"Felicia's Not Your DAAAAAD!!!"

Being new to the area and far from family it has been important to us to create holiday traditions for the kids.  Under the advice of locals we decided to take the little kids to Seattle to do all the festivities at the Seattle Center and the Christmas Tree Lighting in Westlake Center

Maybe a little overly excited we left the house around eleven.  With surprisingly little traffic we were in Seattle by noon.  We started at the Seattle Center which was being heralded as a "winter Wonderland".  Ummmm...not so much.  The kids rode some carnival rides.  We watched a giant toy train.  That was it for the Seattle Center.  So we hopped the monorail (Seattles "nontransportation") and headed to Westlake.  Which we were horrified to find out was a MALL.  ON BLACK FRIDAY.  Luckily the lighting was outside but we had HOURS to kill.

So the kids rode the giant carousel. And we headed of in search of reasonably priced food suitable for children. Luckily just as we were about to get sucked into the hour plus wait at the Cheesecake Factory a kind homeless gent pointed us in a better direction for a small tip.  And let me tell you he was not wrong.  The Taphouse with 160 beers on tap, Wikki Stix's instead of crayons and food for every taste and appetite.  The true pleasure though was not the delicious salmon burger or cold ale....but the fact that my children were pure angels.  *sigh*

When we could no longer amuse the kids with Wikki Stix's and wit we headed out into the rain.  With my mad shopping skills we managed to purchase Peyton and Cade winter coats that met all of their criteria in record time and at cheapie prices.  Feeling successful we headed over to the lighting to get a seat, a wet seat. Erik and Peyton suffered the nearly 40 minute Starbucks line for warm drinks.  The rest of us watched homeless people get escorted off.

The tree lighting was slated for 5:00.  After an hour of waiting in the cold and rain we were ready.  Ahhhh. Trickery.  The TALK started at 5:00.  The Mayor was there, he got booed.  Music was played.  Carols were sung.  There was some dancing in the streets.  5:45 tree lighting.  Followed by giant Macy's star lighting.  And then fireworks!!!!  (Actually 2 minutes of flares being shot into the foggy night.)

We swam through the huge crowd to the bulk candy store where everyone got a scoop of their choice.  Back on the monorail-standing this time which was highly impressive. And home to bed.  All pleased.  And warm.

Maybe the Terrorists did act up.  Maybe they did whine.  Or name call.  Or complain.  But to me the memory of today is something out of The Sound of Music.  Where my children can pronounce and sing Feliz Navidad in harmony.  It's my memory.  I can make it what I want.

Tough Turkey Day

This was my first holiday away from home.  Ever. This was also the first holiday ever that I had to cook.  I'd like to say that all went well.....

Andrea and I decided to join our families together for one giant holiday festivity.  This had been of great debate as there is NO love loss between Andrea's daughter, her boyfriend and I.  I was assigned desserts and bread.  No problem right? Except I have a baking complex.  My mom is THE BEST baker and I was pretty certain nothing I could make would compare.  So I agonized over my menu and came up with a spread that I felt could please everyone.

Thanksgiving day I woke up extremely homesick and incredibly unsure of myself.  I began baking.  In my usual way....making a huge mess, misreading recipes, tossing stuff out, starting over, fighting back tears.  But I managed to keep it some what together and success seemed possible.

Then my "friends arrived".  I remained completely silent.  But the general unpleasantness sent me to the basement in tears.  I spent the remainder of the afternoon watching discovery and moving things in and out of the oven.  By dinner they had left...but so had my appetite.

I tried to make my mom's sweet potatoes and they were an epic fail.  Nothing tasted or looked the same.  My family wasn't there. Apparently my food was adequate though and nobody died from accidental poisoning.

We ended our evening by taking the kids to see Harry Potter.  For the first time that day I didn't feel alone.  There in a huge theater surrounded by my bickering, seat kicking, complaining kids....I felt loved.  And I think that maybe next year...if I have to.....I can do it again.

Oh Mother

Fifty things I have learned from being a mom. No, you can't take a class either. It is all on the job, hands on training. Try not to be jealous.

1. God made dirt and dirt don't hurt
2. Silence really is golden...but only if they are all asleep
   
3. Infection control
4. The number for poison control
5. First Aid
6. How to make home made play dough
   
7. How to remove neon food coloring from carpet and walls
8. Never to wash and dry bed sheets covered in glitter glue
9. How to change a diaper on an airplane
10. To organize and maintain 6 peoples schedules
11. How to use a nasal aspirator without waking a baby
12. To evaluate any toys potential use as a weapon
13. To judge the number of diaper wipes you will need within 1 before you even open the soiled nappy up
14. Ice removes gum
15. Goo be Gone is a must
16. Never leave the house without nail clippers
17. 10 edible ways to make and serve Kraft Mac N Cheese
18. How to hold a slippery naked toddler in the shower-without breaking your neck
    
19. Cat litter is a choking hazard
20. Purple pedialyte causes neon green poop
21. Amazing things can fit in ears and noses
22. Frozen peas make great ice compresses
23. Box's are awesome Christmas and Birthday gifts
24. If you hear laughter you'd better look
25. Bathtub crayons are not necessarily washable
26. Finding a spider is less frightening then what you may find in pockets
27. Don't take things personally
28. Sleep is a luxury
29. Laugh alot
30. It's over too soon
31. If the phone rings once at 3am-check your teenagers
32. How to remove vomit from berber carpet
33. Chapstick is edible
34. Kisses work better than band aids
35. It's ok to go to bed mad
36. Pick your battles wisely
37. Be careful what you say...it may come back and bite you in the ass
38. How to take care of a car sick toddler at 80 miles an hour
39. You can survive without eating green vegetables
40. It's ok to sleep in your rain boots
41. Worms make good pets
42. Multi tasking is not optional-it's mandatory
    
43. A Magic Eraser can be your best friend
44. Sharpies do not make good eyebrow pencils or lipsticks
45. Toddlers shouldn't shave without supervision
46. Cabbage patch heads will explode if left in a hot dryer too long
47. Security blankets are better when they are stinky
48. Nail polish is hard to get out of hair
49. Pantyliner's are really just giant stickers
50. If you call a cheese stick a cheese sucker they will eat it
    

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Who Punk'd Peter Rabbit?

Ava in line for the Easter bunny. Literally shaking in her ballet flats.


Ava when I told her we were next. That is not a look of excitement.


Cade in line...not being a "fraidy cat".


This was as close as Cade got to the bunny.


Ava when I told her the Easter bunny was coming!

Easter Revival

Holidays are always chaotic at the love shack and Easter was no exception. As with most occasions I am the one solely responsible for making memories and magic.

Friday, which as I shared before, was a rather lovely day. After our little fender bender I took Cade, Ava and Amonte to the mall to see the Easter bunny. Peyton begged out insisting that the Easter bunny is "gay" and he was simply too "old" to participate in such nonsense. Amonte of course really is too old to see the rabbit-he was just along to look at girls. Cade swore for at least a week that he was "not a fraidy cat" and that the bunny is "harmless". Once we got in line it was a whole another story. We waited at least a half hour with him saying he was going to sit with the bunny -but looking rather anxious. Ava freaked the moment she saw the critter and spent the time clinging to my leg and chewing on her shirt. We never made it past the entrance before they both completely lost it. So no pics this year. I do however have lots of pics of them waiting in line. But for some reason I can't get them up on blogger.

Of course there was also the shopping for things that don't actually exist (but do in the mind of a four year old), searching for things that exist but are impossible to find and returning of purchases made in dire hopes of making up for the inability to procure unobtainable goodies. In the end everyone was happy with their baskets. Well, I say everyone. I have no clue how Amonte felt about his as he spent the weekend at his sperm donors-returned home-went to his room and shut the door never to be heard from again. I have noticed the candy litter on the bedroom floor and Peyton informed me he had watched his movie so I can assume he was pleased.

Easter day was spent lazing around. As we had our dinner on Friday I really didn't feel it necessary to repeat it for just the terrorists and me. They were plenty happy snacking on their baskets. We passed on hunting for eggs in eight inches of snow, but we did manage to color a few dozen. Ava had great fun and kept drinking the egg bath. Luckily it was non-toxic as I don't think I could maintain any amount of sanity with another ER visit. Peyton and Cade tossed a couple at each other-thankfully after they were boiled so no harm. Next year our goal is to make it out of our pj's.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter. Maybe the pics will load later...

Pass the Guiness!!

An Irish Blessing

May the blessing of the rain be on you

—the soft sweet rain.

May it fall upon your spirit

so that all the little flowers may spring up,

and shed their sweetness on the air.

May the blessing of the great rains be on you,

may they beat upon your spirit

and wash it fair and clean,

and leave there many a shining pool

where the blue of heaven shines,

and sometimes a star.

Happy St Patricks day! Drink a few beers for me! Damn carbs :(

Christmas score card

Shopping:

• Started holiday shopping early. 5 points
• Didn’t finish until Christmas Eve. However I got it all done before noon and avoided the crowds. Plus I feel generous today so I am keeping the five points I awarded my self earlier.
• Scored all of the “Major” gifts that each of the kids wanted.
• Peyton-Guitar Hero…Check. Ava-Play Kitchen…Check. Cade…Secret Mission Ice Bat Ugly doll and Leapster…Check and CheckAmonte-PSP and new cell phone…Check and Check.
• 20 points. Especially since Secret Mission Ice Bat was nearly mission impossible.

• Amonte’s PSP is back ordered and won’t be shipped till January 4. In my defense it was not on backorder when the order was placed in PLENTY of time. But that blows for Amonte -5 points

• Bought my own gifts. 2 to be exact. -5 points
  
• Spent substantially less on myself than I did on Mark. -5 points
  

Christmas Eve

• Up at the ass crack of dawn to finish shopping. 5 points

• Baked all afternoon which I do NOT enjoy for the most part. 5 points

• Cleaned house the rest of the afternoon for the arrival of FIL on Christmas morning 5 points

• Did not slap Mark who sat on the couch.all.day.and.did.nothing. 10 points

• Went to church as a family and made it on time. The kids were well behaved and had a great time singing and dancing to the music. Especially Ava who was totally adorable and continued to sing even when the music stopped. LOUDLY. 5 points

• Survived Christmas Eve at my mothers even though Mark was terribly grouchy from anchoring the couch to the floor all day and the kids were bouncing off the walls. 5 points

• Cried silently the whole way home because Mark was such an ass. -5 points
• 2 kinds of cookies for Santa and the Snowman. Carrots for the reindeer. The Night before Christmas read. Everyone tucked in snuggly warm. 5 points

• Stayed up till 2 am wrapping gifts and drinking wine This is a vast improvement from years past. 5 points

Christmas Day

• The kids slept in till 6:30!! This year they woke us up BEFORE they started opening presents. 5 points

• Took only a few pictures and enjoyed watching the kids. 5 points

• Not enough Batteries. -5 points

• Spent remainder of morning cooking huge family breakfast of everyone’s favs. 5 points

• Greeted father in law and his new girlfriend with all the fake warmness in my little heart. 5 points

• Did not KILL Norm or any of the “adults” who were in the living room while he ate Secret Mission Ice Bats ear off. Calmed hysterical, devastated Cade and fixed Ice Bat’s ear to nearly new. 10 points….cause I was REALLY pissed.

• Went to work for ½ a shift. Which was nice cause I worked with good friends. 5 points

• Met Mark and kids at my mom’s again. Did not ridicule Mark for dressing Ava like a circus freak even though I had specifically told him what to put on her. 5 points

• Enjoyed the evening with my family. Lovely to see my brother and his wife. Makes me so happy that my kids are thrilled with him and that they are back in Michigan. Can’t wait to meet their new baby on Jan.17. 5 points

• Came to the realization that my marriage is in such a state of ruin that it will never recover. Also came to realize that I don’t care any more. That I can’t care anymore. That my caring is killing me slowly. Painfully.

-All points previously earned.

Clothing Optional

Sunday on the way home from church Peyton asked "where are we going next?"
"No place" I replied.
"No place?"
"Nope, no place."
"Cool. We can stay home naked all day!"
To which Cade hollered "Yahoo!!!"

Here's hoping you had a very merry, naked Christmas.

How National City Stole Christmas

Every Tuesday I see my counselor. Bright and early, rain or shine. She makes me work hard even when I don't want to. Needless to say Tuesdays tend to not be the best day for me. After this weeks session she handed me a small folded piece of paper and told me to read it when I was alone and had time to contemplate.

This same day I called our former mortgage company to find out why funds from our escrow account and an overpayment had not been returned to us as stated 7 days after our closing. This was a large some of money that we were planning to use for Christmas. To make a loooooong story short: we aren't getting the money for 30 days past the close day. Which means January. Which means: NO. MONEY. FOR. CHRISTMAS.

I was devasted. Hysterical. In a very un-Christmas like spirit I told the customer service rep "have a merry Fucking Christmas" and hung up the phone. I cried all night worrying about what I would do for my kids...aside from the few meager presents I had bought and made. I literally made myself sick.

Wednesday I drug my butt out of bed, face swollen, eyes blood shot and headed to work. I sat in the parking lot with a heavy heart waiting for the shuttle and I saw it. The tiny piece of neatly folded paper.

I opened it and read:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?

Can I just tell you what a total ass I felt like?

Reader overload

My google reader is out of control. I have been reading blogs for two straight days and I still have 320 items left. I will get caught up though...someday. So if you find comments 6 months from now..I really was thinking of you now. I don't have a word for today or a thought for that matter. I do however have a ton of wintery pictures to share. Tis the season. So enjoy...

Ava and Mrs. Clause picking their noses.

Peyton and Ava with Santa. Cade does NOT do Santa . Here he is modeling our lovely Advent wreath!

Christmas Secrets

Melinda tagged me for 7 random things about me. I would think that after my last tag everyone on the cyber planet would be tired of hearing about me...but apparently i am just that good. So here you have it 7 random things moi and Christmas:

1. The first Christmas Mark and I were married he kept joking that he was getting me rocks. Well he did. Beautiful princess cut diamond earrings. I was shocked. It was the best present ever.
2. One year my aunt got me a HUGE red swatch watch to hang on my pink walls. Mind you at this time I was a skater chick and a giant swatch watch so did not go with the Violent Femmes posters.
3. When I was in elementary school my mom and I went to a department store to buy me a dress for a school function. There were 2 that i really wanted but we could only afford one. On Christmas day I unwrapped a box from that very department store. I just knew it was the dress and I said so. It was socks and underwear. To this day I feel horrible about how that must have hurt my mom. She probably doesn't even remember...you know I don't think former hippies have good long term memory!
4. I set a Christmas tree on fire one year because I NEVER watered it a single time.
5. One year I got so pissed trying to get the lights off the tree that I threw the tree out with the lights on it. We now have a prelit tree :0
6. I give to every bell ringer I see. Even if I just gave at the last store. I feel guilty if I don't.
7. I always peek.

Marisa I am tagging you and only you since you swear you have never been tagged!

To: You From :Us

Tis’ the season. It has begun. The Christmas cards and letters are pouring in. I love to get the cards and look at the photos. But the Christmas letters always make me feel like my family is somehow inept, flawed, unworthy. They are filled with a years worth of blessings, happiness, brag worthy events. They fail to mention things like “Junior is in rehab” or “Little Timmy has taken to torturing small animals” and by the way “Susie is knocked up and we don’t know who the baby daddy is”. I personally have no difficulty exposing my family for what we really are. Dysfunctional in a fun way…not a funny way. So this year I am writing my own Christmas letter and I’m not prettying it up. Just for you dear readers, you get the first peak:

Dearest Family and Friends,

For many years we have been overjoyed to receive your annual Christmas letters. This year we decided to try our hand at it and share some highlights from the past 365 days.

We’ll start with Mark seeing as he is the “man” of the family. Mark narrowly escaped being laid off from his job. Which really sucked for me seeing as if he did get the axe we were finally going to move from the hell that is Michigan. He is working as a bouncer on the weekends and I think he may have a girlfriend there. That’s cool as long as he doesn’t spend any money on her. He recently got busted for watching a $150 worth of On Demand Porn. Did I mention we have been separated twice this year and our sex life is nonexistent?

Amonte is a freshmore this year. This is due to the fact he has to repeat 2 freshman classes. Obviously my dreams of a Harvard education have been squashed. He is a month away from being 16 and getting his drivers license. He also FINALLY has a girlfriend. Drivers license, car access, new girlfriend…no doubt he will be loosing his virginity soon.

Peyton has become quiet the ladies man. Apparently all of the K set is lusting after him. He wants to be a rock star when he grows up and have 17 kids and 81 dogs. We are hopeful all 17 will be with one woman. He’s bummed that he hasn’t lost any teeth yet. Cade has offered to knock them out for him.

Cade is really developing a mouth any sailor would be proud of. His current favorite name call is “fucker ass”. He loves the way antibacterial soap tastes when it’s being poured into his mouth. He has really gotten the hang of using scissors and recently cut up my calendar, some bills and his brother’s art work.

Ava. Well what can I say…she doesn’t say much. She does however have a fondness for eating dog food and Beggin Strips. Nothing says snack time like dog treats pressed into bacon strips.

Sybil is still a raging bitch who demands to drink only from the bathroom sink. She takes great joy in tormenting the dog when he is in his crate and has even gone as far as to pee all over his bed.

Trixie. Clueless. Totally clueless. Half the time we don’t even know she exists…until a giant tumbleweed of grey cat hair goes rolling across the kitchen. No I still haven’t gotten a housekeeper.

Then there is Norm. Norm is a beagle mix who adopted us this summer. You have to seriously wonder about anything who would willingly join our family. Obviously the dog has issues. Big ones….besides eating his own feces.

Finally myself. I have gotten progressively crazier. My antidepressants have been increased and I’m now on meds for anxiety. I hardly sleep and you should see how huge my ass has gotten. All I can say is thank god for retail therapy.

Don’t you wish you were here?

Warmest wishes,

Zoe, Mark and Kids

Go elf yourself. Literally. Not the game.

I may have mentioned this before but because I have a tendency to be redundant I am going to mention it again. Mark’s family has a yearly Christmas get together. It is by far not the highlight of my holiday season. This year however I am desperately seeking an excuse to not have to drag my family 60 miles to…get this…sit in Marks aunts’ garage. Yep. Her garage. When she called with the date and time she casually dropped this “Oh, make sure the kids dress warm and in clothes you don’t mind getting dirty since we will be in the garage”. The garage? Are you freaking kidding me? We live in cold, icy, frigid Michigan. Plus doesn't everyone know the only reason I would take my kids to a party is to show off how nicely they clean up? Trying to get out of your own personal holiday mosh pit? Check out the holiday party excuse generator. You can make your excuses silly, polite or down right evil. Make sure to keep an eye on the snowman inside the globe...careful he tries to use his carrot as a weapon!

Away in the manger

The Christmas decorations are up. Well not at my house but at others. I do not decorate outside for the simple fact that it is colder than a witches tit in a brass bra (I have heard that is really damn cold). If that makes me the Grinch so freakin' be it. But I do drive the darlings around to look at other peoples crap...ahh..I mean decorations. Tonight on the way home from a school function we passed a house with a GIANT plastic manger in their front yard.

Peyton: HOLY SHIT! IT'S BABY JESUS! STOP THE CAR MOM SO WE CAN GET OUT AND SEE HIM!!!!

Cade: AWWWW. Peyton said a bad word! If baby Jesus heard you he'll tell God to tell Santa not to bring you any presents! Can we go look at baby Jesus mom????

No. We did not stop. Yes. The language was dealt with. No. I have no clue where he could have heard such a thing. No. I don't think they realized that wasn't the real baby Jesus...seeing as Cade wanted to take him another blanket.

No tricks, just treats

My Mom came over on Halloween to help me get the kids ready. It was much appreciated because Ava was not feeling well and was in rare form. Peyton and Cade were acting like crack addicts in dire need of a fix. Amonte was...where the hell was Amonte??

Anyway. Ava did not really enjoy the "getting ready" party and flatly refused to allow me to put whiskers on her chubby cheeks. Once we got her outside she was perkier than a newly augment breast. She danced around the yard and rolled in the leaves while the boys impatiently waited. At the first house she wasn't too sure...but once she realized you get treats in bucket she was all in. Her brothers were very patient with her and made certain that she was not forgotten if they made it to a door before her. They were polite and Peyton refrained from singing his new fav song "trick or treat smell my feet give something good to eat-if you don't I don't care-I'll pull down your underwear". Nice. Ava signed thank you to everyone and of course added a kiss for good measure which won her lots of "awwws". When it started misting out we headed home with NO complaining. The kids pigged out and handed out some candy to stragglers...mostly teens sans costumes. Heres a peak:

Don't Peyton and Cade look thrilled? But hey no fighting!!!

Ava protesting.

Ava signing thank you.

Partyin' like Ms. Spears

The boys Halloween parties were excessively indulgent. I do believe every parent provided at least one treat...after all it is a contest ya know. There was enough candy at each of them to satisfy a tribe of menstruating women. There's nothing like spending the morning with 18 preschoolers on a total sugar high. Then spending the afternoon with 22 kindergartners hopped up on pixie sticks. Thought I'd share pics of the only partyin' I get to do these days!

Cade at his party. He was not fond of his mask.

When Peyton found a pixie stick he literally screamed "I've got SUGAR!!!"

Ava snatched a cookie off a plate in the blink of an eye. Peyton generously offered his to the victim of her assault.

This was the result of her thievery. Pretty.

I can feel your jealousy radiating through my keyboard.

For your viewing pleasure

Pictures from the great pumpkin carving:

Ava kept putting all the seeds back.

Cade only wanted to throw the guts at Norm.

Peyton gutted his mostly on his own.

And now for the creepiest Pumpkin pic EVERRRR!!!!!

WTF??? Is up with that?

The truly scary pics were the one's Peyton took of my plumbers crack. In appreciation of my not posting them please forward funds to Consumers Energy in my name. They would appreciate payment in full by the end of the week.

Bats in the belfry

We ghosted and then were return ghosted x 4= 4 large Ziplocs of candy.

2 Halloween parties with all parents anxious to participate and out do each other in their generosity= 4 more Ziplocs of candy and a full bucket too.

3 perfectly adorable, well mannered trick or treaters (one who signs thank you and throws in a kiss each time)= 3 giant overflowing plastic pumpkins.

My question is what do I do with all this crap?

I let the kids eat all they wanted last night. Then we brushed their teeth and cleaned out all the Halloween goodies. No more pumpkins, witches or bats..except for a bat that escaped and flew up Cade's nose. Good bye Halloween. Good bye sucrose highs.

Then I brought 2 Ziplocs bags resembling myself stuffed into a swimsuit into work. People have been like "you took all that from your kids? that is sooo mean". Yeah, I'm an evil cavity creep hate monger. I literally have about 20 pounds of tantrum inducing sugar left.

I read an article by a dentist who said let them eat it all in one night and toss the rest. I have friends who give out a piece a night until it is all gone (that would take years). I know other people who let their kids gorge everyday till there is nothing left.

What do you do with the vast amount of goodies brought on by the holidays??? Oh and me eating them is NOT an option.

No Guts and Glory

Monday night the kids and I carved pumpkins. Well I guess I should say I carved pumpkins, Amonte played on the Internet and the rest of the kids fed guts to Norm and flung them at each other.. I printed some templates off the computer and had each kid pick one. Amonte declined to pick so I chose his. Cade of course picked one that required way too much detail (Scooby Doo) but I did my best. Cade refused to scoop guts at all. Peyton scooped the majority of his pumpkin out and the was designated as photographer. He spent most of the time taking pictures of the dogs ass and my but crack in my low rise yoga pants. Nice. Ava was very concerned about the guts and kept picking all of the seeds out and putting them back in the pumpkin. The boys did not appreciate that at all. Two and 1/2 hours later the pumpkins were carved and Norm had licked the last piece of guts off the cabinets and floor. We actually managed to do it with no blood shed. Hmm.

Of course blogger is being a pain in my ass again...so no pics till later. Yes, I Know...I feel your disappointment.

The freaks come out at night

I did it. I did it alone. And I survived. i took the 3 youngest to two...yes count them two Halloween stores to get their costumes. There were NO tears...even when the costume Peyton wasn't was sold out. There was no arguing. No spitting, hitting or biting. A stranger complimented me on how well behaved my children were (ok they were good but not that good..this chick needs to get out more). It was a success. Ok..screw that it was a MIRACLE!

I did not find Ava a costume....seeing as at 20 months I really didn't want her being mistaken for a prostitute and apparently slutty little girl costumes are all the rage. I will be slaving over her costume this weekend.

Peyton and Cade each picked their own. I can not tell you what though because I would rather dazzle you with pics of them in all their glory later. You have been warned.

So this weekend we will be carving pumpkins, finishing up some ghosting and busting out the sewing machine.

I have a new sitter watching the kids for a few hours so I can get out with Lynne in the am for some shopping and lunch. PRAY FOR HER!!!!

Blog at ya later.