halloween 2010

oh... halloween. not my favorite of holidays. lots of people love it, like my husband. again, me... not so much. you know, it would be so much better without the scary stuff. why can't it just be dress up. why's it gotta be creepy? really, i don't need demon masks. my imagination is creative enough... i don't need the help. but, we go anyway.

i'm sure everyone else goes through the same drama-filled costume selection that we did this year. this was the first time that gracie really cared what she was. not cale. he just wanted to be a pirate... again. you'll see. he looks a lot like the pirate from last year. only this time, he's a little more, um... "healthy"... costume was a little snug. ok, a lot snug on top. and buggie had no clue. she was more interested in anything other than being snow white. i went as a mom. clever, right?

before heading out, i wanted a picture of all three of them. this was as good as it got...

really? 2 seconds. that's all i'm asking. is that too much? i just want one picture of everyone together... looking at the camera... smiling. just one. no? whatever. lets go.

however, thanks to lulu, we got great individual pics of them. dang, my kids are cute.

arrrr, matey. it's pork chop... the most feared pirate in rogers county.

awww... what a cute kitty. it's rather appropriate, considering her independent streak (that of which i know nothing of...).

before heading out into the dark and scary abyss (ok, not really) of aunt b's neighborhood, we had to have a test run...

looks like it went rather well. she must have passed.

lily even joined in on the action. if it wasn't what she wanted, she threw it on the ground. she was rather opinionated...

and couldn't wait to taste test.

there were lots of cute decorations. besides my kids, of course.

ok, i have to say i'm very surprised that there was any candy left in these bowls. no one was manning them. the big kids must not have found them yet.

it took 3 tries to get a family picture. goodness gracious. thank you aunt b and lulu (and big dad, of course) for being so patient. and for herding the circus. and for letting us invade your house.

we'll do it again next year. yea.

gracie's trunk-or-treat

today was "trunk or treat" for gracie and the entire kindergarten. the "trunk" part of trunk-or-treat was that parents decorated their cars and were there to hand out candy to the preschoolers and kindergarteners. i originally volunteered my trunk until i realized that cale and lily would be with me...

can you imagine? me, neither.

so, i my trunk and i resigned. maybe next year.

the deal was everyone was supposed to dress up in their halloween costume, bring their goodie bags, and a good attitude ready for lots of fun and an entire morning of candy acquisition.

gracie ready, in costume... check. manually applied kitty cat nose and whiskers... check. pumpkin bucket... check. good attitude... hold on. what happened to the giddiness? it was all fine while we were getting ready. so fine, that while gracie was meowing and laughing hysterically, mollie watched her in the bathroom mirror and proceeded to growl and bark at her. it was really funny. then, when daddy said it was time to go, she starts crying about her cat nose. she doesn't want it... she doesn't want to trunk-or-treat... she doesn't even want to go to school. really? what the heck? so, we spend the next few minutes discussing why she should have a good attitude and enjoy the fun things that are in store for her today. she can't spend her whole life acting like this. she'll never do anything fun. she'll shut down exciting adventures before they even begin. you get the idea.

as they're headed out the door, i make her stop for a picture...

what a cute kitty cat she makes. this is the only cat that will ever live at my house.

so, this afternoon i am soooo excited to pick her up and hear all about her trunk-or-treat experience. she gets in the car and and i ask how trunk-or-treat was. gracie's response... "mom, this morning when we went out there, i thought i am totally going to have so much fun at this. my mom was so right".

it would serve her well to remember that. she is one smart cookie!

i've got nothin'...

tonight, there are no pictures of my darling children or hysterical stories to tell. because tonight, they were not cute, and they were not funny. all i'm sayin' is that tonight was one of "those" nights. that is all.

lily's re-bath

hello, stranger. i know it's been a while (again), and i'm sorry. we've had d-r-a-m-a recently, and i've just not been in the blogging mood. but, now i am. tonight i'll keep it short. let's get started...

ok, let me set up the situation tonight: i was doing laundry and kyle was bathing gracie. cale and lily had already had baths before dinner. all of the sudden, kyle hollered at me to come see what was going on in the bathroom. this is what i found...

lily... in her jammies and diaper. a 6 pound diaper. it was lovely. she thought it was hysterical. this give "re-bath" a whole new meaning.

at our house, it's always something.

a monkey dinner

sometimes, i can be a little controlling. i know, you're shocked. really shocked. now's the time to pick up your jaw off the floor. some of you are shocked at the notion that i could be the least bit controlling, while others (ok, all of you) are in awe that i've actually just admitted it. whatever the case may be, letting go is a challenge, especially when it comes to my kids. one thing they love to do is cook. it's very hard for me to let them just do what they can and make a mess. but, again, they l-o-v-e it! so, tonight i had an idea... i let the kids make dinner.

it was very easy to put together, dump and stir.

then, it was stir and dump.

casserole was in the pan. now, shakey, shakey, shakey... shake those onions on top.

yum. their finished dinner casserole. what's better than chicken with french fried onions? they loved it!

aren't those the cutest chefs you've ever seen? they fixed such a great dinner! i'm so proud of them for cooperating and making our meal. and, i'm proud of myself for just letting it go and allowing them to do it their way.

by the way, there happened to not be an questions about where the chicken, cream of chicken, french fried onions, tomato soup, or corn came from. what? no questions about our food? they must've been concentrating on the stir and dump...

ahhhh, the magic blankie

the magic blankie. lily's snuggie and (sometimes) my sanity. sleep does not exist without the magic blankie. my sweet friend, sarah, who has a little boy two days older than lily, gave it to us. thank you, sarah, from the bottom of my heart. really, i mean thank you. she dropped it off after church one sunday when lily was very little and having a hard time getting her emotions under control. and, by that i mean fussy... very fussy! sarah said she'd found a magic blankie for seth. before i could get to target that afternoon, she showed up at my house with one. now we have two. and we love them. i should really get a couple more. it would be devastating... really devastating if target didn't carry them anymore. hmmm... what time is it? maybe i should go now... oh well, they're closed. tomorrow. anyway, how cute is that picture? she's like gracie... they take such great pictures.

hold on... cale's up. i'm back. ok, now how can i get very mad at him when he gets up and asks me to pray for his tummy, cause it hurts? wait... here he comes again. now it's his leg. ok, so now we've prayed over his whole body. in a minute, we're gonna need to pray for his bottom...

did i mention that we l-o-v-e the magic blankie. just ask anyone who's had to put her to sleep. it's magic. when i think about the magic blankie, i always sing "magic" in my head. sorry... t-m-i.

by the way, the apple pie... it's still really good!!!

it's sunday, fall is in the air, and i'm in the mood for comfort food!

i've got something very exciting... my first apple pie (that i made). actually it was more like apple crisp pie... you know i can't leave any recipe alone. and before you assume i did, just know that there's no almond extract in it. yes, i know, it's almost impossible for me to make something that i don't put almond extract in, but not this time. however, there's always next time...

the from-scratch pie crust. kyle insisted it was store bought, even saying it looked too good to be from scratch. was that a compliment? it could have been, minus the dripping sarcasm. so, i smiled sweetly, and then told him to get out of the kitchen.

the filling... apples, sugar, butter...

and, the finished product. y-u-m-m-y! really yummy!

so, dessert was done. on to dinner.

tonight's menu:

chicken fried chicken with gra-vy
garlic mashed potatoes
brown sugar glazed carrots

dinner was great, even though gracie emphatically claimed that she was allergic to carrots and i burned the *#^% out of my thumb. hot grease. not fun. i wouldn't recommend trying it. it hurts very badly. yes mama, i slathered it in arnica... its not helping. gracie prayed for God to heal my thumb when it was time for prayers. so sweet. well, it's been nice, but now my thumb is off to an ice cube bath. later.