Trick or Treat

So here we are in the Joan Shepp Boutique today during "Trick or Treat on Walnut Street". We went from store to strore with Fionna and Kevin and Maureen. Usually children aren't welcome in Joan Shepp, or Jacques Ferber, or many of the other places we stopped. But today it was all smiles and candy!

And let me say the chocolate fountain in the Patesserie with the strawberries and homemade marshmallows for dipping was the absolute best.

I love daytime trick or treating. You can really SEE all the costumes and the candy.

I only wish there was special adult trick or treating on Walnut Street. You know, baskets of body lotions at Kiehl's -- buckets of decorative plates at the Manor House -- handbags by the armful at Coach. Ahhh....

Princess for a Day...

This is Sophia with Miss Cathy today. They both dressed as Princesses for the Red Class Halloween Parade. Parade is a generous term. Fifteen 3-year olds walked in a line twice around the gym for two benches of adoring parents armed with cameras.

And then as quickly as it started we were directed to head back to their classroom, dispense of those costumes and take them home with us. The rest of the morning included a small Halloween party with cupcakes and a few other treats.


The Halloween anticipation is building at our house. And there are two more Princesses in the wings!

Our Whole Family

This is what we look like according to Sophia. I am fascinated by her ability to add details to drawings. She is clear about things like eyes, hands, hair and feet. And she is observant. She told me last night at tuck-in time that her eyes were just like mine. And she is right.

She also let us leave preschool today without a fight. A hundred million hugs and kisses but they ended in a "see ya". (phew.) I don't know if it will last. She was very excited because it was our turn today to bring "healthy snack". We baked up a kid-friendly recipe of Chex Mix (no peanuts, no spices, no yukky wheat chex, etc.) and we put 15 servings into Halloween treat sacks. And just for a touch of panache, (and to show up the SAHM last week who couldn't be bothered to do more than drop off two bags of string cheese on the counter) we put our healthy snack in a wooden trick or treat box we own. (Sometimes, presentation is everything.)

She was excited when we rolled in with snack. (More excited than I, who in monsoon conditions, had to schlep a baby on my hip, a toddler and the preschooler along with the treat box carefully wrapped in a trash bag as we ran the gauntlet of aggressive minivan drivers in the lot. But I digress.) She was even more excited by the two craft projects underway in the Red Class. Miss Cathy was handing out scissors to make flying bats and if Sophia were old enough to have a hobby it would be cutting. And at the other table they were painting pictures of pumpkins. She's quite the crafter so this was preschool nirvana.

Speaking of crafting, we got ready for Christmas this past Sunday at a Stampin' Up workshop at my house. The products are great and the ideas are so inspirational. Now I can't wait to get my things. Oh to be able to craft full-time (sigh).

But alas -- I Produce full time and tomorrow is another day at the ranch. (sigh again).

But I'll wish I was crafting!

Mom's Here...

Apparently now my own family is avoiding me as if I'm the paparazzi!

Anyway -- it's done nothing but rain so we've been forced to shop. Purchases include everything from Halloween shirts to lingerie to moisturizer.

Tonight we made Christmas Cookies. (For the stamping workshop. More tomorrow.)

We also took the older two girls for haircuts at a real "big girl" salon.

Now I'm battling technology. New digital camera. New cell phone. I'll probably never learn how to work this stuff.

Off to ice the cookies.

5 Years Later....

-3 beautiful children
-3 homes ( and all those awful moves)
-Dozens of life-altering decisions
-Hundreds of kisses good-bye
-Thousands of miles by foot
-Tens of thousands of comforting touches
-Hundreds of thousands of jokes only we understand
-Millions of reasons why

He is the 1.

This is What Pink Smells Like....

In the world according to Sophia. While I rock the baby to sleep at night Sophia sits next to me in her own rocking chair putting her bear to sleep. We sit in the dark the two of us -- lost in the rhythm of the rocking and the peace of the moment.

Sophia slipped out of her chair and walked to an object on the floor. She picked it up, held it her face and told me "This is what pink smells like". I knew that she meant Francesca's bear who is named, appropriatedly enough, "Pink Bear".

Then Sophia held her own bear to her face and said "Now this is what white smells like". (Never mind that her bear, named appropriately enough, "Bear", began this life journey in pink. Too much love and too many washings rendered him "white" in her book.)

Never underestimate the power of the sense of smell. That's how you recognize a favorite toy. Laundry in the dryer. The first whiff of your home when you get there after a long day away. The comfort that radiates from a kitchen with supper in the oven. It's how you know a loved one is near.

Even when it's dark.

Circle Journal

So here's what I am working on right now. While I ignore the THOUSANDS of pictures of my children that need to be scrapped I am working on a "Circle Journal". It's a group project with some of the scrapbookers on the CKMB. Each of us is putting together an album with a theme and it gets passed around to a dozen or so people so they can make pages for it.

My theme is not original in the least. Regular readers will recognize the now famous "5 Random Things About Me" idea.

I love the supplies I'm using for this. It's a Heidi Swapp album that is covered in chocolate fabric and has big spirals even though it contains regular top-loading page protectors. The title is in Heidi's chipboard cirles with her rub-on letters -- I distressed it all with sandpaper and the handy-dandy Van Dyke Brown ink. All the ribbons I tied onto the spiral are from my stash.

The introduction page is "Wild Asparagus" paper. This whole journal has a really shabby feel to it.

In other news tonight -- I'm playing SAHM this week so the Nanny can be on vacation. I'm not managing to miss any of these Sundays, however.

I am positive that I need an i-Pod. Hillary turned me on to this sometime after every 17 year old in the nation realized how cool they were.

The preschool drama continues -- but they swoop in at drop off more quickly to peel her away from me. Then they open a window so she can wave to me as I drive down the street. It borders on pathetic.

And I have a 60% off Michael's coupon burning a hole in my pocket. It expires tomorrow so I anticipate loading the kidlets up for the trip. I don't actually NEED anything they carry -- but look how much I can SAVE with the coupon!

And the Oscar Goes To......

I have always supected we were raising a drama queen. Now I have confirmation.

Today's installment of the "Pre School Meltdown" began with tears last night at supper that lasted through bedtime. The waterworks began anew as soon as she woke up and continued through breakfast. She hid her clothes and then hid under the covers to avoid getting dressed. I held her down to get her dressed. I carried her out to the car. She cried all the way. I had to drag her by the arm out of the car where she sat on the floorboard hanging onto the seat. (And by the way, she's a heavy load and I was carrying the baby and trying to keep the 2-year old safe during the parade of minivans.)

Then we went inside. More tears. More hugs. More kisses. The teacher took her to the window so she could watch me drive away. I had to go get coffee and a doughnut as a reward to myself for surviving the trip to school.

When we went back for the pick-up I was pulled out of line by the Director of the Preschool. In front of all those other parents I had to go see the principal! "Miss Judy" told me that my beloved first-born has separation issues (you think???) but the problem is compounded because -- and I quote here --"She's a Barrymore". A bona fide drama queen. A mistress of high-maintenance. A dressing room diva.

Miss Judy says we can go two ways with this. She says it is a "good thing" to continue to push her to go because she does get over my absence and she participates well. On the other hand, she says the fight may be too much for me (meaning me, the Mom) to bear and I can give up to get my life back.

I'll ponder all that until the Thursday morning edition of the Friday Night Fights.

And Dear God -- if she has to be a Barrymore -- make sure she's not Drew......

"There's a Crocodile in My Crib"

That was the 4 a.m. cry from my 2 year old today. I went running in to assure her crocodiles are non-existent in our part of the suburbs. But she was sitting up in bed pointing at it, and it was the third or fourth time she had awakened crying in the night so I scooped her away from the imaginary crocodile and snuggled with her in my bed. Then her big sister followed and eventually we were having a sleep over and Daddy headed to their room to try and catch a few winks..

It was a tough night for all. The baby was up every hour from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am. And no one can swallow or breathe. Some nasty virus followed Sophia home from her preschool and it has taken hold of our little home with a vengeance. I'm running on fumes tonight at work, I can't breathe, can hardly speak, I am freezing cold and there are still two more shows to go.

Once I finally get to crawl between the covers tomorrow morning I hope the crocodiles find somewhere else to play.

(cough, cough, sneeze......)