All Things It Was A Dark and Dreary Night.

Halloween. It's the beginning of the holiday frenzy for us. And sure enough, this year, we had a gazillion things to do - Halloween Parties, Pumpkin Carving, Pumpkin Seed Roasting, Costume Decisions to be made. The list was never ending.

But the costumes were chosen, at last. A Death Eater. A Witch. And for the second year in a row, A Sleeping Princess. Yes, Bella was determined to be Princess Aurora one more time. Here's to recycling!

I wore my Witches Hat again. I mean, if the hat fits then by all means, wear it. Right?


Here's a sampling of the pumpkins we carved. The Headless Horseman's Head was carved two times. Once for scouts (see post below) and once again on Halloween. Kata requested Snow White. And Bella really wanted Ariel (again) for the second year in a row. Are you noting a trend with her?? She's a Do-Over kind of person. Bella also gussied up a little pumpkin for her Preschool Contest. She won a ribbon for "Best Use of Glitter". She is so like her Mama. One can never have enough glitter in one's life.

Below is the pumpkin our dog "helped" carve. Yes folks, it was going to be Tinkerbell but I left it on the patio and uh-huh, the dog ATE it!

Before long, it was time for the little Trick Or Treaters to go out into the night to greet everyone. So they did. One door at a time.

While Ken took the kids out, I stayed home and passed out candy. Oh, it was so fun to see all our friends and neighbors stopping by. We had about 60 little ones.

I also enjoyed my wonderful set of Twilight Pumpkins that my talented friend, Annie, carved for me. And yes, I queued "Twilight" on the Blu-ray. Why not?? It was a necessary indulgence with my glass of merlot and the spotlighted pumpkins.

This was last year's pumpkin -

And debuting this year, The New Moon Pumpkin -

I know. Annie's uber talented. The carvings are unbelievably life-like.

And where was Ken, you ask?? Well he was scooping out FIVE pumpkins and helping with the costumes. But mostly, he was enjoying these -

Wishing you a peaceful start to what will no doubt be a busy holiday season. Enjoy.

All Things Death Eaters.

I knew the day would come, when requests for Disney/Cartoon themed pumpkins and costumes would end. And so it has, for at least, Alex.

This year instead of a Disney Prince or a Knight, he wanted to be a Death Eater from Harry Potter. Okay, it's Harry Potter so I wasn't too sad.

Then he made the request for the pumpkin he took to his Cub Scout Pack meeting. He wanted it to look like The Headless Horseman. So I obliged. He won an award for "Best Eyes". Don't be too impressed, all the scouts get an award.


Another milestone is past us. Onto costumes that feature a cape, a mask and a hood. Hmmm. And scary pumpkin carvings. I can so get into all of those, really I can.

Enjoy letting go of some old traditions and accept the new with same amount of joy you reserved for the old. We'll try it out together and see what happens, okay?

All Things Holiday Photo Shoot.

Multi-generational photo shoots can prove exhausting but because my parents were in town we thought, hey why not. It's been a while. So we matched up our clothing fairly well. And posed and posed for the better half of ninety minutes.

Do you like the results?

I love this picture of My Boys. So tall, blonde and blue eyed.

Of course, the girls, light in complexion but dark in eye color and mood.


We do love these moments because they're captured and preserved forever. Yes, we did take the Holiday Picture, too but you'll see that a bit later.

Enjoy multi-generational moments, they may prove exhausting but they're magical in their own way.

All Things Student of the Month.

At Double Diamond Elementary School there are a number of ways you can become Student of the Month. But mostly it has to do to sticking to the core principles that every student needs to be Respectful, Responsible and Safe.

Right before she went Off Track (we're in Year Round school), Kata received a Student of the Month Award for exemplary achievement in the area of Responsibility. She came home with a beautiful certificate, her name on the main bulletin board at school and a free kids meal at Mimi's Cafe.

I've got to share that the management staff at Mimi's makes a Big Deal out of this, coming over to the table and congratulating the student and their parents on a job well done. I love when local places support academic goals.

So I challenge you to do the same. See how you can support your local public schools. They need your help in these extremely tough times. Schools often suffer the first round of budget cuts. So think about volunteering, or donating some books you may have lying around, or even calling the office and seeing what kind of supplies a particular teacher may need. Help them and you will help a future generation and I promise you'll feel great doing it.