Happy Halloween

Another Halloween come and gone.

I miss the Halloweens of old. . . the lengthy discussions and decisions to be made about costumes, not to mention the extra wears at Pumpkin Fest and Boo at the Zoo.

This year, Matt stayed home and handed out/ate candy.   Gracie went out with a group of pals in another neighborhood.  Sigh.  Her costume was a Narwal onesie sleeper.  Many of the girls in the group were also doing animal onesies.  But no one could wear the same one.   By the time we got around to shopping, the narwal was all we could find.  It was hopelessly oversized, but the redhead didn't care.

And I had to not care, too.

Of course, one of the craziest parts of Halloween in Nashville is that it is either too warm or too cold.  This year it was too warm and Gracie came home a sweaty mess.

But she still had a nice haul of candy, so the sweat was worth it.

Halloween

Another Halloween has come and gone.

I really miss these days . . .

And these . . .

And this one too . . .

Kids were off trick-or-treating with friends tonight.  The neighborhood seemed much quieter than usual.   Matt was dressed at the Grim Reaper, for goodness sake.

If I didn't seen the red shoes on his feet, how would I even know it was my kid??

Gracie was a little easier to identify . . .

Except for the fact that she and her buddies Anna and Amelia were all wearing the same costumes.  If you can't find Waldo in that crew, you've got a problem.

I LOVE Halloween and it just didn't seem quite as fun this year. 

Thank goodness for the candy.

MIA

I think this is officially the longest I have gone without posting.  I have thought about doing it multiple times, but laundry, sleeping, picking up kids or otherwise working always seems to take priority.

It's not just the blog that has been ignored.  The DVR is overflowing with shows I want to watch.  There are house projects that have been been on what seems like a permanent "to do list." The dog needs more walks.  The pantry needs to be cleaned.   The shelf on my coffee table has two half read books and a stack of unread magazines.

Despite that, there has been plenty of good.  Matt's golf season wrapped up, including a fantastic end of year party at Top Golf.  Gracie competed at Twirltacular in Birmingham this past weekend and left with two titles (Hall of Fame Grand Champion and Strut Queen Grand Champion), plus a handful of 1st and 2nd place finishes in her other events.  

My dad and I saw Kenny Roger's Farewell concert last week.   It was amazing!  Over 20 artists took the stage to honor Kenny, including Kris Kristofferson, the Oak Ridge Boys, Reba McEntire, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, Little Big Town, Lionel Richie, The Flaming Lips, Elle King, Crystal Gayle, the Gatlin Brothers, Lee Greenwood, the Judds and of course, Dolly Parton. So much talent in one room!

Matt and Gracie had their first band concert of the year last Thursday.   I helped with the chili dinner beforehand and then sat back to enjoy the Halloween-themed selections.  

And of course tomorrow is HALLOWEEN!  Costumes have been purchased and altered (thank you, Mom), trick-or-treat plans made, and candy bought and hidden away.   Unfortunately, we haven't carved our pumpkins, but I have high(-ish) hopes for tonight.

So that's a quick update.  I'll try to stay more on top of things here at "And Charlie Makes 5."  

Which reminds me, Charlie is fine, too.  Sleeping through the night once again!

Playing catch up . . .

A lot has happened in the last 3 days.

First. . . .

Y'all, I can't even.   I'm only a casual baseball fan and I literally watched most of game 7 holding my breath. I can't imagine how the hard-core fans watched without pulling out all their hair.    We were up.  We were tied.  There was a rain delay.  We came back. We scored again.

We won.

WE WON!  I can't believe it.  Except I can because it really happened. So wish I was in Illinois and could go downtown to take in all the festivities today.  And for a person like me who doesn't love crowds, that is saying a lot.

Since Halloween, the kids and I have been collecting candy at both schools for Treats for Troops.   We collected over 100 large boxes of candy between the schools which is roughly 2500 pounds of candy.   I.  Can't.  Even.    Think of all the cavities we prevented in 3 short days!   And it's good candy, too.  None of those horrible peanut butter kisses or Necco wafers.   Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Twizzlers, Snickers . . . the good stuff.  "Gnash" from the Predators even came out to help us collect on Wednesday!

And speaking of candy, I just remembered, I never shared any Halloween pictures.   I'm not going to lie, I was completely bummed that Matthew didn't want to go out this year.  Seriously?   I practically begged him to pick out a costume.  I was sure he'd change his mind at the last minute and I'd find myself at Party City at the last minute.  I'd complain . . .but would have been secretly happy.

Instead, he stayed home, ate our candy and watched Monday Night Football.  I'm fairly certain he would have called it the perfect night.

Gracie, of course, was happy to dress up and trick or treat.  She went as a butterfly and her wings lit up (which you can't tell from this picture), which was totally awesome, as well as a nifty safety feature!

I should mention it was 85 degrees on Halloween.  85 degrees, y'all.  That's not Halloween.  That's Labor Day!

And in completely unrelated news, I had Matthew clean out his backpack after school (read: make sure he had everything he needed for the weekend) and discovered he had 5 half-drunk water bottles.  FIVE!   I'm pretty sure he is buying them at lunch and then only drinking half so he can engage in the wildly popular, but completely annoying past time of water bottle flipping.   I made him finish them all after school.  He was irritated, but well-hydrated.  

So those are the highlights of the last few days. . . baseball, butterflies and bottles of water!

Post-Halloween musings . . . .

Another Halloween come and gone.

There's massive quantities of candy in our house.   Not just the haul the kids brought in, but also my leftover candy.  As always, I bought too much.   Thank goodness for the "Treats for Troops" collection at the kids school.    Between being sick and generally trying to eat better, I haven't even had a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Yes, let that sink in for a minute.   Not a single one.

So thankful the rain let up just in time for trick-or-treating.   Matthew decided to recycle his Viking costume from a couple years ago, just updating the helmet and sword.

 Gracie, on the other hand, didn't decide until about a week and a half before Halloween that she wanted to be Rosie the Riveter.   The costumes itself was pretty easy.   Just had to make the sign, plus her "Rosie" patch and the Westinghouse Electric button for her collar.

The redhead informed me that she should probably wear a little make up.   A nice red lip and a little blush  No problem.

Then she decided she wanted to try mascara.  Oh. My. Stars.   She blinked.  She flinched.   She smeared it on her cheeks.  I gave up.    Girlfriend should get used to having light red lashes.  

In other Halloween news, our jack-o-lanterns disappeared last night.   Around 9, I took the candles out before going to bed.  There were three carved pumpkins and three non-carved ones.  This morning, when I let the dog out I noticed the three carved ones were missing.   Naturally, I glanced to see if they had been smashed in the street. They weren't.  They were simply gone.   While I think it's highly irritating that some hoodlum swiped them (and where was Charlie, who barks at a leaf blowing across the street??), the flip side is, we were done with them and it was three less pumpkins I had to throw away today.  

My voice is at 50% today, but still feeling lousy, mainly in the morning and evening.  This cold is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

I'd like to return it.

I still don't understand why Oktoberfest is in September . . .

Today was the Sunday you used to recover from Saturday. We went to church, had a lunch and then stayed close to home.   Much needed!

Yesterday, we spent almost all day at church for Oktoberfest.  Bassam grilled up all the brats and hot dogs for the entire event.  Matt and I volunteered at games and Gracie was 85% consumer and 15% of the time filled in at a game so someone else could take a break. 

No matter who you were, by last night you were tired.  

From there we went to Matt's football game.  They got blown out.   They got shut out.   The mercy rule took effect and they stopped keeping score.

On the bright side (yes, there was one) the coach let Matt try his hand at QB yesterday which is pretty much a dream for him.  He had some great passes, but it just wasn't enough. 

From there we were off to B's parents for dinner.  His sister, Lina, was in town for all of a day and a half for a baby shower (sans my adorable nephews).  Super good to catch up with her if even for a little bit.  Wish I had taken pictures because she is rocking some super cute bangs and glasses these days. 

Speaking of pictures I snapped this picture of Gracie and I before school in our matching shirts for Be Nice Day at school.  Once again I was  told by the redhead about how she thinks we need a "selfie stick."   Ummmmm....I don't think so. 

Moments later when I took this picture of her by herself  I realized that she was going to school looking like Daisy Duke.

 

Okay, not exactly.   Girlfriend loves her cowboy boots with shorts, though.

And dresses.

And jeans.

Pretty much everything.

So there you have the last three days  . . . . cowboy boots, bratwursts, football, church and finally, a little down time (which incidentally meant laundry for me, but what can you do?!?).

Trick or Treat!

Today felt like a Chicagoland kind of Halloween. . . .  windy and cold. 

Of course, this year it seems a true "Chicagoland Halloween" includes snow flurries, so I'll take my  50 degree evening that dropped into the 40's here in Nashville .  

But it better be warmer next year.

My sweet disco queen and scary vampire loaded on the layers underneath their costumes in attempt to stay warm, albeit lumpy.    Bassam took them trick or treating with friends while I was on candy duty.  As usual, our neighbors Barry and Leigh had their fire pit going at the head of the cul-de-sac, so I brought my bowl of candy down there to hand out.  

The pumpkins, purchased three weeks ago but carved at the last minute Thursday evening, turned out great.  Gracie made the "scary owl" and Matthew did "Moon pi."   Of course.

And even though he hates being dressed up, I think Charlie was secretly glad to be wearing sweater on this cold Halloween night.  I picked it up today at Petsmart on the clearance rack, marked down first by 50% off and then 75% off that, so it would up being less than $3.

Somehow I don't think Charlie appreciate my bargain shopping quite as much, but at least he was warm! 

Halloween defeat

It's October 29th and I think I need to accept that these new orange LED lights I bought to go around my porch for Halloween are not going to get put up this year.

Boo.

Hello, November 1st!

It was good to see November 1st.   First, it was the last day of book fair.  Hooray!!    Despite my fear that midway through that sales were down, it ended up being a terrific fair and we brought in a nice chunk of change for the school.   Plus, I managed to get through the whole thing without getting sick (practically unheard of!) and the kids didn't run out of clean socks and underwear.

If that's not a definition of success, I don't know what is!

Today was "make up" Halloween for most of Brentwood due to last night's storms.  Since our HOA avoided making a call either way, our neighborhood was not out in full force.   Lots of people we know had already made plans to trick or treat with friends in other 'hoods.  My kids stayed here, though . . . and I will say, even though fewer houses were lit up, they probably got more candy than normal.  It was pretty obvious early on that the number of trick or treaters was going to be significantly down and nobody wanted to get stuck with lots of leftovers, so people were giving handfuls of candy, instead of just a few pieces (us included!).  

We missed seeing lots of the neighborhood kiddos, which was sad.  Costumes and candy aside, I truly believe Halloween is a unique opportunity for community building.    But my kids got another run in their costumes and had lots of fun, so in the end, I'll take it and hope for better weather next year! 

Halloween trick

I love Halloween . . . period.

I love costumes.   I love Halloween decorations.   I love candy (Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins, I'm talking to you!).

So imagine my disappointment when the weather called for heavy rain and storms on Halloween night.  And then how much worse it got when practically every neighborhood in town announced they were postponing Trick-or-Treating except for ours.   And then when our HOA finally addressed it (this morning after receiving a slew of irritated emails, I'm sure!) they said, "It's up to individual parents."

Whaaaaaat?   I'd have more respect for them if they said it was tonight . . . rain, shine or tornado.   It's the anti-response response.

As it happens, we got a break in the rain tonight around 6:45.  But the wind is fierce and it's sloppy.  We already decided trick-or-treating was out.  Tomorrow we're going to go....either in our neighborhood (I'm betting they'll be a decent number of porch lights on.) or a nearby one.

In an attempt to keep the tonight fun,  we went out to dinner for pizza with the Stones and came home and turned on our porch lights.  We've had one group of 4 kids.  Safe to say, I loaded 'em up!

In the meantime, all the Halloween fun is not lost.  We carved some awesome (and huge!) pumpkins.   The kids have already gotten one wear out of their costume at the zoo last weekend.  And unless we get a whole lotta trick-or-treaters tomorrow, we'll be eating Halloween candy until Easter.

Matthew's "Pumpkin Pi" (Would expect anything else from him?).

Gracie's more traditional jack-o-lantern!

Is it Friday yet?

Y'all, I know my posts are few and far between lately.   But I am up to my eyeballs in  . . . everything.  

First, Halloween is tomorrow. I love me some Halloween.  I finally got around to buying my treats yesterday, only to hear we are expecting storms of incredible magnitude on Thursday night.   Seriously?  I can't imagine worse timing.  Pretty much every neighborhood in B'wood has declared the "rain date" for trick-or-treating will be Friday.

Except for my dysfunctional neighborhood.

Whatevs . . . if rain ruins the fun, we're taking our act on the road to another neighborhood Friday night.   I called a mom friend in a nearby subdivision and asked if we could crash her 'hood if I promised to bring a huge bag of candy to make up for the extra carpet-bagger trick-or-treaters.

Problem solved.  We briefly considered trick-or-treating tomorrow night at the mall. It's not completely off the table, because let's be honest, it would be fun to score Kit Kats while checking out boots, right?   But if the storms are as bad as expected (let's be honest, it's 50-50!), I may not want to drive out to the mall in the first place. 

In other news, book fair continues.   In 36 hours it will be over.  I'm ready.  It won't be our biggest sale, but we'll still collect a nice sum for the school library, so I can't complain.   Except that I'm tired and I wish students didn't insist on wiping their nose with their hand before handing me money.

Ewwww!

And finally there is school...actual school work, not volunteering.  Today Matthew had two tests.  One of them was science and we spent hours helping him prepare.  You can ask any of us about Weathering and Erosion.  Then, on  Friday (yes, the day after Halloween, for those of you keeping score at home!) he has a huge project due.  It includes writing his own non-fiction book about Great White Sharks, preparing a PowerPoint and a poster.  Seriously?!??   

They have been working on it at school, which is all well and good, except that Matthew has very limited ability to manage unstructured work time in the classroom.  It's got all the makings for disaster for a kid with ADHD.   He took some great notes from his resources, but since his handwriting atrocious, we had to go the typing route, which meant all kinds of work at home.   However, it did make the PowerPoint easier (there were three options for that part, and of course, Matthew chose one that involved working on the computer).  So we cut, we pasted and we downloaded the theme from Jaws for the background. 

Ta da!

Well, we're wrapping up the jack-o-lantern carving now and I'll share pictures tomorrow!  In the meantime, I need get a Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkin out of my hidden stash and relax!





 

Hagar the Horrible and Little Orphan Annie

Blogging has been a bit sparse this week.    It's that I don't know how much you appreciate my witty anecdotes and musings on life . . . I do.  But life has been a tiny bit hectic.   And then in anticipation of the time change next week, I'm exhausted at 7 pm every night.

Bad combo.

Book Fair started last week.  And it runs all the way through next Friday morning  Needless to say, I'm spending oodles of time at school.  I am not spending oodles of time doing laundry or grocery shopping, as evidence by the huge mounds of dirty clothes and questionable school lunches I packed for the kids.

On the flip side, TAMMY ARRIVED IN NASHVILLE ON THURSDAY!  And in a truly amazing feat, her stuff arrived today as promised.  She is by the far, the unluckiest person in moving I have ever met, and so far *knock on wood,* this move has been crazy easy.     We are so excited to have her back in Nashvegas! 

Tonight, we all went to Nashville Zoo for their big Halloween event.  It's always a fun evening and the kids love another opportunity to wear their costumes.  It's a bit chilly in these parts, so both had to add some layers underneath their costumes.    Only the redhead complained, but to be fair, adding leggings and two long sleeve shirts changed the look of her costume . . .not so much for my Viking!

An extra chance to trick-or-treat is also pretty awesome.

And when riding the "scary-go-round," Matthew said it was important that he choose an animal to ride that a Viking would conquer. 

Annnnnnnd  . . . . he chose an ostrich.

Football, books and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

So glad this week is over.

It seems a little wrong saying this since it was Halloween, which I love and book fair, which although makes for a crazy week (plus), I really love, too.

Maybe it's just the crazy that I'm ready to say goodbye, too.   So, GOODBYE CRAZY!

And hello to laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning and the myriad of other things I have ignored over the last 5 days. 

Notice that this list does not include Halloween candy?  See, I haven't ignored everything.   

Book fair was a success.  We had around $24,000 in gross sales, which is not the largest we have had, but bigger than last fall, so no complaints on my end.  My back has a few complaints as I made the mistake of throwing a heavier-than-I-could-handle box on top of one of the Scholastic cabinets during tear down yesterday.    

Calgon Ibuprofen, take me away!

Matthew had his first playoff game last night.  The 49'ers shut out the Steelers 30 to nothing! Whoo hoo!  Matthew is still limping a bit, as he twisted/sprained his ankle on Tuesday night at tennis class.   Unfortunately, I had no luck convincing him to "take it easy" during trick-or-treating on Wednesday, so I insisted he miss football practice Thursday night so he could play on Friday.   It has slowed him down a bit, but somehow he is able to skip on the field between plays.  Yes, I'm soooo happy about that.   We play again this morning at 11. 

Go 49'ers!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Finally!!!

Now let's have some candy!

Boo!

Does your neighborhood BOO?

Basically, one person leaves a bag of goodies on your front door, with a picture of a ghost (or the word "Boo!") to hang on your door, along with a poem or letter explaining the game and asking you to pass it along and BOO another neighbor the same way. 

Oh, and you get to "ding dong ditch" when you leave your treat and note.  Nothing like a little "ring and run" to make you feel like a little kid again!

We've been "Boo'd" twice this year (which theoretically shouldn't happen, because you are supposed to "pass it on" to someone who hasn't been "Boo'd" yet).   Since I loooooove candy and all things Halloween, I find the whole thing great fun.

The problem is this:  Because I love candy and all things Halloween, I don't buy my trick-or-treats until October 30th.   No.  Willpower.  I know some people buy yucky candy so they won't be tempted, but who wants to be the house that gives out yucky candy?

Not me.

Anyway, the kids and I made a Target run today for little bags and other goodies so we could keep the game going.  After dinner, they had Bassam scope out all the houses on the street to see who had and had not been boo'd yet, under the guise of walking the dog.    Then, under the cover of darkness-which-comes-entirely-too-early, they found their marks, hung treats on the door knobs, rang and ran!

I'm fairly certain the screams and giggles that followed tipped off the neighbors just who had Boo'd them.  

Fun Fall Day!

We had a fun time tonight at the Ghouls of Grassmere at the Nashville Zoo.   It's always such a fun event and the kids love an extra opportunity to chance to wear their Halloween costumes!  My parents are in for the weekend (which was important since my mom  made Gracie's costume), so we had already had a full day of Vanderbilt football (Bassam, my dad and the kids) and shopping (me and my mom).   I figure the fact that kids zonked out in the car on the way home tonight and I'm not far behind is a sign that a good day was had by all.

So even though Halloween is 11 days away, I can't wait to share my kids Halloween looks. 

Matthew makes an awesome ninja!  I was surprised he kept the cover over his mouth the entire evening, although it sometimes made it hard to hear if he remembered to say "thank you" as he racked up treats.

 
And Miss Gracie is the sweetest 50's girl ever.   GG made her this beautiful poodle skirt (and there is a matching bag--will make sure I show it in the Halloween night pictures), which she loves to twirl around in.  However, her favorite part might be the cat-shaped glasses with the rhinestones!

Pumpkin Patch!

Although it's a week or two earlier than we normally go, the sunny skies and cooler than average temperatures inspired us to go to Gentry's Farm for a day of fun at the pumpkin patch.

We enjoyed the hay and corn mazes, seeing the animals, hayrides, the tire swings and of course, picking some beautiful pumpkins!  You can definitely see the effects of the long, dry summer.  The corn field that they transform into the maze was not only more sparse, but the corn was shorter, too.  The upside of that is no getting lost for a prolonged period of time when you let your 6 and 9 year old navigate!



Our haul of pumpkins!



Mom is actually IN a picture?!??




Wheeee!



When you're 6, you don't mind hair in your face!

"Higher, Mom!"



This picture is for my dad!  Here is Bassam in front of one of the corn fields.

Although I've had fall decorations out for a little while, I need to get the Halloween stuff out this week, because with pumpkins picked, costumes chosen or in progress of being made (thank you, Mom!), the 31st will be here before you know it!

Happy Sunday and happy hats

I've never been so glad to see Sunday afternoon arrive.  Is the house still a mess?  Yes.  Are there still 4 more loads of laundry to do?  Of course!   But surviving Family Fun Night on Friday and Oktoberfest at our church yesterday seems like quite a coup, especially since due to football games and a dance clinic, the kids could not attend at the same time, so there were multiple trips made to and from the church. 

Bassam earns top volunteering honors for grilling up 150 bratwursts and 100 hot dogs for yesterday's  festivities.  And since he was on call, it meant going in to the hospital around 5:30 Saturday morning.  With 2 extra trips to the hospital to operate already this weekend, I suspect he is just as glad as I am for this busy weekend to come to a close.

The kids also spent some of the weekend making their  Halloween costume plans.   I'm always a bit suspicious about decisions made before October 1st, but since it's September 30th and they've been pretty resolute about it for a couple weeks, I think it's a go.  Gracie already called GG and asked if she would put her sewing skills to work while Matthew and I have been researching ideas for his costume online.   We also stopped in at the Halloween tent in the mall parking lot to check things out yesterday after dropping Gracie off at dance.  We didn't buying anything for his costume, but did have some fun trying on hats!

My personal favorite!

Happy Halloween!

I type this will a belly full of Dots and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. 

Ahhh . . . . bliss.

Well, another Halloween in the books!  After school we went to the Stone's Halloween Potluck dinner and then the kids hit the streets.   Gracie surprised me by opting to start out with Matthew and his pal, Jackson.  She is usually put off by their warp-speed pace, but decided to give it a go.    She made it about halfway down the main drag through the neighborhood before having Bassam call me to pick her up.  

Meanwhile, I was on candy handout duty. As the two neighbors on the end of our cul-de-sac were not home tonight, I grabbed our bowl of candy and Charlie (who once again donned his doctor costume!) and joined Barry and Leigh around their fire pit to hand out candy.   It was a wonderfully chilly night for trick-or-treating, although Gracie was less thrilled to be wearing two layers under her Daphne dress as a coat was unthinkable (which I totally understand --it ruins the look!). 

All in all, a great Halloween!    Now it's time to check out the kids' stash!

Changing of the seasons . . .

It's September 8th.  The back-to-school stuff is now on clearance at Target and they're making way for HALLOWEEN!  Actually, I noticed the Halloween candy is already out in full force (no need for people to hold off in indulging in candy corn and fun size Snickers, I guess!).  But the racks and racks of highly flammable, polyester costumes have yet to arrive. 

 I mock, but the truth is I adore Halloween . . . always have.  I think back to all the wonderful costumes I wore growing up (and a few duds).   My favorite was probably the flannel bunny costume my mom made when I was in the 1st grade.    I also loved the gypsy costume that she made out of bandanna printed material.  Mine was red and Amy's was blue.  Then we got to pile on tons of costume jewelry and wear baby blue eye shadow.   You can never have too much blue eyeshadow! 

Of course,  growing up in Illinois you always had to have a contingency plan for Halloween night should it be very cold (which there was a 50/50 chance of).   Coats were unthinkable!!   But could you layer multiple shirts and sweatpants underneath? 

Of course, now  I am more likely to say to my kids, "If it's 90 degrees on Halloween (which it frequently is), you are not going to want to be wearing a _____costume!"  I've already told Matthew that about his suggestion of  being a Ninja this year.   2/3 of your face is covered with some black head-wrap thingy, which seems like it would be horridly hot.    The truth is I just think being a Ninja is dumb.

No offense to Ninja lovers out there.