Trick or treat princess style

F had a huge Halloween day today. Costumes and candy at school. Candy from the bus driver. Costumes and candy at daycare. She was very hyped up when I picked her up. She informed me that one of her classmates was skipping supper to go trick or treating and that she would have to skip supper too.

This was pretty much the case as the trick or treaters started arriving before I'd even gotten the candy out!

F dressed up as Sleeping Beauty in her pink, hoop skirt princess dress, and proudly carried her meowing, light-up trick or treat bag with her. The bag was a big hit with the neighbours. It was my turn to take her around this year, and the weather was perfect. We did about 20 houses, but she was dragging at the end. She sat down for "a break" on someone's lawn.

When we got home, though, she loaded up on sugar and was pretty much a hyper maniac. She ate some "healthy food" because she thought that would be a good idea, and then went for the candy again.

I wore short, shorts

Another picture in C's series of pictures from my past. I can only hope that F will have pictures like this when she grows up so someone can embarrass her. :) I think this is from about grade 5 or 6. What a sense of fashion!

Oh Canada, duck, duck goose and 40 million bucks

F is obsessed with singing "Oh Canada!" now. Specifically she is obsessed with me singing "Oh Canada!" with her. We sing in the car, we sing in the bathroom, we sing in the kitchen. We even sing in French. I'm hoping this too will pass.

Yesterday when I picked her up at daycare, I asked my usual "What did you do today?" Her response, "Mo-om, do you have to ask me the same thing every day?"

Today F's daycare teacher told me she had a big breakthrough. For the first time, she actually participated in a group game. Duck, duck goose actually. Usually, she sits in the circle, but declines when it's her turn. Today, she participated! (Maybe it was the half hour of practice playing "Doggie, doggie who's got your bone" with G and I last night. And no, this is not some strange sex game. :)

I broke down and bought 3 lottery tickets today for the 649. The jackpot is $40 million, the biggest ever, so we figured what the heck? At least we can fantasize about what we'd do until we find out we lost.

I like football

We got home from a long day of painting on Sunday evening and F laid down on the couch with a snack and G turned on the football game. Then he took off for the shower, while I started dinner. After about 10 minutes, I asked her why she was watching football. Her response, "I like football." What?!? She continued, "Daddy and I watch football together."

G was pretty happy about this turn of events. :)

Yet another one from Curtis...still no idea where he's getting this stuff from. And he's enjoying every minute of it.
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A blast from the past...my grade 8 role as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz came back to haunt me today in the form of a surprise email from Curtis. But he won't tell me who he got the picture from. A mystery to be solved...
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Single parenting and a little fever

G has been in Ottawa for the last two and half days so F and I have been muddling through on our own. Other than finding out he took the last two bottles of wine with him on his trip, it's gone pretty well.

Last night, K, R, C, and W came over for K's birthday dinner. F was a little wound up...K wondered where the quiet girl had gone. After having to haul her off to the stairs and give her a talking to, I wondered where she went too. As usual, the girls played with pretty much every toy in F's room, which meant a very big mess. At least they didn't tp the upstairs again.

Today, I picked up F from daycare to discover she had a headache and a fever (38.1 C). Fevers are highly unusual for her so I'm suspecting it's no school tomorrow. She started feeling better after the Tylenol hit...she didn't think she needed to go to bed of course.

A turkey weekend

For the second year in a row, we hosted the family Thanksgiving dinner. This means 20 people at our house gorging on turkey, stuffing, and dessert. Nothing beats it!

Uncle D. arrived the night before so we had a good visit with him, and F got to play with her look-a-like uncle. He even got a hug out of her. Of course, G and D drank two bottles of red wine, which meant a trip to the liquor store the next day to restock for company.

Sunday morning, G. got up and stuck the 17 lb bird in the oven. He tried a new recipe involving about a pound of butter under the skin of the turkey, no stuffing, and some sausages for extra fat (because the butter wasn't enough). He heard how to cook a turkey on the radio, and decided to follow the advice of no covering for the turkey. I was just happy that I got to sleep in.

Then, I took F to church since it was my first day volunteering for the Sunday School. After church, F and I were walking across the parking lot when she noticed the priest getting into someone's car. She asked, "Why is the priest going in their car?"

So, I said, "Maybe they're having him for Thanksgiving dinner."

She paused for a second, then asked, "They're eating the priest?"

On our way home, I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some butter and flowers. (Last-minute trip number 1.)

After we got home, D, G, and I set up the tables for all our guests and kept an eye on the very yummy looking turkey. I tried unsuccessfully to keep the guys away from the wine.

Guests started arriving about 1:00, and we stuck more stuff in the oven, including the traditional sweet potatoes with little marshmallows on top....heaven!

We then sent D and P out on a wine run (last-minute trip number 2). A mission of mercy really.

At about 1:30, I asked Mom if she'd brought the potatoes. Her "Oh shit!" precipitated another trip to the grocery store to pick up instant mashed potatoes (last-minute trip number 3). Having never had instant mashed potatoes, I was skeptical. But, they actually tasted really good.

By 2:00, we were ready to eat and the gorging began. The kids were very well-behaved. They arrived from playing to eat dinner. Then, took off again until dessert. At which point we discovered that F likes pumpkin pie. As she said, "I didn't know I liked pumpkin pie either."

After dinner, the weather was so nice that we booted the kids outside to play, and everyone else followed. Gorgeous! H stayed inside to get sloshed on wine, and generally entertain the masses, and everyone tried to fit in more dessert...groans ensued.

So, once again, we survived turkey weekend and had an excellent family get-together, with only 3 last-minute trips to the store.

Food, wine, and family--the secret ingredients to any good holiday.

Check out our new nephew, W! He looks just like his dad's baby pictures.
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