We've finally been Boo'd!

After a week and a half of patiently waiting for our booing to strike us back, we finally got boo'd on Saturday evening. We got back from my bro's house and I peeked out the front door to find a plastic Jack o' lantern bucket greeting us. The kids were so excited! We had been disappointed in how slow the booing was catching on this year in our neighborhood and wondering if we would get to partake in the receiving end, especially Emilio. Anyway, the kids ran down the stairs in their jammies to see what they had been boo'd......a hand towel that said "boo," a little candle holder with votives, lots of candy, a little bag filled with small trinkets, etc. Emilio has been carrying the bucket around all week with the candy in it playing trick or treat with his sister (I gave her another Halloween bucket to hold with some of the candy). They know better than to eat the candy without asking me first, but just trade it back and forth. I guess they are practicing for the big night.

Here they are with their prized possesions. Gabi has a sore nose in the picture, poor thing.

Jack O' Lantern

On Saturday evening we headed over to my brother Michael's house for what is becoming an annual event. Here are pictures from last year. I don't have digital pictures of the time in Albuquerque they came to visit where we also carved pumpkins, had hot cider and cooked up some pumpkin seeds to nibble on. Anyway, it is a nice tradition to do all together with our kiddos now. Michael and Emily fed us a great Fall dinner of chicken cooked on a beer can, sweet potato and kale soup, and corn muffins. It was all delicious! We then got the cider warming on the stove top and dove into cutting and gutting our pumpkins. We were all wondering how Marco would respond to the pumpkins this year after the instance from last year (you'll have to read last October's posting to find out what happened). Well as soon as he got a good whiff of the pumpkiny smell this year, he started gagging again, twice. Thankfully he didn't yak up his dinner this time, but he wanted nothing to do with the carving and stayed far away in the living room saying, "that's stinky," several times. Periodically as he walked by the carving table that night and would catch another whiff of the pumpkins, he would instantly gag, poor little guy. Gabi could take or leave the pumpkins, she'd sit at the table watching for awhile, but then go off and play. Emilio was very interested but wasn't too excited about digging out the guts....I was surprised, I mean this is the kid who opened the liftable seat on his trike the other day to show me 4 dried up dead worms he had collected. Oh well, I guess the smell combined with the look of the guts just was enough to keep him from doing the dirty work, that was left to John and I. Michael said at one point, "this really isn't that fun, is it?" I told him his pumpkin carving is only beginning with having two kids, although with Marco's gag reflexes, he may just get by easy only having to carve for his daughter someday. Emilio really got into the carving part though and loved helping me poke holes in the pumpkin to make the design (we cheated and used the stencils you can buy in the store) and then help me cut with those little pumpkin serrated knives. He was very proud of his pumpkin! I don't have any pictures of Emily, Marco, Eloisa, or really Gabi from Saturday evening. I guess I failed at the photography job that night cause I was working so dang hard on the two pumpkins we brought.




And, dum dum dum da............the finished products!

Oh, sugar sugar

On Sunday my mom made Grammy's Famous Sugar Cookies with Emilio and Gabi. They had a hayday frosting and decorating the cookies. I think they ate as much of the sprinkles and candy corn as they used to decorate the cookies. They had a great time.

Pumpkins!

Saturday was a beautiful crisp sunny day in Portland. We decided to hit up a pumpkin patch on the way out to my Grandma's house. We went in a maze that was actually made with hay barrels and was completely dark inside. We would have liked a little warning beforehand as my mom and Gabi really disliked it. You had to hold your hands out in front of you to feel your way through and at certain points it required you to crouch down and shuffle through with your head ducked and knees bent. Emilio really liked the maze. Gabi lost her hat inside at some point so Emilio and my dad gladly volunteered to go back in to retrieve it. Gabi wanted to nothing else to do with the maze! She really liked the two pink pigs that they had in the barn section though as she is obsessed with pigs right now. She refers to herself as a pig more days than not and greets us with an oink when she wakes up in the morning, answers questions during the day, etc. So, she really enjoyed climbing up on the fence and seeing the piggies lounging in the sun. She also liked watching the ponies. The kids also loved running through the pumpkins together. It was very cute to watch. They ended their time by picking out wonderfully large pumpkins!
Emilio and his Nonno (my dad)
Gabi and her Nana (my mom)
The kids in a playhouse
Emilio the owl and Gabriela the cat
Admiring the pink piggies
Wandering through the pumpkins
OUr great pumpkins!
My kiddos and I in front of the hay spider!

Wedding Bells

On Friday I drove to Portland with the kids. That night my dad watched Emilio and Gabi for me so that my mom and I could attend our friend Esther's wedding. I grew up with Esther. Her mom Debbie and my mom have been buddies since high school. It was a nice wedding and Esther made a beautiful bride. Congratulations Esther and Shawn!
THe Newleyweds
My mom and I had a great evening out together!
Friends since high school. Debbie, Cheryl (my mom) and Lori.
The beautiful couple

You've just been Boo'd!

We have had our "Boo" buckets ready to go for a week now waiting patiently for the perfect time to ring a neighbor's doorbell and run. We decided last night was a great time to start since it was John's early night home from classes (he arrived around 8 p.m.). Emilio had been eyeing the buckets we made up for the last week asking me when he'd get to help Daddy deliver them. After bath, I got him into some warm pajamas, a dark jacket, hat and tennis shoes so he'd be ready to go out in the cold Fall night with his Daddy to deliver the buckets. He was excited, but also nervous. Last year he burst into tears over the anticipation of it all and chance of getting caught and decided not to "ring and run" with Daddy, but this year we convinced him that he was a much faster runner and could do it. It was so cute seeing the guys running in the dark away from the homes they just boo'd. Emilio seemed very proud of himself. Here are our "Boo" buckets (we delivered two last night and will deliver two more soon as we are Boo'd) and a picture of Emilio ready to "Boo" someone!



This year we used a different poem and ghost to include in the buckets. I got part of the poem from the Internet and changed it up just a bit to fit our neighborhood better. I also printed it off in a spookier font. It goes like this;

Good Evening! You’ve just been Boo’d!

Since this is the time for goblins and bats,
For Halloween spirits, for ghosts and cats,
For weird happenings and witches’ brew,
These are the things that I wish for you…

May the only spirit you chance to meet
Be the spirit of love and friends warm and sweet.
May the only goblin that comes your way
Be this Neighborhood Friendly Ghost you must give away.

“Tis much better to give than to receive” goes the old verse
And something this easy won’t empty your purse.
It’s your turn to pass along a treat and a Boo
Because now the Neighborhood Friendly Ghost is little old YOU!

So within two days, pick two friends sweet,
And give them each a Halloween treat.
You have only two days—so you’ll need to hurry-
Leave a treat on the doorstep, ring the bell and then scurry!

Signed,
The Neighborhood Friendly Ghost

“You’ve been Boo’d” Instructions
First of all, enjoy your treats!
1. Now it’s your turn to “Boo” two other people in our neighborhood.
2. You should “Boo” these people within 2 days of receiving your treat.
3. Hang the ghost on your front door so that everyone can see that you have been “Boo’d” and you will not be “Boo’d” again. This will also let you know who you can Boo.
4. Fill 2 bags, baskets, canisters with candy and treats. Copy this letter and the ghost twice. Include the treats, letter, and ghost in your bag of goodies for the neighbors that you choose.
5. After dark, and only with an adult, “Boo” 2 of your neighbors. Do not let the person that you are “Booing” see you, for it adds to the fun of it all. Place the treat bag on the doorstep, ring the doorbell and run!
6. It will be fun to see how many ghosts appear in our neighborhood by Halloween. Please keep it safe and enjoy!

I ended up just using Microsoft Office Word to insert a clip art ghost they had available and typed, "We've been Boo'd!" on the top. I didn't want anything to look to scary as we have tons of little kids in our neighborhood.

Anyway, it will be fun to see how far this spreads by Halloween. Happy Booing everyone!

Date Night and Root Beer Floats

On Friday night John and I got to have a "date night". Our sweet friends T.J. and Lindsey babysat our kids for us (they have two of their own) and I drove to Seattle to meet John. He walked me around his campus at Seattle U and showed me where he attends class, the library and the cute little chapel. Even though it was a rainy, cold evening it was so fun to walk hand and hand with my guy and see where he's attending school. We then walked a few blocks to a pub called Elysian and had dinner. It was so nice to be able to have a conversation without trying to get our kids to sit in their chairs, pick up crumbs from the floor, etc. We had a very nice evening together.

On Saturday morning we went to The Bouncy Place with some friends from our small group. I sure miss bouncing there now that I'm pregnant, but it was fun to watch the kids and other parents have so much fun bouncing. Afterwards we had breakfast treats at Panera Bread and then the boys went and got haircuts. Usually Emilio sits in John's lap for a haircut but this time he sat next to him in his own chair and John said he carried on a conversation with the hairdresser all by himself. He's such a talker.

On Saturday evening after dinner the kid's had their first "Root Beer Float" experience. They sucked those babies down.....I didn't expect much less.


Sunday was filled with church, gutting out my closet, and studying for John. We are rested and ready for a new week!