When Sandy gives you rain...

Hurricane Sandy left us cold and wet on Halloween. Normally we would hold Trunk or Treat in our church parking lot but the storm made us make some changes to our tradition.  Because we have a large lobby and gym, our leader - Fred - decided we would be holding what Matthew and I are calling Table or Treat.  

The line of people hoping to have their Halloween fun in drier climes began about 15 minutes before we opened the doors to the crowd. Soon our lobby was packed full of parents and children.

Tucked off to the side, Andrew and Adam chatted
by the bulletin board.

So much fun packed into one room.  The wall was lined with tables loaded with treats.  At our coffee bar we were serving coffee, cocoa and cider to warm those who braved the cold to keep their children happy.  We even had a pile of hay with surprises hidden inside, with the hopes that the children would find them. 

(No needles - somehow that seems wrong.)

So many folks were shocked when they walked up the stairs and into the gym to find not just more tables but also bounce houses.  Three of them!

"Other Bob", not to be confused with Pastor Bob - who was on dad duty - manned the obstacle course bounce house. Jerome went on this one 11 times!!  The hill proved challenging to him and his legs were sore this morning.

To the side of the gym we were lined up.  Each table featuring a different kind of candy.  Some of us carried the themes meant for our cars over to the tables, while Fred provided an Autumn theme for others. 

While the children bounced themselves into oblivion, the parents hung out by the kitchen, munching on hot dogs and washing them down with lemonade.

My Sunday School teacher and her husband were all decked out in costume. They always seem to enjoy this event.

Another member of the Circle of Sisters Sunday School class. She had an amazing trunk which she bought at A.C. Moore and finished it into a beautiful treasure chest filled with candy.

Cowboy Lionel, our guitar player and deacon with these two sweet ladies (including his lovely wife, Janet)

I seriously love that bike!  If I had seen it I would have asked where they got it.  And if they know how to ride it.

Everyone loves the Tin Man.

Really, it is about Jesus. After all, we were giving to others.

Even the teens offered to help. 

Ah! There is the scarecrow!

On to the gym and the feature point - the dogs!  These kids are show dogs and so well behaved.

No, John was NOT handing out dog food.

Isn't she adorable? 

(The Pekingese, I mean)

Jerome wouldn't stop talking for the picture and William's shirt made me sad. It was celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the HMS Bounty. We got it when we toured her in September 2010 at Tall Ships Erie - she was due to come back next fall.

Our theme was slumber party and was modified from the van's decorations. India was there in spirit even though she is 6 hours away in college.  The bedding, angel bear, Hedwig owl, Encyclopedia Horrifica book on the nightstand and lamp were all hers. Several people there said they miss her - so do I.

And there was the third dog. They loved jumping up on the tables to relax - two of them even spent some time on our table. 

Fred's better half - Marcie.  One of the truly sweet ladies from our church. 

Pirates. Must have pirates.

She would have done well with our theme. 

When Marcie's candy ran out, Marcie and Amanda headed over to a vacant table to study for Amanda's vocabulary test.

                                      

How do you clean hay off carpeting?

A leaf blower, of course!

After everyone left and while some of us cleaned up the gym, Andrew took care of the garbage and Matthew vacuumed while Fred blew the hay into a pile.  I didn't get a picture of Matthew since we were relying on his Android phone for these pictures and there was no way he would let me use his phone to take a picture of him. 

When we were all done I went home with three trash bags of hay for the chicken coop as well as about 13 pumpkins for the chickens.  Few things make the girls as happy as pumpkin innards. Jerome was content with the small amount of candy he had collected and we all felt so good inside.

Day one of this month of gratitude:

I am grateful for my children. I love them dearly and am so very grateful to have them all as close and loving as they are.

Oudoe,

Ingrid

Happy International Frustrating Scream Day

Seriously. Could this day be better named?     

As it is, my dryer decided a few days ago that it wanted to not just make socks disappear but chews up any clothes it can grab hold of. Then it plays tug-of-war with the clothes when we try to take them back.  Matthew ordered the parts while we reverted back to using the clothes line until he fixes it.

Let's move on to this morning, shall we?

I wake my kids at 6am for the bus.  I'm no dummy, though, and I always crawl back under the blankets where it's warm.  

William came into my room this morning and told me his teacher wants the paper signed that she sent home the other day. I told him I signed a bunch of papers but he insisted it was something different.  Unfortunately, he didn't know where the paper went since it wasn't in the notebook I pass back and forth with his teacher.

Then the kids were beginning to head out for their 6:35 bus pick-up when Andrew told me he was signed up to bring brownies to a party first period (at 8:13!!!).  

So much for going back to sleep after they left.  

I got to school at 7:58 and dropped the still-hot brownies off at the front desk.  Yeah!  I made it!  Now I can relax. Okay, do housework, close enough since I find that relaxing.  Working on the computer was interesting since my cordless mouse has a mind of it's own and I was blocked by FB from liking any pages for two days for "abusing the privilege" of liking by clicking "like" on too many pages. 

While I was pottying the dogs, the Pomeranian sneezed and I was lamenting - in baby talk - about her sneezing while I hooked her out. As I was talking, I looked up and saw the Fed Ex truck in the driveway with the door open and the driver looking at me.  The excitement of the dryer parts arriving ALMOST over-shadowed my embarrassment. 

I had to pick Amanda up from practice after school.  Normally she would ride the late bus but today's practice was just for the stunt cheerleaders and was to last exactly 24 minutes.  She was insistent I pick her up and that I was to be at school at 3:30.

It's a 12 mile drive so I made sure I rolled into the bus entrance to the school by 3:28. 

Sidenote:
We train our children well, don't we? Most people going into the school parking lot use an entrance marked on both sides "Do Not Enter" "Buses only".  That only counts if you know buses will be there, after all.

Back to my day:
I have always carried a book in my purse since the traffic jams at the I-10/410 interchange in San Antonio kept me in my car for hours. So, I pulled my book out (not the same book as in San Antonio) and started reading it. Every so often I would look around.  I began realizing there were only football players in the field and no cheerleaders were coming out of the building.  

To the phone: I waited until the bus would be at the house before calling home - no answer.  I called Andrew's cell.  Apparently he hadn't made it to my room (where it's kept during school), so - no answer.  I tried Matthew's cell - no answer there either. Back to trying the landline where, surprise, Matthew answered and told me Amanda was home.

Back home and Amanda was all happy because she had learned hair cutting in Cosmetology at BOCES this week. Andrew volunteered to be her first guinea pig.  I swear, he looks like Rhianna now!!!

The Wooly Bear that I found on my front deck when I released the spider had a narrow brown band and really large black ends - which means a long, cold winter.

And the Greyhound has gas...

I'd hide under my blankets if I didn't have to make chili for the football game tomorrow and see what I can do to fix Andrew's hair.