Someone's In The Kitchen With MOMMY - Halloween edition

Jack has been my go-to kitchen helper lately, and he did a great job helping make these Halloween tortilla chips (we followed the recipe but added oil before popping in the oven and found that salting them before cooking made them even yummier!
Apparently, watched chips DO brown ;-)

Harry was invited to a shindig down the road, and he wished everyone a Happy Halloween with the chips

and thought a pile of leaves at the end of a big slide was a great idea! Thanx for including us in the spookfest, Kirsten and crew :-)

It was a busy day, because our cul-de-sac decided to party the nite before the hayride - great call, Dana and Colette - we had a wonderful time despite the fact that none of the pix came out well.

The boys have had an on-going love fest with Mrs. Shaeon, who spoils them rotten. This was their 2010 haul, but the hugs were their favorite part!

Thanx to everyone who helped us have a great Halloween! Next year, the party's on at our house :-)

Nat King Cole's Someone's In The Kitchen With Dinah

Money For Nothing

The boys' PTA has an Operation Free Money committee that coordinates all sorts of programs that earn money or supplies for the school. Somehow I offered to head up the Box Tops portion, and this is what my first submission looked like - it's bulkier than bills, but hopefully will spend just as well for over $450 worth of school goods! We're at 1/2 of last year's totals in just 3 months - go Lions!

I don't find the Box Tops Site particularly thrilling, but they do have a list of products that carry boxtops, information about special promotions, and you can sign up for several options that get you extra points for online and in-store shopping. Thanx for all the help everyone has given us, special kudos to the amazing Casey, who has been so generous over the years!

Dire Straits

And sat on the elephant’s trunk

The boys' school does a Trunk-or-Treat event every year, and Harry's teachers have been nice enough to pose with him every year....

The lovely Mrs. W won the teacher costume contest this year

and last year's teacher brought her sweet baby boy to pose with our sweet Harry this year....

and last, when B was still baking.

My three favorite treats!

Jack and Harry both loved the table Erin's family made, complete with all sorts of fun and spooky experiments

The boys and I enjoyed the Hay Ride around the track

Laurie Berkner's Animal Fair

Changed The Locks

Last Monday was a school holiday, so my favorite little guys and I hit the salon and....this

...ended up like this....(it's on its way to Pantene's Beautiful Hair program - I've donated to Locks Of Love before, but they are getting a lot of flack lately, and I'm getting grayer, so...)

...and I turned into this. I'm still getting used to it, but it's good to have a change.The boys took me to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and dessert before Secretariat. Harry has been dying to try this restaurant, and his final verdict: 'this is the worst restaurant ever!' A little dramatic, but he really wasn't impressed

Jack, otoh, said this was 'the most delicious cake in the entire world!'

The movie was great, and soccer practice was fairly lovely on a crisp Fall nite!

Lucinda Williams

laughter fills the sky instead of rain

Harry is our go-to guy for unique Halloween costume ideas - this year, he was set on being a scarecrow, which didn't seem too original....but it did turn out to be a winner! Good choice, again, little man!

pretty cute, but then we pulled out the Halloween makeup....

and he got into character

and Jack (aka Megatron) joined in the fray....his favorite picture pose includes the fingers ;-)

We went to a school event (separate post to come) and Harry compared himself to the real deal. Jack and I decided a post on his back is about the only thing he was missing ;-)

Ministry's Scarecrow

and surely this sweet sand is slipping through

We got to spend an afternoon together the other day, so we headed to a favorite park. Jack got an idea Dean found some cool tracks in the sand and everyone investigated

I had just posted about the sun on Harry's face and caught this one - Jack thought it was really cool because it looked like the rays were actually touching Harry.

It was a beautiful day

They are just about too big for this car, but I am guessing this is where Harry's dream of being a bus driver began....

Even Jack's backseat driving didn't seem to deter him ;-)

Thanx for a lovely afternoon, sweet husband! Welcome home, we miss you when you're gone!

Heart's Sand

Think (think) think (think) think (think)

Jack has been loving all the social studies and science in school lately. He's really enjoying learning about historical figures like Christopher Columbus and Benjamin Franklin.
I loved his story about loving people He's been working on reports in science and reading, and told me the other day that he needed to do more research ...um, this is NOT your mama's first grade ;-)

He's all about the 'for example' lately, and I caught him mid-lesson yesterday before school.

It's awesome listening to him talking about school. Tonite, the boys were talking about the different grades, thru high school. Harry shouts excitedly "Then we'll.be.in.college...YAY!" Jack says "Sadly, we'll have to live at college and miss mommy and daddy. We'll have to take a picture and put their phone numbers in front of the picture so we can call them when we miss them." Wouldn't it be nice if they feel like that when the big day comes??
Aretha Franklin

....sOn shine, it's better than moonshine

I love this boy, especially when he's smiling a sweet smile for his Daddy. He saw the picture and realized he had chocolate chip smudge all over the place...
...and he smiled, and the sun shone. Little moments. He had his last soccer practice tonite, and it was a beautiful, crisp nite....look at that moon! This was his best practice yet, and he got the ball in the goal a few times, even getting it by the coach a time or two. Way to focus!

Allman Brothers' Soulshine

Destination Anywhere

The boys are participating in Destination Imagination this year, and I get to help coach with a fun friend! My bags were packed early this morning,

and we had a great time getting to know the kids and their parents tonite at a local restaurant. The theme of the Rising Stars (1st and 2nd graders) is Big Bug's Bad Day, so it was all bugs all the time. Thanx for a great evening Rashmi, Harry, Erin, Jack, Kaitlyn, and Isaiah :-)

We can't wait to meet our final teammate and get started after Thanksgiving!

The Commitments

All In A Day's Work

Here's what work looked like for the boys in the last few days:

Guess who they are studying?

Jack's clues (the colored one): discovered electricity, first fire department, first library, one hundred dollar
Harry's clues (pix and abbreviations): Poor RA= Poor Richard's Almanac, le = lightning experiment, sftl = started first (t?) library, he started ffd = he started first fire department

Harry brought home several 'for a grade' activities and seems to have had a stellar week...now, if he can just remember to put his name on the papers, he'll be sailing!

Here's what work looked like for me today:

I about died of embarrassment when a friend visited Sunday and I realized how overgrown the yard has become. We never go in the front door and it's a mess, but I'm hoping to let people think we spookified it as part of Boo Day decorations ;-) The rose bushes are dangerous, so I suited up and only got one scratch this time.

The trees are in desperate need of attention, so I attacted them with some borrowed tools (thanx for the long lops, C&B). I still have a few days' work, but it's a good start

Styx

and life is love

The boys' school collects Box Tops For Education, and they are currently having a Halloween competition Batty For Box Tops - the school has raised over $150 this month, and I'm a little tired of clipping....but not too tired to gladly take any box tops you would like to donate to the cause!

Look for anything with this label

They also collect just about anything that earns the school money or supplies, including Campbell's labels

and labels from Tyson's products

Thanx for any contributions to a great cause :-)

The Box Tops' Neon Rainbow