Ghost of Halloweens Past

I love Halloween! I'm pretty sure it is for the same reason I participated in and loved drama/theater. The idea of getting to be someone else for a little while is so very appealing! I love the challenge of coming up with a great idea, of figuring out how I am going to translate that idea into an actual costume. The whole process is so exhilerating to me!

Can you tell I'm getting excited?

Since I seem to be Halloween-obsessed, I decided to just go ahead and get it out of my system by writing a blog in review of Halloweens past. Here are the children's costumes from the past years:

October 2004
it all started with a trip through IKEA when I saw this little garbage can.. then I knew I had to buy it and the following week, I went to JoAnn's and bought green fur.

October 2005
Noah loved Bob the Builder, but I didn't want to buy a store-bought costume

I knew the costume wasn't fabulous, so I had to make "Scoop" too!

October 2006
I found the top hat in a Halloween store and immediately thought of Moneybags.. it snowballed from there:

October 2007

Zoe was only two months old

When I asked Noah what he wanted to be, he told me a Lego, specifically a blue one

October 2008
Zoe's red hair reminded me of Pebbles Flintstone, so I made this costume. Unfortunately, Noah insisted on a store-bought Darth Vader costume.

With the exception of the Bob the Builder year, every year, one of my kids has won a costume contest on base. Here's hoping we can be just as fabulous this year!

The Trouble With Unions

Apparently, their reach extends everywhere.

We took Noah to Doughboy Field on Fort Dix today to practice soccer. After a short while, Noah said that he needed a drink of water, so I told him to go get one. Once over there, he sat down. DJ and I were running around on the field kicking the ball. I looked over and said, " Noah, what are you doing?"

"Umm.. I'm taking a break. You guys can keep playing and I'll watch until my break is over."

See? That's the trouble with kids these days... they have a sense of entitlement... they think they have RIGHTS!

Can you imagine what it would have been like twenty-five years ago if, while in the middle of your math test, you said, " I'm sorry, Mr./Mrs. So-and-So, but it's my break time now, so I'm going to have to come back to this later." ?

C.E.O. Mom, took a risk and overstepped the union rules and told him to finish drinking his water and get his behind back out on the field.

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better... I Can Do Anything Better Than You!

I just like to periodically remind myself how fortunate we are. Zoe had a stroke at birth and suffered brain damage to the part of her brain that controls gross motor skills. They told us they had no idea how it would affect her. At the very best, her brain would rewire itself and other parts of her brain would take over the functions of the damaged parts and at the very worst, she would have a weakness on her right side and have to have therapy to help her cope with the weakness and learn to use both sides equally.

We have seen no signs of delay or weakness. At all. In fact, she is WAY more active than Noah ever was. Last night, Colby had a birthday party at Pump It Up, which is an indoor playplace with inflatables ( bouncy houses, slides, etc). Noah had a blast, but I swear to you, Zoe had way more fun! She was wowing everyone with her "no fear" attitude! She climbed the really tall slide and just went zipping down it.. she zipped so fast that sometimes she tumbled a bit and really smacked her head ( on the inflatable stoppers, so it was like smacking your head on pillow) but she just got right back up and climbed to the top again.

There was this one contraption that was an inflatable obstacle course. She went in and I got nervous. I figured I was going to have to rescue her.. especially on the giant wall that was set up like a rock wall. The little monkey clamored right to the top.

First Day of School

Tuesday was Noah's first day of school. After telling me for the past two weeks that he was NOT going.. he got up Tuesday morning, got ready and got on the bus without incident. When he came home, he told me he loved first grade. I don't know how long that love will last.. perhaps just until today... but I'll take it.. even for a day.

Flashback Friday

This one is from this past January- ( I'm pretty sure most of you have seen this one before)

Orange You Glad You Found My Hiding Spot?

For a few days now the oranges have been mysteriously disappearing from their happy perch in the basket in the kitchen. I had a suspect in mind but couldn't prove it. I lacked the solid evidence I needed and we all know you cannot accuse someone based on "a hunch".

Earlier, I was in the kitchen doing my favorite thing in the whole world- cleaning out the refrigerator- when I heard a commotion in the living room. I peered around the corner to find my little Nolan Ryan winding up, ready for the pitch.







And then shortly after that, she decided it looked more like a soccer ball...




Based on the new evidence, I could certainly prosecute my little redheaded suspect for citruscide, but still lacked any proof she was the one stealing the oranges as I had not located the missing persons or their remains.

I continued to watch and finally after she became bored, she toddled off to the corner with the orange and emerged without the orange.

A-HA!!

Upon further inspection, I found the following tucked into the magazine rack:




Exhibits A,B,C, D & E. Three oranges, a partially-eaten poptart and Noah's hotwheels car.

Case closed.The organic remains have been disposed of and the car was returned to its rightful owner. I'm just glad I didn't discover this next week playing, " Where is that smell coming from?"

**SIGH**

Today's blog is copy/pasted directly from a desperate plea posted earlier on my facebook page.

Dear God,

I realize you have a sense of humor and I appreciate and even love that about you... but PLEASE.. just for a day.. find someone else's kids to entertain you. I'm tired.

Signed,

the mom who currently has lipstick all over her laptop, couch, on every surface of the bathroom and on her bedspread

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Q: How do you know that a little girl with a big brother lives in my house?





A: When you find a princess riding in a train amongst her toys.