I got the chili into the crock pot early in the day and after work got the fire pit ready.
It looks better up close but that's too dangerous.
Not sure if you noticed, but our kindling was the center pieces from Maddy and Matthew's wedding!
Worked awesomely!
We still have a ton of candy... It's all going to Meri's house today. I was afraid we were going to run out, but not so. Even though tons of kids came by.
I could NOT get a decent smile out of that kid last night!
Not that I was trying too hard.
Meri showed up and took Leon around the neighborhood to get his haul.
I stayed at the house and had to explain why the pumpkin was sick.
I guess too much candy! Be careful!
Leon also wanted me to tell everyone that came by that he spun the webbing himself all over the house. I told a few people and he was happy!
When they got back from trick or treating, whichever it was... Meri either warmed her hands by the fire or found some creepy music on her phone for some ambiance.
Leon mostly hawked the wares.
"HEY! COME get some candy over HERE!!!"
"um.. we've been there already..."
"It's OK! My grandma has LOTS of candy here!"
When kids came up, he said in the creepiest voice he could muster, "You may take TWO pieces of candy from my bowls of DOOOOMMMM!!!" Surprisingly enough, it didn't scare any kids away.
He changed his tactics later and they became the bowls of free dancing and he danced like a mad man behind them.
JUST GIVE THEM THE CANDY ALREADY!!!
It was a fun evening and Leon got lots more candy. He didn't need it.
He gets to go trick or treating with his dad this evening with Meri and his dad's house as a base.
yay. Maybe he can just tell jokes instead of begging for candy.
Wow, what a weekend! I was home JUST to sleep at night and change my clothes...
So no dishes or laundry got done at all and definitely no sewing, although I did browse through some Burda magazines yesterday afternoon.
On Saturday, I took Leon down to see his dad at the restaurant/pub where he works. I got some mushrooms!! My brother says that this is not a breakfast, nor a mid morning snack, but I beg to differ...
Ryan still had a couple hours to work and I ate all the mushrooms, so Leon and I went over to Meri's apartment to hang out. I was planning on leaving Leon with his dad for the afternoon and paint a little at the escape room for him.
Meri was at a tailgating event. I knew she had a Halloween party that night and was planning on spending her afternoon getting housework done, so after I got Leon settled in on something to do, I did most of her housework for her. She was so glad I did that that she came along with me to paint! We gave four walls their second coat of paint. Green on two and yellow on the two alternating.
If this escape room doesn't cure your color blindness, I don't know what will.
We were doing great! We hadn't spilled a single drop and the walls looked awesome. Meri asked where to clean out her paint tray and I told her. She asked, Is it the creepy room? I said, Yep - the light's broken in the room with the sink. I don't think that registered. So I kept on painting and singing along with the tunes she had queued up. I took a break at one point and heard her screaming for me. Yikes! Where ARE you girl?
I went into the dark room with the sink and no Meri. I ran to the other end of the building and she was in a closet room with green water streaming toward another back room with a dirt floor and a tv.
Yikes!!! What are you doing in here?!
Apparently the water faucet in this room turned on but then didn't turn off easily. AND that's when she noticed there was no drain. WRONG ROOM!!!
Communication is key... So there went our perfect record for the day. We cleaned it up as best as we could so there was no evidence we were in there. And Meri called it a day. She had to get cleaned up herself for the party. I stuck around for another hour before I left too.
I stopped by the house and Leon showed Meri and I some of his dance moves. He's definitely got them and will NOT be a wall flower at any dance he goes to. His dad wasn't either...
Then I took him to his mom's for the night. Got home late, but in time to lounge a bit with Robb.
On Sunday, our church was celebrating Pastor Appreciation month by honoring our pastor. He is always in cowboy boots so this suggestion from a church friend was really appropriate.
"How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace." Romans 10:15
Afterwards, I had a TON of errands to run because how can you manage a household without dog food or toilet paper? I was so worn out that I thought I'd forgotten about lunch and picked up a slice of pizza from Sam's Club. On my walk to the car, I remembered that I HAD had lunch... It was a potluck lunch after church! I ate it anyway...
Got home after 3pm, changed quick and after putting away the perishable food, we had a brief visit with Ada and then headed off to pick up Meri and then Leon. We got to Living History Farms in Des Moines at a decent time and Leon trick or treated there.
And while there was no Pennywise at this event, Leon was equally freaked by the Joker themed house. Meri had to drag him up for the candy.
He wasn't truly scared, it was an act...
Meri got her annual picture at the Taylor grave site. Don't you love her bangs!? She got them cut just a few weeks ago.
We got our wagon ride and saw a bunch of deer in the distance. They were huge...
Oh, we were disappointed that they were not selling kettle korn this year! Oh well.
If you don't get a picture of a horses hind quarters, just what use is a wagon ride?
We got our traditional poses at the end and then headed out.
We were starved and hit up the Zombie Burger and Shake Lab on the way home.
It seemed to fit our Halloween theme nicely...
Thankfully Leon didn't have school today, so he got to sleep in and I didn't have to hurry him out the door this morning.
I actually had time to get the non-perishable groceries put away from yesterday and do the dishes and my other chores before he even woke up.
First night for a trick or treater... He selected the simpler version of spiderman where Spiderman is incognito. And carrying Batman's head as his trophy.
candy bucket, whatever...
We stopped by Robb's office before 5 and Leon went around the offices of Robb's co-workers collecting candy and relearning the basics. You say, "Trick or Treat" and then "Thank You!"
You can never prep enough...
Then we went around downtown and this year it took a solid hour to go to all the businesses for candy. How could downtown have gotten so many more?! I guess people are actually participating more, so THAT's good!
At a photographer's studio, she was taking pics of each kid and we can order them off her website. What a great idea! Leon's friend, Parker, was just going in as we did. He says, "Hey Parker!"
Her dad says, "You're Parker. Peter Parker, right?"
Sigh... his secret identity has been revealed.
Apparently his friend Parker loves Captain America and nothing is going to hold her back from being her hero.
So we got them together for a pic and the photographer didn't mind if I took a pic too.
I'm sure her's will be MUCH better.
We stopped by a realtor store front where Meri and her theatrical friends were putting on a "haunted hallway". BOOOOOOOOooooooo...
And several photo ops along the way.
A fireman team was handing out hotdogs, what could be better?
Oh I know! Not lining up for a hotdog behind Pennywise the clown...
Leon freaked.
So he has a Batman head full of candy.
We stopped by Ada's on the way home and he was extremely squirrelly. I think some of the candy was kicking in.
On the way home, we watched the tractors in the fields working hard to get the harvest in. Leon made up a song about it.
Want to hear it? Here it goes...
Day one of the candy marathon is under our belt so far. I think there are several more opportunities coming up this weekend.
Hmmm.. I forgot to post yesterday. The day got away from me I guess!
Monday and Tuesday, Meri had friends over after school. On Monday, they had a Chopped competition and made desserts. I believe Briar invented Hawaiian S'mores. That's when you take pineapple bits and place a melted marshmallow over the top then between two graham crackers... I actually wouldn't mind trying that!
Tuesday, Briar and Meri made another pan of mint candies for the grad party. Then they ran to pick up another friend, apparently to help, but I misinterpreted Meri's sentence. "We'll be RIGHT back!" To mean what it usually means. "See you at 9:30 tonight." And I cleaned up the messy counter they'd left behind. They came back with Emily and Meri asked where all the stuff was... sigh... Well, in the process of cleaning up, the tiny rose mold that they'd been using got lost.
I THOUGHT I'd put it in the sink, but nope. I even did the dishes and didn't see it. Since then, every nook, drawer and cranny around the sink/kitchen areas have been cleaned looking for it.
I suppose the rest of her grad mints could be shaped like wedding bells...
Amazon saved the day and I ordered another mint mold that has 25 molds all in one. They'll be done lickety split... NEXT week...
Meri and Briar had made two more batches and they're in the fridge, just chillin.
I've moved the waistline up on Meri's prom dress by 1/2 an inch and had to redo the bottom of the zipper to accomplish that. Made a few other altercations and will tackle the hem this afternoon. I should probably have her try it on again when she gets home today...
STILL haven't found that mint mold! I even went through the trash! sigh...
Meri, Leon and I went over to Ada's last night and baked. We made the 3 items I mentioned yesterday. Meri made these cookies. They are chocolate chip cookie dough wrapped around a Rollo and then baked. Mike took a taste without knowing what was inside and was surprised. He asked, "What's in this??! CHEESE?"
:) even I know the diff between chocolate and cheese... I guess the texture threw him.
Then we made the Rollo Ritz ones. This is just before we dipped them in chocolate.
I also made the Christmas crack and it is delicious...
I'll be making more of that this next week I think.
Leon ate his Ritz Blitz cookie on the way home in the dark and was a mess of chocolate face when we got home.
We got several goodie bags put together for the college kids from church and left them there to be taken on Sunday. And yes, I made a couple baggies for Maddy and Matthew. We get to see them tomorrow!! But they don't get the Rollo stuffed choc chip cookies. Meri made the bare minimum as they took a while. But I plan to make more of those as the season progresses.
The leg lamp is in the front window but other than that and the Christmas tree, our house looks pretty bleak from outside. I found a blow up snowman last summer at a garage sale so it replaces our blow up nativity that sprang too many leaks. The snowman will go up this weekend. Probably Sunday night, if I feel like it. All our Christmas lights have burned out and we're in need of new ones. Maybe next week too.
Christmas party for Robb's office tonight. I've got my outfit ready which includes the new skirt that made last Sunday. I'll probably wear it to Maddy's concert again tomorrow night and then church on Sunday too. It'll get a lot of use this weekend...
Then I'll get it cleaned up for the Sewing meeting Style show next weekend. I've got a few things to model for that. And here you thought I never got to sew! I don't. But when I do, I'm a power house!
And here I am reporting on LAST weekend... This week has cruised right by and I'm SO far behind on so much... Last weekend we attended a parade about an hour away to see Meri march with her high school band.
Leon discovered the bubbles game on my tablet and played with it the whole way there. The charging cord was kind of small, so one time he actually threw it from his lap and it swung in the air because we had it charging from the dvd player. If it hadn't been, it could have been damaged...
WHEW! Saved by the short cord!
He then spent the rest of the trip there sitting quietly. By that I mean, talking and/or sulking because he couldn't play the bubble game.
Robb and his mom sat at the corner with their chairs but it was too crowded for Leon to get a spot at a curb, so he and I moved up the block a little ways and found a spot just the right size for his butt.
He had a blast and picked up whatever candy was thrown his way. He was very generous with the kids around him that didn't get as much because they were too shy to run out and grab it.
He even got pretty good at grabbing the paraders attention by yelling to them. GIVE ME CANDY! I WANT CANDY!
Because we don't let him yell that sort of thing at home.
Meri's band was parade entry # 3,652 so it took a while for them to get to us. Actually 123, but it seemed like it was over 3000 parade entries. I loved their performance and got a smile out of Meri!
That night, Meri said she needed supplies for a school project due Wednesday. Luckily she told me this at 7pm and we were able to make it to Hobby Lobby before they closed. NO ONE else in the nearby town had the foam heads, so I'm so glad we went there first! And I know this because we visited every other craft & department store looking for the rest of the supplies that evening too.
Her project is based on a book they're reading called The Crucible. I've never read it nor seen the movie.
On Monday at 5:30pm, I was just getting off of work, when Meri found me. She said that she needed the bonnet that I'd promised to sew for her for TUESDAY, not Wednesday as she'd originally thought. REALLY???!!!... I had a sewing meeting that I needed to leave by 6:30 for and on top of that, I didn't know what kind of bonnet she needed. Ryan attempted to help by saying, "You know! The kind they used for the Salem witch trials!"
As if I'm so old, I should remember what we wore...
I may be old, but I know how to use Google! So I googled it and made a replica in about 30 minutes.
Had just enough time to eat something before I headed out the door.
