Trick or Treat!

We trick or treated with our friends Naomi, Allie and Kelsey. We hit the neighborhood where our previous and most favoritist daycare provider Brooke lives...and the Stovriggs and Sinhas too! Trick or Treat was marked to start at 5p and go until 8p. Well, we were ready at 5p sharp and the sun was still shining and it was hard to find some porches with their lights on! Apparently, it's not very cool to go right at 5p. But our theory is that all of the other children were sitting inside waiting to spot the first TOTers to give the go ahead to hit the streets. We cleared about 10 or so houses and the kids were pleased and had already managed to eat about 30 pieces of candy and suck on about 5 suckers each. Mama could hear the dentist growling and the teeth rotting out of her kids' heads!

Tessa had a long week of indecision regarding her attire for the evening as most young ladies her age do. She was slated to be a horse after having been muscle-chested Spidey for school. But, nevertheless, she was feeling more like a kitty that evening. So, we were a cat AGAIN this year. Her buddy Allie similarly wasn't feeling her adorable bumble bee costume her mom had gotten her and insisted on wearing last year's Piglet. Independence. Such a wonderful thing.

Nate settled on a reprise of his old fireman costume for school since I wouldn't let him be the coveted Ninja. For his school parade you have to carry a book with your character in it. This parade is so academically called Book-o-Ween parade. And, while I would have been able to easily find a book about ninjas, I was more concerned about Nate becoming or enacting his role as a ninja while marching in this parade. We made a deal that he could be a Ninja for TOT. So he wore a Ninja costume for which he begged and his mother got 75% off at the drugstore and still overpaid for the cheap piece of nylon called a costume. I think my pantyhose over his face would have given nearly the same effect. He was thrilled to pieces as evidenced by his karate chop-ninja-esque poses for the camera! I don't think Ninjas typically carry a light saber, but Nate the Ninja thought it looked cool and was even more awesome when he tied it to his pant leg.

Miss Kelsey didn't make a peep as per her usual. She was the most adorable and pleasant little strawberry ever!

Her Mother's Daughter

It is Halloween season so one might think that Miss T has been inspired by all the costumes and dressing up. But, the truth of it is, she pretty much likes to dress up and comes up with some pretty curious couture for less than special events and daily routine. One must wear clicking shoes to the grocery store and they usually have to sparkle too otherwise how would anyone be able to hear you running down the aisles and pushing your miniature cart? Her tastes are not traditional nor are they always particularly feminine. Yesterday was the Halloween parade and party at school. After a week of debate and pulling out costume after costume out of the dress up tub Miss T decided on Spiderman complete with puffy muscle chest and mask. Today again was a prime example of her flare. And this girl would never settle for just 20 pieces. Our day was filled with running a few errands and working around the house. Troy has been diligently working on our mammoth new deck. And what Daddy's helper wouldn't compliment jammies that she got out of the dresser and did not sleep in the night prior with her cowboy boots and a blue tutu while passing screws and cleaning up wood scraps? Of course, this outfit transitions well to playing Memory and reading books to her babies!

And then it was warm and sunny again...

This fall has been, as the weather-folk have said, unseasonably warm. So when it's in the near seventies in October we don't know much to do with ourselves but basque and take in all the good sunshiney rays because we all know bitter cold and grey days are ahead. We took yet another trip to the farm and local pumpkin patch down the road. It's free and the kids can't get enough of the straw mound. Allie came along for some frolicking too. We came home with cider and raspberry jam and lots and lots of pieces of straw in our shoes! And, managed to escape a single bee sting as the place was swarming with the little buzzers.

Friday Night Lights.

Took the kids to the last football of the season this weekend. They were excited to actually sit in the stands and not in the car this time. Nate took his friend Zachary. We all bundled up in what maroon and gold gear we have and joined in the spirited community event. Since it was the last game there were all sorts of special affairs like mini-cheerleaders and lots of honoring the senior student athletes. We're just hoping next season the student section is inspired by something other than the African World Cup team by blowing horns the entire game!

Sweetest Day in Cincinnati and Kentucky and such...

We road tripped to Cincinnati this past weekend for cousin Krista and Paul's wedding. The drive was chock full of plenty of drive thru stops, movies, snacks and construction. On Saturday we had some time to burn in the city before the festivities so we went to the aquarium on the riverwalk on the Kentucky side of the river. The kids had a great time checking out all the fish. They especially enjoyed "petting" the sharks, watching the penguins and feeding the parrots (don't ask me why the parrots were at the aquarium, but it was pretty cool!). Nate, Cole and Tessa will all tell you the proper way to pet the sharks by putting your two fingers on the edge of the tub, let the shark's eyes pass, then stroking down the shark's back. The woman that repeated this over and over and over and over again made Uncle Todd, Aunt Shannon, Troy and I laugh. We imagined her repeating those instructions to her lover in her teacher-esque-day-at-cedar-point voice. Hopefully she doesn't wear her fanny pack and ear-mic when she does that though!

Krista was a beautiful bride, Paul was a handsome groom and the Weasels sure do know how to party. And, the heavens didn't even open up or fall from the sky when Uncle Todd and Troy dutifully delivered the communion gifts to the altar during the ceremony!

Never in My Whole Life Growing Up.

"Never in my whole life growing up." These are the words that came from Nate's five year old mouth as he had a grand mal fit because I would not let him bring home a goldfish from daycare. One of the kind and generous (picture me gritting my teeth with forced smile as I type those adjectives) teachers had told the kids that they could have the fish as long as their parents agreed and said it was okay. Well, Nate blocked out that stipulation and was convinced that he was going to be the owner and provider for this goldfish. So, when I said no and suggested that we talk with his Dad about making such an important decision he threw himself on the ground crying that I never ever let him have a pet in his whole life growing up. Pretty tragic for all the five years of his life, huh? So, after I peeled his crying body off of he floor and dragged him out to the van sans fish we had a long talk about pets and pet responsibilities. He vowed he would practice responsibility by taking care of all the dogs he could list including Luna, Heisman, Shaker, Cider, Sparky and Cooper.

This week he came home from school on media day having checked out the book entitled "Responsible Dog Owners." Not kidding. And, now I question why I said no to a FISH? I was working on principle, of course.

Go Dreads!

Nate missed his first day of school yesterday. So much for 100% attendance. Not that we actually thought that would happen. Anyways, I think the new germs and excitement of the school year just caught up with him. It's also homecoming week here in Dexter. Nate was pretty star struck by the high school football players that came to read books to his class. They even brought along their football pads and helmets and let the kids try them on. Therefore, Nate and his dad were pretty disappointed when Nate tossed his cookies while getting ready for the bus on parade day! Luckily it was a short-lived illness that a little lazy time on the couch cured relatively quickly. We did manage to deck ourselves in maroon and gold and watch the game from the cozy confines of our car. Maroon and gold is quite a blast from my SPL Crusader past! I was almost inspired to get out some old Converse tennis shoes that had the color panels you could change to show spirit with your respective team colors! The difference now though is that we are cheering for the Dreadnaughts!