Halloween

 Well, this Halloween was a first for us.  The girls got invited to go trick-or-treating with their friends while the adults got to sit around a firepit in the driveway and hand out candy to the kids that came by.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

 Lydia dressed up as Emma Swan, the heroine/star of Once Upon a Time.  When she found the jacket and boots at Plato's Closet, she was super stoked!  Bekah went as Dr. Who fan girl again this year.  They both look super cute. 

We headed over the Boyds' house and I got this cute pic of Bekah with Makayla the pirate.

 The kids headed out in friend groups, with Lydia in the middle school group (with Batman, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, and Batgirl).

 Bekah headed out with the high schoolers...the pirates Alex and Makayla, Minnie Mouse, and Nina Green as ??, Olaf from Frozen, Dr. Who Fan Girl, and Snow White.

While the kids racked up their Halloween loot, the adults sat and chatted and relaxed.  It was a calm way to spend the evening on what is usually an extremely busy night.

Conduit Youth Treasure Island

Tonight was Treasure Island - the annual youth scavenger hunt on the church property. The kids team up to find the buried treasure ($300) buried on the church grounds somewhere. 

Along the way, they are given clues as to where the treasure is, and they are thwarted in their search by a band of pirates who seek them out, capture them, and take away their clues.

In the end, neither of the girls' teams won the money, but they had fun in the process.  This is a blast every year. 

Lauren's Murder Mystery Birthday Party

Sunday night, Lauren Redmon had another murder mystery birthday party.  Bekah's character was a 1950's cupcake chef.  She had a perfect dress, borrowed some pearls from me, and bought some bright red lipstick.  She even had great shoes. 

But she was missing a cute little white half-apron.  It was a must for the part.  So, we asked around and no one had one.  We looked at Goodwill.  Nope.  So, what's a girl to do?  Make one herself.  We bought an old tablecloth and Bekah got out her sewing machine and whipped up a cute little apron.

Not only is it perfect, but she looks perfectly adorable heading to this party.

I don't exactly understand the theme of this murder mystery party.  The kids seemed to all be some sort of knock-off of some pop-culture type characters.  There were versions of  the Mad Hatter, Elsa from Frozen, Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), Harley Quinn, etc.

 

 

In the end, funny enough, Bekah turned out to be the murderer and Stephanie was the one that was murdered.  Here's Bekah trying to look menacing and Stephanie trying to look scandalized that she's being murdered, but they just can't do it because they've been friends since first grade!

 

In the end, dead or alive, it looks like a fun time was had by all.  

David's Birthday - All Day Celebration!

Today we celebrated David's birthday all day long.  Because, you know, he's awesome like that and should be celebrated all day long.

They are even celebrating David in the Philippines.  I was happy to show David this birthday shout-out from Cho at Just Projects (partnered with Project AK-47).

 

We started out our morning before church with a birthday breakfast and presents.  

The first thing David opened was a gift Lydia made him.  It's a painting of the Guinness Harp (complete with what looks like foam at the top of the canvas). I thought it was super creative and David was really pleased with it and her attention to detail on it.

I got David a gin and tonic kit to play around with, a gift card, and the girls got him a travel steamer. He got several birthday cards as well. 

After church, we gathered at Acapulco Mexican Grill with a ton of people to celebrate my guy.

At the adult table, we had the Whites (Ryan and Penny), the Watkins (David and Kira), the Roberts (TJ & Amy) the Bushes (Brandon and Jennifer), us, the Redmons (Bryan and Shelley), the Boyds (James and Bekah), and the Linda Rojas.

David even wore a birthday hat when he got his birthday dessert.  Ha ha!  Happy birthday, Sweetie!!

Meeting Lydia's Teacher

So, I've been corresponding with Lydia's Language Arts teacher via email for a while now.  His name is Jordan Twaddle, and he seemed to really know his stuff.  I was pleased with his responses and felt he was a solid grammar teacher for Lydia.

Well, this week, they had an open house at the middle school where we could go meet the teachers.  I was not really prepared for the VERY young man that greeted me outside Lydia's homeroom/LA classroom. 

Ummm...he's a KID.

(And now I sound super old for saying my kid's teacher is a KID.)

But seriously.  He's a KID.  So I looked him up on Facebook and started checking his connections to see who he was related to.

Because, you see, the name Twaddle is a unique name.  I know a lady who's last name is Twaddle.  I used to go to MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) with her when Bekah was a toddler.  

Well, wouldn't you know...Lydia's Language Arts teacher, Mr. Twaddle, graduated from Independence High School (Bekah's high school) and is the SON of Patti Twaddle, the lady I went to MOPS with.  

So when Bekah said the high school's nurse also has the last name Twaddle and maybe this was Mr. Twaddle's wife or something, I had to correct her and say, no, she's his MOTHER and I went to MOPS with her.

I went to MOPS with the mother of my child's teacher.

I am old.  Sigh.

Lydia's Glow Dance

The middle school had a glow dance tonight, where the gym would be lit with black lights and they were to wear clothing and stuff that would glow under the lights.

Lydia chose a light colored dress and even had me paint some henna-like designs on her hand and face with white paint. For another added touch, we sprayed her hair with neon hair color as well. 

 

After the dance, Lydia shared these with me. It looks like she had a blast with her friends.

And now that I think about it, this was Lydia's first dance.  Oh wow.  Okay.  Wow.  I'm getting old.  Ha ha!

Love is in the House and the House is Packed

We {Heart} GG

Laughter Love Merry Joyful Bright

Our Visit to Georgia

While David is traipsing around Thailand, Burma, and the Philippines, the girls and I took a little trip to Georgia while we had a weekend free. 

On Saturday, we got some good cuddle time in with William and Jayden. 

We even got to go over to their house and babysit them while Jack and Courtney were out. I took this time to get some good smiley pics of Jayden.  =)

 

It was also a great time to get a photo of all the grandkids together.  Their first photo of all four of them.  (William was really excited to get his picture made.)

On Sunday before we left we got to hang out some too.  

 They girls and William even broke into a game of chase.  Ha ha!

I'm glad we live close enough for these visits.