Small Darling Daughter Who Loves Halloween named Alexis
Grouchy Mama Who Hates Halloween named Kellan
Opening Scene:Grouchy Mama and Darling Daughter standing in the kitchen.
Darling Daughter: When are we going to put out OUR Halloween decorations? *gleeful expression*
Grouchy Mama: *thinking ... Oh, man - here we go again* *forces smile*
Darling Daughter:When? Can we do it today? *eyes light up bright and shiny*
Grouchy Mama:*thinking ...Oh, sheesh - can't we just skip the orange and black thing this year?* *forces smile*
Darling Daughter:Everyone has g.o.o.d decorations, 'cept us. Why don't we have any g.o.o.d Halloween decorations?" *sad frown*
Grouchy Mama: *thinking ... Because ... the only g.o.o.d Halloween decorations are those that keep their ugly orange and black wings and hats and skeleton bones -- in the Rubbermaid box in the darkest corner of the storage shed. And ... stay on the shelves at the Target stores. Or ... are in the houses and on the lawns of other people.* *forces smile*
Darling Daughter:How come you don't like Halloween? *confused*
Grouchy Mama:Where'd you get that idea? What makes you think I don't like Halloween? *forces smile*
Darling Daughter:I can just tell. *walks away*
Grouchy Mama: *Evil giggle* I'll get some *damn* Halloween decorations ... but ... let's wait until the middle of October to put them up ... okay? *thinks ... That way I only have to look at the things for 2 weeks*
Darling Daughter: You're the best mama ever! *beautiful smile*
Grouchy Mama: Yes, I am! *thinks ... AND ... come bright and early Saturday morning ... all those gaudy decorations are coming down - to be shoved back into those Rubbermaid boxes and carted back to the shed - YIPPIE* *bigsmile*
I threw my red purse over my shoulder (love that red purse), found my car keys and headed out the front door.
It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon but I had to go out to the stores, fight the crowds to buy a few items for art projects at Michaels.
Alexis heard the news: Mom's Going To The Store!
She ran out the front door waving her arms and screaming, "Can I go? Can I go? MOM - CAN I GO?"
I let her go. She was excited. She was in a good mood. She sang in the van all the way to Michaels.
We entered the store - passing the plastic pumpkins in the large wire bins by the front door.
We passed the candle aisle, the aisle with tons of different beads, the t-shirts and frames and artificial flowers.
I located the oil paints and picked out the colors; burnt amber, white, blue and sienna, and threw the tubes to the bottom of my basket.
I found the paint brushes - spending way too much time admiring the huge selection and deciding on the size and brand the girls would prefer.
I threw the brushes into my basket.
I found the poster board.
I looked at the Halloween and Christmas decorations.
I wandered over to the basket aisle - all the while Alexis following behind me.
Her excited face was becoming less and less enthusiastic.
Her energy level was deteriorating.
Her smile had turned downward.
"What's the matter?" I finally asked her.
"This is not a good way to spend my day," she complained.
"I didn't make you come. Why did you want to come?" I asked.
Her eyes brightened.
She came over and stood next to me.
She said ...
"I's hopin' I'd be able to buy one of those Halloween things that Victoria got," she smiled real big. "Where's the fl-oam ... anyways? It's probably on the fl-oam aisle. It's a haunted house made of fl-oam."
Okay ...
I guess f-o-a-m isn't one of those words you necessarily hear everyday.
I guess this is why she hasn't yet realized that the word f-o-a-m ... has no l in it.
I guess if you are 7 years old ... putting an l in the word f-o-a-m ... isn't that big a deal.
I just looked at her and tried not to laugh.
"Where is it?" she asked louder. "Where's the F-L-O-A-M aisle?"
Then ...
I laughed.
Then ...
We found the F-L-O-A-M aisle.
We didn't find the fl-oam haunted house set, but we did find this darling fl-oam haunted cemetary. Alexis went straight home and put it together all by herself.
On the upside ... For the record ... F-O-A-M is not a word that should have an l in it. Say it a couple of times. The innocent word that previously describes a product used to make Halloween crafts or chair cushions ... suddenly becomes a word that possibly now describes ... stinky fluids that secrete from the orifices of slimy creatures that might live under rocks or fallen trees in the forest. Or worse ... the description of the oozing of fluids secreting from various orifices of ... ugly people in ... poorly scripted pornographic movies.
It was a last minute excursion, but one that the On The Upside family decided was long over due - a bit of time to relax.
One of the best parts about the weekend - aside from the time spent with good friends, good food - including bunches of Halloween candy - and down-time, well deserved by all --- was the extra hour of sleep gained --- due to the changing of the clocks. The end of daylight savings.
The weather was unusually warm and beautiful for November. It was especially clear and on Saturday evening my good friend and I pulled the two green Adirondack chairs off of the front porch and out to the big yard in front of the ranch house.
We relaxed, talked and gazed up at the vast Texas sky.
We marveled at the beauty of the stars - the sheer abundance and the brilliance of the universe as can only truly be seen and appreciated, when you are away from the bright lights of the city.
It was amazing.
As the evening wore on, everyone wandered off to bed - as there was hunting to be done in the morning - leaving Little Billy, his friend and I, alone in the living room. I was watching Law & Order and drinking coffee. Billy and his friend were sitting in chairs across the room from me - each playing games on their Gameboys.
I was content.
They were content.
The house was quiet.
Then ... Little Billy suddenly says ... "Can we stay up and watch the leap thing?"
I glanced across the room. "Do you mean - the changing of the clocks?" I chuckled to myself.
"Yeah - when does it happen?" his eyes were wide with curiosity - and so serious.
I was already loving this conversation. "What do you mean - when does it happen?" I giggled.
"The time? The clocks?" he says.
"Well ..." I can hardly hold back my laughter, and before I have the chance to offer an explanation, his friend - sitting in the recliner right next to Little Billy - never taking his eyes from his Gameboy - says ...
"It's not like a ... magical event, or anything ..." and, he continues to play his game.
Then ...
I laughed.
On the upside ... Poor Little Billy - he was under the impression that all of the clocks suddenly just changed time - all on their own. Like it was a magnetic occurance or cosmic or .... something. After realizing it was nothing near all that exciting - he smiled, lowered his head and ... was sucked quickly back into the mesmerizing glow of his Gameboy. Me ... I wiped the (giggle) tears from my eyes, changed the hands on the face of my watch and then ... wandered off to bed to ... enjoy my extra hour of sleep.
Thank you to Her Indoors who has passed this treat onto me.
This originated from Hootin'Anni. Each day up until Halloween, Hootin'Anni will be handing out a treat for up to five bloggers who drop by her blog during the week. She has been giving a different treat each week. Hootin'Anni says, "You are more than welcome to pass it along to blogs you think are deserving of a special treat for the season. Kinda like 'Pay it Forward', but DON'T just choose your friends, making this cliquish and 'just groupies'". If you do decide to share it with others then, use the IMAGE and link it back to my blog and to Hootin'Anni to explain where the idea originated.
Make NEW friends by choosing random visitors!!! Make it RANDOM!!
I appreciate everyone that visits my site. Right now, though, I'm going to pass this lovely Hootin'Anni's treat onto:
The View From Mt. Kristin - Kristin has a great site and a great outlook. Ethans World - Hetha has a beautiful site dedicated to her precious little boy. The Laughs Will Go On - Whenever I go to Andrea's site - she makes me smile.
So there you go. And thanks again to Her Indoors for thinking of me and of course thanks to Hootin'Anni for such a lovely idea.
I call her My Tiny Girl, because she is my baby and she is my youngest girl.
She is, however, not really ... a tiny girl.
There are girls that are tiny - you know - fragile and petite.
She is not one of those girls.
She is short - as most 6 year old girls are.
She is the smallest girl in the house.
But ...
she is not so tiny.
And ... because she is not so tiny, I have tried to make efforts - over time - to keep Alexis away from the sweets - you know - the Little Debbies, the bags of tiny Oreo cookies, the left-over Halloween candy I have stashed in a drawer.
For the most part ... she does well.
She is not allowed to drink sodas, unless it is a special occasion - this has helped.
She is only allowed to snack - if she asks for permission.
I offer apples and oranges and carrots, and she takes them happily.
This has all worked rather smoothly - keeping Alexis away from the sweets.
That is ...
Unless ...
She sneaks, ever so quietly, to the side of my bed - on a Saturday morning - nudges me until my eyes slightly squint open - and then she asks, "Can I have some ice cream?" in the quietest little tiny mouse voice - and ... her mother, who is more in a dream state than awake, and is not at all certain if it is, in fact, a dream or not, answers ...
"Sure," and then rolls over, snuggles her fluffy down pillow and falls back to sleep.
On the upside ... I've caught her doing this twice. Remembered the "dream" when I finally woke up - asked her about it - found out it WAS NOT a dream and that she had in fact had a bowl of vanilla ice cream with sprinkles on it - for breakfast. I don't know how many bowls she has actually had - over the years - but I did tell her to, "STOP DOING THAT! IT'S NOT FAIR TO AMBUSH ME WHEN I AM ASLEEP." She's pretty darn smart and sneaky - My Tiny Girl.
The Princess came into my room last night and announced, "I know what I want to be for Halloween."
I said, "Well ... what?"
She said, "Half angel and half devil," and she smiled a big ole' smile, so pleased with her ingenuity. And then she went on to describe the outfit she would wear (red horns, wings, flowing white gown, long read tail ...).
Well ... there ya go. The very same costume I had in mind (hee, hee).
I call her My Tiny Girl, because she is my baby and she is my youngest girl.
She is, however, not really ... a tiny girl.
There are girls that are tiny - you know - fragile and petite.
She is not one of those girls.
She is short - as most 8 year old girls are.
She is the smallest girl in the house.
But ...
She is not so tiny.
And ... because she is not so tiny, I have tried to make efforts - over time - to keep Alexis away from the sweets - you know - the Little Debbies, the bags of tiny Oreo cookies, the left-over Halloween candy I have stashed in a drawer.
I started spring cleaning this past week - I'm still in the thick of it.
I know - it's fall. I'm a bit behind on my seasons and ... I've been really behind on my cleaning and organizing.
So ...
I've cleaned closets and drawers.
I've cleaned cabinets and floors and base boards.
I've even cleared away some cob webs that were making themselves quite at home in the upper corners of most every room.
It's nice to get things more organized and haul those unused and unwanted items off to the dumpster and off to Goodwill. It's nice to make space in closets and drawers. It's nice to move some furniture, shake out the rugs and make the rooms clean and free of clutter.
I'm not done yet.
I don't think I will ever be done.
But ...
I have made a dent and I am pleased with the progress and pleased with the direction I am headed.
I saw on the news over the weekend that Utah is already getting snow.
In Texas - the On The Upside goblins are still slathering themselves with sunscreen, searching for lost goggles and spending afternoons in the swimming pool.
I'm not the only one confused about the seasons. I don't think it is uncommon for Texas or ... for all of us Texans ... to not let go of spring or summer - easily.
On the upside ... In the midst of all my spring cleaning - I was reminded that it IS actually October and so ... I dug out those darn orange and black witches and skeletons and pumpkins. There are even some spiders and goblins now decorating our tables. Alexis
would never let her mom forget the holidays are coming - even if she had to help drag the Halloween decorations from storage - in her swimsuit.
My older girls didn't go trick or treating with the little ones this year. They've grown out of it. The little ones had a good time and scored lots of candy. My son was a Ninja and The Princess was a Devil (she had wanted to be 1/2 angel and 1/2 devil, but I talked her into just being a devil, figuring we'd never keep those white wings on without constant whining.) It worked out.
We all know that summer is coming to an end - except The Princess. She still wants to go to the beach.
She asked, over and over, this past summer if we could go to the beach. I made the (BIG) mistake of saying, "Maybe we could go once school starts. It won't be so busy then and it's cheaper to go to the beach after school starts." I said this, honestly believing that we may very well do this or believing that I could do this for her.
I'm just getting old, I think. I know there are times when I just can't stand the thought of the process - like going to the beach.
There we are at the hotel and the kids all want to go down to the beach. Sounds like a good idea; that's why we came to the beach. So, as their mother, I have to agree. But ... I have done the beach before, many times, with and without kids, and I am telling you ... going to the beach with my kids is exhausting! There is absolutely nothing I like, anymore, about going to the beach. Not the ocean, not the sand, not the wind, not the shells (well, I kind of still like the shells), not the sand getting into EVERYTHING, not the sand toys, not the sand castles, not the seaweed and not the SHARKS!
I think maybe there was a time that I must have liked the beach. But, after I had kids and have made that trip one too many times, I have come to not like the beach at all. And it is the process:
Get out all the swimsuits, put all the swimsuits on, gather up enough towels, find the sunscreen, slather the sunscreen on everyone, get the chairs ready to go, get the drinks in the cooler, get the snacks, get the sand toys ... drag all this stuff from the hotel down to the beach, in several several trips (because you can't possibly take it all in one trip and none of these goin'-to-the-beach excited children can help carry a thing without whining all the way to the waters edge about it). Walk way to far across the hot sand, helping the little ones as we go; hauling heavy coolers, chairs and towels, blah, blah, blah. And then we sit in the scorching sun with sand sticking to our sweaty bodies, sand all in our swimsuits and in our eyes, the wind blowing obnoxiously, make a few sand castles, worry if the kids are going out too far in the surf, worry about the under current, worry about the jellyfish, seaweed and SHARKS! And then when, after only an hour, the children are tired of the beach and want to go back up to the hotel pool, I want to MAKE them stay at the beach ... after all we have gone through to get them down there. But, I don't want to stay either ... so we pack up all the crap we drug down to the waters edge and haul it all back up, over the hot sand, rinse all the sandy feet and bodies off in the shower the hotel has positioned at the end of the pier, unload what needs to go back to the room and ... end up at the pool ---- right where I wanted to be ANYWAY! And then ... we do it all over again, the next day.
Camping is pretty much the same exhausting process, only worse.
I don't like to go to the beach (!) or camping or anywhere that involves a long process in getting us all there. I will do it though; just like I do those damned awful gaudy orange and black Halloween decorations in my house every year - for my children. But, I do sometimes look for ways around doing it if the end does not really justify the "crap I have to go through to make it happen".
If the payoff is to see my little boy build the best and most magnificent sand castle of all the kids on the beach, then I will do it and I will take pictures and I will be happy I inconvenienced myself, just to get those precious photos. I will do it just to over-hear one of them telling their friend, "Yeah, we went to the beach and we had so much fun." I will do it to hear my baby say,"I love going to the beach, Mama," and never once let her know just how much I don't. I will do it. I have done it - many times.
I haven't actually planned this trip to the beach that I promised The Princess - but, as you can see, it is on my mind. If we do it ... I'll take some (d***) pictures.
On the upside ... I've had A LOT of practice doing things I don't want to do and I've had A LOT of practice going to the beach - maybe this time I would love it.
