Tonight We Will Be . . .

Reformation Day, called Halloween by some, is my boys' second favorite holiday, second only to Christmas. They LOVE to dress up! Here is what they will be tonight:



Stephen is a blonde Superman. He wanted me to get black gel or to dye his hair, but I know when to draw the line. Sorry buddy. This Superman has to stay a blonde!



AJ is going as Batman. This is the second time he has been Batman. Of course, now he is "Batman, the Dark Knight!" We would have used the costume from three years ago, but . . . hello! He's grown about ten sizes! Besides, isn't this time of year all about getting a new costume!



Josh is going as Napoleon Dynamite. OK, I can hear some of you asking why he even knows about Napoleon, let me say, I am paying for that decision. Even though I know I'm not supposed to play favorites, Josh's costume really is my favorite. Maybe it's because he plays the whole part so well!! I wasn't real sure about the movie, but my son as Napoleon Dynamite totally cracks me up!



Princess is going as Princess tonight. Well, actually, she's staying home to guard the house. And while she's a pussy cat when we have visitors (a pussy cat with a very loud bark!), she's quite a mean gaurd dog. So if you're planning on coming by while we're at our party . . . DON'T!



I'm going to spend tonight with the superheroes and their best bud Karate Kid tonight. So at the moment, I'm feeling quite safe!

Sit Still !!!

This is how we have to read to AJ. His bopping around when we're trying to read to him just drives me crazy!!! Evidently, I'm not the only one.

An Unexpected Evening

Hot dogs cooked in a campfire. S'mores. Sleeping under the stars. That's what the two younger boys and I had planned for tonight. Ok, I actually had planned loading the Suburban, setting up a tent, frantically trying to get supper stuff out for starved children, exhaustedly sitting for a few minutes by myself next to a dying campfire, very little sleep on the ground in a drafty tent, and getting up the next morning to reverse the whole process only to pack up and head home (and whee! More word awaits at home!) Yes, my view of camping is different than that of the boys. But none of us got what we expected.

Florida weather as the temperature changes is unpredictable, and this weekend, they predicted rain and wind. So the camping trip with Cub Scouts was cancelled. AJ moaned, "My first camping trip!!!" Stephen wailed,"Now we have to stay inside!" Mommy was disappointed too. (Yeah right! Because I had to put away all that camping stuff I took out late last night!) But God had an entirely different plan for all of us.

First, I made a deal with the boys that they could camp in the living room. The really like doing this, so reluctantly I set the tent up. They moved the PS2 in and plugged it into the Big TV. We rented a movie. But unexpectedly, the power went out. No PS2. No movies. Lots of dark. We started lighting candles. Then we pulled out some games. And we had fun. Together. After lots of hysterical laughter over the Uno Attacks machine that kept shooting a hundred cards at a time, and the death-vengeance game of Sorry! the power came up. And once again today, we were disappointed. At least we did get to see our movies.

God had an entirely different plan for us tonight. And it was kind of fun. Makes me want to flip the switch on the electrical panel once in a while.

A . . . B . . . C . . . D . . .

Josh and Stephen just had a contest to see who could belch the loudest . . . then the grossest . . . then the entire ABC's. Seriously. You know, it never ceases to amaze me that all those things boys are credited with coming up with on their own to do . . . they really do them. I have honestly never belched the ABC's. In fact, I don't know how to make myself belch. Nor would I want to.

One Well-Loved Piggie!

Well, after seven weeks, our ginuea pig is still being well-cared for. He is often hand-fed, and the boys still argue over who should get to do it. Cage cleaning isn't quite as competitive as it was at first, but it gets done, and so far I've only had to be the calendar/alarm clock. We absolutely love having our piggie. He is so funny. We feed him piggie chow and hay in the morning, and fresh veggies and a little fruit in the evening. His evening meal is definitely the favorite, and if we forget or run late, he squeaks like crazy until we feed him. His chirping and squeaking drive the dog nuts. She seems to really love him too. Tonight she was licking him as Stephen held him and fed him. I'm not too confident that Princess would love him as much if he was loose in the house, so we are really trying to keep him secure. Oh yeah . . . the boys decided to call him Nibs. (I think it's a name from Peter Pan)

OK. He REALLY Nees a Haircut Now!

One of my ex-husband's biggest pet peeves is that I don't get the boys' hair cut often enough. I just don't notice that it's getting long, or I notice on Sundays when we finally comb it but forget during the week when we can get it cut, or I just get too busy to get it done. So anyway, I saw Josh like this today, and thought I might send it to him just to show him how much worse it could be.



What? You don't think that would be such a good idea?

My Proud New Cubbie

For the last four years, every week, AJ has asked me how much longer it would be until HE was in Cub Scouts. Last Monday it was finally his turn. He was SOOO excited to put on the uniform, and I think he has told nearly everyone since then that "he is now a Cub Scout." We have worked hard this week to learn the Scout promise, law, motto, the secret sign and handshake. What was I thinking when my others were little? I steered clear of scouts with them and let my dad do it . . .but this is fun! I LOVE his excitement and enthusiasm, and I'm eagerly looking for new things to do with him. Isn't it great that Andrew is having so much fun?