Some thoughts about:

Halloween Trick or Treat Pumpkins:

I love their faces. I love the colors. I love that it reminds me of when my little sister and I would head out around our neighborhood with my dad in tow (my mom usually stayed home, passing out candy) and we both carried buckets similar to these.

When I was little, we didn't have other colors; pretty much orange and black was the standard. But the faces were all different shapes. We moved so much that it seems like every three years, we were in a different neighborhood but we always had fun. Daddy would wait at the end of the sidewalk with a flashlight and Lisa and I would run up to the door. We took turns on who would ring the doorbell each time and she usually got her bag up first because she was the youngest. Then we'd run down and meet up with Daddy and start all over again.


HALLOWEEN COSTUMES:

I love Halloween so much that I'm usually planning next year's costume right after Halloween ends. And I guarantee that that plan will change at least five to six times. I like to put the kids' costumes together and figure out great makeup and props for them. Accessories is what separates us from the animals.

Owen was lucky to have an older uncle in the house. I saved Robee's costume from when he was two or three. It is a plush snake that is one piece the child pulls over their own clothes. It's a great costume and Robee loved it when he had it on. I don't have a pic of him in it but I'll get one during our school party on Tuesday.

This year, Felix went with the devil look again. I'm not sure why she chose that but whatever. And of course, I didn't think to look at last year's stuff before we went to the thrift shop and buy all new (used) stuff, but I didn't. So now I own two devil costumes. Sigh. Check out her eyelashes though. Killer eyelashes! I found those at the local party store. They were fun to put on too, I'll tell you. Her poor eyes were watering. She said she felt like her lids were too heavy to open. But they were very cool looking and sometimes you have to sacrifice open eyes for a costume.

Robee wanted to be a spy this year. Again, I don't ask why usually. If they're not wanting to be some psycho serial baby animal killer, then I don't really care. Robee needed a trench coat, fedora, and dark glasses. Believe it or not, the glasses were hardest to buy. NOT because I couldn't find dark glasses, but because Robee had to find JUST the right pair that fit on his face JUST right. Not too dark, not to light, not too big, not to small .......... oy vey. The kid was driving me crazy. I also got him a fake mustache but he doesn't like the stickiness on his face so I painted one instead.

I was going to be a swashbuckling pirate this year. A cool one, not a tacky one. Women's costumes can be so awful. Halloween is not an excuse to dress like a tart.

Sorry. Kreshinek - My costume.

So anyway, I was going to be a pirate but I was in the thrift store to find the kids their costumes and found a perfect outfit for me. Now I have hard time finding stuff since I'm larger than "One Size Fits All" (and if I ever find that person, I'm going to deck them) but this was made just for me! It fit me perfectly. A little teasing hair, black makeup, silver eyeliner -- I'm a ... a .... a ... person wearing a black dress with crazy makeup. Not really exciting but fun to wear.

I don't have a pic of me in costume because I'm always the one taking pictures. I'll try to get on from our Tae Kwon Do Halloween party this Tuesday.

I should mention that the reason the kids are dressed up so soon is because Arlington (our town) had their annual Main Street Halloween Celebration this past Saturday. I'm sure the thought came your (whoever is reading) mind "Do they celebrate Halloween early in Washington?"

CARVING PUMPKINS:

I usually buy about eight or nine pumpkins every Halloween. I love having lots of pumpkins on the step and railing. I'm hoping my new idea - hanging them from plant hangers - works this year but I'm not taking bets yet.

Here is Felix, starting her first one. She has two big ones and one little one. They both do.

I'd also like to call this picture:

"WHEN IN THE WORLD DID SHE GET SO OLD?" I look at her in this pic and she looks like she's fifteen. Their lives are flashing by me and I can't hold on.

GLASSES:

This is a sore subject for me. Speaking of old and me and old, guess what I have to wear now to read????? Hmmmmm?? One guess.

These bloody things. It's not bad enough that I have to wear extra-thick glasses (my vision is 20/800) to see anything farther than arm's length, NOW I have to wear the highest correction for seeing up close. In my contacts. I don't think that this is fair. I really don't.

Sigh.

I don't mind the grey hair. I don't mind the slight aches and things that are in my back and wrist sometimes. I don't even mind the upper arms moving in the wind.

BUT THE EYES!!

I guess it could be worse. I still have all my own teeth. I can still walk around without help. I can still hear. I can do push ups and sit ups and run laps and so many other things, so I shouldn't complain about my eyes.

And thus I end my thoughts about whatever.