Happy Halloween

As usual, it's been busy around here.

Amy wasn't feeling well one day, I think she was just overly tired. She and Will were curled up together. For the most part- they are so sweet to each other. It's fun to watch.

Sunday after church, Amy and I decorated cupcakes. Lee and Will took and nap, and Tyler drooled over them. I know he's dying to dig into fun things like cupcakes. I love doing things with my girl!

Monday night, Lee worked late so the kids and I carved our pumpkins. Well, I should say that Amy and I did.

Will refused. What is it with boys and the insides of pumpkins?? Amy said, "Will, it isn't yucky." And he said, "Yes it is." Then she said, "Look, it's like beans." His eyebrows went up, his eyes sparkled for moment, "Beans?" Then said, "No it's not." Amy was funny, she said, "Darn, I thought that would trick him."

I used stencils this time.... but on Amy's (the one on the left) I got distracted and cut out the wrong part. It's supposed to be an owl. Amy was ok with it. She said it still looked good. Thanks Amy!

When we tried them out, I couldn't find any candles. So I rumpled up paper and lit it. Amy then gave me a lecture on fire safety and how "crumpled paper catches fire easily so we don't play with it and fire together." Darn safety week at school.

That night was an interesting one.... everyone got sick!! Tyler ended up with a fever and we are still trying to figure some things out with him. Will woke up with a runny nose and we immediately started pouring Tylenol down his throat to avoid a seizure. (Which, thankfully he never had). Even Amy woke up a few times. So needless to say, we didn't get much sleep.

Tuesday I took Tyler to the Doctor and by the time I was done with that, it was time to get Amy from school. Lee worked late again and I gave the kids baths.... I still put Amy and Will together and they typically flood the floor. I'm used to it and honestly, its nice that it gets mopped at least once a week. That's more than I'd mop it on my own. Well, this particular night, I was dealing with a sick Tyler and when I went to get them out... they were bragging about their newest "find." Wet toilet paper.

So, high on all the walls, door and shower were clumps of wet toilet paper they had thrown up there. I was so tired that all I could do was take a picture and laugh on the inside. Got them out of tub, somewhat cleaned up the bathroom and got everyone in bed. It was another sleepless night as not a single child slept. It was musical beds again and a lot of early morning child interactions. Tyler was so stuffy that he couldn't nurse, I felt so badly for him. So I pumped some milk, got out the medicine dropper and fed him like that. It actually worked. The poor thing gulped it down and then finally fell asleep. (Linda's husband tried this technique a few weekends ago (when she came with us to Time Out) and their baby wouldn't take a bottle. It worked for them. Even though I teased her about it, I filed it away in my memory and I'm glad I did!)

So we are onto Wednesday- Lee and I have not slept in 2 full nights, and I have only had a few 20 minutes crashes on a couch, holding Tyler and maybe another child.

Late last night I remembered that Amy was supposed to dress up as a letter. They had each grade level dress up as something different.... periodic table elements and some other things- I can't remember now. Anyhow- Kindergarten was a letter. I dug out her costume from last year, took off the tail and eyes (she was a chameleon) and this morning I used tape to put a "Y" on her front and an "A" on her back. Of course, letter obsessed Will was all for this and insisted his own "Y" and an "E" on his back.

She didn't want an "M" anywhere.

This afternoon, I was scheduled to help out with Amy's class party. I was exhausted, but I went and felt fine once I got there. Thankfully Lee was able to come home and stay with the boys. I had planned on taking them.... until they got sick. And I certainly didn't want to bring them to someone else's house sick.

We had several stations and the kids were divided into groups of 3 and then rotated in them. There was bowling, bingo, mummy wrapping, frankenstein hands (I'll explain in a minute), a craft and cookie decorating.

Amy wrapped like a mummy and sitting in my station (frankenstein hands).

Such a pretty girl!

Frankenstein hands- My friend, Kelli Musick gave me this idea.... you put a little vinegar in a cup. You then let the kids decorate a rubber glove and then put a spoonful of baking soda in it. You place the end of the glove over the cup and let the baking soda dump into the vinegar. The gas that it produces makes the glove inflate. They all LOVED it!! It was the best idea!

Treat bag full of stuff

The eye patches were well received.

It was a lot of fun being there. I just love it. Afterwards, the room mom and Amy's teacher and I chatted for a little while and that was fun too. I really like Mrs. Bradley. She's just that kind of person you know could be your friend.

When Amy and I got home from that, Lee gave me this bucket from our friends Josh and Gladys. Seriously, this girl gives us a gift before I even realize a holiday is going on. She's so awesome. I used to do things like that- one day I'll be organized enough to reciprocate. And the bucket was adorable. Only the kids thought so too and it was taken apart before I could get a picture. She is just SO thoughtful.

In it were these wooden picture things that the kids immediately wanted to color. Will kept calling his a "robot" and carried it everywhere.

Amy's was a cat

Then it was time for trick or treating. By this time, I'm starting to feel miserable... no sleep is catching up to me and my head is spinning, my nose is stuffy and my throat is sore. Tyler is still sick and fussy. We can't find all of Amy's costume. So I finally convince her to wear half of one and the other half of another. Will is refusing to put any of his costume on and Lee (who is also exhausted) really doesn't want to take them trick or treating, but would rather do that then stay with sick Tyler and hand out candy. So everyone parts. Candy is handed out. A short while later the kids and Lee return. He said they've had enough and got scared. Apparently several neighbors had creepy things in their yards. Anyhow, the kids got on their pajamas and wanted to help hand out candy.

They were actually great helpers and we never ran out of candy. That's never happened before! Thank you Amazon for having such low prices and shipping it right to my door. I managed to get out my fog machine and Amy loved pressing the button everytime someone came to the door. Will would hold about 10 pieces of candy just waiting for someone to ring the doorbell. It was cute. I think they liked that better than actual trick or treating!

Anyhow- we got them to bed... they were scared so we moved one of the blacklights (yes, I have those too) into their room and told them it killed monsters. It seemed to work as they both fell fast asleep. Thankfully, Tyler went down as well and now so did Lee. I'm next.

We hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Murfreesboro Square Tours

A friend of mine has always wanted to go on this storytelling tour of Murfreesboro Square. So this year, she got a group of us and together we braved the freezing cold (seriously, it was cold) and walked around the square. I'm always game for something fun.

Michell, Roxann, me, Meghan, Beth and Talana

(When I put my jacket on tonight, I realized I've had it since I was a senior in high school! FIFTEEN years! I think it's time for a new coat! Although it's held up remarkably well.)

I don't really remember any of the stories but our storyteller was good. Just like any old town, Murfreesboro has its old stories. We walked all over and I scoped out some cute shops to visit and good restaurants to try later on. You miss things when you drive by.

As the first tour ended, there just "happened" to be another group giving tours. According to them they are actual "ghost hunters." So, of course we all did that one too. I'm not normally a "ghost" type person but hey- in a group- I'm game for most anything.

These are windows where people have seen "activity." See anything tonight? Nah, I didn't either. The ghosts weren't cooperating.

There was another spot where apparently people have had a lot of communication with ghosts or whatever. It's at the bottom of these creepy stairs- which of course lead to a basement. There was no way I was going down there, but Beth braved it. The flash makes it look daylight, but that was around 10:30pm, so it was dark. She brought down the guide's ghost sensor thing but she didn't get any readings. But she did say it was creepy.

Meghan listening to some recorded ghost noises.

Michell and Meghan

The end of tour #2.

Our guides were good though, the 2nd guy was funny. He was a ghost chaser yet also said he was the biggest sissy in their hunters group. He showed us pictures on his iPad, which I thought was comical.

It was a fun way to all hang out together though and get a guided tour of downtown. I'm not a really a "believer" but I'm sure that I'll still have nightmares tonight. :)

Trunk or Treat

It's been such a busy week! It's been one thing after another! Today was a day where I looked at the clock, and it was 11am. Then I looked at it again and it was time to pick-up Amy. I'm not really sure where the day went, or what I did- but it was over with pretty quickly.

Tonight we had a "Trunk or Treat" at church. It's supposed to be a chili cook-off- but last year I brought chili and NO one ate any of it, so this year I protested. Plus, our kids won't eat chili, Lee doesn't really care for it and I only like my mom's......  so we got Chick-fil-A instead. Actually- eating beforehand was genius. We didn't have to wait in any lines or gather our dirty pot afterwards.

So, you know I like family "themed" costumes.... I love a theme. I also hate buying costumes. Sure homemade ones "look" homemade- but that's the point. My mom NEVER bought a costume (ok, once Anna "got" to get a store bought costume- it's still a sore subject. haha j/k, Mom). We always dug through the dress up box and came up with something. I feel like it's only right for my kids to do the same- except I make their's, usually out of a sweatsuit. Its for one night- who cares. (although I'm slightly tempted to start buying some discounted costumes this year and pack them away for next. You can't make a costumes for $2)

Anyway- this year our kids are Halloween themed, black in color things.... Amy a cat, Will a bat and Tyler a spider.

Her's was crazy simple- just a black sweatsuit and I added ears and a tail. She also really wanted her face painted.

This is the only picture I got of Will standing still. He kept calling himself "Batman" and ran around like crazy. He was so excited about Halloween. I used the tutorial from Dana Made It to create his wings.

Tyler's was the easiest yet- it was actually a dog costume that I bought years ago and just held onto it. I thought it'd be perfect for a baby one day. Turns out, I was right. Anyone have a medium sized dog that needs a costume?

He's just so cute.

Will caught onto the "trick or treat" part pretty quickly- as most kids do. But he was a little shy. One family had a table set up where you could stick your hands in boxes and feel "brains," "bones,"  "eyeballs," or whatever else. Well, Amy stuck her hand in and pulled out a carrot (she didn't get the "just feel it" directions). She looked at it, shrugged and put it in her treat bag. It was so funny.

After they were done, they enjoyed lounging in the car and eating some treats.

We gave out juice boxes- which I have to say- was quite a hit. A "sugary" thing, but yet different. I calculated it out and it was actually a bit cheaper than candy as well. Next year, I'm going to stock up all year (using coupons and sales) and give it out again. It also got really cold tonight. Yesterday we were in shorts- tonight we were freezing in sweat outfits. I guess "fall" is finally here.

Oh and here is me, Linda and Talana. I "dressed up" as a tired mommy.... I teased my hair to make it look messy, and wore my sweats that I used make-up to put stains all over. The mom's all loved my costume. I really just didn't want to do my hair. haha

Happy Halloween- we'll do it all again on the 31st.

Pumpkin Carving

Amy's teacher emailed asking for parents that would be willing to come help with a pumpkin carving activity, and since it was on Thursday (the day Lee is home) I could do it. I was so excited!

So the kids had a lot of fun work to do.... first they had to measure the pumpkin's height and all the way around. Then they had to each estimate the weight, and then actually weigh it. Then they had to each guess how many seeds there were and then we opened it and counted the actual number. Amy guessed 6. I said, "SIX seeds??" She was insistent though. Well, she was slightly wrong as there were 400.

That's my girl- Dig into that pumpkin! (this pumpkin was HUGE)

So what cracked me up the most was the other kids distaste for the inside of the pumpkin. This was Lyriq's face....

And Sonia (whew! This girl is a handful!)

I didn't get Dallin's face- but it was similar. He eventually insisted on getting a glove and he would only touch the seeds with spoon. He would say over and over, "this is so gross, I don't like this, are we done yet?" It was hysterical.

And of course, my girl was digging right in and going to town. (I say "my" because I love cleaning out a pumpkin, Lee is more like the others and doesn't care for it at all). They had to put the seeds, in groups of 10, into baggies. Then they counted by 10's to get the final number (400).

Then to carve it, they had a spinner. They'd spin a shape and that shape would be the eye, the other eye, nose and 2 different teeth.

My group with our pumpkin.
(Dallin, Sonia (being goofy- her eyes aren't naturally crossed), Lyriq, Amy and Celeste)

Goofy girl

Ahhhh! I love being in the classroom! It's so fun. I'm so glad that I don't have to work (outside the home) and I get the chance to do things like helping out in the classroom. I know some people don't have that choice. I have people tell me all the time, "I wish I could stay home like you." Lee's boss even told him that if she had it to do over again, she would have stayed home with her daughter, that the career just wasn't worth what she missed. I'm just so lucky, and I don't take it for granted. We sacrifice a lot, but it's soooo worth it when you see how excited your child is on pumpkin carving day!

Amy's teacher conference was that afternoon and she's doing great. They don't really have "grades" but its more like if they've mastered a skill or are progressing towards mastering it. She was great in all areas and even had "mastered" some that I was surprised at. Mrs. Bradley said she loves how excited Amy is and everyday she comes in the class and says, "Good Morning Mrs. Bradley!" Then cheerfully goes about her work. She's a hard and fast worker (which was nice to hear because she isn't that way at home). Apparently her and Dallin like to have competitions with each other to see who gets done first. We keep telling her it's ok to work fast, as long as it's right, and it's not a race. She loves school, it appears like she's doing great and we have no complaints.

Oh- and I have achieved!! I'm a room mom!! hahaha. Well, "co" room mom. The actual "room mom" emailed me this week as asked if I would be willing to help her out. I guess all the other classes have at least 2 people and she just really needed help. Me!?! Help plan parties!?! For Amy's class!?! Of course I shouted out with an enthusiastic YES. We have fun things to plan!! :)