One long spooky weekend

I'll be honest with you, I'm drowning. How is it that since my husband has left my days slip through my fingers like quick sand?? It is frustrating, I feel like I run my tail just to find at the end of the day I barely completed the essentials? Seriously. . . this deployment is turning out to be harder than the first. Or is it that I simply can't remember how hard the last one was? I do have selective memory. So I'm up late, later than I want because I want to document the details for my dear hubby.

Well, Halloween. If you know me, you know that it isn't my favorite holiday and I depend greatly on my husband to boost it up so we meet the kids expectations. Well, I tried my darndest, sheesh I even wore orange earrings to the trunk or treat and those earrings are fabulous!
We started the weekend by enjoying a Halloween "party in a box". My mom sends this to the kids every year so that they feel included in her festivities back home. It is a much anticipated box in this house. This year we shared it with our friends, Jacob and Joseph Togisala. They were good sports and really enjoyed making the witches hands and spider cookies, okay maybe they enjoyed EATING the hands and cookies. Details . . .


Next stop, trunk or treat at the church. I have realized as we have tried to make trick or treating safer as a society, all we have done is schedule MORE safe trick or treating. Every group that you are associated with now has their own trick OR treat. No child needs to fill their pumpkin up 3-4 times, but that is just what the Frandsen girls did. And so you know, I make the girls go through their candy as soon as we get home and set aside whatever they can't fit into a quart sized ziplog baggie. The baggie is theirs to keep, the rest gets donated to Project Christmas for the troops. Some call it mean, I call it smart. If you think I'm mean, don't ever tell me, I'm very vulnerable right now . . . hee hee.

This is Sparkly the cat. She will not answer to McKenna. She thinks, "Who the heck is McKenna?" Really, she won't answer to McKenna when she has her "gear" on.
Bailey with her scary buddies:
Two of my most favorite people in the world!! We just love those Rays!
Next night, our base had a Halloween festival. Another trick or treat but the other AF rock band was playing and I figure I'll be a good sport and support my hubbies buddies. They had lots of games for the kids too, which is how they earned their candy. I liked that part a lot.
Earning that sugar baby!
Earning more sugar baby!
Finally, and when I say finally, what I really mean is Grand Finale! We spent Sunday afternoon with our good friends the Well's. They hosted the deployed families for pumpkin carving. What is so great about this fine couple is they opened their home to a bunch of children (their only child right now is a black cat, who just happened to disappear when the children started showing up, I don't get it) with messy pumpkins and sharp cutting utensils. And they fed us to boot! What a swell couple I tell you! Thanks so much Paul and McCullogh.


Any pumpkin of McKenna's must have a heart on it!Bailey's masterpiece, I love it!
Here kitty, kitty! Come here Sparkly and let me rub behind your ears.
In the end, we did go a bit overboard because Monday morning I got a call from the school nurse. McKenna is in her office with a big 'ol belly ache. Oops, the dietitian in me is so ashamed . . . the mom in me is happy she is at school.