spt

on this Tuesday, I woke up at 5:50, waited in line for one hour, marked my ballot, came home to Aidan's "what did you vote for?", smiled at Davyn's "is that your voting sweater?" (because the association is not so absurd when he probably hasn't seen me in a sweater since last January..and he was 2 last January), talked politics with Jim as he drove to work after marking his own ballot.

It's only 9 am and I'm worn out.  It's been a long election year.

my last Halloween post. ever. no really.

Halloween day.  I fully expected to be done caking by 2 pm at the latest.  Ha!  5:30 was the actual finish time.  And by that time the boys weren't costumed, I needed a shower, we were too late to eat homemade soup and rolls at Mandi's, and my in-laws were eyewitness to an embarrassing episode of angst starring all four residents of this little house.

In the midst of the mess, I never took time to set up a decent photo shoot for my cake.  I know that may sound ridiculous, but when your art is edible, pictures become very important.  I did snap some at Melissa's house, but they don't show the details very well.  Still, it's what I've got...

The inspiration for the cake comes from Martha Stewart.  I loved all of the spooky silhouettes.  There was a graveyard on the bottom, then steps leading up to a haunted house.  I should have propped a flashlight in the back for picture time to show the translucent amber candied windows and door.

Poor Melissa is probably still eating cake.  I got a little crazy on the size of this thing and it could have easily fed 200.  Six recipes of chocolate fudge cake.  Seriously. 

And since I promised this would be my last Halloween post (ever!), I'll sneak in a few pictures from the night:Our neighborhood is a happening place on Halloween night.  Oh my. 

I worked for months to convince London that a green-faced witch was the way to go. I love that she was just fine with the freakiness of it.

...and this is what a mummy looks like at the end of a wild night (trick or treating, bounce house, and the general run-around of age 5).  As we walked home from the party (around 9 pm!), he waited for us all to pass him by, resigned to walking alone in order to avoid others stepping on his cloth.  Jim was eventually allowed to "carefully" step by his side.  And eventually we made it home.  And good sleep was had by all. 

Pretty much instantly.

happy halloweening

from us.

Tonight we'll spend another 30 minutes wrapping this guy up so that he can be completely worn out to the borderline of tears by the time we're ready to hit the big party.

And then I'll spend two minutes make-uping this guy so that he can embrace the vampire persona and drive me batty by insisting to speak through oversized fangs all night. The boy may as well be speaking Transylvanian.

Oh the joy of candy and costumes and hyped little humans.  Are you feeling the sarcasm?  I don't think I'd feel this way if Halloween hadn't somehow recently become a week-(or month?!)-long holiday...what's up with that?!

But I did get a welcome bonus this year.  Of the cake kind.  Melissa is letting me bake for her party.  She is my good friend and my Nie Nie cake auction winner.  So my kitchen is some kind of spooky mess right about now. And I'm liking it.

I'll post pictures when I finish.

a mummy's brew

This year Davyn said he wanted to be something "pooky" for Halloween.  And the big brother quickly agreed.  And the mom was well-pleased. 

Until the horrifying experience of looking at price tags. One child-sized mummy costume at the Halloween store: $50. Ya, it was cool. But, $50??! A vampire came with a much lighter $20 tag. But my dander was up after the first, and I decided to make & make do.  

Plus, it was well past time to get over my first homemade Halloween costume fiasco.  Aidan was one, and  I had zero sewing experience (unless you count 8th grade Home Ec, which I don't), complete & unfounded confidence (a dangerous combo), and visions of a turtle shell dancing in my head.

This is what happened:Yes, he had a cute little body.  But the costume screamed "homemade", and not in the good way. 

So I've stuck to the store bought in shame and am finally ready to change my spendy ways (okay, Jim is definitely rolling his eyes right now). 

Vampire costume: $4 for make-up, fake blood & fangs; tuxedo pants and black bow tiefrom Jenna's wedding; white button up shirt from Sunday wardrobe; black cape borrowed from Mandi; bloodsucking stances provided by D.

Mummy costume: $8 long johns (which I can probably claim as free since I've yet to repay Cyn for buying them in Utah...have you ever tried to buy long johns in the valley in the fall?); one king sized tattered white sheet from Kay.

I'm thinking $12 beats $70.  And how.

As I write, the mummy rags are steeping in a tea bath.  Because I have a boy who insists that the wraps "needs to look old".  And I'm wondering about their attaching...pretty positive it won't involve a sewing machine.  My own sewing surety may be shattered, but he has complete confidence in my costuming capacity. 

We'll see how it all wraps up tomorrow.  

first time to school as a parent volunteer

I've been looking forward to today as a Parenting First. And was even more anxious when a grinning Aidan said this yesterday on the ride home from school: "I'm so excited you get to come to my class with me tomorrow." He and Savannah then spilled the beans about a boy who was not so excited when his mom came to class. In fact, "he put his head down and wouldn't even talk to her." I hadn't thought of that possibility, so A's evident disapproval of that friend's mother-angst made me happy.  My boy isn't embarrassed of his mother.

But worry did wrinkle Aidan's brow when I walked downstairs this morning mid-hairstyling with a cascading topknot of not-yet-flat-ironed hair.

"Please don't be silly at school today, Mom."

"I'm not done fixing my hair yet, A."

 "I know. But just don't be silly."

{with more than a hint of mother-angst}

Because Kindergarten is a serious affair.

To this guy.

I'm happy to report that I had no urges to silliness during class time.  But I also must confess that beaming at my boy was a far more difficult urge to curb.  When they filed back to the desks after recess, our eyes connected and I automatically blew him a kiss...because, well,  that's what we do.  His quick head turn, however, made me curse the unplanned gesture, worrying that I had forever doomed our public relationship.  But as quickly as I doubted, his head turned back my way.  And his love outpaced his angst...evidenced by mouth corners failing to suppress an erupting smile.  A quick and secret smile.  And his eyes sparkled momentarily with the same secret.  We're connected.  Even in this room brim-full of teacher, aid and 29 peers, I am his.

And he is Mine.