Trick or Treat

Last Sunday at 4 pm I felt fine, right as rain. At 4:30 a theoretical train slammed into my head. I caught the fastest cold and cough in the world. Seriously...30 minutes. I spent the rest of the week battling a fierce head cold. The nettie pot and I were best friends. Pretty gross, but the blood, pus, and mucous coming out of my sinuses and lungs were not for the fair of heart. Sorry, no more gross descriptions. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for a month of Sundays. Instead I had to Mom up and live in survival mode. It was not pretty. Justin came home Thursday evening to find me completely passed out on the couch. I vaguely remember Phillip choppily tracing my nose and eyes to put me to sleep. It worked. During my sleep of the dead Everett and Evelyn both found their way to the couch to help me nap. The iPad was a good friend this past week. Evelyn decided she loves to watch Curious George and Stuart Little. Amelia woke up with flu Wednesday night (guessing overdose of candy). She got to stay home from school both Thursday and Friday. Phillip and Amelia stayed home Friday because the Sidney football team went to state again this year. Once again my body decided I needed a nap at 7:50 am. The olders were arguing over which show to watch. Evelyn was sitting on my head with a  soggy diaper. I cried because I was done, done with this stupid cold. Somehow the air cleared up and everyone settled down long enough for me to nap deeply for 30 minutes. I cancelled the three sessions I had lined up for the week. Darn it...that means more work next week. Still I was able to edit 13 sessions plus my family Halloween photos. Not bad.

Monday morning I had the 24 week glucose test. I passed with flying colors, probably because I was not hungry and sick. Still, I'll take a score of 110 any day. The nurse drew lots of blood for the test and to type my blood for the RhoGAM shot. I totally forgot to come back in the day for my shot. I went in early the next day so the nurse could stab my bum with the shot. Everett was quite impressed I did not cry. He gave me sticker. YES. Everything is looking good! Baby girl is very active and practices her ninja kicks quite often. For FHE we carved pumpkins. I helped Phillip realize his design. He wanted a pumpkin with three eyes, a chimney rock nose, and spike teeth. Like most kids gutting the pumpkins was filled with exclamations of "gross" and "ewwwww". Evelyn wanted nothing to do with her pumpkin. Everett made a shape pumpkin with Justin's help. Amelia created a princess pumpkin.

We got to support the booster club Jitney dinner on Tuesday. They served spaghetti or chicken gravy over potatoes, on the side salad and yummy desserts. The ramp leading up to the auditorium always holds kid's fascination. After dinner the kids raced up and down the ramp. After the dinner the kids painted their pumpkins at home. This time Evelyn was quite keen on the activity. Phillip ended up painting the table cloth along with his pumpkin. He also painted the pumpkin he scored at a field trip to Fanny's Fruit Farm earlier that day.

Wednesday the kids got dressed up in their awesome costumes for the ward Trunk or Treat. Amelia was Miss Heromine Granger this year. I must say, her hair turned out awesome thanks to my skills with the crimping iron. She looked the part! Phillip wanted to be Jet Vac, a Skylander. He pretty much knows nothing about Skylanders other than his cousins think the game is amazing. Since he could not wear his mask, I painted his face. He was quite upset that his hair was showing and that I rudely painting his face. After 30 minutes at the church he let go of his grudge and enjoyed himself. Everett was stoked to be the green Dino Charge Power Ranger. His moves are pretty enviable. Evelyn was not keen on dressing up so I threw on a Princess dress and called it good. We had a great time at the church. I made chipotle chili for the chili cook-off. We invited our neighbor Kelly and her son Zane to enjoy the evening with us. Chili was nom-nom good. The primary set up 6-7 rooms with fun games for the kids to enjoy after dinner. Everett loved the monster bowling game. Amelia and Ella disappeared most of the night doing what 8 year olds do best. I heard her blasting a CTRmous spell! Can't get much better than that. Evelyn followed the candy. Where candy was, Evelyn was there as well. She quickly learned to say Trick or Treat and thank you, bye!

Thursday Amelia got a new bracket on her new incisor that grew in last month. Her poor mouth was quite tender all day. The next day she woke up to find her tooth was much longer than the night before. The bracket was touching her gums on Thursday, by Friday morning the bracket was not near her gums. She got a new flexible wire to replace the spring.

Friday morning Everett's preschool class invited parents over for a short concert. The kids sang three songs for us, all dressed up in their costumes. Everett sang loudly and danced away to the songs. He rocked it. We all giggled at his cool moves. They ended with a song about Fire fighters. Everett sprayed his teacher with imaginary water at the end. Hilarious! At 4 pm the kids put on costumes again and went to enjoy the trick-or-treat street downtown. Several business were open and handing out candy. The main square was blocked off for the other local businesses to gather and display cool trunks for the kids to treat at. Evelyn was a little overwhelmed by all the noise, Justin got some pretty cute snuggles. I loved watching each of our kids enjoy the event with their different strengths and talents. Amelia was totally psyched over the Harry Potter trunk.

Saturday morning the boys helped me clear out the dead plants from the garden areas. Phillip had the grand idea to turn my tomato cages into tomato blasters. Soon he and Everett were busy pinning tomatoes to the cages. Justin and Amelia attended Tess Hornbarger's baptism. I hear it was a great baptism! Once Justin got home he helped me haul all the dead stuff into his truck. He mowed the lawn a couple times over to mow the grass and collect the leaves. Justin went on a long motorcycle ride after lunch. The kids each got a short 10 minute ride once he got back. Once again the kids dressed up in their costumes to trick or treat. We treated the kids to a healthy meal of Sonic corn dogs on sale for .50 cents per. First we let the kids trick or treat at the rest home. Everett knew exactly what to do, he efficiently went down the line and collected his candy. Then the kids walked a square block to several houses near the rest home. Everett was dying to visit the eyeball house. We were confused about what he was talking about. The mystery solved itself when a house came into view with a monster hand holding an eyeball. It had a little spooky alley for the kids to walk through. It was really tame, but not to the kids. Goodness, Phillip had nightmares until well in the morning. He slept with us most of the night because he was so disturbed. He even went outside at 2:30 am to make sure it was still dark. He wanted to wait outside until morning came. I convinced him to come back in and warm me up in bed. Like Amelia he has a very vivid imagination. Everett was pretty freaked out over the spooky garage, but the lure of candy kept him brave. Amelia got to stop at Mrs Belieu's house to say hello. She and I went to walk a couple more house near our home. I can't remember a warmer Halloween night...ever. It was still 60 degrees when we headed home! We are used to snow and freezing temps.

I ordered the boys coordinating bow ties and suspenders just for the fun of it. Phillip was quite excited to wear the accessories for church today. Everett was not convinced he wanted to wear suspenders and a bow tie, that is until he saw how handsome Phillip looked. Soon both boys were quite animated to get to church on time and show everyone their new handsome look. I love how they egg each other on (at least for good reasons). Justin later found Phillip teaching Everett how to swallow Sudafed pills. Phillip successfully swallowed a pill the night before for his runny nose. Everett was not so sure about swallowing a pill while sitting on the toilet. How Phillip opened up those foil tabs is beyond me. They are hard to open.