Spooky Times

Well, Halloween is almost over...I am the only one left up right now.  It was an interesting night getting the kids to bed...Michael we told he could stay up--he went to bed a little after 9 p.m.  Willow, we got her to bed at 9 p.m.  Then she woke up saying her white windbreaker was scaring her (she thought it was a ghost).

Chewy is upstairs saying his stomach hurts from candy snacking...and I am up not wanting to let go of Halloween.  (Geez, I remember when I used to stay up way late on Halloween and watch scary movies...now, I am going to bed around 11 p.m. and there are not that many scary movies on regular television)...

So, a wrap up of Halloween festivities...

On Saturday (before Sandy disrupted everything around here), we went to the Halloween celebration at the zoo...

Michael scared a lot of little kids with his costume--especially since he did it very straight and would not get out of character--even when I insisted he show the little boy/girl that he was just a teenager under that mask...

There was a new play area at the zoo...Willow LOVED it.

Looking at the jack o'laterns.

And then there was a scarecrow on stilts...who loved Willow's ruby slippers...

There were games to play...including throwing sticky spiders onto a web (she won a spider ring for that).

And then there was tonight.  Trick Or Treating!  We split up the kids--Michael wanted to be more independant (actually he originally wanted to go on his own--we decided he and dad could cover more ground on their own).

That was okay, cuz Willow and I had a GREAT time!  She was running, skipping and joyful to be Trick or Treating! This was the year she lasted a long time and enjoyed it so much!

Willow just before we went out.  The black residue on her check is from an earlier temporary tattoo of a bat.

Meanwhile, Michael is on the other end of the neighborhood, scaring up trouble--and candy...

First house!

I just like the red lighting...

At the end of the night--the Haul picture...

(psst...I think she got more candy than he did...)

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Perfect Moment Monday

Lori at Write Mind/Open Heart says Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.

Moment #1:  Reading is sometimes more than the words.  The physical-ness of books are important sometimes.  The smell of a newly opened book, the musty smell of a library book, even the smell of cigarette smoke to remind you of the person who last had the book.  These are reasons why I am a bit resistant to e-reading.* Especially tonight as I read to her.  A book that is old, that has a smell of far away.  Of my home when I was young.  And the inscription from someone dear and long gone.  As I read to her, I explain how and when I received this book...and I think of the person who gave me this present so long ago.  It brings me closer to more than just my daughter.

Moment #2: He calls every day after school once he gets home (safely--my insistence was for him to call, now that he is walking home from school).  I look forward to it--we say very little to each other.  The thirteen year old boy and the mother at work.  A couple times I have missed his call.  It fills me with guilt because I want to show him I am there for him at a moments notice.  The best part, though...he leaves a voice mail message.  And I save them.  And listen to them sometimes at random times--just because I like hearing his voice.


*Not to say I do not see the advantages to them.

School Portraits...

And these are the ones I am sending back....

Willow's school portraits are differently distributed than Michael's pictures.  At his school, you have to decide on the package before you get the picture.  At her school, the photographer sends you 10 sheets and you pick the amount of sheets you want to keep for a certain price.  Such a hard choice...but this year I have picked 5 sheets...so the other 5 gotta go back...above is the "preview/last view".

Monday Snap Shot - Pumpkin Time

Been a while since I have done Monday Snap Shot with PAIL Bloggers...

This weekend was a perfect weekend for some pumpkin fun!

First, we did some pumpkin bowling on Saturday:

On Sunday, we carved our pumpkins.  This is the first year I did not carve a pumpkin.  Michael carved his own pumpkin.

He hurriedly went into the house to grab some gloves to scoop out the filling.  I was impressed by his thoughtfulness (hey, in all my years of pumpkin carving/scooping--never occurred to me to use gloves).  He was kinda irritated that I then wanted to document him...

His final out come.  (A vampire)

Willow helped daddy scoop and daddy carved her pumpkin...

Decorations are up; pumpkins carved--Bring on Halloween!!

A Meal in the Dark...

Yesterday I got to have a profoundly interesting experience.  I went to a Blind Cafe performance.

My friend and I were led into a totally pitch black room by a blind person (conga style with my friend in front of me and people holding on behind me).  We were told where our seat was, and that our meal was prepared and set in front of us.  Olive oil and bread was on the table to share.

It was very very dark.  I could not see my hands in front of my face (I know--I tried to do that several times!)

I found the olive oil -- my hands were soaking in it!  Found my water bottle.  Found my plate and starting eating the wonderful vegetarian meal prepared for us.  With my hands.  Nice and squishy and soft and tasty. Only later did I realize that I had a fork...and then trying to eat with my fork, not as succesful as my hands.  I went back to hands.

While we were eating (this was with about 50-60 other people), the chef, who was blind, explained the meal he prepared (butternut squash, beets, pasta salad, kale coleslaw, etc.).  And our blind guides into the room told us their life stories and how it is to be blind. They answered questions, handed out desserts of dark chocolate pieces.

And then we listened to music in the dark.

I found it so interesting to establish myself in this complete darkness.  And I know that it was not to "feel how blind people are"--no, that is too complicated an issue to deal with in this experience.  But it was a sense of profoundness and of feeling and BEING.  Listening to others and cooperating and contemplation.

It was so sincerely life affirming.

Morning Time

“Do you have a favorite animal?”


“I like butterflies and horses and reindeer…do you like reindeer?”

“I like reindeer and rainbows…”

“I love horses too.”   ---  3:30 a.m.


Dealing with the various transitions in our lives lately has occasioned some anxiety in the family and when better to have those anxieties show up than early in the morning. A few nights this week have found the children coming into our bed around 4 a.m.

It is one thing to have that happen in the early morning of a day off. Monday morning, poor Chewy had to leave to go to work, while kids and I were cuddled up in our bed—sleeping in for once. It was a great way to start the day off—and I really enjoyed my day with the kids.

Yesterday, though—I was grumpy and sleep deprived and head-achy at work…but every so often, while I grumbled about my lack of sleep…I thought back to that conversation I had with Willow by my side. She was helping her brother push me out of bed (unusual—that is usually what they do to dad) and at some point Kif jumped up for good measure.

And the Cat Came Back, the Very Next Day...

But the cat came back, she wouldn't stay away
She was sitting on the porch the very next day
The cat came back, she didn't want to roam
The very next day it was Home, Sweet Home.

After two weeks, after we were totally expecting never to see her (alive) again... Gabby came back!!

 
We had went out for ice cream.  When we came back in the dark, our car beams caught a cat running around near our house.  We thought it was our neighbors black cat, but no...it was Gabrielle!  Chewy was able to catch her.  Immediately we opened up a can of cat food and she devoured it.

Gabby was slightly worse for wear...she looks like she lost a few pounds and lost her collar...hope to take her to the vet this weekend...

After a few hours of tentative moments between the two cats, Kif and Gabby seem to be back to their normal routines.




Including yesterday morning, snuggling on some clean laundry...