Her long flowing hair

Her grandma Kathy taught her this.

It's her version of long flowing pig-tails.

It keeps her entertained for at least 20 minutes. She runs around letting her "hair" catch the breeze.

The Carnage

Halloween was fun. We got a total of three trick-or-treaters. If you're keeping track, I bought three bags of candy. If I had the ability to see into the future, not only would I be wealthy and have thought of writing Good Will Hunting, but I would have given each of those kids a bag of candy each.

Instead, I was hedging my bets. The house won. I had three bags of candy staring at me all weekend. It was torture. Fortunately N offered to take the candy to work.

That wasn't the real torture of the weekend. My candy addiction is nothing compared to our good friends The Jack 4. It's not like the Jackson 5, it's our 4 Jack-o-lanterns and their 4 mini cousins.

This year, in addition to the 4 Jack-o-lanterns, I carved out 4 baby pumpkins and lined our walk with those. I think it says "come trick or treat at my house." At least it did to three lovely children.

It was no easy task to carve out those baby pumpkins. Their skin is so tough I needed a hack saw just to get through. I may have a small puncture wound on my left palm from a slippery pumpkin and the bread knife.

All that blood, sweat, tears and mumbling about how stupid this was, really paid off. Our house really did scream "come trick or treat here."

Zoe would run up to the pumpkins, bend way over and then yell at me like "there is some light coming from inside that pumpkin. Come look." She would've definitely trick-or-treated at our house.

You would think that a poor turnout of trick-or-treaters and three bags of candy to drown out my sorrows, that would be all that was in store this weekend.

Alas, God has a sense of humor.

They look like deer to the human eye. I am convinced they are God's stand-up team.

This was the Jack 4 on Saturday morning.

Well, the Jack 3. The smallest Jack-o-lantern is MIA.

Friday Five Faves - vol. 17

Last night I went to buy Halloween candy. I like to buy right before Halloween or I end up eating 95% of the candy pre-trick-or-treaters. It's a little thing I like to call Lack of Self-Control. I've even tried buying candy that I don't like. Enter Snickers. Yeah, that didn't work. Snickers does really satisfy.

My plan of attack this year was to buy them the day before Halloween because 1) it's on sale and 2) all the good candy would be gone. I'd get stuck with some generic Milky Way that tasted more like sawdust. Everyone who has trick-or-treated knows what I'm talking about.

Well, the plan backfired. The candy was on sale, so the checkbook didn't take the hit. What kind of candy is left the day before Halloween, you ask? Kit Kat, Milky Way and M&M's. Of my top 5 of candy bars, those three are on there. They also had Reese's available too, but will power cannot handle that kind of temptation.

I basically shelled out half the money for a big bowl of temptation. I'm hoping we get lots of trick-or-treaters tonight.

All this talk of Halloween got me thinking about the holiday. My dear friend Becca is married to a man that hates the holiday. He didn't even like to celebrate it as a child. What kid doesn't like free candy?

We also started talking about Halloween costumes. Apparently in junior high Becca went trick-or-treating as a prostitute. Fake money included. She's completely awed at her mother's lack of disapproval. She doesn't think her mom won "mother of the year" that year.

It got me thinking. I was never anything scary and most of my costumes were homemade. I don't think I ever had a costume that was store bought. I always remember going to the fabric store and sitting down at the pattern table looking for my perfect costume. I had some elaborate costumes. Which leads me to think FFF. Five Fave Halloween costumes that I've worn.

1) Rainbow Brite. I'm so glad she's making a comeback. When I was in first grade my mom made me a Rainbow Brite costume that was the COOLEST EV-AR. The skirt even stayed full because she stuffed the hem with stuffing. The shin guards were padded and so were the arm guards. I LOVED that costume. Until I had to stand on my chair in Mrs. Miner's class and tell everyone what I was. When I sat down Mark Inners told me he saw up my skirt. Kinda ruined that outfit. I was totally paranoid the rest of the day. Although I'm sure my mom put some shorts underneath.

2) 50's Girl. In 5th grade my best friend Amber and I dressed alike as 50's girls. We had the poodle skirt, with an actual poodle on it. A sweater with our initial on it like Laverne from Laverne and Shirley. Our hair in ponytails. We were so cool. We went bowling like that.

3) Raggedy Anne. I was 4 and totally cool because I had yarn in my hair. Who doesn't become instantly cool with yarn in their hair?

4) Cheerleader. In 4th grade I wanted to be a cheerleader from my school. Our colors were red and white, so my mom made a cheerleader skirt with red on the outside and white inside the pleats. I twirled in that so much I got dizzy.

I guess I only had 4 favorite outfits.

I hope you all have a fabulous Halloween. Enjoy the costumes and the candy!

Pumpkin Guts and Harvest Parties

Zoe's social calendar keeps us busy. She is in high demand. You throw in Halloween and her social calendar is almost too much to keep track of. It's almost to the point we have to hire an assistant just to keep track.

Tuesday was the only day we could carve the pumpkins we got at the patch. This is the first year she's aware of what I'm doing. I have to say, she's 100% my daughter. When she saw that I put my hand in the pumpkin and was pulling out guts, she raised both hands, made a disgusted face and said, "ewe."

She eventually got curious and looked into the sack-o-guts, but that's as close as she got.

Until some of the guts got on her foot. She stared at it, furrowed her brow, grabbed those guts and threw them as far as she could. I can't be sure, but I think she shivered.

With the pumpkins finally carved and the guts in the trash, it was time to get the finishing touches for her Halloween costume.

Last night our church had a Harvest party. We got all dressed and went to play games and visit with all her friends. We were sad that Mia and Gabe were too sick to come. I think Zoe has a little crush on Gabe.
After we chatted with some other friends (Katie K and Eve), we went to play some bowling. Although she was a bit reluctant to give the ball away. She thought that was her prize. We quickly distracted her with a sucker and all was good.

Then she was totally sticky, so we went to the bathroom to wash up. This was the highlight of her night. A counter with a full-length mirror. She was enthralled with this butterfly beauty she saw. They chatted for several minutes. I'm not sure what about, but it did include counting and lots of pointing. Apparently butterflies are a bit bossy!

We can't wait for the big show tomorrow. We're working on saying trick-or-treat. All I get is ball?

Squeakers

For years N has been bugging me about getting a puppy. After getting up at night with an infant, a puppy is low on the priority list.

Now that Zoe is sleeping through the night, he uses her as a reason. "A child should grow up with a pet." Blah blah blah. I had a goldfish when I was little. His name was Grease Lightening. On my 4th birthday, I invited all my friends to come look at my fish. Only to be escorted into the kitchen by my mother who informed me that Grease Lightening had gone to the big tank in the sky. After reassuring me that she did bury him in the backyard and had a small ceremony, was I able to go on with the party.

For years I never played in the dirt in our backyard for fear of coming across Grease Lightening's corpse. We all know that wouldn't have been a possibility unless by some freak of nature I dug into the sewer system. As a 4 year old, I took my mom's words at face value.

I never want to have to lie to Zoe (this is my excuse). I never want to tell her that Juneau (N's pick on the name) is buried in the backyard and is now playing with the other little puppies in heaven. That's just freaky.

My solution? Squeakers.

She pulls him all over the house, he doesn't make any messes and he seems to keep Zoe satisfied on the puppy front.

My work here is done.

I've been tagged

My dear friend Jamie tagged me in her blog.

(The rules....link your tagger and list these rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.)

Fact #1 - I'm a picky eater. If you know me, you know this. However, my food aversions go far beyond what I let people see. I have rules. I always follow them. I don't like my food to touch on the plate. Corn shouldn't combine with mashed potatoes. Salad should have it's own plate. This is one of the reasons I have a strong dislike for buffets. In addition to the fact that you don't know who just served themself.

Fact #2 - I have wanted to write a screenplay for many years. I just don't have any ideas that I can materialize into something as awesome as Juno or American Beauty.

Fact #3 - I hate feet (my own included). They tend to freak me out. I don't think they're pretty. I hardly ever like to walk around barefoot. I'm a sock girl. Once in college my friend Kati took a picture of her foot and sent it to me in the mail. I still can feel the horror in my memory. Zoe's feet are the only exception to this rule.

Fact #4 - For the first two years of college, I never wrote a paper. Since I had taken Advanced Placement classes in high school, the first two years of college were like reruns for me. I tweaked papers from high school and turned them in. I only cracked open the books to finish assignments or if I was studying with other people.

Fact #5 - I was almost arrested at age 10 for toilet papering a friend's house. I was the youngest with all the high schoolers from church. We were running away from the house when the cop stopped us. He singled me out and told me that I could go to juvenile if the person decided to file charges. When asked where my mom was I couldn't exactly tell them she was driving the getaway car. It was my first brush with the law.

Fact #6 - I met John Travolta in August 2004. As I was in line to get my picture with him, I was thinking of all the things I could say. I wanted to walk up to him, all dramatic and say, "fine, fergit it." Or "watch the hair. I spend a lot of time on my hair." All that came out was, "hi." I was totally starstruck. I'm never without words. It's one of my biggest regrets.

Fact #7 - I hate scary movies, haunted houses, etc. I know they aren't real, however I have such bizarre nightmares for weeks afterward, that they might as well be. Even as an adult. I know most people think Blair Witch Project was stupid. It scared the stuffing out of me. I hate Halloween because of this. All the commercials for horror movies. I tend to avoid television during the last couple weeks of October.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you want to play along, leave a comment.

Rock the Vote

So this Cold of Death '08 has a new name. Sinus Infection '08. This is my first. Thankfully the antibiotics I've been taking for the last 24 hours seem to be helping a little. I can breathe through one nostril now. That's progress.

We're also progessing in another arena of our life. N registered to vote. I could not understand why a military man wouldn't choose to pick his own Commander in Chief. After fours years of me hounding him, he finally did it.

This weekend he sat down with his ballot and voter's pamphlet. I was so proud of him.

Zoe didn't want to be outdown. She doesn't understand this age requirement. She is, afterall, 21 months now. She decided to get her own ballot and write in some candidates.

Here they are, ready to go to the county auditor. Although I think they will have a hard time deciphering Zoe's choices.