Peace, Greece, and a Roarin' Good Time

Another Halloween is officially in the books.  The children are finally nestled all snug in their beds while visions of stomach aches dance through their heads.  Today was the culmination of lots of excitement in our house.  I have a bit of a sense of dread and excitement....I love this holiday but this also signifies the true beginning of the race to Christmas!  It goes fast from here on....sometimes a bit too fast and there's always so much to do.  But, I've run this race a few times as a mother and I'm aware of what's coming...and prepared and excited!  Onto pictures of our day.

The Hippie, who told me tonight that she wants to dress up every year and always wants us to go with her to Trick or Treat.  This gave me warm fuzzies.

The Grecian Beauty who stated that she only forgot once to say "thank you" after getting candy.

Our Lion, who took everyone VERY literally when they said "You can take as much as you want."  He also stated "This pumpkin's getting all fulled up!"

A wonderful and easy year for costumes. 

Party of 5 including "The Green Gringo" and the 70's runner.

We started at a small carnival in our neighborhood at 4:30.  There were a few games and a fun photo booth and the best part was free hot dogs.  Dinner-check.

There was also a magician.  The kids got to watch for a bit, but we got antsy because daylight was burning and mama had a mission.

We met with our friends from church for our annual group trick or treating.  This is our 5th year to get together and head to an amazing neighborhood in town!

The adults who dressed up.

Here's just two of the decorations we saw.  This street goes ALL.OUT.  It is a sight to see and we LOVE this street.  I've told Shawn since we moved here in 2007 that if we ever move within this town, I require that we live on this particular street.  I think I'd fit in pretty well.

After finishing up on this street, we headed back to our neighborhood and scored A LOT more candy!  It was so nice in our neighborhood.  So many kind families with lots of candy and not nearly as crowded as I thought it would be.  Then we headed home to check out the night's loot.

I asked all the kids to separate their candy into two piles: Want and Don't Want.  Levi made his two piles very quickly.  Can you see the second pile?  It's right there near the bottom left of this picture.  Yep, the vampire teeth.  That's the Don't Want pile.  He does come by this honestly.

After letting them eat a little candy, I popped some popcorn for them, and we put in a Berenstein Bears Halloween DVD.  They were content and distracted, which is exactly when I was able to swoop in and gobble up the best of the best.  

It was a great night, and we made lots of sweet memories.

Things Didn't Go As Planned

This morning, about the time Levi was watching his 2nd hour of TV, we should have been at his preschool Halloween Party.  But instead, Levi was laying on the couch not feeling good at all.  Seems like he's following in his oldest sister's footsteps.  Elle missed her first Christmas Party in Kindergarten.  I'm still sad about that.  Either way, he seems to be feeling much better and in the spirit of trying to find the positive, I'm thankful that this happened today and not tomorrow!

In other good news, because I couldn't go anywhere I was able to sit, mostly unbothered for about 3 1/2 hours and work on a cross stitch I wanted to finish.

And I did!  Pretty sure I'm making an ornament out of this.  Saw this pattern last fall and loved it!

While I was busy cross stitching taking care of a sick child, Shawn went to two awards ceremonies that couldn't have been at less convenient times.  He had plans to get so much done at work today.  Had plans.  Past tense.  And for the record, we are pretty much letting Ava dress herself.  That is all.

The best thing about these awards is that they come with coupons for free food and those are two words I LOVE to hear together!

Last Library Halloween Party

Today was my last Library Halloween Party to attend...unless...just kidding.  It really is the last.  It's just a tiny bit sad, but I know I have years of school parties ahead to look forward to.  I have been involved with all the children's stuff at the library here for the last 7 1/2 years and that time is coming to an end next fall. Anyway, we got to get Levi dressed up in his costume for a trial run today.  

I started with a GENIUS idea that came from a bit of desperation.  Last night after a long day, I needed to start on the treats we were going to take with us to the library.  They were some super cute Rice Krispie Frankensteins.  So cute....a bit labor intensive, with multiple steps and wait time in between.  I really didn't know where the umph was going to come from for me to make them...but they were so cute in the pictures!  Anyway, as I was stirring the cereal, a thought came to me.....green monsters with crazy eyes.  YES!!!  So much easier and pretty much, one step!!!  They turned out GREAT!  This will henceforth and forever more be my "go to" snack for Halloween.  (I still might do those Frankensteins at some point...but not this year.)

Off to the library we headed.  We got there early so that Levi could play for a while.  I was deeply involved in finding some new books to take home and all of the sudden I spyed a lion looking at me through the shelves!

We enjoyed a few stories and songs and then it was time for snacks.  Levi also got the standard issue plastic spider rings.  :)

And I found this lion perched on the windowsill enjoying a sucker.  He's just too cute to be ferocious...though he thinks he is.  

I have a low Sleep IQ

Okay I don't really know if they can check your sleep IQ but I think mine is really pretty good.  I know all the right things to do to sleep well....yet I don't sleep too well.  I suspect it's my mattress...though I think I could also have "Princess and the Pea" syndrome.  Either way, being a member of Smiley360, I get to try out products for free and then write up little reviews on what I thought. Today, I got to review a Sleep Number bed.  I really didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised by just how comfy that bed felt.  I figured out that my "optimal" sleep number is about 25....yes that's very soft.  I don't want to feel any pressure at all and this bed did that for me.  I was able to watch my pressure points on a screen as she took the bed from a 100 (the firmest) to whatever felt really comfortable to me, and that happened to be a 25...and I also got to watch all of my pressure points disappear as it got closer to 25.  We have only had our current bed for about 3-4 years, so it might be a while before I can look into a new bed, but I'm putting a Sleep Number bed at the top of the list of contenders.  Oh and Sleep Number has a 25 year warranty on it's beds and also has a zipper top to the bed so that if a single part stops working, the whole bed doesn't have to be replaced....just the part that quit!  Overall it was a good experience in the store and has really peaked my interest in a bed I really didn't know much about.  I also am getting a free CoolFit Foam pillow just for trying out the new SleepIQ Technology! (They usually run $140!)
Here's a link to to the Sleep Number SleepIQ technology page if you are interested!  You might have to copy and paste it.    http://h5.sml360.com/-/fp8w

He's either 100, 13 or 31

Today was Shawn's 38th birthday!  We have celebrated 17 of his birthdays together...that's almost half of his life!  I think I might have finally figured out how to celebrate him in the way he likes.  He seemed very happy with how the day went.  As Levi and I talked today about Shawn having a birthday, Levi guessed that he was 100, 13 and 31.  I think by the end of the night, he was within about 5 years of the correct number so that's good enough.

We started at Gordough's Public House in Austin.  It took us F O R E V E R to get there, but we were determined to do exactly what we wanted, no matter the traffic, the fact that is was a school night, or the fact that we would be asking a lot of our three kids!

Shawn and I ordered the Ron Burgundy Burger.  Fried egg. Bacon. Cilantro. Guacamole. Meat.  Oh and did I mention the buns were DONUTS? (at least they weren't glazed!)

 Going for it!  It was a good burger....but both of us agreed, we could have split one and been just fine.  It may take a week for that burger to digest!  I still feel so full 4 hours later!

After dinner they brought us a good ol' Gordough's birthday donut.  

With all 5 of us working on that donut, it didn't take long to clean the plate.  It was the perfect finish to a good dinner.

Then we came home and let Shawn open his gifts.  The kids got him a whole conglomeration of stuff they picked out.  I thought it was great that they got him car air freshener because they said his 4 Runner stinks.  ha!

I bought him a Tough Mudder T-shirt that looks so much like the picture I took of him right before out first Tough Mudder a few years ago.  He needs to grow his hair out some for next time...

I also got him this shirt because he's getting a big wish by getting to do the Tough Mudder again in May!(without me being dead weight!)  Happy 38th Birthday Shawn!

Weekend Update

We had a fun and full weekend, much like most of our weekends!  

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to participate in the annual Thin Mint Sprint.  This year, we opted to all just do the 1 mile Daisy Dash.  My knee is still injured, we don't have a stroller for Levi, it was the cheapest cost and the girls wanted to do one mile only, so one mile it was!  This race truly is the best bang for your buck.  We got all kinds of free stuff for entering the race as well as from vendors after the race.  The best part is that each of us got a box of Thin Mints!

Here we are enjoying some Thin Mints after we got home.  (Levi got some too...but had already stripped down to his underwear by the time we took this, so he's not in the picture)

After the race, we happened to see a Grand Reopening at a tire place in town and they were giving away food and gifts, so OF COURSE we stopped and fed ourselves for free!  We also all got more free things.

 Then last night we headed to a MASH Movie Night at the church building.  After pizza, we moved to the auditorium to make use of our nice projector and screen and watched Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.  The kids were mesmerized by it and it was cute to watch them being so enthralled.  Endless popcorn helped too.

Now this is watching a movie in style....Dusty took a glider from the nursery to sit in....I always dreamed of doing that during worship when my kids were babies.

This morning, the girls and I were all showing our love for chevron.  If I could have each of my girls dresses in my size I would snatch it up in a heartbeat!

Savers

This past Saturday, we forced helped our kids open a savings account.  We talked all about how important it was to have a savings account and why you might need one, and what our hopes were for their savings accounts.  They won't be allowed to withdrawal anything until they leave for college.  None of them were happy about any of this setup.  I have been stashing away small amounts for each of them.  Elle and Ava's money was put into their college savings fund a few times, so they had less than Levi.  Elle especially, was really unhappy with the idea that she had money and wasn't allowed to go spend it on the $1 aisle.  Such a good use of money.  Anyway, hopefully one day she'll understand when she's in her freshman year of college and our wallet is no where around....we'll see.

Elle and Ava are starting with a total of $21 each.  It will be interesting to see how much is in there in 8 and 10 years!

Levi started with $87.....he's got a good fighting chance of having enough money to pay for one whole book for one college class, in 14 years!  (But I bet by then, they won't even have paper books anymore!)

They are all officially savers, whether they want to be or not!