Ghouls and Ghosts and Goblins....oh my!

A couple of weeks ago Oldest had some money burning a whole in his pocket from his birthday party.  He can't hang onto two pennies for any more than a minute, how on earth could we expect him to hold an entire $20 bill?

As expected we ended up at the local Walmart to find something to blow his money on that he couldn't live without!

While Oldest and Hubby were searching for anything in the store that cost $20 the bestest, most coolest thing ever, Youngest and I were strolling around the Halloween department.  Considering Youngest's fear of witches, Halloween is definitely not his best time of year.  While we're looking at the various costumes and decorations, I try my best to steer him away from anything witch-like. 

I turn my back for a moment and he's got a mask on and a tiny witches hat.  I do not generally allow my kids to try on masks in the store mainly because of the gross germ factor. Who on earth knows who's been wearing that before??  That said, I couldn't resist snapping a picture. One picture lead to him trying on ten masks while wearing the tiny hat with ALL of them!  Of course, I had to take a picture of him in all of them, he had me in stitches.  I'm sure the people in the Walmart must have thought we were crazy people! 

Frankenstein....which by the way is what Youngest will be for Halloween this year...although he's elected to be a much less scary version of Franky.

Wolf-man

Scary....

Boo!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Truth is Thursday

Truth is.....my family is very blessed.  Hubby and I work very hard for what we have and the good lord has provided us a cornucopia of blessings.

Truth is.....my kids want for very little, but they are getting a BIG sense of entitlement!  I want, I want, I want.  YIKES!

Truth is....I've been looking for a way for my family to give back a little, especially as we're approaching the holiday season.

Truth is....our church couldn't have had better timing in offering Christmas Child!  This is a program that brings Christmas gifts to less fortunate children.  You simply grab one of the shoebox sized boxes that are provided and the directions are inside.  We grabbed two (one for each of our boys)!

Truth is....reading over some of the recommendations for these children's gifts made me feel very sad and selfish.  They were asking for things like personal hygiene products, school supplies and maybe a couple of toys.  Keeping in mind that it all has to fit in the box.

Truth is....you can select the age and gender of the child that you're buying for.  Is anyone surprised that both of my boys opted to buy for boys that were their same ages? 

Truth is....we took the boys shopping last night to fill their boxes.  What better way for them to learn that not all children are as fortunate as they are.

Truth is....I shopped and my boys played.  Youngest is still young enough that he's still very ego-centric.  Each time I asked him if 'this' was something he'd like to give the other child he responded by saying 'no, that wouldn't be fair because I don't have that'.  Whatever 'this' was, went immediately into the cart for the other child.  Oldest was doing his best to find a notebook so he can start a journal. Balls were being thrown, armor was dawned, swords were being used....it was insanity!

Truth is....Hubby actually picked up one of the gifts from the cart and said $5 for Uno?  Yes, that really happened.  Yes, Uno stayed in the cart for both of the children we were buying for.  Eyeballs rolling at that comment for sure!

Truth is....I was a little disappointed that the boys didn't take more of an interest in what was being purchased.  After we were done and I showed them what we bought for each of their boxes they both seemed to genuinely approve.

Truth is....while it may not have been what I envisioned, I think it was a positive first step towards teaching the boys a little humility and selflessness.

Truth is....I'd like to thank one of my favorite bloggers, Julia at Surviving Boys, for hosting Truth is Thursday....very cathartic!

Ghosting....

A couple of years ago we started a tradition with my boys, Ghosting (or booing...it's the same thing).  In all honesty, my sister started it with her family and we hopped on the band wagon.  I know, I know, lots of families do the same thing, but I didn't know about it until my sister started it, so there!

Each year around the first of October, we buy various types of individually wrapped candy (you could also do cookies), shove them in a Halloween baggie; attach a picture of a ghost and a poem of instructions of what to do next. 

Once dark is upon us, we become ghosts!  We sneak up to our ghostees homes, place the candy bag on their doorstep, ring the bell (or bang on the door) and then get the heck out of there before we're caught! 

Last night we ghosted ten families (one of them was my sister and her family), the other nine families live in our neighborhood.  The boys absolutely love being little ghosts!  They get to be sneaky and see how fast they can run and get out of sight so they aren't discovered by our neighbors.  They were almost caught once last night but they made it out of sight by the skin of their teeth!

Once the ghostee has opened their door and received their bag of goodies; if they decide to join in the ghosting fun there are specific instructions to follow.  The instructions say to tape the ghost that they received to the front door, and then ghost two of their neighbors; then they get to become a ghost! 

It's a lot of fun to watch the pictures of little ghosts popping up on doors and windows all over the neighborhood.  I hope you'll join in the fun!  Happy Ghosting!!

Rambling Wednesday...

Today I have so much on my mind, that maybe if I write it all down, it will help clear my head!

• Our dentist appointments went well yesterday.  No cavities for anyone...hooray!
• The dentist confirmed that Youngest has THREE loose teeth.  Big smiling eyes when he heard that news!  Look out tooth fairy!
• Several weeks ago our pastor mentioned that one of his favorite things is a Dr. Pepper slurpee!  Where has this been all my life and why am I not drinking one right now?
• We're having a lot of trouble with Oldest and his ability to tell the truth on even the most trivial questions.
• There's been a lot of yelling and teeth gnashing over lying and helping around the house.
• I feel like I'm failing my children.  
• I'm less than happy with my work life as well.  I feel like our leadership team is trying to make the role much harder than what it is.
• My work hours recently changed.  I go in about 30 minutes later (not late enough to actually help hubby with ANYTHING in the morning) and I get home about 45 minutes later than I used to.
• Changing work hours means a change all the way around for the family.  We have less time together in the evenings and we're rushing to get things done.
• When do we have time to just stop and breathe?
• Our house is almost always a disaster zone!  We need a better plan to keep it clean.
• Hubby and I are celebrating our 13 year wedding anniversary next Monday!  WOWZA! 
• Hubby is working all weekend and working late through the first part of next week.  I don't see any anniversary celebrating this year. With busy work life and two kiddos, that's bound to happen!
• The following weekend is Oldest's birthday.  We're going camping and two of his friends are tagging along.  FUN!
• The weather in the Midwest is so unpredictable, we're praying for a dry weekend!  It hasn't rained since my birthday weekend when we took the family camping.  We're due for more rain. 
• I've been eating my stress lately.  Not only is it not helping my stress, it's not helping my waistline either!
• I really believe that God doesn't give us more than we can handle.  Sometimes I believe he may have a little to much faith in me to handle all he's given me!