halloween fun

we sent maleficent off to work, porter off to school, and then waited until it was school party time.

luke skywalker, tinkerbell and i headed over to the school where we saw and met many a celebrity and scary witch in the halloween parade...including none other than the disney princesses ariel and jasmine!

we hung around for a bit to watch ariel do some pumpkin bowling (yes, with REAL pumpkins!) and try the old 'eat the donut off the string' game. (she did take off her wig, so as to increase her advantage and not end up looking like george washington with a powdered wig from the powdered donut...)

then back home for some much needed nap time for the sugar-induced hyperactivity of the evening.

i put on a big pot full of soup (white chicken chili this year...) and jason's parents come over to tend to our house and passing out candy while we take our little goblins out for their loot. here's everyone getting ready for trick-or-treating...

lilly as ariel

maya as jasmine

porter as luke skywalker

and the one and only molly as tinkerbell

and some shots of our pumpkins glowing outside...really hard to get good shots with my camera, but here's hoping you get the gist of it.

cross-dresser

it doesn't happen often (i don't think, anyway...) and he claims that this is the first time he's ever worn make-up.

i present jason as 'maleficent' from sleeping beauty.

holidays

so we're discussing holidays over breakfast this morning....what with halloween being tomorrow, and porter's birthday just one week from today (how did that kid get to be FIVE already!)

KQOTD:

Porter: Jesus is dead, right?

Me: Yes.

Porter: But he comes back to life at Easter. *slight pause* When he turns into a bunny and gives us presents, right?

(Hurray for "Jesus-time" in pre-school. Clearly he's grasping it.)

more important than WHO is that you DO

enjoy...

rivalries

we started our day with breakfast with all the kids - the six of them, ages 9 - 2. and then we left them in the loving care of their uncle and grandmom.

we enjoyed lunch with jason's sister and dad at one of the downtown ann arbor pubs.

we walked through downtown a bit...taking in a few stores.

searching a bit for some of the infamous fairy doors - this is something i will have to do more of!

and then we headed up the hill to the big house.

the last college football game i went to was the citrus bowl, jan. 1, 2001, in orlando, fl. with a large family group. it was UM vs. auburn. i'm not sure that i've ever been to a game in the big house.

many people asked who i would be cheering for. that's the kicker, isn't it. i was born and raised a wolverine. i graduated (twice over) a spartan. i would be in the big house. surrounded primarily by wolverines. i wore my big hoodie with a blue block M on it. i wore a maize-colored wind/raincoat. but to be honest, i wasn't sure who i'd be cheering for.

so i started by taking it all in.

michigan stadium. the marching band. the fly-over (which was really impressive).
the student section.

and when push came to shove.... and it was kick-off time.... and i could hear both fight songs in the same stadium.... i found myself cheering for....the spartans. without a doubt, that's where my allegiances are. i guess my heart really is on the banks of the red cedar.

sorry dad.

just because i'm a democrat doesn't mean....

so i'm registering my kids for another session of gymnastics today, when there's a 'gentleman' in the office discussing his life with another woman also in the office. clearly they are acquaintances.

the man indicates that he has been laid off. he then indicates he was offered another job - but then says 'but unemployment pays more' so he declined it. the woman goes through with him WHY - and he they go over the pay info, etc. and the math, to me, means that unemployment should not have been paying him as much as he would have made at this job that he declined.

just because i'm a democrat, does not mean i'm in favor of supporting THIS guy.

the system is broken.

i can only hope...

in the obituaries in the local paper here, i made note of an interesting paragraph in the obit of a young man (49 - whose name happens to be Michael) who recently passed away from complications associated with lupus.

i can only hope that many, many, many years from now my own father's obit will have a similar paragraph (albeit, reversed).

"Michael graduated with a degree in chemistry from Michigan State University. He was a loyal Spartan fan who made allowances for moments of U of M greatness due to his daughter attending school there."

i'm in love

it's a sight to behold.

no more duct tape.

plenty of room.

an alarm when the kids stand there with the door open too long.

no more wafts of cold air from the closed freezer.

and get this - ice maker and a water dispenser on the inside.

glory be - life is good.

acorn

i was just typing acorn squash into google to search for a recipe to enhance tonight's dinner...except i typed acron...

guess my fingers just do that on their own...cause after all, i am a cron.

pictures

well, it's the annual school pictures day for the girls...porter had his earlier this week. and like their mother before them, my girls have been 'blessed' with bone straight hair, but with a love of curls. so we arose early this morning to attempt to give them some curls for pictures today, but knowing full well that they won't last until they have their pictures taken (especially since lilly isn't having hers taken until 2:15PM!)

so i took pictures of them, so we can remember with fondness, the 5 minutes that their hair was curly today.