Halloween party 2010

Tonight was our ward's Halloween party! What a blast...we had air band competitions as we ate chili and cornbread. Here are some pictures of the littles getting ready. Weirdest thing about today...Thayne was totally calm all night.

 Lydia has been planning to be Frankenstein's monster for the whole entire year! We took some of her old trach tubes and cut off the tube part, spray painted them silver. She was great!

 Only problem was that all night long, when I would catch a side glimpse of her, my heart would freak out a little thinking that her tube was out. It was a total conditioned response from the last ten years. I am truly grateful that she no longer needs to have this tube to breathe. It took a lot to get all the black spray out of her hair.

Thayne is weird about Halloween. I think that all of it overwhelms him. He actually kept his costume on all night which was a first but he really did not seem to care either way. He also sat with us all evening and didn't run off. Totally strange.

Chaiya did come and join us at the party, she needs more sleep. How do you tell a 19 year old to stop hanging out all night with their friends??? I'm glad she came and spent some time with us. 

Quayde and her took the littles around to the trunk r treat area. Here he is trying to bite her ear off. I can't believe how tall he is getting! It was a great night. We came home tired but they all are watching Drop Dead Fred right now before they fall into lullaby land.

Hi Ho Halloween is here!

We had so much fun getting out the pumpkin guts, carving and making our pumpkins glow. It really is such a simple tradition but the kiddos get so much joy from it!

QOTD

Lydia: " How long has salad been around? Since Daddy was little?"
 Me: " Oh Lyd, salad has been around for thousands and thousands of years"
Lydia: " Oh I get it...since Grandma and Grandpa were little!"

With a little luck and blessing......

this will be the road to our new home!

It is Autumn

Michael has been gone for a week and a half. The bed is cold at night....Thayne is too small and too skinny to keep it warm enough. I read to the children for hours at night before bed. This is about the only thing I have had motivation to do except laundry which is required.
Quite frankly we threw things into the uhaul trailer that Michael towed. Things like boxes of board games, reference books and the pictures frames wrapped up in extra sheets and blankets. The house is filled with empty boxes, we have trails. Paths that lead to the hallway around the towers of cardboard. There really isn't any rhyme or reason to anything.
I closed out my business last month. Chaiya and I spent two hours yesterday cleaned out half melted candles from their holders as the living room grew strong with the overwhelming flowery smell from a past client's project. I don't know where to begin with the mountains of sashes, covers and candle holders. We cleaned the wax because it was all we could think of accomplishing.
I know we are going to have a marvelous time, a new normal, a fascinating adventure in Maryland. I might have a hidden cape but I am wishing I had a magic wand.
There is no nature table, we haven't done any school and it's Autumn. While I adore this season in my heart, it always brings a funnel that sucks my well being down into a wasteland no matter how hard I fight it. It will pass...I just need to wait it out.
I have no pictures lately because the camera cord is in a drawer that is behind the massive pile of boxes that I am too lazy to move. I made a promise that I wouldn't get angry with Michael for all the stuff he left me to fix and do.....but then I look over and see his weather station and know I have to climb up on the roof and take it all down. Add one more thing to my list.

Our favorite book series!

Several years ago we stumbled across a series of books about a delightful family. Tonight we started to re-read book number three. They are chock full of British humor and funny things that you know children could really do. If you read these...please go to the bathroom first. If you have a full bladder we are not responsible. Seriously ...we are not responsible.

We listened to the first on audio book...which gave us the accent really well. The rest we have read on our own. I try to copy the accent as best as possible which is nearly impossible when one is laughing so hard. Dad's toes get painted while he is asleep, Mum is thrown a delightful birthday party, Lucy draws tattoos for money on her friends, Will wants a harpy eagle...these are just some of the fun!  If you want a great fun family read, see if your library has them. I'm off to finish reading how Dad has lost the little girl he was supposed to be watching.

well.....

Michael left for Maryland on Monday and arrived there safe and sound on Thursday, we still have no idea where he is going to stay for the next two months. Quayde left for a week of Boy Scout activities culminating in an Order of the Arrow Ordeal that starts tonight. He won't be back until next week sometime. Thayne has started to feel the lone boy here. Good behavior has not been on the agenda today.
I had to switch computers as I gave my laptop to Michael to use. This one doesn't have any of my bookmarked stuff. I was smart enough to remember to write some of them down.Not all.
Lydia has been under the weather because our weather in Az was kind of out of control. Several tornadoes just north of here. The storms came in like they were with King Winter and did not care a bit that all the trees are still green. She and Thayne both had fevers on Wednesday, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing...they both slept most of that afternoon.
The empty boxes in the house are mocking me. There is so much to do. I am slightly overwhelmed. Maybe more than slightly.

Hey Hayes Clan.....

I have found the perfect movie for our family! It comes out in February... check it out here.

QOTD

Thayne: "you know why I suck my thumb...so my brains don't leak out"