Of mice and men. Or fairies and superheroes.

And it was Halloween. 

Halloween has always been one of my absolute favorite holidays.  Back in my younger, funner, thinner cuter days, I was always dressed up and at a party or a bar to celebrate Halloween.  Even now, I dress up with the kids (this year, like last, I was a cow which is less and less like a costume for me), because Halloween is just magic.  The girls were fairy princesses.  Tommy, Superman.  If Tommy could choose, he would wear Superman every day.  We have about 4 Superman shirts in his size, and every morning he asks for Superman...so chances are, he's wearing a Superman shirt every time you see him...and the shirt is clean--I can't make the same promise about Tommy...he may or may not be clean, and we aren't so good on baths.  Grandma Deb had a super cool cheetah costume--she and Wes took Dani and Tori trick or treating while Tommy and I handed out treats.

 It was a crappy, rainy night.  Only three houses on our block had lights on, so Dani and Tori weren't gone too long.  Halloween in my city is a vicious cycle.  We literally have about 700 people come to the door--kids, full-on adults and everything in between. When I was a kid, trick or treating meant staying in your neighborhood, or traveling to a friend's house and walking in theirs.  Nowadays it seems to be an all-out candy grab.  In my line of work locally, its fair to say I recognize a fair number of folks who come to my door--and many don't live nearby...but they live in perfectly walkable neighborhoods, but they come to mine to trick or treat.  And I don't say that to suggest my neighborhood is superior in any way, but it's a very wide street, with sidewalks and street lights, and is very popular for trick or treating.   So, it's impossibly expensive to get enough goodies to hand out, and every year fewer and fewer people turn their lights on, so more people drive around to other neighborhoods to find places for their kids to trick or treat, and the cycle continues.

This year, I bought:

4 gross (576) vampire teeth

4 gross (576) spider rings

100 piece toy/candy assortment (but I sent in about 50 pcs to Dani's class)

100 Fortune Teller Miracle Fish.

My amazon.com order was $79.

And, my friend, Jessica, came over with some toys to hand out as well.  This was the first year I ever had enough loot to last the two hours of trick or treating.

In any event, my kiddos were thrilled to get a bit of candy.

Dani manned the door all night--we can remove the glass from our storm door, so it is a keep-kids-in barrier, but is perfect to hand out items to trick or treaters.  Dani wanted to talk to each kid that came to the door, telling them about the cuteness of their costumes, and mentioning that she sees them ont the school bus and being completely oblivious to the fact that from a trick or treater's perspective, we are only the handers out of candy--and in the brief moments it slowed down, she was shouting to the street, "We have treats for you!"

 Tori had only a passing interest in handing out candy.  She was far more interested in consuming lollipop after lollipop.  But she was just darling in her dress.  (I bought the girls' dresses at a consignment sale, for about $10 each...Tori's is so exquisite, I am seriously considering it as a Christmas dress.)

And, they had fairy wings, and wands and all that good stuff too. 

And, in other news, elections are over, and I almost have my life back but first I have to catch up at work.  And the chaos continues.

 



Where are you going, my little one?

Dear Dani,
It is happening too quickly.
Just a few minutes ago, I swear, I was a nervous and pregnant 35 year old, wondering how I would ever know what to do as your mom.  Wondering if I would do okay, if I would have that magical moment where I laid eyes on you and fell in love.  And I did.  Wondering if I would know how to raise you, and teach you and be your mom.  Really, it feels like yesterday.

But it wasn't.  Today I enrolled you in Pre-K.  In just a few short months, you're going to be riding a school bus, headed to school to make friends, and learn even more that you can imagine.  You're an amazing little girl--with a brain like a sponge, always learning, never forgetting, and consummately polite.  We're so proud of the girl you are becoming.

And, on days like today, it feels like you're becoming a girl too quickly, and it makes me want to squeeze you tight and ask you not to grow up, to stay my baby.

Like we sing at bedtime, "when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad".  You, my love are one of my favorite things.  My big girl is going to school.

The *mostly* perfect Mother's Day.

I am woken by Dani and Tori, stuffed animals in tow, asking to snuggle.  They climb into our bed around 7am, and hug, and hop, bounce around.  After a few minutes, I step into the bathroom to brush my teeth.  Tori sneaks in, "Happy Mother's Day!" she exclaims.  I come back into the bedroom and there are presents, lots of them, wrapped in Christmas wrap, which seems to be a trend in our house.  Dani has decorated a card, filled with pictures of people; when asked, she tells me, "This is you teaching me ballet, Mommy."

Daddy takes the trio downstairs, and I fall back to sleep.  I wake at 9:30--as a mother of toddlers, this is an all too rare luxury.  I head downstairs to check in--we all have some cereal, and I head to the shower.  We have plans.  Big plans. Stupidly risky plans.  We are taking three toddlers to a fancy restaurant for brunch.  We get dressed, do hair, Big Man sports a suit and tie.  He tells me I look pretty in my dress.

We arrive--head to our table.  I fix a pair of plates for the girls, while Big Man sits with Tommy.  As I head to fix my own, I look over at the table, all is well.  When I return, Dani says, "I don't like this, Momm-ARRRRRRGH" and she starts to puke.  Thankfully she had the linen napkin on her lap.  I catch most of it in my hands and the napkin, and a fair amount lands on her dress. No one seems to notice in those fleeting minutes. As the staff (and owner) notice I am cleaning, they ask if everything is okay.  Big Man assures them it's no reflection on the food, as I bring Dani to the Ladies room.  We rinse her dress off, wash up and are as good as new.  The table now has a pink cloth napkin at her place and all is well.  My plate of food is cold, but we're staying! 

Mother's Day Brunch, Take 2.

 

 Tommy masters the fork, and, thankfully, doesn't play the spoon/fork/plate banging game too loudly.

Tori sits like a little lady, drinking her orange juice from a tea cup.  Dani does the same.

 Tommy starts to get antsy so we head outside for some photos.  Tori is determined to clown around in every pic.

 When we could catch Tommy, he smiled and was a handsome little dude.

 Catching the three of them?  No way.  Between Tommy's need to move, and Tori's constipated face, we were doomed.

 They did slightly better when they posed with Daddy.

 This was us, headed back to the car.  Tommy was leading the charge.

 Daddy and Dani paused for a photo.

It really was a lovely day. 

 

And, I need to make a shout out to my mom.  I had a childhood full of love and creativity.  It was filled with playgrounds and beaches and adventures of all sorts.  Of songs, and stories, and unwavering love.  There were "tiger hunts" through the reeds at the beach (long before the universe was tick-paranoid) fresh air, and picnics, and just so much fun.  I am the mom that I am because of the mom that I had, and I very often think that I'm not doing it as well as she did.  Because she was awesome.  And now, she is showing that same love to my children--on the floor with them, bouncing on the beds, in the wagon to the park, and non-stop never-ending fun.  Love you Mom!

They say its your birthday.

Last week was Big Man's birthday...he's on the other side of 40, barely.  He was born in Bethany Hospital in Chicago in 1972, and in 1991, as a sophomore at the University of Chicago, he met a Bethany who he would eventually marry, and he would share a birthday with her mother.  Sometimes the universe sends you hints that you were meant to be together.  Those are the signs.

But back to the celebration.  We had presents, and party hats and cake (that Big Man baked).   Before you yell at me--I was totally going to bake, but he had the day off, and did it while I was at work.

Even Big Man rocked the Mickey ears.

 Dani, asking over and over, is it time for cake yet?

 We had Giordano's pizza (from Chicago) for dinner, and I had gotten out some veggies.  Tori ate a dozen or so baby carrots, and then dumped the rest of the bag on her plate.  When it was time for cake, she would nibble a carrot and have some cake and proclaim "carrot cake".

As I mentioned, my Mom's birthday is the same day as Big Man's.  We called her in the morning before she left for work, so the kids could sing to her.  After a rowdy rendition of "Happy Birthday" Dani and Tori were chatting with Grandma on speakerphone.  I asked Dani, "Dani, do you know how old Grandma is today?".  Dani's reply, "Hmmm, I think she's one hundred."



Big girls.

 The girls and I took a trip to the salon today.  Dani needed to relax her re-growth, and Tori was scheduled for a bit of texturizer--just a bit of curl loosening to make it easier to comb.  They were so excited!

Dani had been to the salon once before...it was Tori's first haircut.  Dani was poised and excited.  Tori cried and wailed, quite loudly at times, every minute the stylist was near her and she was in the chair.  She did end up with a cute new haircut though!

 

And Dani had a blowout after the cut--it will never be this straight again but she loved it.  I swear, she looks about 5 years older with straight hair!

 Here's Tori's new cut.  A layered, shoulder length bob.  Cute!

Thought this was a great shot of the just-got-home energy burn.  Dani had been still and good for so long, that the instant we got home she was a little banshee!

In other news, Tori is walking around saying, "You disgust me," because I let them watch Looney Toons last night and apparently Daffy said that a few times.  Nice, huh?  Thankfully she didn't tell anyone that at the salon, but she certainly enjoys saying it.  They literally watched the show for 15 minutes....so what gives?  When I was a kid we used to watch that crap all the time and we never said crazy stuff....she has a few minutes and is telling people off?  Damn you Daffy!

Girls' Night Out.

We had a special outing this week.  Big Man was going to receive an award from his police department for exceptional merit.  The girls and I got dressed up (little Tommy stayed home with a sitter) and headed to Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady for the big event--which would run well into bedtime.  Tori was very excited!

 We were able to snap a quick pic before Big Man was shuffled away.

Dani and Tori anxiously waited.  We sat as high up as we could, so we'd have a row to ourselves.  I brought drinks and snacks and toys.  As soon as the ceremony started, the questions started.  "Where's my daddy?  I don't see him.  Is he down there?"  A number of people were honored that evening, and the girls were thrilled to clap for everyone, in between the running in our row and playing.

They got to see their Daddy, in dress uniform, receive an award which to them was "for putting the bad guys in jail".

I got to see my husband, the playful and nurturing daddy by day, who never talks too much about work, but who I always knew was excellent at his craft, set yet another wonderful example for our children.