Happy Halloween
October 31, 2007
We'll end the month with photos
When the costumes were first done
Digging in the costume chest. Gotta love a wig.
Even a wig on a lion.
This should almost count as Halloween they were posing in practice for school pictures. Scary --oooo.
Skeleton on a train going nowhere.
Ghost attack!
The Monster Mash, it was a graveyard splash!
Party Central!
Trick or Treat
Sacre Bleu, Bat Girl is on the loose!
The parade at preschool.
Rob went as a punk. He shaved his head for a mohawk.
He is hardcore. (Note fake tattoo sleeves) He was startled by other peoples' reactions to him. It ain't easy being punk.
The hair!
Trick or Treat Goodness
October 28, 2007
Today was trick or treat in our little town. And just about everywhere around. We had it from 4 -7, so if you went toward the end, it was spooky. But the kids tired out and it was chilly, so we were warm inside eating soup by then.
It does seem odd to me that Daylight Savings Time is untethered from Halloween. In years past DST affected me or would have affected me far more. And Elizabeth's short post questioning it at Half Changed World on the topic would have resonated more. But in our suburban school zone, school doesn't start until 8:45. Miranda wouldn't need to wake up until 8am, if I could get her to actually eat and get dressed in a mild hurry. She usually wakes up between 6:15 and 7. Last year, her school started at 7:45 and it took us 25 minutes to get there. She had to wake up much earlier. The winter mornings did strike me as dark. Now, the mornings stretch on forever. There is almost too much time to read, eat, color, watch a show, eat, get dressed, take out a game...
The corollary to her late start is a late getting home time. Her bus drops her off at 3:55. School lets out at 3:35 and if I picked her up, she'd probably be home by 3:45. She's the third stop on the way home, and the bus takes 10 extra minutes because they don't rush them onto the bus after school. A genuine difference from our urban school days, when the buses all did two routes in the morning and two routes in the afternoon and heaven forbid it take too long.
I think it will feel dark when she arrives home at 4. The evening feels much shorter already; I should remember that I need to start dinner when she gets home, not an hour later.
J sent me the recall of Britax car seats. I am annoyed. Even if I try to think silver linings like they seem to have only had a narrow range of mfg dates affected, I am still annoyed. The extra cost of the initial purchase was supposed to buy higher quality. And I guess I would include the manufacturing process in that data set.
NaBloPoMo is coming!
October 24, 2007
I wish I were efficient enough to have a list of topics at the ready fro NaBloPoMo. Let's hope if I fail, it is far mroe spectacularly than missing 2 days, like last year.
In A-Team lingo and for my future reference when this doesn't produce the hoped for results, I love it when a plan comes together.
Once more with spirit?
October 17, 2007
When someone loses the Christmas spirit in media of all types, Santa Claus or a suitable substitute purports to teach the maligned soul the true meaning of Christmas. And he comes around and a good time is had by all, usually with Tiny Tim earnestness. Halloween, it seems, is not like this. Despite its multi-billion dollar decor and costume budget, if one lacks the true spirit of Halloween, or even opts out completely, there is no comeuppance. Halloween has no Dickens or Grinch, no Irving Berlin or St Nick. And without the impetus to buy gifts for your family because it is tradition even if you don't really feel like it, Halloween can be pushed aside. Or so it seems at my house. Despite the Halloween decorations currently on the walls, I'm not feeling it. Rob is not doing anything. The kids aren't clamoring for much of anything. Oh fickle friend, fair Halloween.
And that is why I can pretty much say, we're not having a Halloween party this year. The train has left the depot and we're not haunting it. We're moving on to Christmas and Chanukah.
BONUS STORY
Miranda started CCD. She has learned most of the 'Our Father.'
She starts it: "Our Father who aren't in Heaven"
I say, "Art"
She says, "Our Father who ain' t in heaven"
I say "Art. It means Are. ARRTTT"
She says, "Our Father who is in heaven"
Tee-hee
October 16, 2007
Happy Birthday to you!
You live in a zoo!
You look like a monkey
And you smell like one too!
Happy birthday to my favorite brother.
Routine
October 15, 2007
While reading the Sunday paper (that WSJ insert in the business section...god I miss the WSJ), I noted the opinion that children over 5 seem to get weekly allowances, up to $1per week per year of age. I accepted the premise until I thought--good god, I have a 6 year old. They want me to give her $24 a month? I wish I had $24 a month to fritter. I suppose I could think that if she had the cash, she would no longer fritter away my dollars. But I know she has $18 in her purse and she never ever spends it. That was the other lesson--make your child save. It is a healthy habit to inspire. Blah blah, pay for college. Not on $24/month.
Thinking about the ritual of a weekly allowance, I started to ponder routine. I often do the same things over and over, but I find routine gets boring very quickly. I realize our lives run more smoothly when we have a basic routine. Having weekly appointments for classes and stuff keeps me sane, especially during winter. I rarely miss a class or lesson. But it is that extra level of routine that I feel like I am failing to benefit from. I need a reward chart to remember the teeth brushing, fluoride tablet, flossing. Eye-patching activities for Miranda, hair washing (granted on a less than daily schedule, but we're barely hitting once a week right now and I have this thought that I'd be happier if we hit twice a week). Baths. Saying prayers or singing songs or otherwise discussing the universe and our place in it. And stranger danger. And our bodies, ourselves. In addition, keeping track of the papers from Preschool and regular school. The ones that have to go back. The ones that I want to save, the ones I want to throw away. The children should be read to and Miranda should read to us as well. Dinner needs to be made. Dishes in the dishwasher. Floors swept. Books put back on the kids' bookshelf in my own slightly OCD way.
I do not get all of this done every day. Or even every week.
What does get done is usually part of a team effort. I keep thinking there aren't enough hours. And I don't have enough energy to make my children think flossing is fun, every night. Sometimes, surely. I am chafing at my daily routine. I need to fit an hour of exercise in every day. And I am failing and not just because the weather is lousy. I wonder if I offered Miranda $24/month if she'd take on the routine? I still think I'll need more.
I really have been busy
October 14, 2007
I have not been as busy as Rob. I have not traipsed through the woods, paddled a canoe or hauled a$$ on a mountain bike for 10+ hours. Nor did I attend a Packer game. But I am pleased with my weekend nonetheless.
On Thursday, my mom and i were hanging around the kitchen discussing our lust for a new refrigerator. But our lust could not be slaked as there was a wall that limited our refrigerator options to a mere 30 inches. Ala, there is not much you can et in the world of refrigerators for a mere 30 inches. Sigh. We discussed removing the offending wall and making a new diagonal wall. that sounded hard. So we then considered moving the wall back ~24 inches. It was time to call Grandpa. And Grandpa brought his Ryobi cut-all-things saw. My grandparents arrived in record time. I think there were afraid we would start without them. Henry was delighted to have some quality time with Trinket.
So my grandpa, dad and mom removed the wall in less than 2 hours (I had an unbreakable appointment in Meno Falls). On Friday we made our cuts much neater. And we figured out where the new drywall would go. And like Tinker Bell or Bob the Builder, my grandparents returned home after lunch Friday as in the blink of an eye. You can see the progress here.
On Friday night, I went to the premiere party for a fabulous book, Bloodchained, held at the author's home. On Saturday I took the kids to Madison to see the new chez Bishop. Ooh La la. Tres Magnifique. They've found a delightful street and a darling house.
And Sunday brought me back to the wall. My dad and I started framing it on Saturday morning. But he went to the Packer game on Sunday and so I had free reign to finish the door frame to my own designs. I didn't buy enough drywall. And I may start having nightmares about the mud in my future.
It was a day full of executive decisions. I was both executive and day laborer. In that vein, and heeding to the poll demands, I think I will be throwing together a Pumpkin party on Saturday Oct 27th. If you voted, you're invited. Come in the afternoon.
10-10
October 10, 2007
Happy Anniversary B&K! And many more.
The weather was not cheery today.
It's beginning to look a lot like a scary witch's house
October 9, 2007
We got the boxes of Halloween stuff out. Henry was fascinated and started decorating the house in earnest. We have witches on the wall, pithy Halloween sayings hung from the chimney with care, pumpkins, oh the pumpkins...they are everywhere. We did not even open the box labeled "breakables" yet. The Halloween spirit is nice. It makes me think I should invite a bunch of people over and have a party. A smaller party than last year. A less intense party. But when?
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When should we have a Halloween party? |
| Saturday October 27 | |
| Friday Oct 26th, day and night | |
| Friday Oct 26th, night only | |
| Sunday Oct 28, during Trick or Treat (4-7) | |
| Sunday Oct 28th after Trick or Treat | |
| Wed. October 31 | |
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I would suggest you avoid the play black jack...I may not have vetted this well.
I would ask you to email me, but we all know that rarely happens.
Hyperventilating Halloween
October 2, 2007
Planning Halloween costumes in the earliest days of September seemed like overkill. It seemed like I would get done too quickly and this overdo Halloween. Again. But alas, I now feel behind. The spurt of costume-making has slowed to a very quiet drip. It should just be hems. And some fray-eze. (fray-ease? They both sound like they will encourage fraying, not stop it in the its tracks.)
I do wonder if my lack of interest is tied to my dislike of my costume once I tried it on. Miranda is a witch. She is a lovely witch. I don't know enough about Wicked to call her that kind of witch, but the dress feels a bit like Glinda the Good Witch's, but in black and purple. Henry is a ghost. I am incapable of just throwing a sheet over his head. He wouldn't like it there. He'd pull off the sheet and then what? And Rob is still up in the air. I hope he decides to be a bike messenger or a pirate or a prom queen circa 1987.
Sigh. At least my cold is gone.