Fright Night, the Finale

Although it rained tonight... and although we had more than our fair share of meltdowns tonight... we did make it out. With our cousins. And the girls did have a blast.



Biggest surprise of the evening: Anna. She was a machine. She VERY quickly caught on to the concept, and boy did she keep up with Lily and big cousin, Camilla. Her basket of treats might have outweighed the older girls' by the time we got back from Trick 'or Treating. I don't know if it was the costume, or those big blue eyes, or the totally adorable "ta too" (her version of thank you) that followed every deposit of sugar into her basket. Somehow, though, Anna scored the most treats tonight. And even though her ghost weighed a ton (esp. in proportion to her body), she wouldn't let us carry it. And she insisted on walking. An entrepreneur in the making!

Boo Boo Chicken

If you don't have Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fans around, you won't understand the reference. But if your kids are anything like mine, Mickey and pals are a regular feature on the boob tube. I've got to admit that I haven't seen the "boo boo chicken" episode, but it's a phrase that Lily started uttering almost as soon as she could talk.

Amazingly as we were packing up the house pre-move, I found Lily's first Halloween costume. The dress was from Paris, a gift from our aunt extraordinaire, Lois Anne. And while it worked perfectly for Halloween, it's actually just a great dress. Period!

Since Anna's a tad bit smaller than Lily, I was hopeful that the dress would still fit; Lily was just shy of a year at Halloween and Anna's just north of 18 months. And, bingo, it fit perfectly! Of course, after making this discovery I promptly lost the dress amid boxes. I have NO idea which box. I fear that I may not even find it in time for next year's Halloween. So two nights ago I broke down an ordered a costume for Anna. Overnight shipping was more expensive than the actual get-up....serves me right for losing that darn dress during the move!

In the end, it all worked out. The new costume arrived in time for Anna's school's Halloween party tonight. Boo boo chicken saved the day!




(Crazy cute costumed babies to boot... Anna's goth look was the work of a cookie...given to her by her, ahem, father.)

Boo...um...Achoo!

Although Halloween is quickly approaching, the scariest thing in our house of late has been H1N1. Anna is most likely the culprit, although in the land of germs it's always a guess. One thing is for sure, Lily bore the brunt of it. High fever. Vomiting. Coughing...coughing...and more coughing. The nose. The works. I'm knocking on wood -- ANY wood that I can find -- that Noah and I don't fall prey. It's a nasty flu, and neither one of us has the "luxury" of getting hit. Perhaps if I held my breath, that might help too. The increasingly sore throat I have, though, is causing my optimism to dim. Boo hoo.

Lily's return to school happened to coincide with the annual Halloween parade. As much fun as it was... And as cute as all the kiddies were... I was amazed by the number of children absent. They're probably all sitting in the waiting room at our pediatrician's office. Our beloved doctors have been beyond inundated by sick children and worried parents.

Lily was torn this year but finally decided to be "Mulan." I talked in her to a pretty legit kimono as a costume...while I love Disney movies, I'm not a big fan of their costumes.

Normally a class of 20...H1N1 GO AWAY!

Boo!

A little preview today of coming Halloween attractions. Since Lily has become part Devil of late, she apparently felt the need to dress in spooky-inspired attire today. And, of course, she needed her "mini-me" to follow suit.








More later on the devilish behavior (which everyone tells me is completely age appropriate but LORD-O-ME please let this phase pass quickly!!). Since our house isn't going to pack itself..and since Noah's pile of boxes is growing at a much faster rate than mine...I'm just going to give you some pictures of my "little monsters." For now. Boo!!

Monkey Mania

Dear Internet --

I am so, so sorry that I've seemingly abandoned you. You're not alone. Apparently Lily was feeling a little dissed too. See, between my new job, finding a rental house, packing up our current house, and trying to finalize new house plans, I have apparently let a few things slip.

A few friends have emailed their complaints. "The blog it static!" they say. Since I'm the queen complainer when others don't update their blogs regularly, my tail has been between my legs.

Lily has been even less subtle. In no uncertain terms she told me that I would be driving her to school today (I normally take Anna). And then when we got there, she dragged her feet and whimpered about not wanting me to leave.

In other words, she broke my heart.

So I decided that we'd have a mother-daughter-dinner-date tonight. And just to really stick it to me, she close a little Mexican restaurant close to our house. The restaurant that she knows I'm totally sick of...but that she totally loves.

She did treat me to a little monkey bar performance when I picked her up at school. Thanks to the handy blackberry video camera, I was able to capture it to share with you too. Yes, kill two birds with one stone...have some much needed one on one time with my elder daughter AND get a little blog fodder to boot.

So enjoy my little money. I did tonight. Truly.