Could it be the last?

We have a middle schooler.
Dressing in costume to get candy from strangers is no longer acceptable behavior.
But he wanted copious amounts of candy.
So what does any self-respecting middle schooler do?
Well, you wear a costume that only a middle school gamer would love.

Can anyone guess who or what he is?
[crickets chirping]
Well, my uninformed friends and family, he is a Minecraft creeper.
Because I am such a cheapskate I scoured the internet for a like minded mother who blogs and found one.  Mama Needs a Hobby set me up.  That, a free cardboard box and a coworker with an awesome color printer and my middle schooler was ready to pillage the neighborhood.

My second grader had grander plans.
And I loved them.
We had found an gnome costume for Mr. Ollie Wienerkins.  Oh the universal shame for dogs on Halloween.  But we gloriously joined in the night of shame and dressed our dachshund like a gnome.  Anna decided he was Gnomeo to her Juliet.

So I was in charge of making her look like Juliet.  And, to be quite honest, because I am not full of vim and vigor these days, it didn't take too long to put it all together.  Here's the whole gang on Halloween night.



This years Halloween Party brought lots of little ones with their 'rents.  We kept it low key this time and I didn't go crazy on cooking and baking.  Gotta love warehouse shopping in situations such as this.  Plus friends who bring yummy food to share.

Here is my one easy but fun thing I did for food this year thanks to my obsession with Pinterest:



After all, who can resist jack-o-lantern vomit?

That and fake mustaches and you've got yourself a party!
I came across stick-on mustaches somewhere before the party and snatched 'em up! (I love the verb "snatch"...hmmm, but I digress).  And just as I thought, they were a hit at the party.  I love that a picture can tell it better than me.

There were all sorts of secret personalities that came out at the party that night!  Loved it!!

Before all the trick or treaters ran off to pillage we gathered them around the Magnolia tree for the traditonal Halloween picture.


The gaggle of goblins did not disappoint.

And while we out trick or treating we were serenaded by a mad accordianist.

Note: his mustache is real.

We all had a great time and I'm sure next year we'll do it again.  But maybe the creeper will stay home and hand out candy. Who knows...maybe he has another Halloween in him...we can hope.

Until then, here's hoping your Jack-O-Laterns light up the night so you can find your way home.

It's Fall...you know what that means, right?

It's time to decorate for Halloween and head to the pumpkin patch for some over priced pumpkins!

First we've gotta dig the graves...


Then the graveyard inspectors must determine the gravestones are installed properly

Then the witch gets on her broom and flies away!

The graveyard is ready to be spooked!


Now for the inside of the house...
Every spooky house needs some blackbirds perched on a old jar of arsenic.


And a mantle dedicated to skulls and general creepiness.


I think the spirits here were musically talented.


Once the house had been creepified it was onto the pumpkin patch.

I'd like to say the experience matches the pics you see here.  But basically it was a lot of yelling and complaining.  So we may for go the pumpkin patch experience next fall.  There oughta be an age limit for that kinda of thing.  Instead of charging you for how much the pumpkins weigh they should charge you for how much your kid weighs.  Would eliminate a lot of pumpkin patch grief in my family, I tell you.

So here they are all jack-o-laterned up...lovingly cleaned and carved by moi...once again an overrated childhood experience.  Both kids totally grossed out by the cleaning.  And even though they chose what we all thought were simple designs, they both shut down and begged me to finish it.

But we are ready now to spook and be spooked.

Auld Lang Syne 2011

I've been a bad blogger in 2011.
Very Spotty.
If I may be frank, dear readers (those of you who have stuck around), I do not multi-task very well. I'd like to think that I do. Heavy sigh. But I don't. What I do well is hyper-focus. Let's give a shout out to Attention Deficit Disorder!

So here I am trying to give you a Reader's Digest version of the past year or so. And with my homage to RD it will also be sanitized to avoid dwelling on those parts of 2011 where I or others were not performing at our best. Ugly bits will be left out on purpose. Whining is not an attractive quality. So fasten your seat belts.

Here we go...

In August Gavin entered 5th grade and Anna became a first grader. They both are having a stellar academic year.


Gavin-10 years old
First Day of 5th Grade


Anna Mae-6 years old
First Day of 1st Grade

In September our artist in residence created a treasured birthday card. She truly gives my heart wings.



In October the holiday season commenced with our annual Halloween Party. It kinda surprised me...



But we managed to throw a good "pre-kicker" to Trick or Treating.




Because if you have enough vampire teeth, any party can be a success. Just ask these adorable party goers...


Love, love, love, the owl in perched on her hat.


Gavin and his crew made quite the statement


Anna and her bff, Rachel.

For one Halloween party, Anna went dressed as a Mexican Sugar Skull. Did I mention I love Halloween?



In November we adopted a geriatric dachshund. He's somewhere between the age of 6 and 10 according to the vet. The kids are in love. He's growing on the adults. Anna and Gavin named him Mr. Ollie Wienerkins but to friends and family he's just Ollie.



We traveled to Indiana to be with family on Thanksgiving. This is what traveling in the car for nine hours will do to you.




Thanksgiving day we were with the Kileys. And this pretty much sums up what we did all Thanksgiving Holiday. If only someone were to feed me...and I looked so cute doing it. But currently, sweet Miren has the corner on cuteness.


The Kiley clan's Thanksgiving Feast


Aunt Shannon gave early Christmas gifts to the girls. But the best gift from her was the day before...


I tell you, there was no happier girl in the state of Indiana that day.


The cousins stood still just long enough for me to prove they were all together

Mostly this is what they looked like...


Then it was on to the Gallagher's for Feast #2.

Shenanigans ensued...


And bites of dessert were sneaked...



Great Aunt Libby told the best "knock knock" jokes.


And handsome Phillip and his momma, Aunt Cindy (along with all the other kids) laughed at 'em all.

It was a beautiful autumn full of family, laughter, and life.


Then Christmas sneaked up on us...

There was a Clinton Elementary PTO Winter Wonderland Dance. Pulled off fabulously by fantastic volunteers! Think "controlled chaos". Then the next weekend I had the pleasure of flying to the Windy City to celebrate Christmas with dear old friends from college. Much drinking and inappropriate behavior occurred...and laughter, lots and lots of laughter. So good for the soul, old friends laughing together about the same things they have laughed about for 24 years.

Because nothing says Christmas like anti-diarrheal medicine.

Then came the annual Clinton Christmas Parade...

I'm not sure what they were going for here. Marie Antoinette would be horrified.

And we made what I think will be Gavin's final visit to Santa.

If he's a good big brother it won't be Anna's last.

Christmas arrived.

Santa didn't disappoint.

And we had ourselves a 21st Century Christmas Morning. No eyes were shot out this year. Well, there's always next year.

Then the kids and I packed up and headed to Indiana.


We were given a white Christmas. Sweet gift, Mother Nature. Thank you, dear.

And here we are, 15 days into the new year.
Once again playing catch up with myself. But I wish you all great and wonderful things for 2012.
May you find joy in small things and laugh often.

And a Kiley visits...

Yes, you read it correctly. We had our first Kiley visit and we loved every minute of it. Grandma Cece decided to come and hang out with us this fall around Halloween. She got the "full meal deal" of small town life too. Friday both Anna and Gavin had Fall parties at their schools. In the morning we went with Anna's preschool class to the pumpkin patch. We learned all about how pumpkins grow, got to pick our own, and went through a little corn maze. We finished off the morning with Halloween cupcakes...yummm!



The future Mr. and Mrs. Shane Nelson couldn't be separated.



Then it was on to Clinton Elementary for their red ribbon day parade (quite tragic as parades go I might add). But we did get to see the Presbyterian College cheerleaders. Sorry, no pictures of them. After the parade Gavin's class had a "Fall" party. Let me be the one to say it out loud...When did Halloween become not politically correct? Let's start a revolution. Bring back the Halloween party!

Well, not to be out done, Clinton High School's homecoming was that weekend and they had their homecoming parade late that afternoon. It was a candy fest for the kids. Back in the day, we used to have our "pre-kickers" before we'd go out partying, well, the kids got their pre-kickers to trick or treating with this parade. Oh, and with Presbyterian's Halloween party for the kids. Anna participated in a contest I have never seen the likes of. They hung two donuts from strings and people would compete to see who could get the donut off their string first (hands behind back). Well, Anna and Shane, her future husband, decided they wanted to try it. Donut icing all over their faces, they were in heaven. Again, no camera. Grrr.

So,as you can tell, Cece got a real snapshot of the small town life we are living and the small house we are living in. She even got to go to probably one of the smallest Catholic churches ever, too, in Joanna, a little hamlet just outside of Clinton. But before she left for mass we got the kids ready for trick or treating.

Here's Anna Mae as a pirate.



And Gavin as Darth Vader.



The kids loved having their Cece there.



The Halloween crew arrived right before it started to rain. We got a quick picture and off we went.



By the time Cece got back from mass it was a pure down pour and the kids were home crying in their Halloween bags from lack of candy. Oh,lest I forget, and we need to give a shout out to their generous cousins, Jacob and Ella for sending Gavin and Anna some of their candy later in the week. What sweeties!

We all had such a great time with Grandma Cece and can't wait for her to come back and visit us again. So what Kiley is going to grace our door next? Hmmmm...