Raptors!

We made a stop to check into our hotel, which was right by the lake.  At least it was a decent day so we had a little bit of a view...

The boys ate their chocolate and then Jacob snacked on some leftover chicken bites from lunch, so at that point we decided that it was probably easier to skip our planned dinner at Wahlburger's (for a few reasons), and just head straight over to the arena.  We wanted to look in the store in the arena, as well as across the street, and we wanted to pick up our tickets before the rush.  Jacob was very interested to see where our seats were, and when we looked at the map, they looked promising!

After shopping we had a bit of a wait to get in, but once we did we were thrilled with our seats!  My sister-in-law works for the NBA and was able to get us tickets, and they were definitely much better than we'd ever be able to afford!

Going to an NBA game was a first for me.  Craig went to one while on a lacrosse road trip years ago, and then he and Jacob went to the preseason game this fall.  I had never been to one, and I was fascinated by how the flow and vibe of the game was so different than any other sport.  Maybe because it's in a hockey arena I expected it to be more like hockey?  I don't know.  It wasn't bad, just different!  There were trainers out during warm-ups helping players with agility, and everything just seemed much more casual.  And there was a DJ!  Plus another one in the team store!

We were all just happy to be there--especially that kid in the jersey on the right... :)

Everyone was excited to see this guy, because we had two stuffed versions at home.  For some reason I expected him to be bigger, but I wasn't expecting his tail to project quite that much.  That thing looks like a weapon!  One of the highlights of our night was a promo where two guys were dressed in sumo suits and had to run around the Raptor to put their ball in a barrel.  The Raptor showed no mercy and was actively body slamming and running at the guys at full speed.  How no one got hurt and the Raptor's head stayed on, we'll never know!

They did the anthem and some fireworks, and instead of just starting the game, there were more warm-ups.  That was one notable difference compared to hockey, which starts immediately.

The mascot was banging the drum to get everyone fired up...

...and then the game got going.  It was cool seeing the players in person.  So many are so tall, and really great athletes running up and down the court.  The strategy of subbing players in and out was also a notable difference compared to other sports.

Wizards' foul shot

Raptors' foul shot

 

This guy played for the school that Jacob is hopefully going to next year!

While Craig was off paying for souvenirs around halftime, we had to take selfies!

At one point during the game, our most hotly asked question was answered...Drake was the in the house!  (For those unaware, he's a famous rapper who happens to be a Raptors superfan!)

Even though both kids have stuffed Raptors, we added one more.  I know, I know.  It's an early Christmas present...and it made a kid happy!

Fred VanVleet dribbling

And after a very close game, the Raptors won!

It had been a great night and we were so happy to have been able to go!

Luckily we had a short walk back to the hotel, and everyone went down without a battle.  The next day was a rainy one and we slowly made our way home while stopping to shop.  We wanted to check out a couple stores to see if we could get some Raptors gear cheap, and managed to find both destinations at the same mall.  And then, just before the border, we stopped at the mecca...

Toys 'R' Us may have closed in the U.S., but it's still hanging in there in Canada.  After resigning myself to never having that store experience again, it was surreal to be there.  I'm not going to lie, I missed it!  We had fun adding things to Christmas lists (and sneaking one purchase), and then it was time to head home.

It was a tiring weekend, and even with one day to recover and get going on Christmas décor (the house is done, the tree is not--and remained not done all week), it was tough to go back to work on Monday.  We had another busy week, and now we're back to another busy weekend.  It seems the Christmas rush is on!

My First Market

Probably 15 or more years ago I discovered German Christmas markets.  I don't remember how exactly, though I assume I was looking at some of my favorite webcams in Germany and noticed that a lot of the ones in public squares were full of activity in December--lights, vendors, and tons of people.  I was instantly smitten and made it my mission to track down as many Christmas market webcams as possible.  I found that they extended far beyond Germany into many other European countries, and to this day, I often spend some of my lunch hour this time of year poking around to look at my favorite webcams.  The markets look so charming and beautiful and fun, and someday I need to get over to Europe to do a few.  But...it turns out I didn't have to go quite that far to get a little taste of the experience.

A couple weeks ago I noticed something on my cousin's girlfriend's Facebook about a Toronto Christmas Market.  Knowing we were planning on visiting Toronto over Thanksgiving weekend, I eagerly clicked through and couldn't believe my eyes--it looked like a real Christmas market!  I mean, look, Rochester's doing a holiday village type thing this year that sounds similar, but in most cases it seems like few of these things live up to any sort of semblance of what the European ones have.  But this one looked amazing!  So, I made it my mission to get there.

We drove to Toronto around mid-morning on Friday.  We originally tried to grab lunch at a mall in Mississauga where there was a Chipotle, but who knew that despite not being the day after a holiday in Canada, everyone was doing some hardcore Black Friday shopping.  The mall was a madhouse and we literally could not get a parking spot.  We drove around for probably 20 minutes and had no luck.  It was pretty awful, actually.  So soon we gave up and looked for a Pizza Pizza, and found one not far away.  By this point I was stressed out that we'd never make it to the market with enough time to walk around before we had to grab dinner and head to our main event later in the evening.  But we ate our lunch and headed right downtown.  Luckily traffic wasn't bad and the weather was pleasant--cold, but sunny.  Upon arrival at the convenient nearby parking lot, we bundled up and walked to the market.  It was a lovely sight to behold...

I really wish I could have seen this at night.  Not only would the lights have been amazing, but more vendors would have been open and I can only imagine the feel would have been magical.  Alas, only a daytime trip was in the cards for us--which is just as well because it's ticketed on Friday night and all weekend so I would have been stressed about timing and availability, and annoyed when the kids wanted to leave five minutes in after paying to get in.  It was cold, but we managed.

I never even knew the Distillery District existed, and what an awesome area it is!  Cool old buildings, all restored to house shops, bars, and restaurants.  There's a lot of interesting public art, and it made for the perfect Toronto-ized version of an old-school Christmas market.

It had vendor booths just like in Europe, plus a "days to Christmas" countdown--it was 32 when we were there.

The tree was hard to appreciate in the daylight, but it was pretty nonetheless.

It was a nice opportunity to try to get some pictures of the kids.  Don't be surprised if something like this ends up on our Christmas card...

Well, maybe not this one...

Because it was daytime a lot of the alcohol vendors weren't open (including the Tyskie kiosk, much to Craig's disappointment--it's a Polish beer, in case you didn't know).  This stand (for a different kind of beer) looked like it would be a fun one, though!

Note the beer can wreaths on the front!

Who can withstand the lure of a silly photo op?  Clearly not my kids!

The charm was everywhere at the market.  This turkey leg/pretzel/cider stand made the German in me smile :)

There were also a couple rides, though at $5 a pop, we passed.  Remember, it was in the 30s, so the cool breeze would not have been a welcome side effect!

Like I mentioned, the old architecture in the Distillery District was really cool.  Note the Gooderham & Worts name in the pictures below.  Apparently it was once the largest distiller in Canada, producing whisky.  The area dates back to the mid-1800s and is now a national historic site.

There were numerous little alleyways to venture down, each with different shops and vendors.  Were it not for Jacob's gluten issues and the chilly weather, we certainly would have explored a bit more thoroughly!  Some of the food looked amazing!

Outside a sports store, we saw these fun sculptures...

I just loved this sign.  Again, don't be surprised if it shows up in a Christmas card...

There were lots of little photo ops throughout the market, but this one happened to be free when we passed by, and who better to wear the wings? (Haha)

It was fun to pretend we were in Europe (and certainly Toronto's not a bad spot to pretend given the diversity), but it was neat to see the CN Tower in the background and remember just how close to home this fun actually was!

We were starting to get cold and the kids were eager to get to our fancy hotel (yay for a good deal) and eat the NHL-themed chocolate eggs (with a tiny toy prize inside) that we got at the sports store with the cool sculptures.  But there's always time for another photo op...

As we started heading back to our van and I was trying to take a picture up this alleyway, Carter saw me with the camera and posed.  Of course, I'll always take a picture of a smiling kid!

One last shot before we headed out.  Oh, how I wished it was a little darker!  The lights lined the buildings but the daylight just didn't do it justice!

I'm so happy I got to see the market, and now I know that in future years, if I see a period of oddly warm weather coming along in December, I will make it a point for Craig and I to do an overnight in Toronto so we can get the full effect of the market at night--both with the lights and a little partaking of what the Distillery District specializes in--without freezing our butts off!  It was so nice to get a little taste of what a real European Christmas market might be like, and just confirmed that I still really want to check one out--albeit with really warm boots and gloves! 

But for now it was off to the hotel and the real reason for our trip--Raptors basketball!

Little Bits of Gratefulness

Full disclosure: I started writing this post sometime last week, and it was such a busy week that I never finished it.  I don't feel right about jumping to Thanksgiving without finishing it up...so without further ado...

So, it's Thanksgiving week and I'm so grateful that the 3-4 weeks of blah that usually follow Halloween have been busy enough and relatively painless.  Yes, we've had cold weather, lots of rain, and even some snow.  Yes, work has been hectic as usual and the kids are making us crazy.  But aside from a couple weekends where we didn't have many plans and the kids got a little rowdy, all is well.  I guess I can't complain about that.

Lately I've been trying to be grateful for the little things.  I guess watching wildfires ravage California (on the heels of hurricanes hitting down south) and seeing from afar so many lives touched by gun violence this fall, you realize just how much worse things could be.  My mom had shoulder surgery on Tuesday, and while everything was expected to be fine, there's always that twinge of "what if".  Fortunately, everything was fine (though a long road ahead!), but I'm thankful my biggest problem is worrying about what could go wrong...and usually doesn't!

I've tried to find the silver lining more often lately.  I have done it in the past, too, like when our Jacob problems seemed insurmountable and then I thought about what parents with true special needs kids go through.  Or when he got his Celiac diagnosis and life seemed unfair, until I realized that this isn't life-threatening on a daily basis like a nut allergy would be.  But lately I've made an effort to be grateful through things like dishwashing because I have a family to cook for and a kitchen to cook in, or thankful while I vacuum because I have a house that needs cleaning (and a truly wonderful vacuum with which to do it now!).  I'm grateful through kid dramas because I have kids at all.  I'm grateful for my husband, kids, home, job, and extended family, and know that at any moment something could be taken away, so I shouldn't take for granted the relative normalcy we enjoy every day--even if the moments that make it up can be challenging at times. 

I try to be grateful and content, and teach my kids to do the same, but I admit that I'm not always great at it.  I get a little mad at myself when I add yet another article of clothing to my large wardrobe built almost entirely through amazing sale or clearance purchases because I should be grateful for what I have.  But then I find some part of my wardrobe that stresses me out--I'd like fashionable boots that work in the snow, or colored skinny jeans so I have more than just gray pants to wear with black tops.  Then I feel compelled to get something to fix that issue, and I'm not sure if it's an ungrateful compulsion or if it's a legit stressor that's good to take care of.  So, while that's something I struggle with, I try to be mindful of remaining thankful.

I guess this week was good timing for all of this to be on my mind.  Thanksgiving offered up some good times to be reminded of how much I have to be thankful for.  I was off on Wednesday with the kids, and then all of us went to Buffalo later in the afternoon.  Earlier in the day, it looked like this:

It would have been perfect to decorate for Christmas, but alas, it's against my rules to do it before Thanksgiving.  I had plenty of packing to do, anyway.

Once we got into town, we grabbed dinner for the kids and left them with Craig's mom and a couple of their cousins so we could spend some time at a downtown bar on our annual Thanksgiving Eve outing to remember Craig's Uncle Mike, who passed away four years ago.  We had a great time with his aunts, uncles, and cousins before we had to retrieve the kids and head to my parents' house to sleep over.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a great night of sleep for most of us.  My mom was on the La-Z-Boy because of her shoulder, and she had a machine running to keep cold water flowing over the shoulder.  I slept on the couch (since we only have two twin beds and a crib mattress there), and after eating fried food at the bar that didn't settle entirely well, I woke up at 2:30 and never really went back to sleep.  While that machine should have been white noise, it didn't help matters, and I guess it was the perfect storm to stay awake.  I was oddly comfortable, and even though my stomach was off, it wasn't painful, and yet I couldn't seem to fall asleep.  Craig had a headache overnight, so in the morning when I decided to get up and go to church, he stayed in bed.  I got the kids ready and we went to church with my dad.  It was my friend Heather's birthday and I wanted to see her there, and clearly there's no better place to be on Thanksgiving.

I had offered to cook Thanksgiving for my parents, but my mom wasn't sure how she'd be feeling by that point so they passed.  They did have a turkey dinner recently and saved some leftovers to have their own little meal, though.  It was nice to spend a little time with them, but soon after we took off for Craig's family's meal.  We had a really great time with them--so much amazing food and lots of laughter.  We spent a few hours in a food coma, and eventually made our way back to my parents' house for another night.  This time I slept in a twin bed with Jacob, and it went a bit better even though Carter's snoring is really bad right now.  We still managed pretty well, and by 10:30, we were off on our big adventure for the weekend: Toronto!

Tuesday Photo Fun

I realized I never shared a couple pics from two weekends ago, and Sunday's post didn't really lend itself to pictures, so I figured I'd do a round-up here.

I mentioned a couple posts ago that two weekends ago I went to spend a little time with my parents.  They're currently traveling and my mom is having surgery next week, so I figured I'd come for a day before all of that got going.  My mom had set aside my graduation gown from high school for me to take home (hello, Halloween box), but I knew I had more there so I also brought home my college graduation gown, my prom dress, and my bridesmaid gown from my brother's wedding.  When I got home I decided I needed to try the latter two on, just to see if they even fit.  The bridesmaid dress was very snug and I had to be careful zipping it.  It's really just my upper body, oddly, so either my chest is that much bigger, or I put on a disproportionate amount of weight in my back and shoulders, or I'm just that much stronger from years of lifting children and doing housework.  Take your pick.  The dress wasn't as flattering anymore, but at least it fit!  That was 18 years ago, after all.  As for the prom dress, I caught a break because the dress is a halter and the zipper only went about halfway up my back, just to the point where I normally have trouble zipping.  It, too, was tight, but if I wore some Spanx I'd probably be fine!  I couldn't help but snap a pic just to prove that a dress I wore at 17 still fits my 40-year-old body...

I can't say I plan to wear either anytime soon, but it was fun anyway!

We had one nice day that weekend where I was able to go out and finally break down my garden.  Between the cold, the rain, and the early darkness over the past month, I just hadn't been able to do it.  As I pulled out the fencing and worked my way through a mile of cucumber vines, I found the only two viable cukes those vines produced this year, along with a bounty of additional grape tomatoes!  Somehow they all survived the cold!  The cukes were little, only about three inches long, but they were perfect for a couple salads!  The tomatoes are still ripening.

I also managed to get my pumpkin seeds roasted that weekend.  I had a ton from our two pumpkins and ended up trying them four ways:

1) Cinnamon sugar (top) - cinnamon, sugar, salt, and butter
2) Montreal (left) - I had some Montreal Chicken seasoning and figured it was made up of flavors I'd use anyway, so I just used that with some olive oil
3) Salt (right) - Primarily seasoned salt and olive oil, with some coarse sea salt
4) Savory (bottom) - This was a Pinterest recipe with some regular seasonings and Worcestershire sauce

They're all good, actually.  Jacob says the salt ones are his favorite, and I think Carter liked the savory ones.  I probably prefer the savory ones for my palette among the non-sweet ones, but the cinnamon sugar ones are addictive!  The glaze ended up perfect and the salt gives them just the right balance.  So good!  I have one small batch of squash seeds and am currently weighing my options.  I need to do it fast before they mold!

This past Saturday the weather was pretty miserable.  It was cold and windy.  So, when Sunday actually featured slightly more moderate temps and a tiny bit of sun, we had to get outside!  Carter had played in leaves at school last week and really wanted a leaf pile to jump in.  So, rather than letting Craig just mow over the leaves, I raked a giant pile for him.  That is love, folks.

I actually raked up another one in case the boys wanted to play when they were off on Monday, and I managed to clean out our flower bed, too.  It's amazing how leaves will pack in there with 40+ mile-per-hour winds!  We also played some family football, at Jacob's request.  It's always a bit challenging as Carter takes offense to everything and Craig is at least a head taller than everyone and I'm not the most athletic and Jacob has some very specific ideas of how things should go.  Oh, and we'd like to escape without injury, too.  We played for a half hour or so, with many touchdowns scored between us.  Jacob and I trailed by a touchdown during the last drive of the game, and in the end Jacob insisted he got the ball across the plane of the end zone, but without instant replay it's tough to know for sure.  He suggested a Go Pro camera for next time.  Yup.

While we played ball, this lovely thing was cooling off inside...

Ahhhh, my mom's crustless crumb-top apple pie recipe.  I can't seem to perfect the recipe just yet as I think I used a little too much liquid, but it still tastes wonderful, even gluten-free!

So, now we're in the home stretch to Thanksgiving.  We can't wait, for a lot of reasons--most of which involve being off of work/school.  We have a lot of lacrosse going on in the meantime, with Jacob playing games for his winter club team on Friday and his new box league team on Monday, then practicing for the club team on Tuesday.  It's a bit of a challenge keeping him interested since he'd rather be playing basketball, but we're managing.  His club team had a really rough first game last Friday, which was a little surprising until we found out their goalie doesn't want to play goal anymore!  His box team lost last night, but he had a lot of fun and really likes his teammates.  He even got to take a penalty shot!  He didn't score, but it was fun to watch.  We just need for him to get his confidence back after a rough eight months or so, and I think the love of the game will come back with it. 

And Carter...well, he's developing quite the interesting personality.  Sometimes he makes us crazy, but I'm so thankful for that snuggly, sweet, silly boy!

Thanksgiving, indeed...

Small Victories

We didn't do much this weekend.  We went to Jacob's lacrosse game on Friday night, and church on Sunday morning, but in between seemed to be a whole lot of down time.  That can always be problematic around our house, since the boys tend to argue about the TV, Craig's phone, their toys, and whatever sport they may attempt to play.  When we're home, there's a lot of that.  But the weather was cold and particularly yucky on Saturday, so it wasn't like there was much we could do outside.  I also had to take my car in for an inspection and oil change on Sunday, so that was limiting too.

We can get to the end of a weekend like this and feel like we didn't do anything, but when that happens, I need to remind myself of the stuff I/we did do.  So...

1. We went to Jacob's lacrosse game.
2. I read newspapers/mail.
3. I figured out that Carter's snow pants fit but Jacob's don't.  I proved Jacob also needs new boots, which I already knew, but he insisted was false.
4. I found a pair of boots online that he likes, though I did not order them (yet--he always reserves the right to change his mind).
5. I went to Walmart and bought two medicines we needed, snow pants for Jacob, and light bulbs to replace one in our kitchen ceiling fan. (I was not, however, able to buy one for our front entry light, as I realized I wasn't sure which type it was.)  I also found promising new underwear there since Target hasn't had my beloved clearance undies lately.
6. I exchanged Carter's sneakers that fell apart after a month.
7. I went to Kohl's and found two pairs of knit capri leggings for 78 cents each, and a long sleeved shirt I can dress up or down for less than $5.  I also picked out a winter coat, though I realized that I had a coupon for $10 more off that started Sunday, so I opted to wait on that one.
8. The boys set up a floor hockey rink in the basement.
9. We all had a dinner of our choice (courtesy of one of our pick-your-own-drive-thru nights).
10. We dropped off my car at the mechanic before church.
11. We still got to church on time.  Bonus points that the sermon was a great Veterans' Day one.
12. I vacuumed the kitchen, entry, and part of the living room, and Wet Swiffered the kitchen.
13. I baked an apple pie.
14. Craig secured the pool cover and mowed part of the lawn (he didn't do the whole thing because of #15).
15. I raked a bunch of leaves in the front yard so Carter could jump in them.
16. I cleaned the leaves and some dead stuff out of our front flower bed.
17. I cut a few more branches off our front tree in an ongoing effort to make its canopy higher.  It previously was too low to mow under.
18. I jumped in the leaves with Carter.
19. I ordered the Kohl's winter coat online (saved $50), and for an extra $5ish for three pairs of earrings (including a rose gold pair to finally match a necklace I have), I got an extra $10 of Kohl's Cash, for a total of $15 for next week. I'll pick the order up at the store in the next few days.
20. Jacob constructed a giant football stadium complex using mostly Lego, Oyo, Lincoln Logs, and magnetic tiles.  The living room is a mess but I'll count not losing my sh** about it as a win.
21. We all played family football in the front yard, per Jacob's request.  Jacob and I lost by a touchdown, but if you ask him, we tied.  We needed instant replay to know for sure.
22. The boys dropped me off to my car.  Bonus points for getting the mechanic to put on my registration sticker.  I hate that job in cold weather.
23. I ran back to Walmart to return the snow pants that Jacob didn't like, check that the bulbs I got were the best option (and buy more so they'll all match, if they were the right ones--which they were), and get the right ones for our front entry.
24. I remembered to put out the garbage and the recycling.
25. I changed two lightbulbs.
26. I cleaned the front entry light fixture, which I'm pretty sure I haven't done in the eight-plus years we've lived here.  Oops.
27. I did a whole sinkful of dishes.
28. I made a yummy dinner, one from Pinterest that was a previous winner.  Well, Carter doesn't like it, but he loved his sandwich.
29. I moved more warmer weather clothes out of my closet to make room for heavier winter stuff, since the cold weather is imminent. 
30. I did Carter's laundry (and added a pair of my pants I bought last week that didn't wash well, in an effort to see if that was a fluke.  I'm hopeful, but at least I'm one step closer to knowing if I need to return them).
31. I looked through Carter's backpack before the end of the weekend.
32. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and finished off with some weights and abs.
33. I put Carter to bed.  He not only told me that if I need him to help with cleaning (ideally in the kitchen as he likes using the hand broom), to just ask.  Then he prayed for my smell to come back, ideally as my Christmas gift.  Sweet kid.
34. I thoroughly enjoyed my apple pie.
35. I wrote a blog post.

So...35 little victories.  Not too shabby.  So many of them seem like mundane little things, but each one is one less thing I need to do later.  The bad news is that there's a really long list still waiting, but one thing at a time.  Next up--survive Monday!

News and Notes, November Blahs Edition

Well, it's November.  The weather has felt like November for weeks, it seems.  Cold, rainy, and generally crappy.  When we get a sunny day it feels miraculous.  We lucked out with a warm-ish evening on Halloween, and it was pleasant on Saturday.  It's actually warm-ish again today, but windy.  But it's rained a lot, at least some almost every day, and it's getting old.  Not that I want snow, either, but this is already getting depressing, and the leaves aren't even off the trees yet.  They're rapidly starting to fall, though.  I'm just bummed we never got out to see the leaves this year!

Last weekend I got to spend Saturday with my parents.  I think I was craving some old school time with my mom by going to the bazaar at the church she grew up in.  I have fond memories of going there with her and my grandma, so it's always nice to go back.  I also needed the dish scrubbies that I know they always sell, so that was a nice bonus!  We did lunch with my dad and then my mom and I went back out to a large indoor garage sale and then down the street to a shop that's owned by my dad's cousin and his wife that's essentially a massive garage sale itself.  I think it gets a lot of estate sale leftovers, but there was literally a little bit of everything!  The place had so much stuff that it actually made me a little anxious.  I've become very sensitive to "stuff" lately.  I mean, you'd never know it if you looked around my house, but clutter is really bothering me these days.  Of course, wastefulness does too, so I'm not one of those people who gets a dumpster and clears out the house, but I crave efficiency and organization so when the house is a mess, it's unsettling for me.  When the house was clean for the party last week, it felt so good and I felt so content.  Things are now back to a bit of chaos (there are hundreds of Legos on the floor, for example), but I just need to keep up with things as much as I can and slowly but surely work through the bigger problems.  We need to go through all of the toys and books sometime before Christmas so we can make room for new toys we're sure to get.  There are some younger toys and things that don't get played with much, so it's a matter of packing away the stuff we don't need and moving things around if there are things we'd like to get more use.  It was good to see the creativity come out when we had a clean, clear floor, and I think we just need to find ways to let that continue.  Anyway, it was sort of validating to walk through that store with everything and not feel compelled to buy anything because we have enough!

Speaking of Christmas, I can't even begin to think about how I'll be putting up a tree in less than three weeks!  I'm trying to get organized with my gift list, and if I'm lucky I'll actually start buying stuff one of these days!  It's going to be a bit of an abnormal holiday season.  My mom is having shoulder surgery in a couple weeks, right before Thanksgiving, so that's going to impact that holiday (and yes, I offered to cook, but my mom figures she'll still be miserable and declined), and she probably won't be able to do all of her usual Christmas decorating either!  After that we're hopefully taking a little trip to Toronto, which will be great but will impact my usual decorating schedule, which always throws me off.  We also have a potential weekend of fun coming up in December courtesy of Craig's work (but at the moment I'll believe it when I see it) and an early Christmas celebration with my brother and his kids.  It'll be a very busy time, but the kids are already getting excited and to some degree, I am too!

I was only able to blog today because I'm home sick.  I woke up congested yesterday and it only got worse as the day went on with a headache and post-nasal drip, and by the evening it was clear it wasn't just a fluke and my usual zinc regimen wasn't enough.  I had an important work thing tonight so I opted to stay home today so I could rest up and be fresh and ready for that later tonight.  And yes, I voted along the way!  Hopefully this will be short-lived, though--mama ain't got time for this!  A quiet day home alone isn't the worst thing in the world, honestly, but this was definitely not how I preferred to do it!  Especially because I'm already working around all of the days off the kids have been in the midst of lately!  They had a half day and full day a week apart for parent-teacher conferences, then Veterans' Day on Monday and three days around Thanksgiving.  We're still figuring out who's with them when, but it's nice to know we have a little break, too.  I still have a lot of vacation days to schedule, but too much work to do, so we'll see what I can cram in!  I do feel much better tonight than I did this morning, so either the zinc or a full day of rest did a good job.

Tonight we're just watching the election results and seeing how the next two years might shake out.  I've pretty much settled as an Independent (if you could have seen my ballot tonight...), but no one really seems to full represent me so it's still a tough decision.  But really, I just need to go to bed.  Sorry this wasn't really a riveting update--guess no news is good news?--but I like to check in once a week anyway and this is what came out.  Hang in there, everyone...

A Happy Halloween!

Halloween always seems to be a bit of a crapshoot around our house.  Between costume drama, sugar, classroom activities, weather, and whatever else, someone is always bound to be in a mood.  It's a busy day for everyone, and inevitably it goes awry somewhere along the way.  But you know, this one actually turned out pretty good!

We got the kids' costumes handled in a busy couple days the prior week, but I was panicking leading up to Wednesday because I didn't have a costume for work (and this year I really wanted to since I didn't last year).  We also got the pumpkins last minute over the weekend, which left minimal time for carving considering Jacob had lacrosse practice two nights in a row and I had many errands to run.  But finally, later Tuesday night, we had these! 

Note that the big one has ears!

Carter actually took some interest in carving for a change.  He helped me sort seeds a bit and gave me artistic direction for the little one.  Jacob almost seemed interested in the big guy, but aside from saying he wanted a classic face (though apparently this wasn't classic enough), he skipped out.  Sigh.  But they got done and I now have hundreds of seeds to roast.  Time to experiment, I guess!

My costume also came down to the wire.  I dragged Carter all over the place on Monday trying to figure out an easy costume to go with the "garden" theme at work (as we work in the "Garden Suite", a.k.a. the ground floor).  I entertained thoughts of a bee or a butterfly, or maybe a flower or flower pot.  But with our busy weekend and so much other stuff going on, nothing of substance was going to happen.  I ran out at lunch on Tuesday for a last-ditch effort at Target and found a pair of flowy monarch butterfly wings for $10.  SOLD.

That night I sat down with an old headband and dug through my bounty of random craft supplies.  Many are leftovers from my own projects, but a bunch is stuff that I pulled off of Jacob's and Carter's daycare craft projects after photographing them and prior to tossing them.  I kept anything salvageable--buttons, plastic shapes, foam shapes, pipe cleaners, beads, googly eyes--just in case we needed random stuff for a project.  I dug out an orange pipe cleaner that I cut in half, and instead of the pom poms I expected to use, I found two black foam circles, almost like mini hockey pucks, that I had salvaged off of one of Jacob's projects.  I was able to just stick the pipe cleaners in to them, no glue needed, and voila, antennae!

I simply dressed in all black, and the end result was this:

And here was my little addition to the garden décor...

The trellis came from a Mother's Day gift basket from Craig's team owners, and my little Rocky fits the garden theme, too.  I couldn't resist sticking the pumpkin on his arm!

We had a fun day at work, from morning donuts to touring all of the different departments' themes, then enjoying a creepy dessert buffet and the kids' trick-or-treating parade in the afternoon.  Too much food, but it was a lot of fun.  I came home in the rain, picked up pizza for dinner, and then got the pumpkins out and the kids fed and ready for trick-or-treating.  It was pouring by then, but we had to get ready!  But first...pictures!

Both of these cracked me up so much that I had to include both...

This is my favorite, though!

I had to catch a picture of Carter's inflatable pack that was almost as big as him!

It stopped raining just as we headed out, and it turned into a fabulous evening.  It was actually about 10 degrees warmer than most nights (or even days) lately, in the mid 50s.  We worked our way around the neighborhood, heading to the next street over, toward a couple fun houses we went to last year and another one I heard about via a thread on Facebook.  The kids made out like bandits at the first few houses, I think because there weren't many kids around then and people were having them take handfuls!  I was amused by the things people said to the kids, and we had a blast just walking together...probably because the boys were getting along!  We finally got to the first cool house that was a favorite last year.  It was equally awesome this year.

The man who answered the door is older, and it amazed us to think he did all of this!

As we walked down the street, we saw the coolest thing I have ever seen during trick or treating.  There was a golf cart, all lit up with lights.  It had four older women on board, maybe in their 60s.  They were all wearing glow stick glasses and other accessories.  I'm pretty sure a couple were partaking of a beverage, and one was holding a bucket of candy.  Instead of having the kids come to them at home, they brought the candy to the kids!  It was hilarious and they looked like they were having such a blast!  Definitely on my old lady bucket list now!

The Facebook one that was further down the street had all the bells and whistles, but it also had a "For Sale" sign in the front yard!  Boo, indeed.  As we walked toward our street, we noticed another good house just past our turn, so we headed there.  By this point Carter was getting tired and his pumpkin was almost full, so we knew we were winding down.  But this house looked too cool to skip.  And sure enough, it was impressive.  The whole front yard was decorated, but more impressive was the entire garage full of stuff!

There was an elderly woman standing inside the front door of this house pointing at the bucket next to the door with candy.  I noticed it was sitting on what appeared to be a dummy, but of course when Carter went to get candy it became clear it was not a dummy!  It moved, and he was totally thrown off by it and was eager to leave.  As he pushed into me to leave, I bumped into someone standing directly behind me.  Creepily, it was a guy in the scariest mask--a guy we had seen wandering alone on the sidewalk down the street earlier.  The kids wondered then why he was there, seemingly watching us, and that only intensified once he was standing right behind me.  They asked why he was following us!  I'll admit it even creeped me out, but then I noticed there were a few other random masked wanderers in the driveway and I think it was all a part of a very elaborate (if misguided) act.  Even still, we didn't waste much time getting back on the walk home.  By then Carter really had to pee, so we managed that (thanks to a bush), had one more odd encounter with a talkative teenager, and both boys hit up a few more houses (Jacob more than Carter) before heading home for the night.  We had a really great time!  Craig, on the other hand, had very little action at home--only 12 kids!  Our street is terrible now!

When we got home and settled, the boys were eager to survey their loot!

Before the night was over, I had to snap a picture of my full costume, mostly because I knew my mom wanted to see it and I figured my previous picture wasn't sufficient.  And I really like those wings!

All in all, it was a great holiday.  Last year was a bust as work was stressful and it was the day after my cousin's young son passed away in a terrible accident.  It was not a good day, as I was in shock and definitely not feeling festive, so it was nice to get back to a good time this year (even if I was remaining prayerful for my cousin's family in the process).  Next year I need to get working on Halloween sooner, mostly because Jacob has hit his limit on what the Halloween store offers.  Everything is either too young, too weird, or too creepy, so we need to find a good Pinterest project to get him costumed for next year.  Good thing we have 360+ days to figure it out!

Now it's November and it's on to the next big thing.  Jacob's lacrosse season is getting started, Craig's season will be starting soon, we have a trip to Toronto in the works, and Thanksgiving is less than three weeks away.  And we all know what comes after that!  Here we go...