This was a week of Halloween where I wish I was a more creative person who had mad stage make-up skills.  I love our neighborhood at Halloween, all the fun personalities come out and it is a great place to be.

Monday we went to Taylor's school for their annual Halloween carnival.  It is truly a sugar fest.  The amount of candy our kids earn or baked goods they buy is astounding.  But they left with bulging pockets and smiling faces.  Throw in a Halloween party for Robyn and a few other activities, school parties etc and it was a celebration week.  Somehow Spencer had the mistaken notion that using flour, vaseline and cocoa powder I could create realistic gore for him and his friend for Halloween.  Halloween morning the pressure was on as Spencer and his friend waited for miracles to occur and the girls also wanted face make-up on.  Along with lunches, breakfast and getting out the door.  We survived and no one cried - I will take that as a huge accomplishment.  By the end of the day Spencer and his friend Conner looked more shiny as the vaseline melted and the girls had smeared things so we had a repeat session that afternoon. At the school parade Allison had been a bit down as no one recognized her costume, so Halloween night she dug out some old dance costume to look a bit more "jelly-fish" like.


Wednesday I attempted to paint a backdrop and Thursday Jeremy set it up with lights in our drive way and took pictures of all the kids coming by.  I bought 160 fruit snacks and when they were gone, we closed everything down and turned off our lights.  I made guts (stuffed pumpkin) and bones (breadsticks) again but kids pretty much existed on candy anyway that night.  It is the first time that I haven't gone trick or treating or even really answered the door.  Spencer took Robyn treating for awhile and then came inside to watch Halloween movies with his friend while Robyn continued going with her friend's dad.  Allison went with a friend and checked in periodically.  It felt a little strange not to be wandering the streets!  It is a pretty family friendly area with neighbors doing hot chocolate and doughnuts, and haunted houses.  It is a fun time and people have some pretty amazing costumes.

Friday night we had our nieces Kayla and Bryn come over with Kayla staying overnight while Spencer went with Garion and his parents to see the Saratov approach.  I was a very mean person making all little people stay downstairs while Jeremy and I hosted a game night party upstairs.  Not many games were played as really we just enjoyed eating treats and sitting around talking.  Allison and her friend took any little kids off downstairs where they reigned as babysitters.  I love to just sit and visit with neighbors and as the weather gets colder (we had SNOW today) that doesn't happen as often.

Saturday Spencer had a pow-wow at BYU where he plated a penny with silver in the chemistry merit badge and thinks that the science teachers are BYU are pretty amazing.  We had a freak day of warmth where I got to go for a bike ride and work in the yard a bit.  Jeremy after spending the morning at D.I. volunteering came back and helped the girls wash the car.  Robyn was in a swimsuit and she and Allison were sneakily soaking each other constantly.

And then Jeremy and I had a real old fashioned date of dinner and a movie.  I don't need that every weekend but sometimes it is so nice to not be doing a family activity or church activity and just have a frivolous evening.  We watched Gravity in 3-D which was really amazing visually to see.

Today is one of my favorite days of the year.  An extra hour of sleep.  Robyn was in tears because she thought the extra hour of sleep was for every night for the rest of the year!  Of course she had a tough day where she decided to try everything she could all morning to start a fight of some sorts.  She also fasted completely and without complaint so I am sure that contributed to the grumpiness.  And then we went to Jason's house for dinner and miraculously she became a happy little girl again.  There are times when I think I am really really messing up our kids and then there are times like this morning.  I had yet to meet Robyn and later decided Allison and Spencer had just let her borrow their bad habits for the day as I came downstairs to find Allison indexing and Spencer working on Duty to God AND they were letting me sleep in.  I needed to write that down so I remember those moments do exist!

My friend Brenda convinced me to try running after the sun comes up.  It has been wonderful to actually see the world around us and not carry flashlights.