Where Did the Years Go?

After uploading all the pictures from the pumpkin patch from yesterday, I got to thinking where did the time go and how big the kids have gotten. I love that we have made pumpkin picking at the same place a tradition. Grab your Kleenex Mom...

2005 - Julia - 11 months...

2006 - Julia (almost 2)

Julia & Ethan

Julia & Ethan
Kate (8 mos pregnant), Julia, Kelly & Ethan

2007 - Julia (almost 3) & Jimmy (11 months)

2008 - Julia & Jimmy (almost 4 & 2)

Pumpkin Patch

Last night after dinner, we headed over to the Pumpkin Patch...which fortunately for us is within walking distance. It's a ritual for us every year to walk over and pick out some pumpkins. The people who own it are elderly and they are so sweet. I am sad to think what will happen when they aren't able to do it anymore. I am sure they are just as excited to sell the pumpkins and see all the kids as they are to make a little money. It was relatively uneventful, except that Jimmy had a hard time walking through the vines. I think he fell about 10 times. Julia kept going further and further into the patch looking for the perfect pumpkin in which to carve some Disney Princess into. By the way, if anyone hears about a rehab program for kids addicted to Disney Princess, please forward me the information. It is becoming a problem.