What I did for Halloween...

 Halloween is my favorite holiday. I just love it.

But this year caught me unawares and unguarded...

...I mean, here it is, October 31st...and I don't have a single decoration up. There are no Halloween cookies or pumpkin seed bark in the treat jars. I'm not hosting a pumpkin carving party. I am SERIOUSLY off my game.

Why? Well...I'm adjusting to a new Girl Scout schedule and program and lots of extra training...which has sucked up a lot of my free time.

And I'm dealing with kids schedules becoming more hectic and involved that is sucking up even more free time...I spend a LOT of time driving people around, lately.

And the last bit of my free time has been devoted to getting ready to run a race.

I wanted to run a half-marathon, and Miami hosts a Halloween Half Marathon that looked like lots of fun (lots of great people-watching and costumes). I thought running my first half-marathon on the weekend of my favorite holiday would be the BEST way to celebrate!!

I trained really hard, but in the end, I struggled...not so much with the course or the length...but with my own feelings of insecurity and self-worth.

After all, running is 90% mental...and if your head is tripping you out, you're going to suffer.

When I was finally able to shut up my inner demons, I actually had a really good time. My pace wasn't great...but I made new friends, enjoyed beautiful scenery and fun people, and I know at my next race my time will improve because I know that I won't have to battle the same issues.

I can only share some of my photos...because the cord that connects my camera to the computer has mysteriously disappeared. But here is a sampling of my race!!

This is me at 6:30am...excited and ready to run!!

Almost there!! WHEW!!

It's the ".1" that really kills you...

Hot, sweaty, and DONE!!! With my cool glow-in-the-dark medal!!

Jason survived, too!!

Some of the GREAT costumes we saw...

This was my favorite!! "Caw-caw!! Caw-caw!!"

This 80's-themed work-out couple finished the race in style...with him proposing to her at the finish line!!

This guy just needs a bikini wax...seriously...

So I wasn't in costume...but I still had a GREAT time!! And it will be my most memorable Halloween EVER!!

This is Halloween!!!

This is Halloween, This is Halloween!

Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!!

Aren't you scared?

Well that's just fine!!

Say it once, Say it twice

Take a chance and roll the dice

Ride with the moon in the dead of night...

We didn't need the Pumpkin King's help with our pumpkins, though...although we listened to him sing the whole while we carved. We couldn't make jack-o-lanterns until the actual day of Halloween because they would rot in the heat...so it was a great time-killer before the trick-or-treat night...

The girls carved a sweet little pumpkin face on their squash...

The boys wanted to go for SCARY...but were too busy bickering over what scary looked like...so I drew a scary face for them. It was a good excuse to get in on the action!!

After pumpkins and a WHOLESOME dinner, we went out and hit the neighborhood. A lot of people weren't home (were they out and about since All Hallows Eve fell on a Saturday this year?)...so we went to the Fabianos and trick-or-treated there as well.

And although I gave away HANDFULS of candy...by time the kids emptied their sacks, I STILL had more than I started with!!!!

Jason better get all the extras to his staff soon...I'm tired of the kids being strung out on sugar and trying to avoid sabotaging my training!!!!

Trunk-or-Treat

Tonight was the ward Trunk-or-Treat. My kids were REALLY looking forward to it! It's no surprise...wouldn't you have loved to have two nights of trick-or-treating instead of one? It started with a potluck dinner, and there were games set up for kids to play. But the real fun came after it got dark, and the kids came out to the parking lot, where families had decorated their cars, and went from trunk to trunk collecting candy.


So this is my Trailer Park Trash Mermaid. Still cute...if slightly inappropriate...

Brigham is a super-strong Power Ranger...

Kaitlyn went as a Rag Doll...

Savannah was an Indian maiden, and her friend Jessica was a cowgirl...

Josephs best friend Adam had a whole Robin Hood thing going on...Kaitlyn and I couldn't help singing: "We're men! We're men in Tights! That's Right!" every time he passed.

Kaitlyn with her two new friends, Sierra and Mike.

Joseph refused to dress up...but hoped in this picture with four SCARY girls...

And this one with his friends, Christopher and Adan, and Mike's little brother, who had the coolest costume of all.

All in all, we had a great time. I thought I had relived myself of BAGS of candy...but when the kids emptied their sacks on the family room floor...I realized that I actually had more than I started with. Darn it.

So I hope to see lots of kids tomorrow night...they'll be making out like bandits at my place!!

Nicolette's Preschool Halloween Parade

I love that picture of Nicolette...

Remember when you were little, and got to walk in the Halloween parade at school?

It was, like, the best day EVER. Parties all day, Halloween crafts instead of spelling tests, and your mom and dad came and took your picture and waved like crazy...and you weren't even embarrassed...you waved back.

The parade was great until the called forward different costume catergories, and Nicolette realized just how many little girls dressed up as Disney Princesses.

See? There were quite a few...

It's okay, baby. You're still special and amazing to me...

This is Ms. Kelly, Nicolette's teacher. I think she's trying to look happy...but instead her smile says: "OMG...just take the picture and then get these sugar strung-out preschoolers home so I can get a massage!!"

It's a big class...I'm sure she needs medication...

Nicolette and Alexa are best friends...and HAD to dress as Snow White TOGETHER. But by time we got home, she decided to do a costume switch for the ward Trunk-or-Treat. She put on a mermaid costume that was AT LEAST two sizes too small.

We called her the Trailer Park Trash Mermaid.

I LOVE Halloween!!

Halloween with Girl Scouts!!

Ahhhh!!! It's scary!! No...it's terrifying!! It's...it's...it's HALLOWEEN!!!!

My Girl Scouts LOVE Halloween, and this year, for the first time, our troop went to Camp Creepy!! Camp Creepy is held every year at Camp Welaka in Jupiter, about an hour and a half away. They transform the entire camp into a frightfully haunted playground, complete with haunted houses, carnival attractions, games and crafts, a dance hall, haunted hayride, and lots and lots of spooky characters.

First thing we did was purchase glowing necklaces and hit the dance hall to move and groove beneath spinning lights, strobes, and black lights...

Ms. Heidi, Ms. Desiree, and all the girls LOVE to dance...

There were also plenty of hula hoops to spin beneath the spooky decorations...

The haunted houses were very well done...in fact, after a couple of houses, some of the girls were too scared to try more, and waited outside while the braver souls went in. The last haunted house included a seance...and it was so incredibly well-done and spooky that the three girls brave enough to go in...Kaliayah, Danya, and Savannah...ran screaming from the house, and Savannah actually burst into tears.

(I tell ya - some of these older Girl Scouts are REALLY good actresses!!)

A much less frightening activity was launching Wish Boats into Lake Akalew (which, incidentally, is "Welaka" spelled backwards).

I'm not sure how the gator felt about all those candles on his water (name that movie)...but having been denied a very plump and tasty redhead last weekend during canoe training, I'm sure it just added insult to injury...

The girls all tried the Bungee Jumping...but it was Kaliayah who really "flipped"...

Danya kept her eyes closed for the Haunted Hayride...(just kidding...just an unfortunate shot. But Heidi and Oriana came out okay!!)

Festivities ended at midnight, and my girls made it ALL THE WAY (I didn't think they would,,,but boy, was I wrong!). We didn't get home until almost 2am.

The next morning, we had a service project at a local nursing home, where the girls got to go and cheer up some of the Grandmas and Grandpas being cared for there.

Savannah, Jessica, and Abi all arrived at about the same time...aren't they adorable?

Savannah instantly made friends with Ethel and Frank, and they helped each other play some rousing games of BINGO.

Katherine and Amanda met us there, and joined in the game!!

My co-leader, Karen and her daughter, Katherine...always look so beautiful...

We made Halloween cards for the residents who couldn't get out of bed to play with us...

All in all...a very fun day serving in our community and cheering those in need...

...now I need a nap.

So sue me...

Yeah - I KNOW its December. And I KNOW no self-respecting blogger waits this long to post holiday stuff. But I've been busy. With life.

So here...finally...after a delayed engagement in my camera...are the pics from Halloween. Break out some left-over Double-Bubble (come on - you know you still have some. Nobody ever actually EATS that stuff until it's all that's left) and transport yourself back six weeks...

Here are my littles carving their pumpkins...

The girls went for a traditional-looking fella

While the boys opted for fangs and mutiple eyes...I think its a scary spider!! When it came to costumes, we had a wide variety...Nicolette was an adorable cheerleader...

And I had two very intimidating (in the most darling way) pirates...

And a very scary Dementor-Grim-Reaper-Pumpkin-Head-Guy...I'm not a fan of masks...they're just creepy...

Last year for Halloween, we went to a Panthers game, and Trick-or-Treated there with the vendors and Radio Disney. We had box seats and sat with the mascot for part of the game, and Joseph and Savannah got to be the kid representatives on the Zambonis during a quarter break. So this year was the first year we Trick-or-Treated in our own neighborhood...

And with five kids...the haul is ALWAYS impressive...even AFTER Dad discovers that all the packages of Peanut M&Ms have holes in them (kinda like when I was a kid, and my Mom and Dad always had to confiscate all the Snickers bars)...

We were watching "Hocus Pocus" - and the kids get to eat as much candy as they can during the movie. After that - I hide it and it gets rationed out until only the yucky stuff is left and I toss it!!

Happy Halloween!!!