Happy Halloween!

Many thanks to Trisha & Ian for making Halloween so fun for the kids.  I was just a little bit blue about our first Halloween after moving out of our old neighborhood (which does Halloween up unlike anything I've ever seen before!).  But with Mr. Ian, there's always fun.  And shrieking.  Lots of shrieking.

Heading out to trick-or-treat.  Very different from our old neighborhood... we were practically the only kids out on the streets.  And half of the houses with their lights on just left a candy bowl on the front porch.  We only encountered maybe a dozen actual people that answered doors, but Tate charmed each and every one with big waves and his only real clear word:  "Byyyyyyyeeeee!"  We picked up Madison and Kaylie on our way to the party.  These girls are just too sweet.  I love the way they love each other!

It was hard to keep up with these three!  We were always trailing behind with Tate.  Ian Jr. talks up a storm.  Reminds me of Anna Kate.

Tate loved riding in his wagon and got very upset if anyone else attempted to climb aboard it while we were holding him.

The cowardly lion that wouldn't wear his mane.  Not even once.  Missing our old neighborhood, but happy to be with friends.    

Bobbing for apples was the big hit of the night.  The men were all pleased that the old-fashioned game proved such a success, and the women all tried hard to block out the gross-out factor.  Any kids experiencing Ebola-like symptoms were instructed to go to the back of the line.  Mr. Ian was the first to actually get an apple.  Then Mr. Randal followed up by getting one in a matter of seconds.

Tate was so scared of this dancing/singing skeleton.  When we first arrived, Tate was running a million miles and hour, chasing after Egbert and giggling the whole time.  Then he ran into this room and made a quick detour to me.  He never cried, but his face was priceless.  Wish I had a picture of it!  He tread a bit more lightly in the house the rest of the night.  Many thanks to Ms. Trisha & Mr. Ian for creating such fun special memories for these kids! 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

The cowardly lion wouldn't wear his mane.  But the scarecrow had plenty of spunk!

Many thanks for Mimi & Grandpa for coming over to take our picture.  I wasn't going to let this night slip away without making sure we got a picture of all of us together!  I don't think the kids have ever actually watched the movie.  Wesley seemed to think the Tin Man was an axe murderer or something... this was his "in character" face: 

They shut down the road in front of our house so the church could hold their big Trunk or Treat fall festival.  We had about 20 minutes before we had to head to church for our own Trunk or Treat, so the kids grabbed their buckets and we made it about halfway down the line of cars before we had to go.  There were some really great costumes.  The girls were excited to see Maleficent and Aurora.  Wesley preferred Star Wars: 

We got a lot of attention.  A couple of times a stranger would ask to take our picture.  This stranger offered to take one for us as well after she took one of us on her camera. 

Some cars were super cute... and then this car took an entirely different approach.  Yikes!  The Yellow Brick Road stopped just short of our house (well at least the trick-or-trunking did).

Our Trick or Trunk did not go as smoothly.  For the first year I failed to get a picture of all the kids up on stage because I was dealing with tears and a meltdown.  Then the big kid took off while I was still inside dealing with Tate, and by the time I got out there, I immediately spotted Carigan by herself.  When I called her name she ran to me and burst into tears.  She had gotten separated from Anna Kate and was terrified.  It was really really really dark out there.  Her post-traumatic meltdown was so significant that I had to take her inside to calm her.  I couldn't get here to go back outside until the event was almost over.  I got her to go around to a couple of cars, but ultimately she just wanted to hang close to Mimi & Grandpa by their car.

I never even saw this girl or her older brother until they had already collected several pounds of candy.  At least some of my kids still need me.  ;o)

And the sorting continued when we got home.  By the way, I just noticed that this photo shows the mysteriously green blind.  We're getting ready to have plantation shutters installed in the front room and the living room, because this one set of blinds is inexplicably green.  I'm not sure if they used a cleaning agent on it that turned it green or if the sun turned it green, but that would be weird because the whole blind is very uniformly green and you'd think if it was from the sun, it would have affected the one next to it.  Anyway, I'm just weird enough to need to point that out in this photo so I'll have a record of the strangely green blind one day. 

Anna Kate & Elsa One-on-One

I told April I feel like I need to write her a check... she arranged to have Elsa come for Selah's birthday party, but Selah wouldn't have anything to do with her.  And in fact, Elsa's presence was all a bit too much for all of the girls... except for Anna Kate.  So Anna Kate pretty much got her own personal Elsa experience, courtesy of the Clements.  

And she was a million times better than Disney's Elsa... You know, the one that thousands of people waited in line for 4-6 hours to see for five minutes.  Elsa's assistant cued the music and you would think girls would emerge from all corners of Lakeland, like rats being lured by the Pied Piper.  But everyone just kept jumping in the jumpy house and Elsa and Anna Kate sang Let it Go by themselves: 

Carigan did greet Elsa briefly, but she would rather stay by her shy BFF's side at all times.  Love these girls.  Happy Birthday, Selah!!

Pics on the Promenade

Last night was the first Pics on the Promenade since we moved downtown.  Anna Kate invited some friends and we sugared-up on the traditional Rhodes pumpkin brownie before walking to Lake Mirror for the movie.  Tate helped me make the brownie.

Carigan, Tate, Wesley (in the Spiderman mask), Matthew, Marin, 'nother Matthew, and Anna Kate.  Harley & Brantley were on their way.   Tate loved Matthew.  

Marin, Harley & Anna Kate ~ Watching Monsters Inc. after sliding down the inflatables.  And when I say Tate loved Matthew, I mean he LOVED Matthew!  Tate climbed all over him and insisted on reaching his little hand up out of the stroller and holding Matthew's hand whenever confined to it. 

Getting some wiggles out down by the lake mid-movie.  Wesley had found a classmate (Cooper) and went to sit with him.  Friday, October 24, 2014 

The weather has been AMAZING lately!  Pretty much ever Saturday since we moved in has been devoted to unpacking and working on the house, but this morning it would have just been cruel to stay inside!  We walked to Munn Park to check out the annual Garden Extravaganza.  Then we walked around the downtown Farmer's Market, ran into friends, hit up some vendor trick-or-treat buckets, and even bought a refurbished antique secretary's desk.  I didn't care for a stencil the seller had applied though, so she offered to paint over it while we grabbed some lunch. 

Eggplant pizza and Greek salad at Palace Pizza!  The best!

Michael ran home to get his truck to go pick up the desk & hutch while we took a leisurely stroll back down to Lake Morton.  I can't wait to do this for a thousand Saturday mornings in the years to come!  It feels like we're finally coming up for air after spending most of the past year drowning in the stress from (or just the never-ending tasks associated with) moving.  And now we're finally truly experiencing our new lives here in downtown Lakeland.  Feeling amazingly blessed!