Friday, October 24, 2008

Halloween Happenings

It seems that Halloween lasts longer than Christmas. We've already got two parties under our belts and we've got another one tomorrow night and trick-or-treating next Thursday AND Friday nights. Oh, and don't forget the classroom party. I've been called upon by Walker's teacher to be a co-room mother, which means planning Friday's 1st grade classroom party. I'm stealing an idea for food that I got from my friend Felice's blog - scary popcorn hands.

Walker has two costumes he is wearing this season. He wanted to be a ghost last year, but I didn't have a white sheet to cut up and didn't ever get around to buying one (didn't try too hard). This year I mentioned it to Mom and she happened to have a white sheet and white pillow case. We cut a hole in the sheet to go over Walker's head. We cut eye holes in the pillow case for his "hood." Unfortunately, once we put it no Walker's head he looked like SpongeBob Squarepants. So I cut the pillow case round and got out the sewing machine and it looks much better. His other costume is a dead guy. We got that one at Wal-Mart. He's worn each one once. The elementary school party was last Friday night. He wore the dead guy. It was a fun party. Wish I had some pictures, but I don't. Tuesday night he wore the ghost costume to his boy scout pack party. There were about 100 people there. It was a lot of fun. The older scouts created a spooky walk in the woods and did a great job. Too bad it really scared the Tiger Cub scouts. But it was all in good fun and I'm sure most of the boys have finished crying and screaming by now. The worst part about that party was that it was raining. It started out with just a mild drizzle so it wasn't too bad, but at the end it was a major downpour. I was soaked, and so was Walker. It was cold too, and I was a bad mother and didn't even have a coat for my baby. I thought it would be indoors since they said it would be if it was raining. No one really minded the wetness, though. Not when there were cool things to do like eat a donut off a string or shoot bugs with a laser gun.

Tomorrow night we are excited to see the first public appearance of our friend Steven's new band, Protolithe. They've been getting ready for months and now it's all coming to fruition at Steven and Coreen's annual Halloween party. We all have to dress up. Scott is going as Dr. Death. I'm going to be a pirate and Walker will be one of things. We're supposed to set up the camper in their yard so we can camp out overnight (thus not having to decide who will be the designated drunk). Hopefully, it won't rain, like it is expected to do. There are children's activities until 9PM then they are all either going home or going into house or camper and the adults will rule! Should be a good, crazy, time. I'll have to drink a huge Monster before this party since I'll be working all day tomorrow teaching 5 classes before this party. Walker and Scott have an all day event as well - the Tiger Cub (Boy Scout) Loopa Palooza. He will earn 4 badge things for his belt.

Here are a couple of pictures that were taken by Allie Burke for the wall of "fame" at Steppin' Out. Pretty good and no double chin! That's always important to me.




Which one should I use for the final product? Either would be black and white.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Road Trip

Walker and I got back Monday from a road trip to Worcester, MA. We visited Dad for two nights. It was a lot of fun. Dad always gives up his room/bed for us, so we are very comfortable there. We were very busy. Sunday we went to Southwicks Zoo in Mendon. http://www.southwickszoo.com/ Walker was just saying last week that he'd never been to a zoo. So he was especially happy to go see all the animals. It's a good place. A little expensive and the animals were mostly asleep, but overall a fun place to see. Both Walker and I agreed the elephant ride was our favorite thing that day.

The next day we went to Stowe Farm www.stowefarm.com/ We all agreed for the price we liked that place even better. They had a rock climbing wall, petting zoo, pony rides, teepee, gem mining and more. Walker had a blast. It was beautiful out there in Mendon, MA. Luckily, we had very good weather so it was perfect to be outside for both days. We're looking forward to going back to see Grandpa again in June. We'll see him before then, of course, but he'll probably be coming up here rather than us going down there. It was very nice seeing Dad and Marie.

Walker got his progress report. The teacher called him a class clown in a way that clearly states she does NOT think that is a good thing. He's a smart little guy, but likes to play more than sit still and be quiet and focused. We've got to figure it out somehow. I'm sure it'll be fine. If that's the worst thing he does then I guess we're OK.

We just got our second big bag of hand-me-downs in two weeks. We are so excited! We love free stuff. Just when we thought we didn't have a hand-me-down network we're the recipient of clothing people buy at kids Gap and Old Navy. Yippee! It is saving us a ton of money. My project this afternoon is to go through all Walker's clothes and take out the ones that are too small to pass on to the guy we give hand-me-downs to. Everybody wins.

My 25th class reunion is this weekend. (How did I get that old????) It is a three-event thing. Saturday is a family apple orchard trip. I can't go to that because I work all day Saturday. I can't get a sub for 5 classes. Nor do I actually want to. Saturday night is a dinner/dance thing. I've had so much of that for so many years. Scott too. We are both much happier at home. Neither of us wants to drink and drive. We do our drinking at home. I sound unsociable saying that, but it's true. I partied at dance clubs and bars for years and years and have totally gotten my fill of it. So we are skipping that event too. The one on Sunday I'd go to, but it's during Walker's soccer game. Guess what? I'd rather be at the soccer game than having a tour of my old high school. I go back to my high school every May and June for 8 recitals. Walker and I are always walking around the school killing time between shows. I don't have to skip a soccer game to do it. Maybe I'll go to the 30th. I have gone to every other reunion (every 5 years) but I'm just not feeling it this year.

Off to closet organization.


Me and Walker on the elephant. It felt really high.
Zoo brochure.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

I Love Tuesdays

It's finally Tuesday. I love my job too, but Tuesday I'm off and I can be a full time mom/wife and also get time to myself. What do I do with this time? It's such a gift. Today I brought the treadmill into the playroom. It's been out on the breezeway and no one has been using it. It was fun to use indoors. I watched a "Baby Story" and walked. I still cry at that show. After that I went through my clothes closet and got together a bag of clothing for Goodwill. Good stuff, just out of date. I've been watching "What Not to Wear" so now I know what I'm talking about. ;-)

I'm heading off to Wal-Mart in a bit. I want to get some scrapbooking supplies. I have so many pictures to put in albums. I'm also in the market for a Hot Wheels or Matchbox Car storage case. Walker has one, but the hinge is broken and it keeps falling apart. He has so many cars we need to keep them organized. I didn't like anything at the Toys R Us website, the reviews of the 100 car case were all bad. People all said it was cheap and terrible. The 48 car model got a better review but we need more space than that. The Wal-Mart in Plaistow didn't have any, so maybe the Wal-Mart in Epping will have something. We're lucky, we have Wal-Marts in either direction about the same same distance apart.

Christmas shopping is weighing heavily on my mind. I'm trying to buy something each week, so it's not all at the last minute and charged in a frenzy. I have 2 things for Walker already - an X-Box game and a 700 piece Lego set. I don't even know what else to get. He wants everything he sees on TV, but has so many toys that he doesn't play with. We went crazy buying Ben 10 and Pokemon toys last year and they sit collecting dust. Building toys seem to be what he uses the most these days. I don't even know what to tell the family, who will all be asking very soon what he wants. Time for him to make his list. Oh, he does want big-ticket items like a laptop and an ipod and a cell phone. But NO. I'm not getting that stuff for a 6 year old!

Here's a picture of Walker and Kaylee a few weeks ago at Chuckie Cheeses. They were "riding" a scary roller coaster. There was a huge line for this game/ride.


Friday, October 03, 2008

October is here

I can't believe it's already October. We have beautiful foliage here. Hopefully, it won't rain and pull the leaves down early. I like this time of year. It's so pretty. Even Walker likes looking at the colors. It's getting chilly here. The days are warm but the nights are getting colder. It's almost time for starting fires in the wood stove. But not yet. I usually try to hold out until November. Save our fuel.

It's going to be really cold tonight at soccer practice. Two weeks ago the other moms and I froze. One woman was smart enough to bring a blanket, gloves and a hat. I'm going to do that tonight. Last week we got cancelled due to the rain.

Sue got new TVs for Jonathan and Kaylee. So, sweetie that she is, she gave us the two tvs. I never thought I'd be someone with a tv in every room. However, it will be nice. We don't have cable upstairs, but we do have an extra VHS player and an extra DVD player. So I took those from the tv in the playroom that now has only cable and the old x-box and put a tv w/VHS in Walker's room (we have more tapes for kids than adults) and a tv w/dvd player in the master suite. Walker was very excited to come home from school and see that yesterday. He rested in his room watching Power Ranger's movies for a while. Good, that gave me time to work on his renaissance faire costume but that's another story... Anyway, thanks Sue!

Scott's work outing to Canobie Lake Park (amusement park) was post-poned from last Saturday to Sunday. Scott took the day off so he wouldn't have to sleep all day and go to work that night. I was happy I could go early with them, instead of having to work all day Saturday and meet them later, after I was exhausted. It was the BEST time at Canobie we've had in a very long time. I think it was because it was drizzly and overcast that the crowds were not there. We didn't have to wait in line for anything. It was great. Except for the spinning rides. Scott and I are more and more sickened each year by spinning. Unfortunately, that is what Walker really likes. Luckily, he doesn't mind riding alone. He went on the Tilt-a-whirl 4 times in a row. He also went on a ride called "Wipe-Out" 4 times in a row. Both of those make us sick. Scott and I did go on each once. All of us went on the very wet "Boston Tea Party." Scott and I got off but since there were no lines Walker continued to ride it another 7 times and was soaked. It was warm and humid so that was good and being wet didn't bother him. It was really fun. Next year will be even better. Walker is about 46.5 inches and he needs to be 48 inches for all the big roller coasters. Next year he will have a totally different experience. He's a little daredevil. HE loves thrill rides. I do too, as long as they go up and down and not around and around!

It's almost time for me to make the permanent switch to a digital camera. Not because I don't love my film camera. Scott bought it for me a few months after Walker was born so I could have good pics of him. But because Hannaford is no longer developing film. It was so convenient there since we are there several times a week anyway. If I can't find a close film developer then I'll have to make the switch. Of course that means a lot of money put out. I'll also have to invest in a better printer so I can actually print the pictures. Why does everything have to change so quickly? Scott and I are still holding off on buying ipods or mp3 players. We'll just wait until the NEXT new thing comes along.


My classes have been meeting now for 5 weeks. I know just about everyone's name now. Good. I usually tell people it'll take me til the end of November to learn all the new names. Luckily, this year out of almost 150girls I have, I have had most of them before. My 3 year olds are mostly new, though. Today's class was good. I know everyone in there now. Tomorrow's 3 year olds are a little harder for some reason. More kids in the class and most of them brunette.

Scott is getting ready to paint his K5 1973 Blazer. We bought it back in 1995 and he worked a lot on it back then, but after Walker was born it came to a stand-still. But now he's back in full force and it's about to be finished. He's got the garage all cleaned out and plastic "walls" hung. Painting begins this afternoon! He's very excited. I think we should show the truck at "Cruise Nights" next summer. It's going to be really cool.


Here are some pictures from summer. I'm still thinking about summer. Still wanting to go camping. The flood trauma has worn off (me - not Walker) and I'm looking forward to going again. We only got 2 trips in, since the last one was cut way too short. I have some camping pictures to post next time. Here are a few cute ones of Walker, Audrey and Scott.



We have the swing-set out back that Sue and Donnie gave us. It has a platform area up at the top of the slide. Walker and Scott are talking about enclosing that area for a little playhouse sort of thing. Scott wants to just make it simple. Walker drew his out with something like 6 rooms, including an in-ground pool! It was cute to see him drawing out his plans.


And here are the finished plans. Nothing has been done yet. Maybe after the Blazer is done.



Audrey and Walker, getting ready to jump into the pool. Ready...



Jump... (You can see part of the patio Scott made that goes from the pool area to the back of the breezeway and the back slider.)




Splash!!!!