Eating my Words

An exquisite taste for Halloween treats, D goes straight for the Godiva at the mall!

Back in my non-stretchmark bearing belly (aka: no-kids) days, I wandered into the local mall.  It was October, and I'll be damned if I can tell you what the Hell I was doing at the mall that day, but it must've been something very important for me to wander away from my usual "online shopping" style.

The sounds of the mall were boring and normal:  a water fountain in the distance, the sound of mumbling side conversations, and the yell of a kid or two in the distance.  Boring.  Then, at some point I must've went temporarily deaf.  I didn't hear it?  Did you?  There wasn't a horn blown to start any race, yet with the swiftness of a gun going off, moms came out from every corner with their children.  The halls became littered with princesses, fairies, superheroes, ladybugs, and bears!  I could barely walk without being run over by a stroller.

Like a grumpy old lady, I started mumbling under my breath.

"Remind me NEVER to go to the mall around Halloween time again!"

I wonder if those words would taste better with a little salt or ranch dressing, now that I have to EAT THEM! - Shirley

**My last Halloween post for the year, I promise.  Man - I was really into it this year!  I mean - I EVEN WENT TO THE MALL!

On their way to the mall.  Tater actually allows me to take a non-blurry pic with his hood on.  Rare!

By the time we got there only the food court had candy left.  Even the CANDY stores were out of treats???!

Tiny Godzilla destroys Tokyo the mall.

Happy to watch Captain Jack Spare Ribs!  But looking the wrong way!

At home, waiting for Trick or Treaters!

After each time a Trick or Treater came, D said "Trick or Treat!" to me and expected to get his own piece.  So stinkin' cute!

Why do mamas always get the blurry pics?  Cave woman and her little dinosaurs!

I hope you had a happy Halloween! Let's get ready for Turkey Tryptophan now!

Wordless Wednesday

Diego's friend Frank wishes you a Happy Halloween!

Angry Pumpkins

No one is more into pumpkin carving at my house than me.  I think most people who enjoy crafting can appreciate a little bit o' pumpkin carving once a year.  We didn't ever carve pumpkins in my house growing up.  It was more something I did in school as I got older.  Now, I want my kids to remember the feeling of childhood fall:  the falling leaves, the orange hues, the warm house.  Fall is my favorite season and since I enjoy pumpkin carving so much, it is something I want to shove down my family's throat.

I think I'm doing a great throat-shoving job! - Shirley

Scary Halloween

Halloween has come and gone, and yet I didn't make a post. I had been so excited about Halloween, that by the time it came, I was literally exhausted! Little did I know, that night before I was in for a long night, and my exhaustion may have been a clue from my body that I was getting sick.

The story starts two days before Halloween on Friday, at my company party. It was a family-friendly party, which was fun and riddled with kids. How could I forget though, that with kids come GERMS?! Fast-forward to Saturday night (well actually Sunday morning around 1 am). Diego gets restless, so I move him to my bed in hopes of coddling him back to sleep. An hour goes by, and he never fully goes back to sleep. That's when the puking started. It got everywhere, on the bed, pillows, on my hair, etc. I was so worried. I just wanted him to get all the bad stuff out. Sunday (Halloween) morning the puking was over and Diego was in good spirits but now it was time for the "other end" to take a hit. I was constantly changing diapers throughout the day. Diego had gotten the stomach flu.

I hadn't gotten any sleep for two days because of his stomach flu, so when I started getting a headache and feeling nauseous, I thought it was because I was simply exhausted. My body was about to tell me EXACTLY why I was feeling this way. One by one this week, each member in my family has fallen to Diego's stomach flu. In order: Me, my husband, my sister's boyfriend, my father, my mother, and finally my sister. This bug was CRAZY!

In case your little ones ever get the stomach flu, the advice nurse suggested a diet of apples, rice cereal, and bananas for Diego, accompanied by some Pedialyte for 4-6 hours. She also said that he wouldn't be back to normal with respect to his diapers for 5-7 days. I'm still exhausted and still waiting for his full recovery. :(

Luckily, we did manage to have a good Halloween. We even carved a pumpkin!

Spirit

I just finished helping my group decorate our elevator lobby. We do this every year. I work for a large company that has its own campus, and my group happens to be lovers of Halloween (Not me really, I prefer Christmas, but I still love celebrating it!), as well as situated on the ONLY 13th floor of the entire campus.

Thus began an annual decorating event for Halloween that has lasted for 3 or 4 years now. Through the years it has slowly morphed into a corporate expectation for us to "go ALL out" and decorate the entire floor the spookiest we can, then throw a HUGE party on Halloween open to the entire company. Sadly, the big shindig was stopped this year and is being replaced with a more private family-friendly party on the 11th floor. Corporate can stop our yearly 13th floor party, but they can't break our spirit!

We've decided to decorate the lobby in the theme of "Mollie Gravestone's Supermarket", complete with a Deli/chop shop (operated by Mike Meyers), Juice bar (operated by Dr. Kevorkian), Snack Bar (operated by It the Clown), and Day care (where all the demon babies are cared for). I think my favorite prop are those Demon babies.

I like them so much, I decided to turn Diego into one in the picture above. Muahahahaha!

PS. We're not done yet with the decorating. We still need to dim the lights and add the final details like grocery store pricing, name tags, etc. (my group was calling me the Martha Stewart of Halloween; if that's what a perfectionist is called these days, then so-be-it!)

Deli/Chop Shop

Day Care


Juice Bar