Halloween '10

This year Maddie and her friend dressed as twin rag dolls. 

The only difference was their hairdos.

Her friend's hair was black with purple streaks.  It was also in two braids.  Maddie wanted her hair straight.  However, she is very much not used to straight, LONG "hair".  Mike said she had taken off the wig during trick-or-treating because it kept blowing in her face and she was getting annoyed. 

And I'm kicking myself for not getting their pictures together.  We were going to when they stopped at our house to get candy, except the rest of their group took off and we didn't want them to get behind.  They were pretty cute scary.  They were going for scary...

Jake's costume was a little more troublesome this year, but luckily it all fell into place.  He originally was going to be the banker from "Monopoly" which was awesome because all we needed was a top-hat and to make a mustache/goatee.  We were about to purchase the top hat when I knew something in his voice was wrong.  He told me he thought he should be a viking instead.  Five days before Halloween.  So, as we searched high and low looking for a Viking costume (and I don't mean the football team costumes...) I suggested he come up with a back-up plan.  He said a soldier would be a good backup.

Well, hallelujah!  Soldier we can do!  Until I realized we had sold off almost all Mike's army stuff in the last couple garage sales.  Luckily when Mike got home from Chicago last Friday he found a bag of stuff he had saved in the attic that I didn't know about.  Inside was an old t-shirt, a hat, and a rag of some kind. 

Jake informed me that army men don't smile in their pictures.  I knew this all too well; it really irritated me when we took group shots all those years ago.

As for the camo?  I don't know if Jake was more excited to wear it or if Mike was more excited to apply it.  They were both in their element.

And the greatest thing?  They got to wear their costumes twice!  Saturday night our friends had their annual Halloween party.  Mike and I didn't get there until late - we came dressed as wedding crashers.  Maddie and Jake had a blast there though!  I know this because the first words out of their mouths when we got home were, "That was the best party ever!"

Now my stomach's growling...off to steal some candy.

A Silly Reward

Last night was Maddie's conferences and they were great!  Jake's were a couple weeks ago and his were great too.  I'm not surprised because it's what we expect and they know that.  But that doesn't make us any less proud of them!

So, to celebrate we went to Chipotle (their choice) for dinner and afterward we went to Michael's.  I offered for them to get a little treat for their efforts.  I offered Silly Bands.

Ever heard of these?  Jake is in love with them and has been dropping hints like mad.

"Mom...aren't silly bands soooo cool?"

"One of my friends just showed us his new silly bands...they are sports shaped."

"If I were ever to get silly bands I would totally get the ones that are sports themes.  Especially baseball."

On and on.  He's so subtle.

Now, I have avoided these as long as possible.  I just thought there had to be something better I could spend money on.  I don't know what that would be for $2.50 but I figured something had to exist.  Mike just rolls his eyes when they are mentioned.  He's not a trend-guy.

Then I thought back to all the stupid things we "had to" have.  The major one that pops into my mind (and good grief...I'm dating myself at this point...) are the charm necklaces.  My mom and dad are rolling their eyes right now remembering these things, I'm sure.

(image from i-love-my-80s-toys.tressugar.com)

I mean...if ever there was something that was a pure waste of money?  (Though I think Tracy had a toilet where the seat went up...that might have brought us many giggles.)

Anyway, I thought the kids would enjoy these and be surprised.  Turns out, Maddie's not a huge fan; I think they are a little out of her age range.  She ended up with a book.  Shocking.  But, she was happy.

Jake - this kid was thrilled.  And his first pack he picked out...WESTERN!  What?  After we heard about the sports bracelets for a solid week?  When I told him he could get a second pack, he went right for the sports pack.  This took no less than 20 minutes to choose between all six different collections.

I don't understand them.  You can't tell what they are.  But they bring pure happiness...

In one form or another to everyone.

Gimme a Break!

I am having a moral issue with my dishes.  At least one of my dishes.  This dish:

This dish has been sitting on my counter all week.  I can't throw it away and I can't in good conscience put it back on the shelf.  This is why:

Can you see it?  It's a hairline fracture.  But, when I set it down, you can hear it about to break.  It grinds together. 

I can't put it back in the cupboard knowing it's just going to break as soon as heat is applied or someone puts any weight on it.  I can't throw it away because - technically - it's not broken yet.

And I've tried to "fix" the situation.  I've repeatedly lifted the plate a couple inches and let it drop.  Nothing, except that when I left it up again to check, I can see the small space between the fracture on the lip of the plate.

Then I try to drop it again, and nothing.  I can only drop it from so high before I know it was more than "accidentally on purpose" that it truly broke.

These are the mind games I play with myself and which Mike must contend with.  I'm hoping he knows that it needs to just mysteriously disappear from the countertop.  No questions will be asked.

Mother of the Year Nominee

Winter slapped us in the face this morning.  Crazy winds that are supposed to combine to make around 20 degree windchills today.  I turned on the light to let the dog out and we saw we also had flurries.

Being the nurturing soul that I am, I took the kids' winter coats out and threw each child's coat into the dryer for about 15 minutes before they left.  Both kids basked in the warmth as they headed out the door and thanked me profusely for thinking about them.

I did not use it to distract them from that moment when they put the jacket on and realized with their noses that I hadn't washed them after being stored all winter.  Nope.  Not the reason at all.

In other related news, I thought I was done with laundry this week, but just realized I had one more load.

Fall Fun

Last weekend Maddie was gung-ho to have some fun in the leaves.  The problem is - we don't really have many of those laying on the ground. That wasn't going to deter her though and she managed to create this pile:

When she announced the big moment of "The Jump" I told her I was impressed with how many leaves she had found.  She told me, "I know!  Believe me, I had to dig to find these!"

As you can see, we still have tons of leaves on trees.  In fact, in only the last two days have most of our backyard trees started to change color.

She counted down, and she was off...

Sadie didn't want to be left out of all the fun and was racing around Maddie trying to get her attention...

Let's be honest - I didn't want to be left out of the fun either...

But Maddie didn't throw leaves on me.

And before heading back inside, I turned to find this.  Maddie was talking to Sadie about how much fun they had while cleaning all the teeny tiny leaves out of her fur.  True friendship.



Shopping Trips

Last week during MEA vacation, I told the kids we were shopping.  Maddie needed some shoes and a winter jacket.  Both kids need boots for winter.  I didn't expect to buy most of what they needed, but I expected to find some items to keep an eye on for sales.

Maddie took a breather from trying on all those shoes.  Luckily we finally found some she liked.  Trust me...a more difficult task than it sounds!

In order to find those shoes, there was a lot of time spent trying on different pairs.  A lot of time...

Jake kept himself occupied...

If you need a fort while shopping - Jake has built one at Eden Prairie Mall's Kohl's.

My Day

It was my birthday yesterday.  It started at 6am when Mike got up to head down to work.  He wished me "Happy Birthday" and the fireplace kicked on in our room and I realized curled up and sleeping in was going to be a pretty awesome way to start my day!

The kids had other plans.  At 7:30am they knocked on my door and marched in bearing gifts and a tray complete with a bagel and cup of coffee.  Who could turn that down?  We left the gifts for when Mike was going to be available and I finished my breakfast.  We all curled up in bed and watched cartoons for awhile and enjoyed joking around.

When we finally decided to get up, Mike was on a break from work and I got to open some gifts!

The results of a 7:30am wake-up call.

Can I just say...this is my favorite outfit?  Comfy with a capital "C".  I will probably be sporting this every single Friday for the rest of winter.

First gift:  Maddie got me some spatulas.  Probably not exciting to some, but I am THRILLED.  Quality spatulas that aren't going to break or chip or melt.  They've been on my birthday list for about two years.

Maddie also "translates" for Sadie whenever I get a card for some reason.  Sadie wrote to me: "For today (only) I will be nice to you."  Sweet.  One day.

Jake got me a lovely bracelet.  But his card had a bunch of candy on the front and he had included a "Smarty" thing of candy.  The inside said, "Happy birthday to a truly sweet person."  He had signed it, "From your sweet son, Jacob"  I laughed...it was cute.

Next thing I know Jake has ripped that card out of my hand and said - "Do you get it mom?  See?  There's candy...then it's 'sweet' inside, and it's from your 'sweet' son!  Do you get it?  Do you get the joke?"

"Yes, Jake.  I get it.  I got it the first time.  I'm 37, not senile."

Mike's gift to me was this ski cap!  Soooo excited!  I had JUST pointed it out to the kids as a gift for Christmastime.  I've been looking for a hat to match my ski jacket since I got it a couple years ago.  I also got mittens to go with it, but unfortunately they don't fit.  And they aren't an exact match.  Dear North Face: please make a pair of matching mittens.  Dear Scheels: Please sell these mittens.

I'll be honest - I love my birthday and it was very fun to get gifts.  And quite a surprise - I had talked Mike into getting us tickets for Friday to see "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" at the Children's Theater.  I thought that was going to be my present. 

I got taken out to lunch - Jake suggested Panera so that's where we went.  The rest of the day I just spent working on translating some songs for church which was great to do uninterrupted.

We headed to Minneapolis to see the play that night.  Very good and a fun way to spend some time together.  Mike and I didn't think it was the best production we'd seen, but it was entertaining and we all enjoyed the "magic" of the hats in the story.

Afterward we headed to Cub.  Exciting, right?  ABSOLUTELY!  The only real request I had put in a couple nights ago was that we have Boston Cream Pie for my cake.  I didn't think Mike and Jake were going to find any when they went into the grocery store at 9pm.  But they walked out with one and Mike said, "They must have known it was your birthday; we had four to choose from!"

They all sang and Mike tried to figure out a way to cut the cake giving us (him and me...) the absolute largest pieces without it looking like a gross infraction to the kids.

It was a lovely day.  As I said, I love my birthday.  I can't wait until next year.