"Haunts and Ghouls of every size"

Halloween around our house is always a day long event, and this year was no different. Book Character parade at school, Dad's work, State Street, Church carnival(s), Olive Street & then trick-or-treating. By the time we got home, the sugar had wielded its magic and the jumping, leaping, running, and whining for "one more piece of candy" was inevitable.

I can't help it. I like candy.

Kendall was a blue bird.

Whenever she walked to a door she yelled, "Squawk! Trick-or-Treat"

Zack was a mummy.

He knew every 5th person we walked by on State Street. Including the guy he thinks we saw at Vons the other day. Ryleigh was a pilgrim.
Her costume choice is generally locked in for the following year by Nov. 1st. I'll keep you posted. (She was a 4th grade costume winner in her parade at school today!)

"You Say It's Your Birthday"

Ryleigh turned NINE this weekend!

We invited twelve of her friends over for a great "Hollywood Award" style slumber party on Friday night complete with red carpet, Hollywood hill, LOUD music, fashion shows, spontaneous bouts of giggling, hours and hours of crazy front lawn dancing, tin foil dresses, sparkly nail polish & mass consumption of sparkling drinks. In this case, apple cider.

At many points during the evening's festivities, it looked an awful lot like a college kegger. Those nine year olds can P.A.R.T.Y.

I'm exhausted.

(Yes, Zack was the only boy there. Obviously, it was a downer for him.)

"The flag still stands for freedom"

At this morning's Patriot Day Assembly, Ryleigh did a phenomenal job at her first foray into public speaking.

My 2nd favorite part of the morning was listening to all of the Franklin kids sing "God Bless The USA." When they sang the first verse, they were all a little quiet, but when they got to the chorus and belted out, "And I'm proud to be an American..." they were LOUD and proud and, let me tell you, when the group of kids in front of me put their arms around each other and started swaying and singing, there wasn't a dry eye in the place.

Especially not from this proud mom.

"There are so many colors in a flower, Let's use every one."

The (mostly) true story of Kendall's first day of Pre-school.

Once upon a time, the cutest three year old on the planet got to attend her first day of preschool.

Her enormous pussycat backpack had other ideas.

Kendall had been anxiously but patiently awaiting this day for many months and was not amused.

So she kicked its ass.

And the humbled backpack never again tried to assert itself over Queen Kendall.

The Beginning.

"Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely..."

So, anybody know what this is? Anyone?
Hello?
Bueller?
This, my peeps, is a house sans children.

Yes, it's true. They all went to school today.

All of them together. At school. At the same time.

I don't know what to do with myself.

(Well, besides sit around in my underwear and eat ice cream out of the carton at 7:50 a.m. - but doesn't everybody do that?)

"On a Pot of Gold with a Silver Lining"

We went on a mini vacation to Stateline. We had a really fun time even though a lot of the fun rides were pretty much closed the entire time. Well, I take that back. They DID let us use the water slide for 65 minutes on the day we were leaving before they unceremoniously kicked our butts out of the pool for maintenance. The maintenance they apparently couldn't get done the previous 58 hours the pool was closed. But I digress...

In actuality, it must have cost them a fortune to have us stay there for three days. Since we don't really gamble, and they gave us $160 in free buffets and $340 in free ride wristbands, we didn't spend any money while we were there. (Unless you count the anti-nausea medicine I had to take after going on the virtual roller coaster. I am not young anymore.) SCORE!

"Keep on Rockin' in the Free World"

Aunt Kelly took Ryleigh to her first concert - The Jonas Brothers! When she got home, I asked her how she liked her First. Concert. Ever. She said, "Well, it was really loud."

I have so much to teach that child.