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Boo-fest to the Extreme

Weekly Happenings: This past week held Halloween, which Joseph had been looking forward to for weeks. I watched the weather forecast with bated breath because rain kept popping on and off the radar. It ended up pouring buckets right before we planned to go out, but luckily it was a quick storm that passed and we were able to go out and trick-or-treat in freshly-cleansed air that contained just the slightest nip. It was a pretty great night. We had gone to the church trunk-or-treat a few days prior (and the school one before that), so it wasn’t as if Joseph was hurting for sweets…but it is fun to get to actually walk around the neighborhood. Especially our neighborhood. People decorate, dress up, and sit outside to hand out the candy. It’s a really fun atmosphere. I took the kids out and Paul stayed home to pass out candy. After Halloween came to a close, I packed up the spiders, jack-o’-lanterns, and witches hats and tidied up the rest of the fall decorations that will stay out for a few more weeks before the Christmas magic takes over. Some other fun things that happened were that we had some friends come over for dinner last night and then this morning we decided to take advantage of this gorgeous weather and scoot over to the zoo.

The Weekly Weather: It’s been a mix, really. Rainy days, warm days, cool and crisp days. Typical South Texas fall weather, I suppose, haha.

What Paul’s Been Up To: Mainly just work and staying on top of his calling at church. He did take advantage of the clear weather and did more work on the Little Free Library that he’s building for our neighborhood. His plan is to put it in the park, stock it with donated books, and let people take and leave books as they so choose.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I’ve been busy keeping the kids healthy, happy, and uninjured (Abigail tests this last one on a daily basis, it seems).

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a great week at school (fun Halloween-themed projects seemed to make it even better than usual).

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She really knows how to get into mischief at the drop of the hat. As soon as my back was turned she’d be climbing onto the bench in our living room (to stand up on, of course) or on the coffee table…or anywhere else she could get a leg up on. On Halloween, about five minutes before I had dinner all pulled together, she face-planted on the living room floor and bit her bottom lip pretty badly. She did NOT like it that I was holding a paper towel on it to try to get the bleeding to stop, but as soon as I let her back down, she returned to her happy-go-lucky self. We went trick-or-treating as planned and everything. It’s healing nicely and hasn’t seemed to bother her much.

This Week in Pictures:

[1]
Here’s a better version of the Bass Pro’s Shop picture we got of the kids.
[2]
Trunk-or-treat at the church. Joseph is Ash (a Pokemon trainer) and Abigail is his Pikachu (a type of Pokemon).
[3]
Abigail’s hat kept covering her eyes, but she didn’t seem to mind too much. Once the music started (we had a DJ) though, she had me take it off and she danced for probably 30 minutes straight. When it was time to go home, she pitched a fit until I said she could watch Baby Einsteins on the way home.
[4]
Paul found a really awesome pumpkin this year. I had told him in passing once that this type was my favorite (I think it’s called a fairytale pumpkin). He came home with one a couple days before Halloween. 🙂
[5]
This boy really loves his pickles!
[6]
Joseph made a cute bat and jack-o’-lantern at school, so I hung them up. Abigail really liked seeing them up there.
[7]
I love this one!
[8]
Any guess as to what she’s watching? 😉
[9]
It’s a tradition!
[10]
Instead of carving pumpkins, I decorated milk jugs. Paul filled them with water, put a few drops of food coloring in, and then dropped a couple glow sticks into each one.
[11]
Getting ready to head out for trick-or-treating.
[12]
NOW I got one with all of them looking at the camera, haha
[13]
We have to stop by this house every year…because, well…Charlie Brown!
[14]
This kid definitely won funniest costume of the night.
[15]
Post-trick-or-treating fun: another traditional movie! Abigail really liked all the singing in this one.
[16]
What the milk jugs looked like once it got dark.
[17]
Thursday morning, I had some friends come over for a play date. Abigail was in seventh heaven when they showed up.
[18]
A new month/holiday means a new quote for the board (I’m going to have a lot of fun with this!). Thankfully, the Internet is full of great quotes for every occasion. This one in particular was said by Melody Beattie. She’s an author who writes self-help and relationship books. I haven’t read any of her books, but I did think this was a great quote.
[19]
This is how most afternoons go in our house, haha.
[20]
This is the view I’m met with almost every time we have to get ready to get Joseph from school. She gave me quite the stink-eye when I woke her up (I can’t really blame her, though).
[21]
Checking out the turtles (and possibly seeing if she can get her head through the railing).
[22]
Petting pigs at the zoo’s petting zoo.
[23]
Joseph likes to brush the pigs and goats here a lot.
[24]
Petting a goat (I love how docile they are).
[25]
And back to pet the first pig again.