it's the halloween that never ends

and it's not even here yet!
waiting to walk to the bus, she was so excited for her class party! (and I made this awesome skirt:) )

costume parade

class parties (times 3)

Sarah, Hailey, Mr. K, Callie, and H

pumpkin carving

attack of the rosin eating zombies from outer space

Tonight we went to Jenna's orchestra concert. They played creepy and fun musik. I loved it!!

Trunk or Treat

Our ward Halloween party was last night. It was a chili cook off, carnival, trunk or treat extravaganza!

The kids met up with lots of friends, here is Lu with Rhiannon, two cute little witches:)

I loved this costume, these brothers were tweedle dee and tweedle dum, so cute!

There were lots of fun games. They had a cake walk, and face painting. H's favorite was the disco room set up with a thriller vid running and disco ball and dancing! Brother liked the haunted house best, he walked through 3 times and reported that it was very scary!

cute Charlie and his family came as the Incredibles. I loved seeing all the creative costumes!

pots of chili to keep us warm and fed.

checking out her loot at the end of the night!

The end:)

look what I made!

I know, I was shocked too! I am really happy with how it turned out. Now actually there are quite a few mistakes on it but still for a costume it looks lovely! I am excited to start on Lu's. We are going to a colonial Christmas event and the girls will wear their lovely gowns :)

It rains a lot here. Yesterday Brother wore his shoes to play in the back yard and left them there. This morning he was looking for them and found them filled with rain:(

This is how you know you might be raising a lawyer. This morning I said to H "go brush your teeth". She walked to the bathroom, a few minutes later walked out. I said "did you brush your teeth?" "Yes" "Today?" "Oh? today? No, not today" So I sent her back.

I borrowed "Dracula" at the library. I have never read it. I am not one for scary movies or scary anything. My previous experience with vampires was on Scooby Doo. Then I read Twilight, reluctantly at first, but of course now I heart Edward. SO I thought it would be interesting to read the original. It is scary. I am not sure I'll make it to the end. The writing is so rich in imagery and I am loving that but still..so suspenseful and scary.

Years ago, when I was a small girl, we were in San Fransisco and Alec and I watched a scary movie at Baba Olya's. I think it was "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" There was this guy who had surgery on his eyes and was all bandaged up. Then that night there was this huge light display in the sky and everyone looked, except him. The next day everyone was blind except him. Eventually there were these huge corn stalk looking guys who came to earth and took over people while they were asleep. That's what I remember. Right movie? Anyway, scared to sleep for years, no joke. When I read Harry Potter 6 and 7 I had to have the light on at night. So I love Edward, but Count Dracula not as much. Is it worth it to finish? We'll see.

I have a lot of laundry to do today (sigh) that takes up a lot of my "free time". I did make H's dress, and am almost done with my first book (Laugh with me) maybe my next goal should be to become a trophy wife (hhMM?)

hospital

So yesterday Beloved and I spent the day at the hospital. We got up early, I was fasting, and we headed over. Lucky for me I have teenage daughters:) Sierra got the kids ready for school and to the bus stop on time. Jenna got them off the bus at the end of the day and watched them. Colleen, my sweet visiting teacher and dear friend, got Lucy and kept her for the day.



We got there and I got suited up and we met with many nice people including Earl "I can put an IV in while riding in the back of a army transport plane with 60 patients racked and stacked all under my care", who I loved, he was so nice. And Jeanie I. who cheerfully cleaned up my messes at the end of the day. Handsome Dr Anaesthesiology with two kids who love to go to Hershey park and he highly recommends it and of course my doctor, Dr Polsky who I love love love. It was a regular love fest. Seriously I can not say enough good things about the awesome care we got. I had a spinal instead of general anesthesia and got to watch the whole thing, which was very interesting. I also got to chat with the doctors. I don't remember it taking a long time so the "happy juice" they gave me must have worked; however I do remember looking at the screen and seeing my insides. I should have been a nurse I had quite a fun time doing that.

Afterwards I had to wait until I could feel my legs before I could go home. We expected to leave around noon, instead it took until 4pm. That was the only negative...waiting, waiting.

I got home and Colleen brought us dinner, which was a nice surprise and so yummy! and then I went to bed and slept for 12+ hours :) This morning my back is sore from the needle and I have a few cramps but otherwise am back in business, which is good since today is my day to help in Lu's class room and we have soccer practice and honor choir, and laundry and stuff to do.

some songs by Lu

AnnMarie Gardens

Yesterday we went to Halloween in the gardens. It was so much fun. We had some rain in the morning, and in the evening, but there was a nice window of time in the middle that was perfect fall weather! (the rain didn't stop our soccer game, we just played and watched in the wet)

Here are the kids waiting for their friends to arrive :)

They had art activities in the art studio. The kids liked drawing on the easel and making critters and getting their faces painted.

We trick or treated and got bags of loot!

They had many vendors and local businesses there, which was fun. I wanted to win dinner for two from a local restaurant owned by one of the "hell's kitchen" chefs, to win you had to guess how many candy corns were in a jar. Lucy guessed for me. Her guess was 81 billion. I don't think I'll win:)

This was the coolest thing. It made smoke bubbles and when you popped them it was dry. They kept us entertained for quite some time.

I loved seeing the garden as well. They had many interesting sculptures and nice paths.

After we tried some of Colleen's home made pumpkin ice cream! then Beloved and I went on a date and the kids stayed to play. Next time we'll have all the kids to our house and Mike and Colleen can go out!

a few more

On our last full day together Dani and I went down to our little town wharf. The weather was sunny and bright and the water sparkled. It was very pleasant.

Little Lu and little Tate had matching dresses!

Nana and Abba with Tatum on her blessing day.

One afternoon we had a shopping excursion. Not everyone came, and some cars came back earlier than others. When the last group came home this is what we found :) Tatum and her daddy sleeping in front of the fire, Great Grandpa snoozing on the couch! It was funny!

matchy match accident ;0

J and little one!

too fast

I can not believe how fast a week flies by. We had such a great time having our family come to visit and spending these precious days together. Today was our last half day :( This morning Dani and I cleaned up the house, it was so nice of her to help me start to put stuff back in order after all the fun and company! Then when Sierra got home from school we headed out to lunch. Dani really wanted to try the crabs and at Kevin's Korner Kafe it's $20 for a dozen and it was enough for all of us and some to take home. They were yumm-o :)

I held Tate and talked to her and then waved good bye as S took them to the airport! Safe flight! Love you.

pre K field trip

Today was Lucy's first field trip. We went to the pumpkin patch and it was so cute to see her with her little friends :)

Pumpkin Patch

This little goat was born yesterday. He was the cutest little thing!!

This afternoon Dani and I took Tate and Lucy to the pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun :)

What a big girl!

Three little pumpkins that I love!

more museum fun!

Mount Vernon

Yesterday we finally had a warm sunny day. We went to Mount Vernon. I loved it. I think of all the "DC stuff" we've done so far this has been my favorite.

The grounds are just beautiful and the house is lovely. I liked watching the movie and hearing about his life best. It was so interesting.

There were many things we didn't have time to see and do in our one day trip. I will definitely go back some time to see more.

I am very grateful for the courage and character our founding fathers had. Their willingness to die for freedom, for our land, for their families and way of life has been a tremendous gift to those who have followed.

Calvert Marine Museum

One day we ventured over the bridge to the museum. It was really neat. I loved the sting rays and the otters. My favorite part was the mermaids purses. You could actually see the little skates growing inside of them!

Touring the lighthouse and digging for fossils were also favorites :)

Blessing Day

today was our sweet girl's blessing day. I was so excited that Dani and Greg decided to do it here and so many grandparents and greats could attend.

Proud mom and dad with baby Tatum.

an uncle, two aunts and the babe.

Nana, Abba, Great uncle Brian, Great-great grandpa Thacker, 4 aunts and uncle, Mimi, Grandpa, mom and dad and Tatum. 5 generations.

random photos

MiMi and cutie!

Aunt Sierra feeds her a bottle.

rain rain go away....we're still having fun, lots of fun but a little sun would be lovely.

Oyster festival

Yesterday we went to the National Oyster Shucking festival. It was a muddy wet mess and we sloshed around up to our ankles in slurp however we had a really fun time. We watched a big band play, looked at all the crafts and different ways to eat oysters.

Tried an oyster :)

Met the Oyster King! It was a lot of fun :)

Later that day we went shopping then to dinner.