Our Five Ring Circus: October 2012

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!!!

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We woke up to a rainy, chilly Halloween.  Our Halloween morning tradition cheered the kids up quickly!  Every Halloween, we give the kids a small, non-candy gift.  This year, those gifts brightened up their dreary morning!

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During breakfast, Dylan built his mini-Lego set and the girls played with their little dolls.  Soon after, I had to rush the kids to the bus stop to go to school.  The rest of the morning was spent with my sweet little skeleton.

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 She should have actually been dressed as a little devil.



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We picked Lexie up from school, had some lunch, headed to gymnastics, did some grocery shopping, then came home to get Dylan off the bus.

Dylan had his Halloween party at school, but Lexie's is postponed until Monday, due to the school cancellation yesterday.  Dylan arrived home in costume and was so excited to show me the Haunted House craft he had made.

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We spent the afternoon working on homework and snacking on candy while Lily took a late nap.

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It didn't really feel like Halloween today, thanks to the fact that our entire area rescheduled Trick or Treating for Saturday, which we will miss.

It was a bummer, but we had a great compromise! My sweet friend, Amber, always has something fun in store for our group of friends.  She invited several families over to her house for dinner, snacks and Halloween cupcakes.

While there, the kids, who were dressed in their costumes, trick or treated throughout the house.  We had an adult in each room to hand out candy as they walked by!

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It wasn't our normal Halloween night, but it sure was a lot of fun! Plus? We weren't freezing or getting drenched!

The kids didn't seem to mind the fact that they weren't able to trick or treat tonight!  They had a great Halloween!

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Monday, October 29, 2012

Trick or Treat!

Frankenstorm really altered our Trick or Treat plans! 

We found out this morning that all of the areas around us moved trick or treating to Saturday evening.  However, we have front row tickets to the circus on Saturday evening.  The kids were going to miss trick or treating this year and they were bummed!  I was ready to declare this Halloween and epic fail.

I had planned on taking my kids trick or treating at our high school tonight.  We went last year and it's a great event for kids! My friend also suggested taking our kids to the mall to trick or treat afterward.  Between the school and the mall, they would get their fill of trick or treating!

We headed to the school and made the mad dash through the pouring rain to meet our friends there. Luckily, we arrived early enough to end up near the front of the line!  Apparently, everybody had the same idea as us.  The school was packed! 

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It was so much fun for the kids!  They trick or treat through the high school.  Each room has a different theme and the high school students dress up and hand out candy to the little kids.  They ended up leaving with as much candy as they would have received trick or treating through the neighborhood!  We'll definitely do this again next year!

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At this point, Grant and I parted ways.  We made the mad dash back through the pouring rain.  He headed home while my friend, our kids, and I drove to the mall together.  It was a bit (okay, a lot) hectic getting out of the car, because it was raining even harder and the wind was blowing.  We dashed through the rain yet again, laughing hysterically as we did. 

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We had plans to meet up with our sweet friend, Steph, and her family.  We found them and got into the long line to trick or treat.  My Lily was a bit irritated at being strapped into a stroller and quickly ripped off her poodle head.  We were able to distract her with many lollipops, though!

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Okay..honestly?  I wouldn't trick or treat at the mall again.  The line moves way too slowly and even though we spent an hour there, the kids only got a few pieces of candy. 

There was also a big scare with this cutie pie...

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...let's just say that she traumatized her parents and scared the crap out of the rest of us.  Sweet little Lily. 

By that point, we were pretty much over trick or treating. 

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We decided to get out of line and let the kids play at the indoor playground for a bit.

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There were so many kids there and not many were being watched, so things got a bit rough.  We all headed out of the mall, back into the pouring rain.

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Our entire group drove to the nearest fast food restaurant.  We grabbed some dinner and let the kids play in the indoor playground.

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The kids had a great time together!

We were all bummed about not being able to trick or treat on Halloween, but we ended up having a great time! It was definitely a memorable night and took all that disappointment away!

An even bigger surprise?  School is cancelled tomorrow!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Cramming in Halloween

To say that we have been preoccupied over the past 6 weeks would be an understatement.  We spent as much time as we possibly could with Grant's father before he passed away.  That was priority.

During those weeks, all the Halloween fun passed us by.  The majority of our Fall/Halloween decorations are still packed away.  We didn't make it to ZooBoo.  We had to cancel our big Halloween party.  We didn't make it to the pumpkin patch, which is something we look forward to every year.  This weekend was our last chance, and it rained the entire time.  We have yet to carve our pumpkins, roast pumpkin seeds, or bake Halloween cookies.

We did, however, manage to cram in some Halloween fun over the weekend.

On Friday night, we went to my sister's house for a Halloween dinner.  My mom made us all a special Halloween dinner, then handed out treat bags to the kids.  We had so much fun that we decided to make it a yearly tradition!

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Yesterday evening was supposed to be the date of our annual Halloween party.  Grant decided to cancel it just before his dad passed, because we didn't have time to prepare.  Instead, we invited a few close friends over for an informal Halloween party.  It ended up being a fun night!

There were kids everywhere and some of our favorite people showed up!

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We even had a skunk in our house.  Good thing she was cute.

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We ate and talked  while the kids played.  Everybody stayed late.  Even though we were having fun, it was evident that the littlest guests were worn out.

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We didn't have a big party, but we still had a fun evening!

Now?  We're down to the last few days of Halloween fun. We have a lot to do! I feel bad that my kids have missed out on Halloween activities this year, but they don't seem to mind.  They have 3 very fun and busy days ahead of them!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Week in Review {365 Project: Week 42}

The past few weeks have been a blur.  I'm late at putting this up and struggling to remember what we did last week. I know this week was spent with Grant's father and ended with him passing away.  Not exactly a week I want to remember, but it is the story of our lives. 

OCTOBER 14th

A visit with Grant's dad, followed by dinner with friends.

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OCTOBER 15th

I volunteered in Lexie's classroom.  She was super excited to get to come home early with me when I left.  I think we spent the rest of the day at home!

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OCTOBER 16th

I picked Lexie up from school, stopped to visit Grant's dad, then took the girls to the library for storytime.  That evening, our friends came over for dinner and to watch the baseball playoffs.

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OCTOBER 17th

The day went something like this:  drove kids to school, visited Grant's dad, picked Lexie up from school, took Lexie to gymnastics, went shopping, took Grant to pick up his car from the repair shop, dropped off rental SUV.  After that,  the kids said a final goodbye to their grandpap. We tried to distract them from the sadness by spending time with our friends. We ended up coming home late.

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OCTOBER 18th

I watched my little buddy, Logan, that morning.  My friend picked Lexie up from school and brought her home, along with lunch for us.  Once everybody left, I went over to visit my parents for the afternoon.  After having dinner with them, we returned home.  It was an eventful night, thanks to my mom sliding down the steps and hurting herself.  My sweet kiddos were upset that she was hurt, and it took a while to get them to bed!

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OCTOBER 19th

We visited Grant's dad while the big kids were at school.  I picked up Lexie, then took her home.  It was beautiful outside, so we headed outdoors for a few hours.  As soon as Dylan got home, he joined us.  That evening, my dad came over to watch the kids so I could go be with Grant and his family.  While there, it was evident that his dad's time was coming to an end.  It was torture watching him struggle to breathe.  They ended up calling hospice, and the hospice nurse suggested we say our goodbyes.  I did just that before leaving. Grant decided to stay overnight to help out with his dad. The entire evening was heart-breaking. 

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OCTOBER 20th

A phone call at 6:14 AM woke me up.  Grant's dad had passed away just a minute before, surrounded by his family.  I made a call, and my sister was at my house within an hour, so I could go be with Grant's family.  There are no words to describe how emotional that day was. Seeing him on that bed, not breathing, was surreal. Within three hours of his passing, their house was filled with family and friends.  It was amazing.  I picked the kids up and brought them to their house so the entire family could be together.  We ended up spending the entire day there, and returned home very late.  It was an emotionally draining day for everybody. 

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