All in the line of duty...

I'm lying down. 

Wrapped up cozy-like. 

Watching Gilmore Girls. 

Sipping Mint Truffle Hot Chocolate. 

Smelling a delicious Double Chocolate Cake baking in the oven.

All in anticipation for a great Christmas Party tomorrow.

It's at the church.

At 7 PM.

All this relaxing and Cocoa smells...

What can I say...

It's my calling.

{or was}

All in the line of duty...

November 17th to November 29th with no blog posts???

Honestly, where did the time go?

More Tickets Available!

There are more tickets available for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

100 of them.

Each night.

They have just been released.

Come!  Come!  Come!

And invite your friends and neighbors.

It is absolutely a beautiful show, perfect for every Christian audience.

Reserve tickets by email or phone.

sotw10tickets@gmail.com  or 630-384-9046

Or you can probably just get in that night.

Spread the word!

sorry...so much else has happened this week to blog about, but I haven't found the time to blog it!

*like my reaction to Steve's BROWN beard and hair

*like the videos of him singing in the dress rehearsal

*like Carter's picture day stories

*like how he MADE MY DAY on Monday
*like how I didn't get pulled over this week or last

this...and more...to come, once I'm well rested.

Come and See!

Halloween past and Steve's beard is still here.

That only means one thing:

It's for a different costume!

This week our church is putting on a musical play and Steve and I are both in it!

It's called Savior of the World and of course is about the events of His birth and resurrection.

Steve is Joseph (as in Mary & Joseph) and does SUCH a great job. 

I sing in the choir.

Want to come?

As far as I know, tickets are still available for this Wed and Thurs nights.

Sold out for Fri and Sat (but they might be available at the door if people don't show).

Can't go on those nights?

Tomorrow night, Monday, we are performing an FHE performance for families with young kids (so the audience can be more wiggle-friendly).  

No tickets needed.

We have a dress rehearsal on Tuesday.  All the Youth are coming that night.  Again, no tickets needed.

For tickets for Wed, Thurs, or to try for the weekend:

call: 630-384-9046

email: sotw10tickets@gmail.com

And, Steve, once the show is over

so is the beard!

Thank you Real Time Veterans.

We Remember.  We are Grateful.

Giving Thanks where Thanks are due.

Dear E-Trade Financial Building and Daylight Savings Time,

Thank you, guys, for the awesome stunt you pulled on Monday.

Because you didn't change your clock to the correct time, you sent a mistaken Steve home an hour early.

We should plan that trick more often!

Though, that does explain the confused look on the company President's face when Steve exclaimed, "Wow, That meeting took so long!  I've got to go!"

Thanks for the heads up

I walked into the bathroom and saw the kids had put THIS on the wall:

Yes, kids.

I thought.

Sometimes I DO feel like I'm in the middle of WW3.

Alana's Trick = My Treat

Although Alana didn't score big on the candy side of things this Halloween,

she sure had the best trick of all:

At the church Halloween Party,

she decided that she was going to learn to walk once and for all.

When Steve came home from Auction school two weeks ago, Alana was so excited to see him that she did take a couple steps for him!  It was so exciting!  Her first steps right there for Daddy!  But since then, she hasn't been to interested to show off for us!  I guess the Cake Walk inspired something, and now she's our 100% walker!

The spider-monkey crawl will be fading out soon as she walks more and more, so catch your glimpses now before that cuteness disappears completely!

Halloween

The Costumes



 Carter...



...As Spiderman 

...As Dash The Incredible

 ...As a Glow-in-the-dark Skeleton (the WHOLE name was really important, and you would be corrected if you assumed he was JUST a skeleton)

Addison...



...As a Dalmation

...As A Dragon



...As a Cookie Monster

Alana...

...As Tinkerbell

...As Campanita (our Mexican Tinkerbell)

...As the Live Mannequin Tinkerbell Model at the Disney Store. 

Everyone ADORED her!

The Crafts

Paper Mache Jack-o-lanterns

 Hanging ghosts, requiring us to make ghost sounds each time we walked under

Scooping out Pumpkin guts

Adorable Jackity-Lanterns

The Food

Carter's sorted loot after the first trick-or-treating

Halloween Swirl Cake

Pumpkin Pizza

(Thanks Mindi!  Didn't get a pic of mine!)

The Fun

 Trick or Treating at Safety Town the week before
(an adorable mini village at the police station)

 Playing CandyLand on Halloween
(How fiting...)

The Children Museum Party, Preschool Party, Library Storytime Party, Doughnut Party
and...

 Our Church Trunk-or-Treat Party

Instead of throwing candy at the little beggers this year, Steve and I came up with an awesome game we will for sure do next year.

We had a grid of numbers the size of our van. 

The kids came up and picked a number, then they'd win one of 4 prizes:.

1) Tootsie Rolls tied up like ghosts

2) Choose your own bigger candy from the bowl

3) Free Frosty Coupon

4) The Grand Prize:  Halloween Swirl CUPCAKES

Voters Count:  An AWESOME Halloween

What makes a GREAT teacher

What separates a good teacher from a great teacher?  It's someone who truly invests in your child, caters to his needs, and goes out of their way to make him feel special.  Carter's two preschool teachers are such amazing people and I appreciate them so much! 

Today was a day I was beaming with gratitude and pride!  When I picked him up from school, both teachers met me and told me the great news.  They had asked Carter if HE would read the class a book during carpet time, instead of the teacher doing it! He got to pick the book and then stood right in front and read to everyone!

He chose Spookly The Square Pumpkin's Halloween Party.

Any guesses why?

I think Christmas will come before Halloween is done at this house.

I am SO proud that these teachers gave him this moment! I am SO glad that together we are helping Carter to use his incredible abilties to help other people! They've told me that occasionally, Carter will stop by the Library Center and offer to read a book to another classmate. WAY TO GO, CARTER!

And another thing:
Every day in October, Carter made a "Boo" sign during table time, sneak up behind his teachers, and then scare them with his sign.  And without fail, they always gave him the greatest reactions and would just laugh and laugh with him!  When Halloween got closer, he started wearing his "Boo" shirt to school, would cover it up with his sweatshirt, and then scare them again.  They were feeling the game was a bit tilted in his favor.  One day, they scared HIM with their own "Boo" sign at his chair when he arrived in the morning, and in his cubby, and in his mailbox.  Thanks to Carter's Big Heart, he decided they needed to have their very own "Boo Shirts", so he made them some:

And it melted my heart to see they both wre the shirts the very next day!  He was beaming!

Be patient...

Okay, you "1 day ago" bloggers according to my Blog List of friends on the side bar....way to one-up me and post all your Halloween happenings promptly and in a timely manner, thus making me look bad because I haven't yet put anything up at all about our Halloween or the 7 different costumes used by a only 3 kids or the 4 days and 7 parties of Halloween splendor...all before the 31st.  It's coming, that I can promise...more than I fulfilled for Alana's 1 year old brithday party that happened oh so long ago...