Time for EVERYone to dress up, including the dogs!

Even the dogs are dressed for Halloween. Rebel has been sporting his "Bad To The Bone" t-shirt and his ghost collar from the dollar spot at Target.

Rowdy is not the t-shirt type but he has been wearing his Halloween print bandanna and his pumpkin collar.

It's "Red Ribbon" week at the kids school. The theme this year is "Vote yes for a drug free future". Each day of the week the kids and teachers wear a different thing for the theme of the day. Monday - "I elect to be drug free" they wore patriotic colorss

Tuesday - "Being drug free is no sweat" they wore sweatpants and sweatshirts.
Wednesday - "Team up against drugs" they wore their favorite sport team shirt.
Thursday - "Put a lid on drugs" they wore their favorite hat.
Friday - "Say Boo to drugs" they will wear festive orange and black.

So that explains the silly hats!

What do you see when you look at this picture. Maybe it looks like the pillows got thrown on the bed in a hurry but then you step closer and what do you find?

Not a monster under the bed but a little monster dog snuggled up in your pillows! While I was in the bathroom rinsing the shampoo from Megan's hair Rebel must of decided that our pillows would be more comfy then the dog bed. So this is how I found him, hey at least he made a warm spot for me to steal, usually it is the other way around.

My post for Tuesday 10-28-08

Here are some pictures from dress up week at dance class.
Paige was a good sport and wore her wigs, yes she has two wigs on a long pink one and the short purple and pink one on top.

Megan's jazz class danced to the "Monster Mash".

It was a graveyard smash!

It's Halloween week!

We started the festivities last night with a visit to "Boo At the Zoo". It was the last night of "Boo At the Zoo" so it was now or never. Somehow this year the weekends just zoomed by and we almost missed it. Paige was exhausted from a sleepover/birthday party at her best friend Brittany's. They usually get a good nights sleep when they are together but there were two other girls so sleep was hard to come by. I picked her up on our way to the dance studio for "nutty" practice. When we returned home at 3:30 she ate an English muffin then went up to her room. When I suggested she take a nap she tried to argue but it was a losing battle. As soon as she put her head on the pillow she was out. I let her sleep for two hours. I almost considered just taking Megan to the zoo but I didn't think that would go over very well. When I woke her up I think she almost considered staying home but in the end she put on her costume grabbed her treat bag and we headed to the zoo for a whole hour and a half. Luckily we live close by so that makes it easier.


Here is Paige in her "Mad Scientist" costume. We bought the lab coat at Andersons in the work wear area. I had the wig from last year and we took the plastic test tubes from Megan's wizard kit and we put glow sticks in them. She got an awful lot of compliments on her wig and cool costume. I think we still need to add a name badge, any suggestions?

Megan insisted on being something "spooky" this year. This from the child who will not go into the den because Mike has a skeleton ghost in there ( a plastic skull with some torn up cheese cloth on it) for his haunted house room. But here she is in her fifteen dollar CVS Spider Queen get up. Do you like my handiwork with the eye liner pencil? I told her if it is cold on Halloween I will have her wear a black long sleeve t shirt of Paige's underneath. I forgot about it until after she already had the purple striped turtle neck on. Oh well at least she didn't have to wear her coat on top.

Are you spooked?

The mad scientist is pretty good with the light up yo-yo one of the cooler things they got at "Boo at the Zoo".

My post for Sunday 10-26-08

Here is a sneak peak of Paige's "Spanish Dolls" costume for the "Nutty Nutcracker". Her teacher Miss. Kathleen is making them by hand. They will also have a short vest and a flower clip for their hair. Their hair will be in a low bun.
Each of the girls have a different color combination on the skirts, and they swing and swish them around during their dance, it is fun and festive!

I have had a cold all week, I had to work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the express lane (12 or so items or less) today. At about three o'clock I had a serious coughing fit even though I had a cough drop in my mouth. I also had a throbbing headache and my throat was sore. I really wanted to just go home and rest. But I had made plans for the night. Paige is at her best friend Brittany's for a sleepover to celebrate Brittany's 11th b.day. Since "WALL-E" is playing at the Dollar theater Megan and I made plans to go see it together. Paige got to see it with Brittany (of course!) over the summer. So now it is our turn.

So I had a date tonight with my little cutie, Megan. We got fancied up and put our boots on, then we went to dinner at "Don Pablo's" (Megan's choice) and saw the show. We had a fun time together and guess what? My headache went away. Guess I just needed a night out and someone fun to share it with.

Could she be any cuter? Guess what she had in the handbag, besides Joy her lilkinz penguin? She had some jolly ranchers candy, a tootsie pop and some "Mike & Ikes", oh and 3 pennies. We got to sit right next to the fountain at Don Pablo's so she made 3 wishes. She told me one of her wishes..."To have the BEST night ever". I just love this girl to pieces. She makes my heart sing!

My post for Friday 10-24-08

Paige's "booth" for the Fifth Grade Business Day!

I took these pictures at the beginning of the sale while she still had plenty of merchandise. She sold out of everything except 5 bags of dog treats...Rowdy and Rebel will be happy to hear that. She had lots of compliments and the banana bread went first-fast. Note to selves...next time bake more banana bread. I guess I have a pretty good following at her school, Because the teachers and the kids were all over it. Well they have the recipe now so maybe they will give it a go.

My post for Thursday 10-23-08 "5th Grade Biz Day"
Sorry folks, but I have a perfectly good explanation for not posting for the past few days. I was busy slaving away in the kitchen for Paige's "fifth grade biz day" as in business day. Since the first week of school the kids have been "earning" play money. They get "paid" fifty bucks a week, but if they do not turn their homework in they have to pay a fine. Well at the end of the quarter they have "biz day" where they bring in their homemade items to sale. They "rent" their booth (desk) for $35.00 or they can partner up for $20.00 each, but then they split the profits too.

So I was helping Paige prepare her wares for "biz day" all day Thursday. I dipped two bags of pretzels and fancied them up with sprinkles.
I made 5 bags of chocolate seashells. These were so simple...put candy melts in microwave, spoon into molds, pop in freezer, turn upside down and presto...fancy chocolate sea shells!
Four loaves with printed recipes of my infamous banana bread, I don't even need the recipe...it is committed to memory.

We (yes Paige helped with these) made three different types of dog treats. I have some recipes from the "Three Dog Bakery Recipe Book". They were pretty easy, oh and Rowdy and Rebel love being the taste testers!

So that is why I have been away...too busy mixing, dipping and making cute little tags (did you notice the cute little tags?) to be blogging.

My post for Wednesday October 22, 2008

This is Megan's latest piece of art work from her 2nd grade art class at school. This is her take on a "Paul Klee Abstraction". I love all the brilliant colors, she did a great job of blending her colors.

Paul Klee, Cat and Bird, 1928, oil and ink on gessoed canvas mounted on wood, Museum of Modern Art New York City
Born	18 December 1879
Died	29 June 1940 (aged 60) Muralto, Switzerland
Nationality	German/Swiss
Field	painting
Training	Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
Movement	expressionism cubism surrealism
Works	many well-known works, including Fish Magic, Golden Fish, Zitronen, and Viaducts Break Ranks

Our home at 8:10 a.m., Tuesday 10-21-08

Paige is getting her clarinet practice in before school. After school on Tuesdays are busy! Early dinner, to dance from 5 to 8 then back home for showers and bed.

Meanwhile Rowdy is barking his crazy old head off, and Rebel is running around him egging him on. I threw the tennis ball a few times for Rebel but he was having more fun making the old dog bark.

Then there is Megan looking too darn cute in her little skort (that is not a type-o a skort is a skirt with built in shorts underneath) and her colorful striped cardigan. She is sporting a sequined pumpkin on that little black tee. She will be all set for jazz class tonight. Just whip off the cardigan and put on the jazz shoes and she'll be ready to dance!

Happy Tuesday Everyone :)

In memory of Harvey Harvest....the best scarecrow ever!

Here are some fun pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch last Friday.

It's official...our Indian Summer is over!
We had a visit from Jack Frost last night and the zinnia's, cosmos, nastutiums and cannas are goners. Looks like I will be out filling up the lawn and leaf bags tomorrow. At least I cut two bouquets for the house on Friday afternoon and I took some pictures.

The Return of the Swamp Thing

Mike a.k.a. Swamp Thing made a surprise appearance last night when Terry and Steve came over for dinner. Do you think Paige and Megan are really scared or are they just (over) acting?

My post for Friday 10-17-08


Friday night in the Midwest means "football Friday" at most local high schools. It's the place to be even when it's the first cold night of the season. Of course the "cool" kids (teens) only wear their hoodies, but the cold kids (like ours) wear their winter coats zipped up high and tight.
Terry and Steve came over to our house for pizza before the game between their school and ours.
We enjoyed the football but the real reason we sat in the cold was to watch the half time entertainment. Their daughter Brittney is in the color guard and she does one heck of a job spinning those flags. That's Brittney down there by the 40 yard line.

After the show we walked over to the visitors side to say hello, Paige and Megan were happy to see their cousin. She did a great job and it was well worth getting bundled up for.