Whew!

What a Weekend! (Still recovering...) Between Halloween, a Bar Mitzvah, a Birthday Party, an Election Day Bakesale, Election Night festivities, and a Time Change, I'm beat! But what fun!

Halloween night was kicked off with a Pancake Dinner hosted by our good friends and neighbors, then we all headed out to purge the neighborhood of their goodies and admire the carving skills in the area. Turns out political pumpkins took the cake this year, with all but one in some way referring to our new President Elect.

The night after Halloween, Patrick and I attended a Bar Mitzvah for our next door neighbor's son and we had a really nice time. Neither of us had been to one before, so it was really fun and also very interesting to learn about the customs and traditions involved in this coming of age milestone as well as the Jewish religion. David did a great job with his Torah readings, and though he shared his night with another Bar Mitzvah, he definitely shone brighter. (Don't tell the other family that, though.)

The following day we went to a Birthday Party at Pump It Up, an all inflatable jumping place (what a great idea for a party place!) and the girls just wore themselves out. Though I was a little unnerved by the bigger kids pushing by and over the 2 year olds, everyone had a great time. Happy 2nd Birthday, Elliott!!

THEN, Election Day the girls' preschool had a bakesale to try to take advantage of the extra voters and some potential school donations, so Monday was spent baking. I love to bake, but the kids had the day off of school, so I didn't really get to make as much as I wanted. This was a good thing, however, because we didn't sell all the things that we made. (Can I gloat? My banana bread was all gobbled up- yippee!)

Lastly, that night Patrick's company had a huge Election Watching Party in typical Accenture style. It was fun! There was a huge room decorated with one side in Blue Donkeys and one side in Red Elephants showing CNN, and there were satellite rooms - one Red showing Fox News, and one Blue showing MSNBC. Other rooms held human statues, a raffle drawing, food of course, and meandering ex-presidents. Lots of fun for us all.

Carving Pumpkins and Building Walls

This past week we spent a good chunk of time working on our front yard and new kitchen. It's been a long time in the planning stage, but this week, we finally were able to begin on the actual building (and demolishing) process. My dad and mom came up and now we have new wall studs that will become one of the walls for the kitchen, as well as a new retaining wall and sod in the front. Woo-hoo! You would understand my enthusiasm if you could have seen the front yard just prior to the work - old rotting railroad ties, dirt and weeds. It was lovely - not. But now it is! (Going to add pics tomorrow - I can't believe I didn't take any!)






Sunday evening, we spent family time carving pumpkins. Both girls drew their own jack-o-lantern faces and neither one was even remotely interested in getting gooky pumpkin and seeds all over their hands, so Mom and Dad had to do that part. (When I was a kid, that was the best part! Well, that and the toasted pumpkin seeds!) The result was fun all around and some great spooky jack-o-lanterns on our porch.

Unwelcome Visitor

So, when will our little friend go away? Anyone have suggestions? In the meantime, we have named him Ricky.

Sick Weekend

Well, Laney came down with the Coxsackie virus blisters Friday. No wonder she was so cranky last week. Mia was disappointed because that meant we would be missing a Halloween party on Saturday that she had really been looking forward to.

No worries - Mom to the rescue! I happened to have a few things in my bag to make our own party. First Mia made cookies.


Then, we hung decorations we had made earlier in the week and donned Halloween Costumes. (Thank you to Travis for lending his hat.)

Then, we made Halloween cards, ate spooky snacks and the cookies, applied creepy tattoos, and had orange milk.

Then, we got to play in the dark with glow sticks - Mia bit into one and we worried a bit about poison. (So far, she's still normal, aside from HER Coxsackie blisters that showed up yesterday afternoon.)

We had an uninvited visitor or two, asking for treats (almost like real Halloween!)
and then we went to bed.

Phew! Crisis (and disappointed 2 and 4 year old meltdowns) averted.

Thank God for Surge Suppressors

Well, we just inadvertently tested our very old surge suppressor. This was used in our kitchen to plug in all sorts of things, from the phone to the clock radio, to mixers when we need them. It also happens to have been attached to the wall just below some hooks, buckets, and other holders for pens, keys, and other "junk drawer" items. Since we don't have a drawer at all in our kitchen, we use this system the previous owners set up (for now).

Well, at least we DID.

Today I was throwing dirty clothes down into the basement, and when I shut the door, I knocked an old keyring off a hook that had been hanging just directly above the surge suppressor. One of the metal key ring accessories managed to land just between the outlet and the plug that was plugged into the outlet. After a pop! and the smell of hot electricity, I realized what had happened and unplugged the surge suppressor, and then removed the items from the suppressor.

Guess we'll have to figure out a new system. But for now, I'm just happy I didn't burn the house down.

(I have to add this note: According to my dad, a 3 prong outlet was designed to face upside-down: with the ground plug on the top. This example is exactly why they were designed this way. Unfortunately, hardly anyone installs them this way, and our surge suppressor was not facing this way. It was hanging with the label upright, looking like a smiley.)


UPDATE: Turns out the surge suppressor didn't work. The circuit breaker is what kept our house from burning down. Thank God for Circuit Breakers. :)

Oh a happier note, here are some fun pictures from this past week.

Puda and Roddy - A Story by Mia

by Mia Volpe

This is a mama and baby pumpkin, Roddy and Puda. They are going on a walk and got their umbrella.

Apple friend said "You're not bigger than ME!"

"Yes I AM!" said Pumpkin, and she was off on a magic carpet ride. The End.

There's more.

Puda said "Apple, I am bigger but You're small."

"Aw! I am NOT down low! I want to be big so I am big! So I am going to invite you to lunch!" (said Apple). So she always wanted to, always wanted to, ALWAYS wanted to. And she did.

They ate peanut butter sandwiches with peanut butter and jelly. And then they went on a walk.

She wanted to have a surprise cake and she did and she had a big bite. She ate it and had a tummy ache. So she had to go to the hospital and then she got all better and turned 4 on her birthday. And the baby said "I wish I was 4 and I'd love to be 6."

And then this is a very long story.

At the end of the day, they went to sleep and in the morning Apple was gone!

"Where did Apple go?"

"Oh Oh! Where's Apple?"

She went jogging. They didn't know where she was. The End.

Not the end.

She was off on a magic carpet ride again and she was tiny and she growed up really really big! Puda and Roddy and Tita (the Apple) got pooped on by a camel cricket. Yick! Blech! And Roddy got bit by a mosquito.

Tita got bit by a bird. Then they ran away and one got stung by a bee (Puda).

The End.

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night...

...and Patrick was out of town for work.

The house was quiet, the kids asleep, and I was trying to sleep.

I could hear every creak and bump as I tried to rest in our old and creaky little house and pretend that this night was the same as every other night when Patrick is home.

2:00 a.m. I heard something.

A distinct thump.

Then again.

It was coming from outside the house, JUST outside the house.

Man was I getting freaked out.

There was someone, or something just outside our back door!

Just like the not-so-bright victim in a scary movie, I grabbed the flashlight and went to investigate.

On the way down the stairs I could hear scratching noises!

Now I was really freaked, I also grabbed the phone, with 911 dialed but not executed.

Just in case.


Then I shone my flashlight right into the beady eyes of the burglar who would threaten my family (and our trash). When he saw me, his cockiness allowed him to simply push over the garbage can, look at me for a photo op, and casually saunter away.