Valley Winter

Yeah...so this valley winter thing is wearing out it's welcome...we will have another 20-25 cms today and Halifax is only getting 10-15cms...how is that fair? More snow tomorrow night as well. Still room on the Sears card for a snow blower but trying to be practical--agh!!

Mike is home with the kiddies today. I feel better about that, not keen on leaving them alone in a snow storm but they are pretty good when they need to be. Graham bought a sliding tube yesterday with the money his Nan and Auntie Collette sent him (and some video games too, of course). He went up and down the back yard most of the day with that thing and had a ball, he cannot wait to take it to Auntie Josee's big farm hill. We fetched Elysia back from Halifax yesterday, she had some money and gift cards burning a hole in her pocket. Sarah and Josee came as well since Sarah wanted to get to American Eagle. Sarah had gift cards and one of those cards that if you spend over 50 dollars (which is pretty easy in that store) you get 10 dollars off. The girl at the cash register told her she couldn't use the card because she didn't present it at the beginning (which, I might add, it didn't say on the card). So she paid with her money. When she told Josee and I, I told her to give me the bag, the receipt and the card. I went in and asked for the manager and told him what happened and that I was disapointed that the cashier would take advantage of a 14 yr old spending her Christmas money...I got her money back. Don't mess with the bull!!

It's Over

Well, it's over...the kids had fun!

We had a great meal last night with family and friends. 17 in total, 15 for the meal and two straglers. Lots of food and fun but all of us had a pc of our hearts in another spot, whether it was an ill family member, a family member no longer with us, or family in another part of the country or world, they may not have been at the table physically but they were there spiritually...that's my deep thoughts for the season!

Elysia is off to Halifax armed with gift cards and money she received....look out Halifax, I always think of Betty and Wilma from the Flintstones and "Charge it"...she'll have fun, I'm sure.

More Pictures

It's Christmas

It's Christmas morning and my tree threw up in the living room. We told the kids they were not allowed up until 7. I heard Graham coughing about 6:55 and actually thought he threw up so I went to his room and Elysia was sitting on his bed with him, reading to him...it's a Christmas miracle.

Last night we went to Josee's annual Christmas Eve soiree....lots of people and lots of food, all the people seemed to arrive at once and then leave at once. Diane's (Josee's sister in law) daughter was on Norad and saw that Santa was in NFLD so that was it for her, it was time to go home and get to bed. We came home and the kids opened their Christmas Eve gift (aka pj's) and we let them open their stocking that Grandma gives them. Graham and Elysia then prepared the treats for Santa and the reindeer and Graham left a note he had made for Timid the elf who use to visit his grade two class.

The kids loved their gifts...totally spoiled! Elysia's IPOD is charging and Graham said his MTL jersey from Grandma was "gold". When Graham opened the John Deere hat from Uncle Jeff, he said he was a "true farmer" now...watch out Jeff, you're job is in jeopardy. Elysia loved her Aberchrombie and Fitch gear that Grandma had found for her.

Josee's mother in law was kind and invited us to her Christmas day meal today, we will head over a little early to see what haul Sarah and Connor had.

Talked to Hannah and Kaylie last night, I always call them when Santa leaves our house to let them know he's on his way. They were pretty excited.

Christmas Village

Over the years, Mike has bought me pcs for a Christmas village...I set it up this year and love it!! My friend, Janet came in and saw it and said how she loved it. I told her Mike had given it to me over the years, so she shot her husband "the look" and he in turn, hit Mike in the arm...hmmm...

Nieces

Last night we had to say goodbye to my beautiful nieces, Kaylie and Hannah. Their dad was arriving last night so they were going with him to his parent's house for an early Christmas so we wouldn't get to see them again before they left. My kids ditched school yesterday to spend some extra time with their cousins. They were both crying when we got in the car last night but they were happy with the time we did get to spend with them.

Tonight the "Roy girls" are going for supper, just me, Josee, Tracey and Mom...should be fun. I just don't want to go to a place that offers a toy with the meal. Just a place to sit with my sisters and mother and have a few laughs.

Ditch

Last night Mike's truck was parked at the end of the driveway as we had mom, Tracey and Josee visiting. I had to leave to go and get the girls at dance. I decided to take the truck since it was at the end anyway. So I go to leave and the driveway was a little slippery so rather than back right up the incline, it slides sideways into the ditch...one of my finer moments. So Josee took her vehicle to get the girls, I took the rest of the cars out of the driveway and was able to drive it out of the ditch...apparently my husband pushed it out for me, by his telling of the story, he lifted it with his pinkie finger and moved it like the bionic man...of course, I blame the person who parked the truck...haha.

The Neck

A wise woman told me today...a man may think he's the head of the household but the woman is the neck...good one, Janet!

Graham had his Christmas concert last night...it was the best yet, only half an hour...perfect! He takes these very seriously. Of course when he spotted me, he had to pull on his earlobe, his father taught him that one. Then we went to Grandma's house to decorate her tree, the kids had fun. They are really enjoying the visit with Auntie Tracey, Kaylie and Hannah. We will sure miss them when they go back.

Fire Alarm

The funniest thing happened last night...

We were having a birthday party for mom, who turned the big 6-0 last week. It was great fun...all her kids, grandchildren and close friends were there. The kids wanted to put 60 candles in her cake as well as sparklers...I might want to mention it was an ice cream cake which doesn't like heat so much. They put the candles all around the outside of the cake and the sparklers in the middle. When the candles on the cake were lit they ignited the sparklers before the cake made it upstairs (must have been the intense heat) and guess what? The smoke detector went off, it couldn't have been better if we planned it. Each grandchild made Grandma a card and gave it to her. The kids all did some crazy dancing in the rec room as well. My kids passed out on the way home last night.

Snow

Another snow day in the valley...Elysia and Graham stayed at Auntie Josee and Uncle Jeff's last night. As did Hannah and Kaylie...poor Josee, I'm sure she enjoyed it but I know she was tired. It was 2:30 Sun morning before we got settled from our trip from the airport to get mom, Tracey, Kaylie and Hannah and then Josee had to be up to work for 7:00. She said she did feel her head bob a couple of times through the day, glad I didn't have bloodwork done that day...haha.

Mom and Tracey's flights were both delayed a couple of hours but they finally made it. The girls were very excited and ran through the doors when they arrived. They were a little groggy yesterday and poor Hannah was not feeling the best. They were funny when they realized how cold it was outside the airport and trust me, it was cold! Kaylie says "how do you people live here?" Although I think they are enjoying the snow today, I know the cousins are enjoying their day off school.

We are having a little party for mom's 60th birthday tonight. When she arrived home from BC, her friends had decorated her house with 60 bras and panties...apparently you can rent them from Frenchies'...who would have thunk it. Plus there was a R rated decoration on her garage door. She is also finding lots of "60" confetti through her drawers...guess that's what happens when you leave Liz your keys.

Together again!!

Need I say more!! Try to get six silly kids to smile nicely...PS check out Hannah's teeth or lack there of... We have Connor, Sarah, Elysia, Hannah, Graham and Kaylie.

Birthday Girl

My mother is 60 years young today!!

If I was better organized, I would put her picture up here, yes...she would be thrilled!

Happy Birthday mom, Grandma and Mema!!

Miss you and cannot wait to see you on Saturday, I wonder if you will look any older--haha!!

Boonieville

I have determined that I work in Boonieville...it snowed a little last night but the road to my work after you pass Kentville doesn't seem to see a snowplow...little greasy but at least there's not much traffic, of course, then I could spend half the day in a ditch and no one would come looking for me.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came out on DVD yesterday so I picked it up last night, I have no doubt of what the kids will be doing after school today. Elysia has her band Christmas concert tonight...looking forward to seeing all the hard work pay off.

Elysia and the Spider

I know this will not sound as funny as it was but here goes...

Last night Elysia was playing on the computer, she was funny to watch because it was like a guitar rock game and she had the headphones on, "playing" the guitar. She starts freaking out because there is a spider...she did try to kill it herself but her reaction was hysterical. I finally went over expecting to see a spider the size of a tooney or something...it was the size of a pin head and that included it's legs...it was more like a spider mite...so I saved her and killed it and then chased her around the basement with the corpse...my big, brave teenager!!

Paul Anka

Mike is on his way to Halifax today to cook for Paul Anka...originally I was going to go to the concert. Mike asked me if I would be upset if we didn't go and he just drove back when he was done cooking...trust me, I am not upset about that...not that I won't miss sitting there listening to such classics as "Puppy Love"...yeah, not quite. I promise I won't sleep in the middle of the bed tonight while you are in Halifax, Mike...

Not much on the weekend. Went to Connor's hockey game on Sat, the ref let those kids get away with alot especially after the whistle, so kids being kids, they will push to see how far they can get, and there was alot of pushing and shoving around. Anyway, Connor's team lost by a goal but I still enjoyed watching them play.

Did get a little Christmas shopping done on Friday. Gotta get organized this week, Tracey and the girls are suppose to be arriving on Sat and I cannot wait...I have hugs galore for them all!!

It amazes me!!

I amazes me how many little things play in your life...

We are waiting for Graham to have a nuclear heart scan to check out how the blood is flowing to his heart but now that is put off indefinitely because the nuclear facility in Ontario that produces 2/3 of the world's supply of radioactive isotopes for this test is closed. It closed for annual maintenance but has stayed close for safety concerns. These isotopes have a short shelf life so they cannot be stock piled. Now hospitals are scrambling to find more...

D-Day

It's dentist day...and I could puke just thinking about it.

Graham started his higher dose of his new medicine last night and one of the side effects is nightmares or very vivid dreams and we have never told him this...this morning he told me that he can wake himself up when he wants to, like last night, he was having a bad dream and woke himself up to start a new one that was much better...wonder if it was that Australian girl on the beach in the commercial that says "so where the bloody hell are you"...he seems to like her.

Elysia has a soccer game tonight at 7 but first we go to the school for their open house, parent night, book sale...last night we picked up the pies we sold...if my freezer wasn't full before, it certainly is now!!

Phone

We finally got our phone service back...it went out Sunday morning, then the internet went out on Monday (yes, poor Elysia couldn't get on Facebook, that's why it stormed). Anyway the guy finally got there yesterday and fixed it, something about a power thing.

The kids had no school yesterday so Josee sent Uncle Jeff to get my kids around noon. They had a great day at Auntie Josee's house, playing in the snow, going in the barn. For those who do not know, Graham thinks Uncle Jeff is perfect (aw....the deluded eyes of the child--haha). That road up at Josee's is horrible in the winter, it's not salted, it blows up there...yuck!

Winterwonderland

Lots of snow last night, I'm thinking 20 plus cms. Mike and I were up early to shovel the driveway...I'm thinking a snowblower is looking pretty good, especially after we saw our neighbor come flying out of his garage with his ATV with a snow plow attachment and Mike says "I know what I want for Christmas". Graham got up too and was "helping" and then worked on his snowman, he loves the snow. He and Elysia are home with their first "Kings County" snow day, they have been waiting for a while because they would always see no school in Kings County on the news but Halifax would still have it.

The drive to work was not great...I guess when you work out in the middle of no where you cannot expect it to be wonderful. The last part of the drive after you got up the hill in Kentville was definitely the worst. Oh well, I brought my lunch so I will just batten down the hatches and eat here. Hope the kids don't kill each other today...

Dentist

I hate the dentist...there is no other way to put it that would even remotely sound nice...maybe I don't hate the dentist personally but certainly professionally. I will put off going for as long as I can and I know I shouldn't but that's me...do as I say not as I do. So I had a filling that was cracked for a while and guess what happened this morning...it came out in a pc of Quality Street, so now I have a gaping hole in my tooth and it's Sunday...I have left messages at two offices and I will have to go. The last two times I had any dental work done, I had consciousness problems...yes, that's right I almost passed out in the chair. I have to try the deep breathing thing, it's pathetic, I know.

Went to a craft night last night with some of the ladies in the neighborhood, the company and food were great. One lady made homemade Irish Cream...OMG, it was good, I could have drank the whole thing, but that would not have been good in sooooo many ways. Someone also brought Bailey's. I slept until 8:30 this morning and that never happens, I guess all it takes is some alcohol.

It's December

It's the first day of December and that means many things

• Christmas is almost here


• It's the official start to winter for me and it snowed last night so that's definitely a sign


• My kids get to start their chocolate Christmas calendars, which is a big deal because they can have the pc of chocolate as soon as they get up in the morning so that means that Graham was up at 6 this morning, sitting on the chair in the living room waiting for one of us to come down, so when we did at 7:30, he was all excited to eat this tiny pc of chocolate shaped like a train.

Graham decorated the front window in our house yesterday, he used a pc of paper for each letter of the words Merry Christmas and taped them to the window...looks lovely. Then Elysia took his picture and printed it for him so he taped that up too...see the photo. For a small fee, you too, could have these highly sought after decorations adhered to your windows. Also included free are many small finger prints all over the remaining window.

Chrisco Order

Well...boxes of food arrived yesterday and as the same as last year, it's screwed up. We did not receive the box with the meat in it...like our turkey, etc. I called them and I have to call back later today because they don't consider it missing until today...whatever! The kids were beyond excited to open the boxes, which they were not allowed to do until I got home...it wasn't "Hi mom, how was your day" it was "mom's home, let's open the boxes". Should I be insulted?

Mike has to cook for Paul Anka so I am going to the concert with him...when I asked Josee to watch the kids, her response was "isn't he dead"...I don't have a clue what he sings, I remember seeing him on Canadian Idol, so it should be me and thousands of older ladies reliving their youths--haha...may see people I know there--haha.

Chrisco Order

My Chrisco Order is at the house and I have to wait until I am done work to go and play in it...500 worth of groceries (and yes, lots of chocolates too).

Lights

Got the Christmas lights up outside...thought we should get it done since it was nice out...had to buy some extra lights to cover the whole front...love my polar bears, got the small one last year before Christmas and the large one after and I think they are cute. See the pictures...

Weekend

Elysia has dumped us for the weekend. I took her to Halifax for Shayla's birthday party and I will run up in the morning and get her since we may be getting freezing rain in the afternoon. She was soooooo excited as we got closer. When we got to the exchange in Bedford for the 101 and 102, she said she felt like she was home. It was a nice evening, after I dropped Elysia off, I went to visit with Reta and Patti at Reta's open house, nice visit as always. I do kind of like Bruce's new bearded look, although his wife apparently does not.

Mike and Graham were having a "campout" in the basement last night. They ended up heading upstairs when Mike realized those cots are not so comfy. Graham was a little upset and Mike found him crying in his room over their move, so we ended up with a cot in our bedroom for the night...so much for my night of sleeping in the middle of the bed.

It's Friday

My first full week of work and I survived (okay, so I wasn't in on Tues but that day was longer to me than a regular work day so let's not split hares).

Elysia had a great game at soccer last night, she set up a beautiful goal. I think midfield is more her position. The coach told her she definitely wants her on the 2A team this summer so she's quite excited.

Gotta do some work.

Thursday

Yes, I'm at work...what does it take to win the lotto, I know it can't buy you happiness but it sure would solve some things.

It's flu shots tonight, which usually also means a trip to Dairy Queen.

The Day has Come

I knew eventually we would take Graham to the cardiologist and it wouldn't be all roses...well, that day was yesterday.
The pressure they measure on the valve is up a little but that was not unexpected, it's still fine but Graham has a new problem. The function in his left ventricle has deteriorated a little, not much but enough for someone with his problems to cause a concern. They are sending him for more testing...he's have a heart scan and metabolyic stress stress. Basically he gets injected with dye and pictures of the blood flow in his heart are taken, then they exercise him but this time with an oxygen mask on to measure his oxygen inflow and outflow then they take pictures of his heart again. They want to make sure that when he had the blockage in his coronary artery as a baby that it didn't cause more damage than what they are aware of. Needless to say it was unexpected and quite a blow. He's fine, he did inform the nurses that he was having trouble playing his PSP game with constant interruptions of tests. Today he is hooked up to a Holter Monitor, which he was going to have anyway.
We explained to Elysia and Graham the jist of what was going on...

Off to Halifax

Graham and I are off to his appt in Halifax...all good!!

I am trying to convince him to cut his "soccer" hair...good luck!!

Monday

It's Monday...Graham and I will be in the city tomorrow for Graham's checkup. Mike, unfortunately has to work so it's just Graham and I. We will certainly be stopping by Russel Metals for a visit...so be warned!

There's a new guy starting at work today, so I am not the newbie...

Weekend

Nothing too exciting this weekend. Mike and I went on a "date" Friday night, just the two of us for dinner. We were going to go to a movie but it didn't start for a while and we find that Elysia and Graham have a certain time limit as to how long they can be alone together and since she had been babysitting him since school was over, there could have been some problems, so rather than have them get in trouble we came home.

We are heading to Connor's hockey game and then mom's for lunch. It's our first game of Connor's this year and it's my first game watching him check and get checked...hope the mother bear auntie in me doesn't come out, because he might be embarrassed when I jump over the glass and take out some 12 year old that may have knocked him down.

Now that I am the working woman, it's back to cleaning and laundry on the weekend. How glamourous is that?

I did go to the Sommerset craft fair yesterday, it was the same old stuff. One of two new things that were neat but I didn't buy a single thing. I did buy a couple of things at the Acadia fair but again, it was the same old stuff for the most part. Although I did find that Acadia had alot more different "artsy" things.

Day 2

Well, I survived another day...understanding things a little better, perhaps enough to realize "OMG, what have I gotten myself into?" My little pea brain is fried again and now I am heading out to get groceries, Lord knows what I will end up with in my cart...

First Day

Well, I survived it...had my first day at work...wasn't too bad.

The first thing I had to deal with was their morning meeting they have every single day to tell what you are doing...I was hoping they would skip over me today but apparently it was a great opportunity for me to introduce myself to everybody, yeah...just what I wanted to do. Spent the day working through the system they use and looking at payables and the paperflow system...certainly different than what I am used to...if my old boss, DWR could see it, he would have a Sh*&fit...

The kids didn't kill each other and my list of what they were to do was done...

Mike lost a windshield wiper as he was driving down the highway today, I laughed because I kept picturing his face and reaction as it happened, he didnt' think it was funny...I'm still chuckling about it.

Just got the date of the Christmas party for my new work and guess what...it's the same day as the Russel Metals one and as much as I would loooovve to go to the RM party, I think it's best to go to the one here...it's a family affair, the kids are invited to attend as well...should be interesting, of course, Graham thinks that's cool and Elysia will hold judgement until she sees how much chocolate there is involved.

Last Day of Vacation!!

It's my last day of my six month vacation...I am heading to my new job tomorrow. Little nervous...hope I do well. I will certainly miss being home with the kids when they get off the bus but I won't miss being here alllll day long.

Graham had a ball in the snow yesterday, he wanted to head outside at 7:30 in the morning, I managed to hold him off for a while. He got the sled out in the backyard for the day. This is a picture of him sledding in the backyard, I think he went up and down that hill a hundred times.

Snowday!!

Well, I guess we got about 8 to 10 cms of snow last night, it started in the early evening and is still falling a little. The kids were thrilled and went out to play in it. Josee wasn't so much thrilled as terrified. She had to endure a long drive back from Sackville where Connor had a hockey game. Needless to say it wasn't her most pleasant experience to date, but thankfully all is fine. Here's some pictures of the snow.

All Hands on Deck

The kiddies had no school on Fri afternoon, so I dragged them and Mike out to clean up the yard, haul the wood down and blow the leaves down the bank...as you can imagine, they were thrilled (actually Graham was), but the Queen toughed it out as the pictures show...

Snow??

We might get snow this weekend...OMG!! It's that time of year I guess, it's certainly a little colder when the kiddies head out to the bus stop in the morning.
Elysia's team tied their soccer game last night, I think they did well, considering this team has won both their previous games by large margins. Elysia didn't have her best game, she's been fighting a cold, sore throat and headache and wasn't feeling the best.
Not much on for the weekend, Graham has soccer on Saturday but that's about it.
Have a good weekend all and get the snow shovels out (okay maybe not you in BC, Tracey).

Dry Run

I went on a "dry run" to my new job this morning...22 minutes there with a stop at Timmies (there's no sense in checking it out without the Timmies stop) and 15 minutes home...not bad.

The other day Graham and Elysia were arguing and I told them to stop and Graham's response was "We're not arguing, we're having a creative discussion"...huh?? Then we went to Grandma's house while Elysia and Sarah were at their dance class and Graham had homework to finish. He was working at his math and informed his Grandmother that I was working him like a "pack mule"...huh?? Where does this come from??

Last night I went to Adventure Club at the church in Kentville. Graham's friend, Connor and his family have taken Graham in the past since Connor's mom, Janet runs it (can you follow that?). Last night they were packing up donations to send to needy children around the world and I was taking the kids' pictures with thei boxes. It was pretty cute to see how excited the kids were to do this, it was pretty serious business for them, they wanted the boxes to be just right. Here's some pictures of Graham's group packing their box and then the picture with the box completed. Graham was suppose to wear a Christmasie hat, but we couldn't find one so he wore a Moose hat and said it looked kind of like a reindeer so it was close enough.

Elysia has a soccer game today at 5 so it's a good thing I didn't start work this week!!

Next Week

Well, I better enjoy these last few days...I start work next Tuesday. I will be working for a company called Subtotal POS Systems. I will working in their accounting dept. They sell the computers that you see used in restaurants like Subway that the workers enter the orders on by touchscreen. They are in Centreville, which is only about a 15 minute drive from here...thankfully there is a Tim Horton's on the way...haha...I think the bookstore will miss me, since I have been reading so much while I was home.

Job Offer

So...that job offer has come back to me. I hadn't heard anything in a while. They met all my requirements so I am to call today with a response, I will be taking the job. As much as I enjoy the time home, I cannot pass it up, this may not come up again before my EI is up.

Do you like the new Christmas Tree on my blog, I bloglifted it from Jill MacDonald's blog...I'm sure Angie and Natasha would love it.

Circle of Life

I usually don't get too deep on my blog but here goes...

Recently a young boy was killed in a car accident, he was only 22 years old, his name was Danny Gallant. When he was an infant, my mother was his babysitter. When mom heard of his death she was very upset. She had a conversation with his father the other day and the dad told her how the family had donated Danny's organs and tissue. She then told him our story of how we almost lost Graham but it was because of someone making the same decision they did that Graham is still alive. A child that I had met at one point in my life (and regrettably do not remember) saved someone's life last week, just as a stranger did my son...

We Survived!!

We survived Hurricane Noel and Sleepover Elysia. Not sure which one made the most noise though?! Elysia had 6 friends and one cousin sleep over last night. They slept down in the rec room. I was concerned they would get spooked if the power went out for an extended time. It did flick off about four times but thankfully it stayed on. The wind sure did blow good last night, I was shocked we didn't lose power for any time. I had trouble sleeping because I was worried about the girls freaking out in the dark, plus Mike has a pretty good cold on the go and it pretty much a snot factory (painting a pretty picture, huh?). I think I heard the wind speed hit about 120 kms here but we got off lucky.
Why is it that I always pick the weekend when the time turns back to have Elysia's sleepovers, I get stuck with the girls an hour longer (I mean they stay an hour longer). They had fun, lots of giggles, chips and movies.
Went scrapbooking for a while at the Old O with Reta, Patti, Lori and Alice...did I mention Reta, Patti, Lori and Alice (Patti told me to make sure I mentioned Reta, Patti, Lori and Alice on my blog). Didn't stay too long, there was lots going on here.
Graham's soccer was cancelled tonight, the power was still out at Horton High where he plays at, he doesn't think it's fair that they may have no school tomorrow and he will.

Storm's a Brewing

So tomorrow night we are suppose to have horrible weather with TS Noel blowing through bringing high winds and rain. Just to make things better, Elysia is having her birthday sleepover on Sat night. So that means we will have a house full of girls. If the power goes out the pump doesn't work and we have no water...so we will fill some buckets in the tub so we can still run the toilet. For those fools like us who were stupid enough to go with a satelite as opposed to cable, you will know that when it rains hard you lose the signal so if the power stays on we will have to tv, so we are renting some dvd's for the girls to watch. Should be an interesting evening.
Graham is upset because he is banned from the basement, he doesn't think it's fair.
Mike and I did an emergency clean of the front gutter, it was full of leaves, oh my gross, those leaves rot in there and they stink bad!! But they are clean now, so we will see how it goes.
Heading to the old O tomorrow for a day of scrapbooking with the ladies. Mike gets to take the little ones to their soccer clinic tomorrow. Graham's is from 11 to noon and Elysia's is right after, so two hours + at soccer for him.

Trick or Treat

We had 122 little visitors last night. Elysia went out with her friends to trick or treat, she was a princess, which she is every day anyway. Graham was Frank Thomas from the Blue Jays, Mike and I took turns taking him and his friends out. When I had him, I had six other kids with me and when Mike had him, he only had Graham and Connor. I think I pulled the wrong shift. The kids had fun and got too much loot. We were ready for 140 so we did fine. We got lots of compliments on all our pumpkin carving. We had carved 11 pumpkins and we also had one fake one. It didn't take long for the kids to fall asleep last night. I know Graham had to run to every house for the first while, but he slowed down eventually. Here's some pictures of the house decorated, the pumpkins lit and the kids and their groups.

Halloween

Today is Halloween and my kids have an inservice...imagine that...they had one last week too. The pumpkins are carved, the costumes are ready, the candy is in bags...bring it on.

This picture is of my lovely children jumping off the table in the rec room...hmmm...

Graham went to the school dance last night. He had a "date" with a girl named Emma. Mike said Graham had a really fun time, he did dance with his "date" twice. Before the dance Graham wanted to go to the store to buy mints to freshen his breath, I kept asking him why but he didn't know. I think he heard kids talking about it so he went from there.

I took Elysia to her dance class and then went to mom's for a quick visit. Josee and Connor were also at mom's. When I got out of the truck, Connor was hiding in the bushes in the dark and jumped up and yelled "what are you doing" in a low voice. Well, those of you who know me there was a scream involved and a dance. Little monster!!

Leaves--AGH!!

So last week the leaves were great fun...this week, not so much. I raked up 19 bags yesterday in the front yard...mind you they were small pumpkin bags but it didn't seem to make much of a dent. Haven't even touched the back yard. I think the leaf blower will blow those down the back hill.

We carved 12 pumpkins yesterday. Better get some tealights so they don't sit there looking dull.

Here's some more pictures from the Martin's Halloween Yard Viewing.

The Crazy Martins

Here are some pictures from our trip to Patti and Tim s house Sat night. I will post more later, they went all out for this and the kids got a kick out of it. PS the first picture is Scarey Dawna (if you remember they put her in the bathroom at night and sent me in there to scare me...now you see why I screamed).

Birthday Girl

My little girl turned 13 today...I am the mother of a teenager...how did that happen?? Here's some pictures of my little one, pictures she has taken with her camera. Love you Elysia!!