Halloween's not quite over with yet

Sure, Christmas lights are popping up all over the neighborhood and Vicky and I are emailing Thanksgiving recipes back and forth, but on this blog it's still Halloween. I was entertaining Baby Cousin with pictures on my phone and realized that I didn't post the rest of the pictures from the kids' Halloween party at school.  So Happy Halloween!  Again!  

Reina and the donut game.  Will is at the end of the line next to another stormtrooper.  I discovered at this festival that Reina isn't a big fan of games that involve a competition and you can see the reluctance in her face.  I'm thinking, 'hey you get a donut!'  She liked the individual games much more and that's where we spent the rest of the carnival.  Will hung out in the Haunted House which was a classroom converted into a giant cardboard maze.  I say, 'more donuts!' 

The art room was transformed into a pumpkin carving center but instead of carving knives, the kids brandished sharpies.  Reina's pumpkin was transformed into a kitty.  Naturally.  

Little Ms. I-don't-like-competition joined in for the cake walk and won this giant platter of marshmallow treats made with some cereal that wasn't rice krispies.  Fruity pebbles? Whatever they were was delicious!  

Will won a liter of grape soda in the ring toss.  

While I was helping with their Halloween parties later that month, I found Will's self portrait on the wall outside of his classroom. I  think he nailed it.  

Sunday Sunday

Except for not-so-great sports, we had a pretty great weekend.  I've fallen behind in my blog every day goal but this time it's not laziness, but rather too much fun going on.  Everybody is healthy (no jinxing!) and the weather for mid-November was gorgeous.  Yesterday we met Grandma and Pop-pop in Fort Collins for a long lunch and some shopping.  When we came back to town, we had dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday and our anniversary.  Today, we mostly did chores but the kids and I got to go to another friend's birthday rollerskating party.  Broncos Baby Mom even strapped on some skates and look, there's photographic evidence!  

Reina takes her rollerskating very seriously.  

I tried to get a few pictures of Will but they all turned out to be fluorescent orange blurs racing by on rollerblades.  Reina was a trooper, she's not very comfortable on rollerskates but she tried hard and was skating on her own by the end of the party.  She and I had an epic crash during a particularly grueling game of "red light, green light" and I have a wicked bruise on my wrist to illustrate why perhaps 42-yr old's shouldn't strap on rollerskates.  But Reina was unscathed and I think I earned some street cred for getting back up.  Bring on Monday!

10th Anniversary

Ten years ago today, Glenn and I were married on a cold, windy Saturday.  Ten years!  In many ways, it feels like one year, maybe two.  But then I look back and think of all of the adventures we've had in the last decade, the house full of kids' clutter, pictures and little knick-knacks that we bought on trips (chicken salt and pepper shakers, I'm thinking of you). We've accumulated more furniture and yard equipment and a camper and a canoe.  When we first started out, it was just Glenn and me and Canyon in his bachelor pad.  Weekends were spent going to dinner and a movie or hiking in nice weather.  Now we have two kids, two dogs, a cat, a fish, endless chores, Disney movies, soccer games and dinners that have to be on the table in twenty minutes or crankiness abounds.  We don't have enough time in the day to get everything done and sometimes we go too long between date nights.    But we're still here, we're happy and thankful for each other.  Ten years.  Ten happy years that have flown by.  I can't wait to see what the next decade brings.

Stay home day

Who's most excited about a stay home day?  These three!  

I took this picture yesterday morning after we came back from getting Reina a throat culture.  I found out that the school offers strep tests and get the results back to you within a few hours.  What a great way to save a trip to the doctor's office!  Reina's test came back positive so she's home again today, but feeling much better after a dose of antibiotics.  She should be able to go back to school tomorrow, which is good because we are running out of ways to keep her entertained.  Yesterday, I jotted down some of the questions she asked me:  do Egyptians still have cats?  do I think the zombie apocalypse is going to happen, for reals?  What's the zombie apocalypse anyway?  Does everybody have the same moon?  Today she's perkier and has asked to make a video about how to take care of a cat and remember that one time we made a water park for my barbies with all of those buckets, can we do that again?  Bronco Baby Mom needs a nap.

Sunday

So Sunday.  Reina went to bed with a low fever and woke up with a bigger one.  She crawled into bed with us in the wee hours of the morning and I could feel the heat radiating off of her before I even touched her forehead.  So she's back under the weather and it's been about three weeks since the last bug made her miss a Monday of school.  She and I are probably going to the doctor tomorrow but we'll see how she is in the morning.  So my Sunday plans of errands and yard work and other excitement were put on hold for Reina snuggling, housework and inside chores.

Glenn shot an elk yesterday.  He came home last night with half of the elk and took a friend back today to get the rest of it and bring it home.   I told him when he came back that he had to take a kid and a dog with him on the second trip.  The hike to the elk was pretty tough for any of the kid members of the family but he did take Tootsie. (Special message for Trigger - if you'd stop being such a blankety-blank off of the leash, you might get to go on elk pack-outs too.)   According to Glenn, Tootsie had a great time, never ran off and chased a few rabbits. She's been a snoring, semi-comatose canine since they arrived home.

Trigger says, "So I'm stuck here with you people and the cat?  Great."
Coco says, "whooo-hooo!" 

In between what felt like a mountain of chores to get through today, we made Star Wars jello jigglers because of course we did!  It actually turned out pretty fortuitous because jello was one of the things Reina was most interested in eating, along with 'not feeling good' staples like chicken noodle soup, apple juice and .... Halloween candy.  Funny how that works.

My career as a professional food photographer is still in the infant stages.  

50th day of school

One of us opted out of the 50's celebration because it would involve wearing jeans to school.  

Yesterday was the 50th day of school, and as a celebration, the kids were encouraged to wear clothes from the 1950's.  Reina and I bought the material and a pre-made poodle for the skirt several weeks ago but with Halloween, work stuff and other priorities, (okay, football.  Watching a Broncos game with a mouth full of pins or even a needle in one hand is a dangerous combination) the project was put on the back burner until the night before.  Parenting plus -  I'm teaching the kids about the danger of procrastination.  When it was all done, we had one slightly uneven pink felt poodle skirt and a happy 50's girl.  Reina pulled the ensemble together with a white polo shirt and a high ponytail and ribbons. She wanted saddle shoes but apparently those are hard to find the night before (in your own house). As part of the school celebration, they had a sock hop and several of us are still doing the twist whenever the urge strikes.  I'm hoping there isn't a 60's celebration next week.  

Musings

(Musings:  Fancy word for a collection of random thoughts that I'm going to count as a blog post tonight.  It's also one of Will's vocabulary words this week along with sultry, downy, and clamoring.) 

We had our first snow overnight.  It's one of the latest first snowfalls on record for our corner of the state.  We've enjoyed a beautiful extended fall but we need the moisture and I need a reason to clean up the rest of the yard and garden stuff.  We were all pretty excited to see the white stuff. I took Coco outside for Kitten's First Official Snow Experience and it made her paws cold.  

Tomorrow is the 50th day of school so the kids are encouraged to dress like the 1950's.  Reina requested a poodle skirt a few weeks ago so we trekked off to the fabric store for skirt material, a pre-made poodle, new scissors that are designated for only sewing projects (for as long as that lasts), threat and little tiny cotton balls that Reina had big plans for but Coco has since found and claimed for her own.  Tonight we cut and sewed and glued and the skirt is ready to go.  I asked Will what he wanted to do and he said "jeans."  Works for me buddy! 

Reina told Glenn and I that she should probably start thinking about who she wants to marry.  We told her that she has plenty of time to decide.  After thinking for a few minutes, she told us that she wants to marry a fluffy, white kitten.  Works for me sister!