Halloween night!

Em is with her friend for the night. Michael is with a friend. Kevin is with Michael and I'm at home alone with Pepper. She has had an interesting night. I think she is really confused. I'm watching the Wedding Singer and missing the days that I walked hand in hand with my little ones on Halloween night. It goes by way too fast! Oh, BTW, Em is a fashion victim and Michael is the ghost of Rock and Roll in case you couldn't figure it out from the pictures!

Craft Night.

Emily just got done with her plant cell project that she started last week and I just finished carving a Titans pumpkin!

Pumpkin Carving Party 2008

This is our 19th (?) year give or take a couple of years to have a pumpkin carving party. Last year, we changed it to the kids pumpkin carving party where they invited their friends instead of us inviting ours. :(

We had 6 girls and 5 boys plus a couple of adults hanging around and 2 dogs. There were pumpkin guts all over the back porch, but lots of laughter and fun.

After they were done carving they ate "Zombie Brain Soup" (chili), "Mummy dogs" (pigs in a blanket) and "Bat Wings with Zombie Ear wax" (blue corn chips and queso).

Of course, no pumpkin carving party is complete without karaoke and Guitar Hero? While they were doing that, I walked outside to look at all the pumpkins and spotted something in the middle of the yard. It was one shoe...Someone was wandering around without a shoe and I hadn't heard anything about it. Of course, it belonged to a boy! I still haven't carved my pumpkin and I'm not sure it's going to get done tonight. I'm beat!

Fall Break!

Last week we celebrated the kid's Fall break by going to the beach. We have gone ot Orange Beach every Fall since 1991. That's even before kids! There have been 2 or 3 times that we haven't been able to go due to hurricanes. Those were not happy years!

We left Tuesday after school and drove straight through to the beach. Gram and Gramps had gone the day before, so they were waiting at the condo for us to arrive. Our trip was uneventful. The kids were troopers! The area south of Montgomery to the beach exit is really boring. So, Kevin had to endure my XM radio channel surfing. We were jumping around the 70s, 80s and 90s, and the Big Tracks stations. It's amazing how much of my brain is cluttered with songs and lyrics AND the guitar and drum solos. Yet, I walk out of the room to get something and I can't remember what it is.

Anyway, our trip was great. The weather was perfect! Warm, but not too warm. The Gulf was pretty rough the first few days, but by Friday it had calmed down quite a bit.

We lounged on the beach, while the kids played. We had friends down there, also, so they were entertained. I started and FINISHED a book, which is huge for me. I went shell hunting pretty much every day. We found many awesome shells and 1 bone(?).Kevin found the biggest shell EVER on one of the last days. This after stating that he didn't understand the thrill of looking for shells - grrrrrrr! We went crab hunting at night and caught "Crabzilla". The kids got boogie boards and rode the waves. We had a pet seagull that we named "Rover". He would guard our chairs and chase off all the other seagulls. All this for some cheddar popcorn. Emily and the girls danced on a table at a restaurant. She loved that... A good time was had by all.

One funny story happened the second night we were there. I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom - TMI. When I got back in bed I heard a scratching noise under the bed. Kevin had told me about one of his friends who was staying in a condo and they came in and found a Copperhead in the corner. Now, I wasn't thinking that there was a Copperhead under the bed, but I started thinking that it could be a lizard or mouse scratching. I laid there and heard the noise again. By now, I am somewhat freaked out. The third time I heard the noise, I basically jumped on Kevin and scared him to death. I didn't want to wake the rest of the condo so I whispered "I think there is something under the bed". He thought it was the fan blade or the blinds. I told him it wasn't. So he listened for a while and heard the scratching. He really didn't want to look, but he turned on the light and looked under the bed. Apparently, one of the slats from the bed had fallen out on my side and everytime he turned over it would rub on the carpet, sounding like something scratching. So, I hadn't totally lost my mind. I think Kevin was awake for the next 3 hours. I eventually was able to go back to sleep. Sorry, Kev!

We drove home Sunday to cold weather. We had to turn the heat on. I wasn't ready for that. I was ready to see Pepper dog. She seemed to have a good visit at the home she stayed at. She came home with a cute Halloween scarf.

Now we're back to the grind - homework, work, school, laundry, etc...I'm ready to go back!

Hoot, Scoot & Boogie weekend

Well tonight was our last year for the Hoot, Scoot & Boogie school fundraiser. I'm sad and I'm not sad. Emily had 2 friends come over before we went to practice for their karaoke and to do each other's makeup and hair - great! Michael's friend,Connor, came with him.

They had fun, I think. Michael and Connor were ready to go home at 7:00, but Emily and her friends were not ready. That's a problem. I talked the boys into staying a little while longer. Hopefully, I won't win everything that I bid on. Michael really really wanted the Star Wars basket. I'm really hoping that someone else bid on that after me. Don't tell Michael that, though.

Kevin is in Boston, so he missed all the fun and we missed him. :(