Halloween!

Our Halloween festivities began on Saturday with our 4th annual "ZooBoo" at our local zoo. The kids went on a treasure hunt, got candy, visited the animals and ran crazy with the throngs of other people who came out!

Lewis was THRILLED to get a Power Ranger costume - he only got it because I found it for $9.99 at Kohls that morning!

Ana just finished a butterfly unit at school so she was a monarch butterfly. Elly picked a devil outfit - both were reused from previous years. I was happy about that! Frances doesn't like anything about Halloween besides the candy. Masks freak her out and she is frightened easily so she put together her own costume and said she was a "hippie diva."

Every year at my school we dress up as our favorite book characters. This year I was Captain Underpants. The kids LOVED it!

As soon as it got dark we were ready to go trick-or-treating. The weather was perfect - 65 degrees, which is warm for us. This neighbor greeted us with his own mask! The kids had a riot and scored a lot of candy.

Notice Ana on the top of the couch - she is ready to pass out.

At about 8:30, after we turned off the porch light and were getting ready for bed, the doorbell rang. I found my friend and co-worker Robyn on the porch! She stopped by to say hi on her way to a party. Is her outfit too much?! Robyn is the phys ed teacher at my school and my kids LOVE her.

I called to Lew for him to come out and see Robyn. He wasn't answering me so I went to see what he was up to - he was crashed on the chair in the family room!

Mornings with Lew

Frances, Lewis and I are the first ones out of the house in the morning. Frances goes to school early every day for orchestra, chamber music and chorus. Since I don't want her to ride the early bus with middle schoolers, I drop her off and then take Lew to daycare. Lewis always seems to be in rare form early in the morning with strange songs, stories, and commentary. Frances usually indulges him, eggs him on, and laughs at his stories.
Lew - "Did Santa give presents to dinosaurs when they were alive?"
Frances - "Lew, there were no people when dinosaurs were alive."
Lew - "Well how did they get their toys?"
Frances - "Dinosaurs didn't play with toys - They were ANIMALS!"
Lew - "I think they played with girl baby dolls and the power rangers and transformers killed the dinosaurs and that's why they are not alive anymore."
Frances - "Lewis, that makes no sense at all. No one was alive to make those toys and toys did NOT kill the dinosaurs."
Lewis - "Frances (pronounced Fa-wances by Lew) you do not know everything."
Me - "Lewie, you are one strange boy."
A new theory of what killed off the dinosaurs was hatched in my very own minivan this morning by my very own son.

Cinder-Lew

Yesterday Elly stormed off to her room because I wouldn't let her wear a dress on her phys ed day. Every afternoon she scours her drawers and closet for a "fancy" outfit for the next day. As she was pouting on her bed, she fell asleep. I was in the kitchen making dinner when I heard Lewie say, "Look at me, I'm going to wear Elly's earrings while she's sleeping........oww, OWWWWWWWWWWW, these things HURT." Let's hope he gained a new appreciation for all things girlie.

Autumnal Antics

We are still enjoying summer weather here in Western NY! Yesterday we went apple and pumpkin picking. I was comfy in my shorts and tshirt. We got a load of apples, all the varieties are co-mingled so we don't know what we're eating. Everyone got to pick out their own pumpkin to supplement the bumper crop from our garden (6 plants, 1 pumpkin).
Here is the Team, ready to attack the unsuspecting trees.

I love Lewie's teeth! He has the biggest smile and heartiest laugh.

Ana is such a brave kid - very little scares or intimidates her. She LOVES bugs. Here she found a little worm and was talking to it, like it was a cute little baby.

Frances found her pumpkin and stayed put until the rest of us were done walking through the field. She was afraid someone would snatch it if she didn't stand guard.

The ever nutty Elly posing with her pick. She had to bring a pumpkin, gourd, and 2 apples to school today for some project - isn't that a little over the top?


Just an aside - I was sitting her typing away while bleaching my 'stash. I lost track of the time and kept it on for 5 extra minutes. Now instead of dark hair, I have a nice red mark above my lip! For you girls under age 40 - sorry to break it to you, but your body does some s-t-r-a-n-g-e things in the 40s

Saturday with Aunt Suzie

We drove down to Edinboro PA for a visit with Aunt Suzie last weekend. A definite highlight was going to the Sponge Bob corn maze. We had to locate 15 stations within the maze. Each station had a piece to a map of the maze. BIG FUN and chilly! We finished in 1h 15m.

The maze is on a buffalo farm. Before we left we went to see the critters.
Elizabeth: "What's that baby animal,Mom?"
Me: "I think it's a baby buffalo."
Suzanne: "It's a GOAT!"
Me: "No, it's not, it's a baby buffalo!"
Frances: "Mama, Aunt Suzie's right, it's a goat."
Me: "Really?.............Oh, yeah, I guess you're right."
Suzanne: "You are a pitiful city girl."

Commando-in-chief

Please see bye-bye-bush sidebar

Meditative Big Lew

We went to the family compound this weekend to celebrate sis-in-law Donna's birthday.
At one point, I watched as Lewie hauled a little folding chair down the hill to the dock. He set it up, took off his crocs and sat down, looking out over the lake..... all by himself. After a while I took his picture and yelled down "whatcha doing Big?" "Just sitting and thinking!" Well all right.

The bountiful harvest

This year we grew squash, tomatoes, peppers, basil and cucumbers in big ole quantities - it was great! Then there were the watermelon and pumpkin (yes, each singular). We picked the watermelon last Sunday morning and cut it open. Look at all of those seeds! It also tasted mealy and dull. I think I'll leave them to the Southern states next summer!