It's Halloween

We didn't have such a great Halloween this year. Not only did Nicholas still have a fever (and now complains his ear hurts) but Emily got home from my mom's house and has a fever too. She just wept her little heart out when we said she couldn't go trick or treating, and it nearly broke mine.

So I went all out (probably too much, but oh well) and got Nick and Emily treats. I also got them some cake from Manderfields.
Anna decided to be a ghost (since with sick kids, I didn't get her costume done) and she looked cute.
So Brian and she went out, and lasted MAYBE 15 minutes in the cold. So we had no trick or treaters either with the flu in the house. It makes me feel bad, and I hope next year is better.

Some Halloween Creativity

Trick or Treat/Smell my Feet/Give me something good to eat!
If you don't/I don't care/I'll pull down my underwear!

First here are our little pumpkins--they're already rotting, poor things!!
And Emily asked that I take a picture of her artwork. She put them all next to each other on the windowsill, and then says, "Look Mom! They're loving each other!"
I'll post pics of the kids in costumes later. Nicholas still has a fever, and will not be partaking in Trick or Treating this evening. He's ok with it, since I told him I'd get him whatever candy he wanted. And sorry neighbors, we won't be handing out Flu-full candy this year either :(

The Bridge

Oh Dick! Oh Jane!
Oh, oh!
Look, Look!
Come and Look.
Look Mother and Father.
Look and see.
Come and see the bridge.
See the cars. See the cars go.
The bridge makes us happy.
They go two by two.
Go Cars, go!
See the cars. See the cars go around.
Go cars, go!

My Caring Son

My kids' school is great. They have awards every quarter called "Character Counts", where kids are nominated for awards by their teachers based on 6 character traits: Respect, Trustworthiness, Caring, Responsibility, Citizenship and Fairness. Nicholas got an award yesterday for Caring, which is no surprise--he is a very caring, kind little guy.
Unfortunately, he's also a sick little guy. I could tell as he walked back from the award ceremony that he just didn't look right (notice how white his face is?), and, sure enough, he had a fever of 102 when he got home.

Of course with my children, the Motrin kicks in, and you'd never know they were sick. Nicholas and Anna spent 2 hours screwing around...now they are more quiet, since Nicholas' fever is back.

In other news, I started Anna's sweater.
And now I won't be working on it tonight, thanks to my good friend Susan Bates and her crappy interchangeable needles. It kept unscrewing, so I went to tighten it. And it broke!
Oh and the tree that was still green? Yeah, well, not so much now. Now I need to rake:
Think I'll start some socks tonight.

Mulberry Lane Farm

Last Wednesday I took a field trip with Nicholas' class to Mulberry Lane Farm in Sherwood. Fortunately the rain stopped (mostly) but boy was the Pumpkin patch muddy!! We even wiped our feet before we got back on the bus, and the entire floor was mud!

It's a really neat place--in addition to the pumpkin patch, Nicholas' class got to do some pretty neat things, including riding a pony, milking a cow, feeding goats and sheep and holding a chicken. I highly recommend it just for a visit with your family...very impressive, friendly staff.


I also did Brian a favor and gutted pumpkins with the kids (without him). He really hates that job. But we had some fun:


We went to Door County for a drive this weekend. I would have had some great pictures--but for the fact that my memory card was in Brian's laptop. And the laptop was at home.

Then we went to Tundra Lodge to stay overnight. Anna and I ended up going home, because she had a fever. I saw the worst in my 10 year old, let me tell you...nothing like a screaming, stamping your feet, crying fit in the hallways of the hotel. Brian stayed and wasn't impressed--we are used to Lodge at Cedar Creek, and this was a miniature, less nice version of that.

Today Nicholas is getting a Character Counts award at his school, so I could be doing another post with pictures later.

I also started Anna's sweater, so I'll post pictures of that later too.

Otherwise, just trying to stay healthy and keep everyone else healthy.

Football Sunday

It's Sunday, and fortunately for me, this morning I Kitchener stitched the toe of my second Brett Favre sock!
I'm very proud of myself--the yarn is Opal Mississippi (I couldn't make this up...) color #2087. The problem is getting the socks to look alike. I'm not completely anal about it, like some people, but I do like my patterns to look somewhat similar. I got really close on these, so they are nearly identical. Yay Me!
We went over to Dan's house to watch the Packers kill the Lions. I enjoyed quite a few Mike's Hard Pink Lemonades (OK, is 5 quite a few??) and I can honestly say I've never been hung over the same day. I am getting old.

Did you see the Vikings pull out the game in the last minute to stay 6-0? Couldn't be happier about that!! To reiterate: I am not a Vikings fan. I am not even really a total Brett Favre fan (I think he's acted like a complete asshole drama queen)--but I absolutely, positively HATE Ted Thompson's guts. He needs to lose his job and crawl back into whatever obscure hole he came out of. The Packers need someone who makes educated decisions, listens to his staff, picks up Free Agents, actually does what is best for the team (and not just says he does) and admits when he is wrong (JUSTIN HARRELL) so the team can move on. And if wearing a purple and gold number 4 the rest of the season gets us to that end, I can force myself to do it. Besides, I look damn good in purple--almost as good as green.

'nough said about football.

It's time for me to start Anna's sweater. I'm not a yarn snob, but I was surprised when Anna wanted me to make her a sweater from Red Heart. She wanted a brown sweater, and I just didn't know if I could bring myself to knit an entire sweater for her in brown...but I did find a nice aran color with flecks of brown and blue in it, and she loves it (lucky me!)

So the moral of the story is this: No one is more thrilled that I've finished my Brett Favre socks than Anna, because now I can knit her sweater!!

Upcoming this week--Sack it to Goodwill for Cub Scouts, Mulberry Farm for Nicholas' class, WLA this week so the library should be interesting.

Nicholas has his last soccer game on Saturday morning--against his current school. We weren't sure what school he would be at when we signed him up for soccer, so we signed him up for his old school, thinking he'll at least know some of the kids. I fear his coach is trying to get rid of him, as he told him he can play with the Richmond team on Saturday if he wants and they'll have someone fill in for him. I told Nicholas no--he's been with his team all year, he's finishing out the season with them.
Maybe it's just my over-sensitivity on these issues--Let's face it, I am scarred by my own childhood. There's nothing quite like having an art teacher who draws your self-portrait for you or has another kid do your paperweight because you suck so bad at art. Or a music teacher who singles you out in 5th grade to give "special lessons" to at recess time, and let's it slip it's because you sing too loudly and suck at it, and the other girls complained--but come on. I'm sorry my son is not a star soccer player. But wanna know a secret? He is the kid out there having the most fun! The smile on his face, because he's just happy to be out there playing with his friends, is priceless. He's improved tons this season, and I'm very proud of him--and I hope his coach is proud of him too.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

A Busy Sunday!

Today was the day that Emily has waited all year for (even more than her birthday!): It was her day to go to Every Girl's A Princess!! We were a little bummed we got pushed back 20 minutes (especially when I called within a minute of receiving the email that reservations were opened up!) but she was met by her Royal Dresser Ashley, and made a crown, wand, bracelet, picked a pretty purple dress, was announced as Princess Emily, made a pretty picture frame, and then we were off to the Royal Tea!



It is a great time! This is the last year for Emily to be in the Petite Parlor for 2-4 year olds...next year, she's in with the big girls (and big prom dresses!!) We have a great time every year, and it's so worth the money (that goes to some great causes).

Then we went to my parents house to watch the Vikings win (Brett Favre's 1st time on a 5-0 team--yay Brett!!) and have some yummy beef stew. Then off to the orchard for some apple picking before the snow (!?!) for Columbus Day!!
Tomorrow--my first Cub Scout meeting as Den leader of Den 5, Pack 3018. I'm a little afraid, and am grateful for the help from the Cubmaster Jill! Wish me luck!

Baby it's COLD outside

I know global warming is about climate change, but maybe sometime we can get some of the "warming" part up here. The summer was not warm, and now we are talking accumulating snow in early October. This is just NOT right!

To top it off, I am woefully behind on my winter knitting (as in "haven't started"). I am still working on my Brett Favre socks, but I suppose I should put them down to make some mitties and hats quick. Nicholas has a soccer game tomorrow at 8:30 am, and if I thought last week was cold, this week will be 20 degrees colder!!!

Last weekend we went to Brian's Aunt Jackie's land in Waupaca. It was beautiful up there, and I see why she commutes every day to Appleton. Here are some pics of the kids on the tractor:
(Emily is wearing Anna's "octopus" sweater I made her when she was 4!)

We're going to cook out tonight (for what could be the last time in a while) so I am off to the store for brats and buns! Then I'd better get going on that knitting!