Trick-Or-Treat!

Trick-Or-Treat night has ended.  Molly ate 20+ pieces of candy in less than 2 hours.  Ross is sitting in the living room eating a bowl of ice cream topped with caramel sauce and chocolate syrup, Maisie is crying that she didn't get dessert.  Huh?


We carved pumpkins last night.

This was my favorite one.

I tried my best to get a shot of the 3 kids together in their costumes.  But this was the best I could do.  They weren't into getting pictures taken tonight. 

See what I mean?

Quote of the night by Sugar Plum:
Me: "Hey darlin', did you have a good time tonight?"
Maisie: "yep"
Me: "What was your favorite part?"
Maisie: "Halloween"

Pretty much sums things up.
 

Pumpkin Patch

Whew, we made it to the pumpkin patch just in the nick of time.  The Pumpkin Ranch would be closing for the season at 5:00 on Sunday.  We got there at 4:00.  We like to keep things challenging like that.


Mike and Maisie on the hayrack out to the pumpkins.

One of the perks of being at the Pumpkin Patch during their last hour of the season is that many of the pumpkins are rotten. As far as were concerned, it makes for some awesome pumpkin stomping.  Mike started it.

 

Molly was certain she wanted to take this pumpkin home.

My man in a half-rotten pumpkin patch.  Love that grin.

 

Meanwhile, Molly became addicted to jump houses.

 

And this was a swing that looked fun and interesting.  Maybe a tad awkward and uncomfortable, but we appreciated the thought.

 

Once home, Molly decided to apply some make-up before dinner.  I'm pretty sure were going to need a little more practice.

 

She went out to the garage to check herself out in Daddy's dirt bike mirror.  Sometimes it's tricky to find a mirror around this place.

 

Everyone at 221 S 5th Ave is ready for trick or treat night tomorrow!  Ross will be dressed as a scuba diver, Maisie will be a witch and Molly will be Tinkerbell.  Stay tuned....

 

Fairy Puzzles

I am unique because I can do puzzles.  I am good at my fairy puzzles.  - Maisie

While waiting in the hallway outside Ross' classroom Friday pre-lunch, Maisie showed me the self-portrait she made in pre-school.  I'm guessing each student was asked to think of something that made them unique. 

Granted, she is one heck of a puzzle-doer, but of all the things she could have come up with, I'm a little surprised she chose puzzle skills as her 'unique quality'.

Perhaps that in itself, is what truely makes her, one-of-a-kind.

Target Toy Catalog

With Trick-Or-Treat night only 2 nights away, Ross decided he'd better start his Christmas list.  It all started when the Target Toy catalog showed up in the mailbox Friday.  Crazy enough, not a single item from the catalog made the list. His list cracks me up. So practical, except of course, for the gas-engine dirt bike he's got his eyes on.  I also can't get over that the first thing on his list is underwear.  Who is this kid?
I'd like to mention he needed help spelling everything but the last item. I told him "Go ahead, take a stab at it, how hard can it be?" I'm guessing Santa will be able to sound it out just fine.

 

The list: Boxers, Dirt Bike, Wimpy Kid Book (Santa's already got the green book for him), Bike Helmet, Slide (for his boyscout neckerchief, of course), and fudee peejes. 

 

I just love that kid.

 

 

 

 

School Carnival

There was a carnival in the school gym this week.  The kids thought it was awesome. Made me think of the Long Grove Strawberry Festival games held in the fire station, complete with not 1, but 2 of the fishing-pole-over-the-cardboard and 2 pick-the-sucker-with-the-black-spot-on-the-bottom-of-the-stick games.  Whoa!  Some things never change.

The kids just before we left for the carnival.

The Cafe

 

The Winterset Elementary School has a pretty cool cafe.  No, I'm not talking about the cafeteria, I'm talking about The Cafe.  And yes, reservations are required.  The Cafe is a special place outside of the cafeteria where parents or grandparents can spend a 'lunch-date' with their kid.  Elementary age kids aren't embarrased by their parents yet, so it's a win-win.

I called the school early in the week to get reservations at The Cafe for lunch Friday- you just never know with these types of things.  Ross was pumped because he was also chosen to be line-leader on Friday.  It was a big day.  As the girls and I arrived at Ross' classroom, he was quick to ask whether he could invite 2 guests to join our lunch date.  I figured, the more the merrier!

Charlie, Ross and Tate- buddies.  Ross made this face for the majority of the photos I took.  It's his "I'm a tough-guy-ninja-face. 
 

 

We spent a good 3-5 minutes discussing what the "sauce" was on Tate's plate.  Not a ringing endorsement for school lunch.

 

Ross requested a Personal Pan Cheese Pizza on Friday.  Luckily, I found Tombstone personal-size pizza's in the freezer at Fareway.  Unfortunately, my oven quit working Thursday night so I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do.  Turned out technology saved the day- my microwave does convection-oven cooking.  Anything for you, Ross!

For some reason this makes me think of a pose they will try to re-create someday at a high school party.

I seriously think Ross believes he's in a gang. 

Rabbit ears are hilarious to 7 year old boys- ranks right up there with making fart sounds with your armpits.

Molly was content with orange Dorito's.  They matched her shirt. 

The Utensil Drawer

Ross helped me fold kitchen towels Monday night.  He can't get shirts and pants to lay right, so he sticks with towels- I'm not complaining.  When I commented on how nicely he had the towel drawer arranged, I asked him if he'd like to tackle the untensil drawer.  He immediately began unpacking the drawer and piling my random gadgets into categories. 

 

It didn't take him long to finish.  Of course not every utensil would fit back in the drawer; they never do.  Which is why I've adopted the "crock" untensil-holder idea (as I explained to Ross is for awkward items).

If you come to our home, please don't question why nobody can find a wooden spoon, a whisk, a can opener or a rubber scrapper.  I'm sure they will turn up at some point.  In the meantime, we have any tool you may need for sweet corn or egg slicing located front and center.  Obviously, Ross has a pretty high opinion of sweet corn.

 

 

A Beautiful Day

Saturday was perfect. We had good food, stiff drinks, new faces to entertain my little ones, a little boy with a funny English accent, an extraterrestrial-looking object bagged-up in the garage, a warm fire, my husband slaving over a cast-iron dutch-oven, the first few glimpses of an upcoming meteror shower, a repaired garage wall and a chopped down apple tree. Enjoy the photos- they show Saturday better than I can describe it.

Grandma plays Little Bunny Foo Foo with Molly.

Tiana and Maisie walk out to see the horses.  She idolizes her because she's a teenager.

Ross, Aiden and Liam try to hunt frogs.  Good luck with that.

Maisie's pretty sure Tiana's a real live princess. I'm going with it.

I walked into the garage to fetch a pail of water... when I discovered this.  No wonder Molly wont let me set her down.  Creepy.

A conference

Sugar Plum

Ross decides to go ahead and taste the play doh

Caught Molly sucking her tongue- she smiles before she gets it tucked back in.

Someone said 'poop' or 'fart'... great smiles all around!

I was home with Molly on Tuesday and Wednesday- good ol’ strep came knocking on our door. Ever since, she’s attached herself to me like a tick. If she spies me with two available arms for more than a 30 second time span, she chases after me yelling “uppy, uppy.” I’ve actually found myself running away from her to hide. I feel so needed… and covered in a film of snot. In the meantime, my right bicep has become ginormous since Tuesday.


Friday was a no-school day and consisted of peeing in pants (not me, Molly), finding a bowl of beef and noodles in the bathroom trash can (could have been worse), Molly constantly undressing herself and announcing ‘no dapper’- in a French accent, discovering Ross and a friend accidently punched a hole through his bedroom closet door with a stick, making homemade play-Doh the color of lima beans, and taking 4 kids to Fareway and being ‘lucky’ enough to get the car cart.


Thursday was school conference day. I was late getting out of work so when I got to my van and realized I had only enough gas to drive 10 miles, I panicked. I raced to the De Soto Casey’s, put $10 of gas in my van (less than 3 gallons at these rates) and I was also down to the minimal amount of money in my checking account and had to ask Mike to deposit money in my account in order to buy cat food before I got home to a hungry Kratt. What have I become?


I whipped my mini-van into the school parking lot and parked illegally; oh, and it was raining. I ran inside the building like a psycho-mom and found Ross’ teacher waiting outside his classroom. She was like an angel in disguise as she greeted me and told me how Ross was some sort of dream student. As we went through the conference, my heart swelled with pride listening to her. And it wasn’t just because Ross is doing well in school, or that he is a kind, interested, focused and advancing student. It was when I realized his teacher genuinely thinks Ross is the bomb. It was when I realized we must not have messed him up too bad afterall with our parenting mistakes (he’ll always be our guinea pig). It was when I realized his teacher truly appreciates him and all he brings with him. She sees what I see. And the very moment she acknowledged how he is obviously talked to, taught and parented so well at home… well let’s just say I got that ball in my throat and had to bite the inside of my cheek and look away to keep my tears at bay. A teacher, whom I don’t know well, just told me she admires me and appreciates my kid. Let’s just say, I experienced Thursdays’ high right then and there.


Friday was tough. Sometimes I wonder what the point of conferences really is. Sure, it’s a way for a parent to see the progress their child has made in the classroom; but I’m beginning to wonder if it might be more for a parent to be acknowledged for their efforts. Sort of like a pep talk. Let’s just say the pep talk I got Thursday may have kept me from locking the kids in their rooms and beating them on Friday. I’m grateful for that.