Halloween update

Did all the little ghosts, ghouls, princesses, and pirates have fun tonight? I didn't think that many kids came around, but near the end of the night I thought that perhaps I did get a lot because I was afraid I was going to run out of candy. We had several very large groups of kids come through. Not a lot of kids younger than Matt though.

Here is the lump of dirt with his good friend, Pirate. Pirate lives in a neighborhood of four houses. Knowing this, I invited Pirate to come to our neck of the woods where he had a much larger pool of candy-giving houses. And Pirate and Lump of Dirt and Kitty Cat are all very good friends, and have been since they were all very little.
Also please note that you can see the prize I won from Bessie hanging on my Halloween tree on the piano. It's the big pumpkin. Very festive!

Here we have Kitty Cat, Zombie, Kimono girl and Black Dress girl. It's hard to believe the giggling and make-up-ing and spraying of hair-ing is not Katie, but Kitty Cat. Kitty Cat sure has grown up a lot since she went to middle school.
I offer a close up of my daddy longleg masterpiece, drawn in brown eyeliner on Matt's forehead. Also note the ant on his nose, and the nematode to the left of the nose.
Here we have the ladybug rendered in fingernail polish and black eyeliner and the centipede done in black eyeliner.

Jimmy and his friends finally meet up and are heading out the door at 9 p.m. Good luck getting any candy. I made Jimmy wear a shirt. He was going to go without. Dumbhead teenager. In case you can't tell, he's going as a beach bum, complete with Diego pail and shovel (Diego is Dora the Explorer's friend? Cousin? Map supplier? Jake, inform me please. I know you know all about Diego). Sadly, he has Diego's face turned inward so you can't see it.

No pictures of Paul. He left early for a bonfire and will be there 'til late.

I don't know what I'll do without the Halloween Decoration Special Feature. I'm sad it's all over. I had lots more to share--including some of sister Jen's sewing machine magic and the Halloween tree. I guess they will have to wait until next year.

Want to know what the scariest part of Halloween was? The cleaning up of sprayed-on hair color. Hayley's black hair took three washes to get out and it still stained her shirt. I had to help out with the last washing. Her hair is probably still staining the towel.

And then there is this left for me. The previous owner of the green has gone to bed.Trick or treat indeed. I see the trick, but where's my treat?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN (Day 31 of the HDSF)

Day 31 of the HDSF must feature pumpkins and costumes.

All three carvers went for the classic face design, each with their own interpretation.

Paul's, on the far left, is a winking teenager pumpkin saying, "heh." (Really. That is Paul's own wordage. "heh." ) Hayley (center) did hers in anime style. It's sort of a Picasso-y anime because you can't really tell where the features are unless you stare at if for a long time. Matt went for the evil robot pumpkin look.

Here they are, all lit up with their festive orange glow.
Today (I'm typing this up a day early. I typed it on the 30th, it posts and you read it on the 31st), Oct 30th at 3:15, Jimmy asked me what he should be for Halloween. A little LATE, don't you think??? My willingness to help with costume ideas and preparation fades to practically nil after the 21st. And I know Jimmy; any suggestion I make will be treated like a dirty diaper.

Hayley knew she wanted to be a cat. It's simple, it's Halloweenish, it's classic, it's cute. (Is it me or is Hayley adopting the posing style of her big sister? Photoshop out Hayley's head and slap Katie's noggin on there and I'll bet you couldn't tell that it wasn't Katie's body in the first place).
Matt decided he wanted to be dirt. It's a little bit more conceptual, but I think we made it work. Green spiky hair for grass, throw in a leaf or three, add some insects and arachnids to his face and shirt and you have a nice patch of lawn. He really dug the green hair thing.

The above photos were taken at the children's choir Halloween party. Here are the kids just after singing a short song called "Trolls" for the parents.
The plan for trick-or-treating is for friends to come over and Hayley and Matt go in a big group. Jim works, Jimmy--I don't know what he has planned, Paul is going to a bonfire at a friends. I'm handing out candy and reading.

Day 30 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and going on a flashlight walk

OK, I lied. No carved pumpkins today. I never got around to taking the pictures. Besides, Paul wants to carve a pumpkin still and he hasn't done it yet. So today's HDSF is Haurel and Lardy (work that one out for 5 points), a salt and pepper shaker set. These two jolly guys like to laugh it up at the dinner table, even if they never get used. I'm not in the habit of salting or peppering anything once the food hits the table. And I discourage my children from salting anything plated. We get enough salt as it is. So I bought this set PURELY FOR LOOKS. I am that shallow.

Last night I took the younger kids on a flashlight walk. As a public service, I will provide the following advice to anyone who wants to take children on a flashlight walk.

1. Obtain a degree in Astronomy. At the very LEAST, take a descriptive Astronomy class in college. This will help when the youngest child asks what each and every star and/or costellation in the October night sky is. He will also ask if Sirius is a star or constellation. And he will want to know why there are so many "majors and minors" among the constellations.

2. Be prepared to argue (using standard debate format) your location in the city you live in with the children who think they are nearing the elementary school and will not be persuaded otherwise. As a side debate, be prepared (with notarized documentation) to back up or dispute youngest child's assertion that he has not ever been on "this" sidewalk before.

3. Develop and intimate and expansive (almost encyclopedic) knowledge of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons, and be prepared to explain up to five difficult-to-understand punchlines of said cartoons without visual aids.

4. Know coyote habitats in the Upper Midwest and be prepared to list three concrete reasons why coyotes do not live in Community Park.

5. Fully appreciate the camaraderie present between an 11 year old sister and a 10 year old brother who can finish each other's sentences, irritate each other to heck (and back) and yet not anger each other, and who can share one flashlight between the two of them without a single argument.

Day 29 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and Hayley and Matt carved pumpkins last night

I'm cheating today. I'm posting a picture of someone else's Halloween decoration. It's not that I don't have any more of my own decorations to feature (I do. I told you, I have LOTS), but I liked this so much.
I like the idea of perhaps having a child (namely my own) do something wacky to earn a treat. It would annoy the big boys to no end (like when I have them repeat after me--good fodder for a separate post) but they would do a trick if told to by the wheel only because they know I have the authority to enforce the wheel rules.

This objet d'arte du Halloween (forgive the probably wrong French spelling) was a trunk decoration at last Saturday's church trunk or treat party. I was too busy handing out candy to see if Cathy and Bruce actually made any of the kids spin the wheel, but I would have.

Last night Hayley and Matt (who was sick yesterday, threw up, but recuperated enough in time to do pumpkin duty) carved pumpkins. Paul chose to do homework instead and Jimmy was at work. It's a bit sad when the time-honored tradition of pumpkin carving is left behind by children growing up. This is the first year that not everyone has participated. Katie's gone, Jimmy works, and Paul has to do homework. Well, Matt and Hayley had fun. I copped out. My back and shoulder hurt so bad yesterday that carving would have been beyond my capabilities.

Instead of carving, I chose to make a box-mix-type cheesecake from SCRATCH. From powdered milk even. And it tastes just like the Jell-o instant no-bake cheesecake. I even made the graham cracker crust without a mix. I also made my own chicken stock last night too. So I was quite busy. Jim helped Hayley and Matt with the pumpkins. It was his first night at home in a long time and he enjoyed the time with the two younger kids, even if it meant wiping wet paint off of pumpkins. Hayley and Matt painted their pumpkins before carving and made a MESS.

Pictures of pumpkins will be posted tomorrow as part of the HDSF.

Day 28 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and the room is getting cleaner

Sister Jen is amazing with the quilt skills, yes? I love how she adds a touch of purple to the Halloween decorations she makes. This was a 40th birthday present. I love candy corn.

I don't have much to write today. Matt is sick again--head and stomach aches.

The former girls' room is getting cleaner. It will likely be ready for major overhaul soon. The plan is to put a floating wood floor in here to lessen the allergy problem of carpeting for the boys. Matt and Jimmy are continually stuffed up. We will also be painting the walls tan. My goal is to start to paint on Friday. The floor is going to take months I'm sure because Jim is rarely home for more than 30 minutes at a time and I am a wuss at projects of that magnitude. I just noticed that the old sewing room clock has migrated to this room. It never made it into the garage with all the other sewing room stuff. The pink box on the right has some of Katie's keepable stuff in it and the pink box on the left has some of Hayley's. The little blue box is also Hayley's stuff. The paint and newspaper in the middle is actually for a science assignment of Hayley's. She has to make a model of her room. So she painted the walls with the actual wall paint that we used in her room. She even put the blue dots on the model walls.

For SIL Jen: My high score on Cat Bowling is 95.

Day 27 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and insomnia

I have many wall hangings for Halloween.
But I don't have as many as some people. So if I ever think that perhaps I go a little overboard for Halloween, I think to myself that there are several people I know that live in my area who craft and sew holiday dust-gatherers all year long and have WAY more stuff than I do. So I rationalize. I love the buttons on this wall hanging--the candy corn on the witch's hat and the spider climbing up her chin. Click on the picture for a closer look.

Jim and I have a problem. We fall asleep on the downstairs couch too often. The couch is too comfortable (although we have fallen asleep on less comfortable furniture so the problem is maybe not the couch). I usually wake up in the middle of the night and trudge upstairs to get into bed, but I tend to have a hard time going back to sleep. Such is the case today. I've been up since 3:30 and I finally gave up trying to sleep at four. I already cleaned out the junk drawer in the kitchen and I would have made some cheesecake but that would involve running the blender and I didn't want to wake anyone up before they actually had to get up. So I'm blogging. I think that when I'm done blogging (very soon) I will make some muffins for the early risers, although I'D RATHER BE ASLEEP.

Day 26 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and trunk or treat picture dump

We are winding down the HDSF, folks! Less than a week remains! What will you do without a bit of Halloween decoration cheer? Anyone wanna come over and help me put all that...um...STUFF away? No? I offer brownies.

Every Halloween, I get out the Halloween magazines. I have saved these four because Matt and Hayley like to look at them. I want you to know that the only time these magazines have EVER been fanned out is for this picture. Seriously, my coffee table is NEVER this clean and the magazines are usually piled underneath fake child's toys.

This picture is for Bessie. See? I made them! I let fake child take some home.

Step Two in the Great Room Switch: Clean out the room formerly inhabited by the girls. See the mess? It is truly awful. I have hauled out four boxes full of trash and I'm making Hayley go through all the stuff to keep and she is putting it all away. There is 18 years worth of Katie's leftovers in that room. I found two long lost items--Katie's mini album from her senior picture session (found in a plastic pumpkin bucket) and a favorite earring of mine that has been missing for over FOUR YEARS. I thought that earring was lost forever but THANK GOODNESS I was too attached to the one I had to ever throw it away. Now I have the pair back again! I have no idea what it was doing in Katie's ceramic bowl.

This is a clean corner in that room. It took over an hour for me to get it to look like that.
Am I torturing you with a excruciatingly long post? I'm not going to apologize.

Last night was our ward's trunk or treat party. The kids were supposed to dress up as their favorite scripture person. Sadly I don't have the time to cater to their wishes for extravagance and demand for attention to detail. I hauled out what costumery we had and told Matt and Hayley to pick from the pile. Hayley found the angel costume and she was good to go with that. She didn't wear the halo because either Magic or Servo had found it, chewed on it, and regurgitated it back up after Hayley had left it on the stairs. So no halo for the Hayley.
Matt wanted to be a hockey-playing shepherd. Har har, the hockey stick is just cuz we didn't have a proper shepherd's crook. And the crumpled things on his overlay are his paper sheep. We didn't have proper sheep so we had to turn to Google Images and find us a picture of a sheep. And then we printed, cut out, and stapled the sheep to his overlay.
Paul ran one of the games with his friends. They would have had more fun but they had to entertain a bunch of little kids with Pin the Nose on the Prophet.
And I decorated the trunk of my van for the trunk or treat portion of the party.Doesn't it look lovely? I had lights plugged into the car, candles lit, and LED flashy thingies draped around the seat backs and head rests. It was very festive. I got many compliments. I also got the van jumped afterwards because I DRAINED THE VAN'S BATTERY. Prettiness always comes with a cost, doesn't it? A couple of the men chuckled when, with reddened face, I admitted that I couldn't start my car. "That's what you get!" they said. I replied that it was WORTH IT and handed them the jumper cables and told them to make themselves useful. OK not really. Yes, I drained the battery with my overzealous festivity, but there was only a very brief gentle ribbing and I didn't have to order anyone to do anything. Joe and Reese were very helpful. Thanks guys!

Despite the brief setback, we had fun.

Day 25 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and yes it's a little late in coming today

I have a good excuse (not that I need one. I can post or not post whenever I want, right?) I was busy making Christmas decorations at church all morning. It was Super Saturday and I spent several hours making mixes in a jar to give to neighbors (or to keep for myself) and painting wooden blocks and sitting around eating and making outraged faces at a friend who was telling me all about her woes. I'm good at making indignantly outrage faces and saying, "That is just not right!" and "How can they do that?" and "pfffft! Away with them!" Well, not actually that last one, although I'd LIKE to say it. Wouldn't that cause a weird look or two! As would "A pox on their foreheads, the mangy dogs!" And "May dragons roast their left feet with flames of red and orange, rendering them crippled!"

OK, enough of that nonsense. I know you want to see what other Halloween goodness I have lurking in the corners of my house. This I keep up through Thanksgiving.Notice the orange lights. I just love fall leaves! And this actually looks sort of elegant.

Jimmy is barely controlling his impatience with me being on the computer. Apparently he has some important Facebooking to do. So I must leave you and tend to some household chores.

Day 24 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and I'm ready for it to be the weekend

Sister Jen doesn't paint much anymore she says, but for a while, she did a lot of it. And I was lucky enough to be presented with a few things she painted. This, for example.I've had this for a long time (longer than I've had either Matt or Hayley) and every year it gets put out on my curio shelf. I remember when Hayley finally got the joke. She laughed herself silly for a good five minutes. She was probably 6 or 7. She tried to explain it to Matt, who wondered what was so funny. It took him another year or two to get it.

I just love the purplish blue guy behind the pumpkin.

Paul is now done with cross country for a year. No more after school practices (until track starts). He wanted to do a winter sport, but I am tired from picking him up at 5 every day and I need a break! His body also needs a break since his hip hasn't fully healed from a bicycle crash that happened even before the school year started. (He collided with Jimmy. Kids, don't listen to music with earplugs while riding a bike!) His hip hurt during the race yesterday and he didn't get as good a time as he wanted (19:06), but he has high hopes for next year.

I haven't written much about Jimmy. He is working too many hours for his liking, 25 hours a week, and he stays up late doing homework. But with the Christmas season coming on, I don't think he'll be getting less hours.

Day 23 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and Paul

I like playing with blocks.
These are new this year. I spent a fine morning painting blocks black and sanding them down to prep them for the vinyl letters. I stacked the blocks for space purposes in this picture, as opposed to lining all eleven blocks in a row, but it doesn't look too bad this way.

Paul's news is that he is running in the conference finals cross country race this afternoon (go Paul! Sadly I can't be there. I babysit until 5 which is when the starter gun goes off for his race) and also he auditioned for the top band at school and got second chair French Horn! Yes it's official. He first told me, "I heard from a kid that I made Wind Ensemble and he said I got 2nd chair." I said, "Well, didn't you check the list yourself?" "No." I made him check it himself to be sure. This is so not what I'm used to. Katie would practically glue herself to the band room wall until the seating for Wind Ensemble was posted. She couldn't WAIT to find out. Paul just ambles along through life, processing external stimuli to his brain in his own unique fashion, until someone tells him to do something and gives him step-by-step directions on how to do it, which he will follow to a T. And he does do things well.

Day 22 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and Lego instructions

Spiders. They cause my heart to palpitate, my hands to get clammy, my vision to go swimmy, and I squeal like a little girl.
All except for Ned here. I can deal with Neddy, even though he's probably the biggest spider in my house. Fortunately, Neddy doesn't creep up on me unawares, he doesn't scuttle towards my feet when I enter the bathroom and he doesn't walk around on the ceiling just over my head. He doesn't hide in the piles of laundry and wait for me to dig through, only to scare me half to death when I uncover him. He doesn't hide in the folds of my sweater. Neddy is a good guest. He stays in one place (where Matt hangs him, from underneath the dining room cupboards) he never moves unless acted upon by one of us or by the breeze. Matt is Neddy's creator, and insists on bringing him out every year for Halloween.

Speaking of Matt and creating things, Matt used birthday money to by (yet another) Lego set. And this is the very first page of the instructions:
Apparently, you aren't supposed to put Legos out to pasture. Or is the advice don't leave them out on the carpeting (which I agree with completely. I still have scars on the bottoms of my feet from stepping on Legos concealed in the dark of night or the depth of the pile of the carpet)? However, Legos thrive on tabletops. They look much happier on the table than they do on the carpet/in the grass, don't they?

Matt was awarded his Bear badge in scouts. Notice he is wearing the tan shirt of the Webelos Scout now. Yes, he has entered his last year of Cub Scouting. Hayley moves her stuff into the new room. I still have to paint the bed.
Paul goes to a church dance.
Jimmy checks his email before the dance.

Day 21 of the Halloween Special Feature and I've been tagged AGAIN.

I made this wall hanging and every year I hang it on a little wall that overlooks the entry way.
That way, Pumpkin lady can meet everyone that enters my home. I saw this pattern in a book and fell in love immediately. It's got fall leaves, pumpkins, and a cool grape button (sewed on in the stuff pumpkin lady is holding), as well as a few other buttons. Matt likes it because there are two squirrels on it. He loves squirrels. Normally, I have a hard time finishing crafts, but I loved this so much that I was able to finish, even the writing on the side and top of the hanging. The lady who thinks up wall hangings like this one (she has whole line of them) apparently doesn't like hair on women. All the male seasonal icons (Santa, leprechauns, uncle Sam etc) are given hair, but the women in her designs are usually bald except for a little twiddly backstitched head-wreath. Go figure. Oh well, I can deal with a bald pumpkin lady. She's ok with herself. She still manages to be a gracious and genteel lady, despite the lack of natural cranial covering.

This is the tag. I won't tag anyone else. We've all been memed out I think.
Here are the rules:
1) Post the rules on your blog.
2) Answer the six "8" items.
3) Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. (not doing!)

8 Favorite TV shows (do canceled shows count? I think they do.)
1. Chuck
2. Pushing Daisies
3. Good Eats
4. Ace of Cakes
5. Mystery Science Theater 3000 (which I'm not listing first ONLY because it's been off the air for a long time)
6. Seinfeld
7. Heroes
8. House


8 Things I did yesterday
1. Babysat
2. attended a meeting
3. set up another blog for a group. No you can't see it. It's for a church group and they want to keep it private
4. shopped for groceries
5. knitted
6. talked to Katie (Hi Katie! Eat your veggies!)
7. insisted that people NOT drop their backpacks at the end of the couch.
8. ate candy corn

8 Things I look forward to
1. Not babysitting today
2. eating breakfast
3. snow! Yes. I LIKE COLD WEATHER
4. Nov 19, 2008--20 years of marriage
5. Halloween
6. making wild rice soup
7. seeing the kids all grown up and independent
8. being finished with the Great Room Switch


8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Chinese Gourmet
2. Superdragon
3. PF Changs (Yes, I know I have three Chinese restaurants on here. Guess what kind of food is my favorite?)
4. Red Lobster
5. La Dolce Vita
6. Wherever Dave works
7. Olive Garden
8. Lion's Tap (Mom we haven't been there in a while)


8 Things on my Wish List
1. That my kids will grow up and find as much happiness as I have found
2. World Peace
3. Pay off mortgage
4. More shoes
5. Florida Keys for 25th anniversary. I've started saving my pennies...
6. that the house would declutter itself
7. a few quiet hours each day
8. more wishes

2 things I've found in the last 24 hours that need explanation

...as in someone needs to explain TO ME why I found things in the situations they were in.

1. A plastic cup cemented to my dining room floor by dried spilled milk. (I think I can come up with a reasonably believable scenario that led to this. Someone spilled some milk and instead of cleaning up after themselves, they just plopped the cup upright in the puddle of spilled milk and left it there)

2. A Young Women's recognition medallion INSIDE the base of a lava lamp. This one I have no explanation for. Neither does the person who lost her medallion.

Day 20 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and it's Monday morning, but you knew that already

Today's feature is the oddity of a snowman made not out of snow, but out of pumpkins; a pumpkin man, if you will (and you will). Although I don't think this creature is male. I believe it is a she. She has glitter on her cheeks and there is just something warm and friendly and "Come on in, I just baked cookies" about her smile. Not that I don't believe men and boys can't be warm and friendly or bake cookies (my boys used to bake cookies all the time). Maybe it's just the glitter on her cheeks. And the raffia bow on her head. This is Grandma Pumpkin. She just looks so grandma-like. She would have Honeycomb cereal in her pantry and full candy dishes scattered around her parlor--yes, she would have a parlor. And she would serve bread and honey and three kinds of meat with every meal. And she would pay you a quarter to straighten out all the rugs in her house. And she would have gum in her purse to give you whenever you went somewhere (even to CHURCH!). She would serve you peaches in a special dessert bowl and smell like fabric softener and perfume. She would let you watch "The Price is Right" every morning (Shoebox Princess, COME ON DOWN!) when you visited. But she would also warn you to watch out for the big boys at the park who might break your arm. Grandma Pumpkin watches out for everybody (except for the big boys who might break your arm). And she would tell you to be nice to your younger cousins.

In case you can't tell, the above description is a combination of my two grandmas, both whom I love very much. They were different sorts of people, but I considered my life complete because I had both a grandma who gave out candy and a grandma who supplied me with gum. When I grow up, I'm going to give my grandchildren both.

List of things to do today because I don't have anything else amusing, interesting, or newsworthy to say.
1. shower
2. eat
3. attend a meeting
4. grocery shop
5. make applesauce Halloween ornaments (because I don't have enough pumpkiny stuff in my house)
6. think about dinner
7. knit
8. wash the table cloth

Day 19 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and I got tagged by Courtney

This Halloween ornament reminds me of New Year's Day 2003. Jenni got it for me to commemorate our trip to visit the Smiths in Florida (and go to Disney World) the week when 2002 switched over to 2003. Why did she choose to commemorate New Year's with Pumpkin Mickey? Because I love pumpkins,DUH.
Some other pictures from that trip? Sorry. I wasn't digital back then and I'm not about to try to dig up all my old photos just to spend half an hour to scan them, then another 15 minutes editing and uploading and another HOUR to caption them. Neener. If you really want to see pictures of our trip to FL, come to my house and I'll get out the one and only scrapbook I ever did and you can see for yourself. Take all the time to peruse the album that you want. I will serve you dinner and lemonade, but you'll have to get yourself here and then back to your own house.

I was tagged by Courtney to go to my picture files, pick the fourth file and upload the fourth picture in that file, which is this:
I took this picture last spring on a walk. It's a sidewalk in a nearby park. It's also a reminder of what is to come very soon for those of us in snow country. Get out the scarves, mittens, hats and boots! And parkas. And shovels.

I now tag Elvis, Amelia Earhart, DB Cooper, and the Talberg house poltergeist. Heehee, no. Tag yourself. Jen H hasn't done it, Audrey, Bessie--you tagged me for one, now you can do this one, and I would tag Tag if Tag had a blog. (No, not really. I just wanted to say "tag Tag." And I do know someone named Tag. Or at least that is what some people call him.)

Day 18 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and more room switch

I'm not completely pumpkin-ated at Halloween; I do like other images. Cats, for instance. I've had this cat as long as I've had Statler and Waldorf. They were born on the same craft day in Oregon. I'm particularly proud of how well I painted the eyes. The whiskers, however, are too gray. I wanted a more whitish whisker that would stand out against the black. Live and learn, I guess. (winky emoticon goes here) I never know where to put the cat (mostly I never know where to put anything), so she has migrated around the house from year to year. This year she stands on one of the stereo speakers with Cubey and Flat Stanley (Stanley has since been transmogrified into a more Picasso-like interpretation of a pumpkin, courtesy of the fake child) and some plastic pumkin treat containers. Her younger brothers, Servo and Magic, ignore her but she is ever optimistic and pleasant of demeanor. She has had no name yet, so maybe another contest is in order. Suggestions? And mom can't win, since she won the GPS contest.

How about an update in the Great Room Switch? Have you been on pins and needles, waiting to hear if any more progress has been made in the room o' dots? There has, but mostly it is the progress of Hayley and Matt taking the blank canvas of the room and turning it into a Hieronymus Bosch-style Mess of Fantastic Proportions. Those stinkers. Hayley is a true artist, leaving disorder and detritus in her wake (and I say that in the most lovingly way possible).

Now the conundrum. How to fit all this......into a room half the size. (Can you spot the Hayley?)

There will be trash. There will be lots of trash. And there will probably be much arguing over the definition and classification of "trash." I fear the day.

On the up side of the room switch, the curtains look nice with the sloppily painted dots and Tartar Control wall. (smiley emoticon here)
Jim cuts some bed legs down to size. This is one heavy bed.
I wanted to help relocate the bed to the new digs, but couldn't lift it. We had to call in the big guns--Jimmy. I said I would just BORROW Jimmy's muscles, but Jimmy wouldn't lend them to me. He's so selfish.

The bed still needs to be painted a much more serene (and breath-freshening) color but at least it is now in situ. There is not much room in the room, which is why we left the bed kind of tall. Hayley can store rubbermaid tubs filled with her junk...uh, her art supplies...under the bed.

Day 17 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and I don't know what else

I like cloth napkins. They are durable and they get more foody goo off my hands than paper ones. They are easy to make and allow me the opportunity to express myself better than pressed paper fibers. And I can make the napkins really big to cover the vast acreage that needs covering when I eat.
My napkin basket is in on the festivity of the Halloween season. I have pumpkin napkins, trick-or-treat napkins (which you can't see very well in this picture) and if I'm feeling a bit more grown-up than usual, I have the "plain" autumn leaf napkins in the back.

I learned last night while at the craft store with Hayley that I need to NOT take Hayley to craft stores. She wanted everything. She loves creating art, so being in a large room full of paint, wood, doodads, felt, how-to books, foam sheet stickers, etc. was heaven for her. She saw glow-in-the-dark yarn and she turned on the puppy-dog eyes full bore. "It's on SALE, mom!" Anyone know of an easy knitting pattern that could possibly involve glow-in-the-dark yarn?

Day 16 of the Halloween Decoration Special Feature and pictures of Katie

Halloween decorating isn't complete without ghostly lighting. I got these LED lights at in the post-Halloween discount bin. They really aren't good for anything. But I do like the blue light. They blink in three different rhythms or they can be set to emit like continuously.
Remember that needlepunch witch's hat I showed off yesterday? I finished it! Needlepunch is so fast. The instructions for this pattern also provide a pattern for a cat and a pumpkin, which I will do eventually (as soon as I procure some more black embroidery floss. I am almost out of black--how unprepared am I?)
As I promised (and then subsequently didn't follow through yesterday) I have pictures of Katie. She is in the gold dress. As maid of honor, she got the special color. The young woman (I cannot yet call her a woman because I've known her all her life and I kinda still think of her as a little girl) who got married is the daughter of good friends of ours, Doug and Stacey. Lauren and Katie have maintained a relationship even though they only played together when they were very little (we moved to Portland when Katie was 21 months and moved away only two years later).

Katie went to Washington (state) where Lauren lives for the wedding and spent a week helping prepare. Here she models some of the flowers she helped turn into boutonnières, bouquets, and corsages. Stacey owns a flower shop and did all the arranging of flowers.
So you see, my daughter is alive and doing things. Hi Katie!

Last night, Paul, as a part of the freshman marching band, marched at a football game. I was there, with scarf and hot cocoa, to see him play. I've pointed him out in the photo for you. You're welcome.
He wore short sleeves. I encouraged him to dress warmer, but he dashed off without listening to me. He was cold. Very cold. But he had his running tights on underneath his pants so he was somewhat protected. This was the first football game I've gone to since Katie was in the marching band and I missed her. It's nice to go see Paul though. The best thing about sitting in the 40 degree nighttime weather was having a thermos full of hot cocoa. Actually, my thoughts were more along the line of "Hmmm. I want some hot cocoa. What excuse can I come up with for drinking several cups of it from a thermos? I know, I'll go to a high school football game!" Ha. The thermos worked REALLY WELL at keeping my cocoa steamin' hot. I saved a little for Paul so he could warm up his internal organs after he marched. He was grateful for it and chugged it down. I think he left a couple tablespoons in the thermos and this morning when I poured it out, it was still steamin'. I raise my cuppa cocoa to vacuum (not the appliance but the state of space that has nothing in it. Nothing as in absolutely nothing--no molecules, etc), which keeps cocoa warm in a thermos! Nature may abhor you, dear vacuum, but I love you!