Wendy's Wonderful Kids: One frosty at a time.

 Most of you probably know how blessed we consider ourselves with having the gift of our daughter, K-, a child adopted from the county Department of Family and Children Services.  K- started out as a foster only child, moved to foster to adopt, adoptive status and was adopted on her very first birthday, December 20, 2004. 

Every year now, we purchase the Frosty coupon books for our Halloween trick or treat givies because,

"90 cents of every $1.00 booklet sold between 9/16/11 and 10/31/11 will be donated to support programs like Wendy's Wonderful Kids, a signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.  . . . You are [also] supporting Wendy's cause of helping foster care children find loving, permanent homes. " 

It's something that we love to support.  Adoption?  It's where our heart is at. 

Trick or treat and treat and treat and treat and treat.

Yes, we went 5 times.  No, we aren't candy pigs, though the haul does help to replenish the candy stash at work.  (We buy a hunk of candy back from K-.  She gets good things like puzzles, activity books and whatnot.  We get the piece of mind in knowing that not every single tooth is going to rot out of her face.)  Allow me to give you our lovely list:

Thursday night-- Trick or treating in my parents neighborhood.  The houses are far apart.  It took us about a half hour to walk it and we hit maybe 10 houses.  It's my old stomping ground, so it is good to take the kiddo so that folks can see her at least before she outgrows me in height.

Friday night-- Surprise!  It was trick or treat in our neighborhood.  We didn't find out until a half hour before, because a flier was never placed in our box.  We all think it is because of our "No solicitors, please" sign.  The neighbors have promised to let us know next year.  We did have treats and since we had just come back from K-'s Halloween party at school, her costume was all ready to go.  We had more trick or treaters than I've ever seen.  (Confirmed also by the neighbor who has lived here since 1975.)  The sidewalks were packed.  I think that people were driving around with dressed children, looking for a place to beg.  We had a mini van pull up beside us, the door opened and 4 children poured out.  They were left behind without adult supervision and I presume that the person came back to get them later.  We didn't get to take my sister and her family with us since the notice was so late.  K- did get to trick or treat with her friend next door, so that was good.  The girls made the whole route in about an hour. 

Saturday afternoon-- Toys R Us trick or treat.  I admit that it was a little lame this year.  I mean, it was great that they had it, but the one glow thing that Crayola had them demo-ing didn't work that well.  We were in the first run, so they hadn't developed a rhythm yet.  The very lovely bags that they gave?  Um, they kind of stink really bad.  I know, I appreciate them doing it.  It's all good.  K- had a good time, so that is what matters.

Saturday night-- Trick or treat in the back neighborhood where we walk and Hubs runs.  This was the actual city scheduled trick or treat.  My sister and her family were able to come for this one and we made the whole route with 6 children and 5 adults with time to spare.  We thought one of them were coming down with the yucky stomach bug, but that fear passed.  My niece tripped a few times, once landing in the middle of the road.  I had to be heartless, tell her to hop up and then we would do body part inventory.  (She was fine.)  She cried and cried like her limb had been severed. 

Sunday night-- Trick or treat at the in-law's.  We're only doing the first hour, since K- has school tomorrow.  We'll be having dinner with them, too. 

We'll be spending time with some family this week, so I'll be out until probably Tuesday of next week.  At least by that point, my phone will have stopped ringing with the annoying political recordings. 

Have a great week!

Trick "R" Treat

Just letting you know that today from 12 - 3 PM, Toys R Us is having their Trick "R" Treat.  They have a nice little parade throughout the store and giveaways for the kids.  We've gone in years past and had a lot of fun. 

No, no one asked me to post about this.  I just did because it is a nice, FREE activity to do! 

Have a great weekend!

Trick or treat for all.




My daughter as Darth Vader

 

Kids,



I don't care if you are 6 feet tall or in the 12th grade.  If you come to my door DRESSED UP and are respectful, I'll totally hook you up with some loot.  I want you to be able to continue to enjoy this last little bit of your childhood.  The trick or treat experience should not end at 12. 

Not wanting you to grow up too fast,

Amy

I should share with you that I trick or treated up through 16.  I went dressed.  I'm short, so that wasn't a problem, but I did always go.  No one ever gave me a problem.  Of course, that was 21 years ago.  That could be a big difference between stories going on today and those of :eeek: yesteryear of my life.  :shudder at the use of yesteryear.:

We complain that our kids are growing up too fast, yet we tell them that because they have gotten a little too tall or too old, they can't trick or treat anymore.

Not fair. 



If adults come to my door all dressed up while taking their kids out, I'll give them treats, too. 


Why do we have to have so many dumb rules?  Can't we just let kids be kids for a while longer?  If they are behaving (I've never had one that didn't), why not?  I did have a group that liked my givin's one year so much that they came by and tried to double dip.  I laughed at them and told them good try.  They were cool about it and thought it was funny that I had paid attention.  It wasn't an obnoxious thing that they did.  I may have been one of the few that gave them treats.  Who knows?

So, because it is a hotly debated thing lately, what is your take?  Do you have an age limit or a specification regarding dress/whatnot for trick or treaters?  You know me, feel free to hop on the other side.  It's all good.  Just be polite about it.

Smiles in my day:

-  K- did a quick rebound from the stomach funk and was able to enjoy trick or treating at my parents house this evening.

-  We stopped by the school, picked up her homework, talked to her teacher who knew that K- was going down, and dropped off all the supplies that I had stowed away for the party tomorrow.

-  My brother is getting me an awesome deal on tires for the RAV.  Considering that three of my four tires are plugged, we're just replacing them all instead of just two.  Since I saved the quote from March, he'll be able to hook me up.  Oh, fingers crossed that the manager honors it.  If so, it'll save us roughly $650.00.  My vehicle has big tires.  Expensive tires.  Tires that you have to order.  Rrrr.

-  Punkin' carvin' Friday night.  I have a white pumpkin.  I can't decide what to do with it.  I'm thinkin' fancy.  Hmmm.

Have a great and safe weekend!

Pumpkin carving online

Go here!  It is so much fun!  You'll have a hard time pulling yourself away.

Have much fun and a great weekend!

Smiles in my day:
-  Pumpkin math night.  K- had so much fun!

Our dentist would be proud and other fine stories of the weekend

When your child with dental issues fetches a haul like this on Halloween weekend . . . . . . you bribe her with a bag of good loot in exchange for all but 30 pieces. We weeded out the non-sugar items/special treats. Then we had her choose 30 pieces, one for each day for a month. I traded her up for a bag of good things that I knew that she would like. The CD set is a sister set to one we already have and she loves. The CD set was $1.99. I scooped up the Barbie outfit for 97 cents, the dry erase print book and cheese dippers for $1.00 each at the dollar store and the stickers were on clearance at Walgreen's for 24 cents each with the Cow Tale as a check out bonus. She was happy with the trade and the dentist will love us, too!

Hubs is down with a cold, but still fully functional. In order to keep his germs to himself, he decided to skip church. He slept in, then took down all the halloween decorations including the haunted house he built with K- in the basement. Her play area is freed! :)!

I took K- to her very first roller skating party tonight. One of the girls in her class invited all of the kids to her birthday party tonight. Only a few of them showed. I don't know if that is typical or not, but K- was happy with the kids who did show up. It was the first time K- was on roller skates. She started with the spastic skate feet. She rolled over both of my feet multiple times, and I'm glad that I opted to wear the thicker leather Birkenstocks as opposed to my fabric Sauconys. She had so much fun. Truly, she was on the floor more than she was on her feet. I discovered that she did better when I wasn't with her, than when I was. Everytime she fell she laughed, so that was a good thing. Girlfriend is going to be bruised, though. I know that somehow she lobbed into my thigh and left a long blue bruise on it. But, she was so polite, very good and had so much fun. I was thrilled for her.

I have an odd scalp issue that has returned after a couple of years break. It's like I develop cradle cap in spots along my hairline in front. I know that hairspray can aggravate it, so I'll have to go without hair products for the week, and I've had to return to using an intensive dandruff shampoo instead. My scalp will chunk, chip, flake and seep. Oh, it is quite an attractive issue to have. I could see it coming on last week, but thought it was okay. I hate the scalp issue. It's gross.

I'm not a pocket diver when it comes to the laundry. Normally, everything is fine, though I have been the victim of a pen exploding and more laundered Chap Sticks than I can count. (Those will leave lovely grease deposits on your clothes, regardless to the fact that they are capped.) I decided to throw K-'s coat in the wash before we left for the party. I came home to transfer the coat to the dryer and found that K- had a tissue in her pocket. Duh! I knew that! Still, I didn't check the pockets and should have. I'm hoping that the dryer bounced all of the tissue remnants off of the coat.

K- has school Monday, she's off Tuesday because of voting in the schools, then back to her regularly scheduled educational days. (They can't control who comes in and out of the schools on election day, so they moved the Columbus Day holiday to voting day, in order to be certain that the kids are kept safe. K-'s school is always completely locked, with visitors having to be buzzed in and to check in with the secretary.) Hubs works a few 11 hour days, so I hope he is feeling better. I'm decorating another couple of trees this week, but will be on the long haul decorating gig next week.

In the meantime, smiles are included above and I'm tuckered. It didn't hit me until I sat down, but my bed is looking really good!

Have a great day!

With a police escort and the high school band . . .

. . . K-'s elementary school Halloween Parade was a success. The rain clouds were looming. The crowds were large. We had about a mile to walk with 550 kids. We made it, though. We had a fantastic time. What a neat thing to do with the kids!

Smiles in my day:
- The parade with K-!
- Lifting the H1N1 quarantine for K- to visit my soon-to-be 92 year old grandmother. Apparently, my aunt and grandmother really missed us!
- I ordered our Christmas photo cards tonight. By going through My Points, I had free shipping and I had previously earned a free 11 x 14 poster with Snapfish. I ended up saving $14.97 and now I have the lily print ordered to put on the not-yet-painted kitchen wall! My husband was very glad. The Christmas card photo this year was a little more painful than it should have been. I was a woman on a mission. Sorry, honey.
- It warmed to 70 F later in the day and at 10:45 PM, I still have the bedroom window open! Those days will be gone soon. We're enjoying them while we can.

Have a great weekend!

The characters of our Halloween

K-'s pumpkin. She hollowed it out herself, with help only to open it up and later remove some strings. She carved and carved. We have Hubs' pumpkin on top and mine below. Hubs had to work late, so I was kind and hollowed his pumpkin out for him. I really don't like cleaning pumpkins. My pumpkin is the non-traditional one. You would have never guessed it, right? My other non-traditional pumpkin. I just don't have it in me to do the triangle thing that Hubs did. They all look nice, regardless of the shapes cut into them. I forgot to get little tealight candles, so right now we are lit with some lovely beeswax votives that my mom bought me many moons ago. The yearly photo. Hubs and K- trick or treating in my parents neighborhood. See that costume? My friend Laurie made it with me when K- was 2. We made it extra long figuring that she could wear it a couple of times, but I never thought that we would get one more stab at the re-run. I admit that K- was supposed to be Padme', but it just didn't pan out. She was cool with the butterfly though. She likes flying around in it. Opening up the goodie bag from Nana and Grandpa Big House. (AKA my parents. Hubs' parents live in a condo. Mine live in an old farm house. K- has been calling them that for years and it stuck. What does she call Hubs' mom? Nana Cheese. Nana's daily snack of cheese for K- earned her the nickname.) And away she goes. (You can see her coat peeking out from under the cape. It is a bonus to the cape, though. It is warm, but she can wear it over a thick winter coat and no one knows!) One more trick-or-treat. We have our neighborhood trick-or-treat on Saturday evening, but wouldn't you know, it is supposed to rain! We'll still go. We have rain gear.

Smiles in my day:
- Being able to trick-or-treat in my old neighborhood with Hubs and K-.

Have a great weekend!

Shiver me Trick or Treatin'

It's been a little chilly in Ohio. In all fairness, I understand it is Ohio. I understand that winter is coming. In fact, I welcome it. I love warm sweaters, crunchy leaves, warm green tea with lemon or hot chocolate (ick to coffee.) I have to say, it was a might chilly for a trip to the pumpkin patch this morning. Look:
Yes, that is my car thermometer from yesterday morning. A little brisk, eh? I say Amen to that! So, we shuttled off to the pumpkin patch, kind of grumbling since this was scheduled two weeks ago and it was postponed due to a light mist falling from heaven. At least it was warmer then. It didn't require the fleece lining of the coats to be zipped back in, heavy sweaters, turtlenecks, hats and gloves.

The pumpkin patch was really quite lovely. They did a great job of teaching the kids about what they do there and different uses for the products that they grow. They grow corn, soy and pumpkins. They gave each child a bag, so as they went through the process of teaching them about their farm, they gave them a variety of things to place into their bag. They were sent off with soybeans to plant, a coloring book printed with soy ink, soy crayons, soynuts with a candy shell (the soy version of M & M's and they are rather tasty!), then as we walked, they allowed the children to pull a dried ear of corn from a stalk to take home with them to feed the critters. (Ours was VERY frosty!) In the end, they took us out to a very slippery pumpkin patch to pick a little guy of our own to take. When we got home, guess what we did?

We carved pumpkins! (Surprise, surprise!)

I carved the big one with templates of Cinderella and the castle. (Those can be found at the Huggies website.) K- decided that she wanted to carve her own pumpkin, so I allowed her to wield the safe pumpkin carving knife. She had a great time! After she was done, she went to the backyard to play a bit and look at what she found:

That would be a whiffle ball with a lot of ice around it. We're not talking the little fragile delicate ice. Ice thick enough for a 4 year old to play with it mid afternoon and still remain fully intact. Trick or treating tonight at my parents house will be a little chilly. Good thing we scored a big fuzzy bee costume! Nice and toasty. The right price, too! I got it at the thrift store for a whopping $5.00. My friend lengthened it a little and we're good to go. Lookie here here at the Hubs and K- trick or treating this past Sunday:

I know it's a little dark, but it was trick or treat and I did the best I could!

While I'm bugging you with far too many photos today, allow me to give you a glimpse of the little guy who has been living here for a while. I call him Buddy.

He's missing one big ole back leggin'. We're thinking that a bird tried to snack on him. It was great to see him around today. In fact, K- and I were surprised that he was still up and around. We thought he had gone by way of Grasshopperscicle a while ago.

Have a fun time trick or treating! Save the Heath bars for me!