Halloween Fun

Oh my goodness, this has to have been one of the best Halloween's ever! Our celebrating began last Friday with our town's Main Street Trick-Or-Treat. It was easily the best night for trick-or-treating.  Warm enough that you didn't need a coat but cool enough that it felt like autumn. We surely would not have missed this event and even more so due to Hurricane Sandy's impending arrival.

We scooted over to our friend Emily's house.  She is a talented artist and was so sweet to add some face paint to help give the girls costumes that "little extra something"!  Thanks, Em!

Waiting for the middle school marching band to arrive so we could join the parade. 

There is nothing like the marching band version of "Ghostbusters" and "The Munsters"!

And as if that wasn't enough Halloween fun, the next night we went to Old Sturbridge Village for their Halloween event. Sadly, Dave's sister and her husband were unable to come.  Thankfully, Ben and Sarah let us adopt their older two for the night (and oh, how I loved feeling like a mama of four even if it was only for a night)! 

On our way in we happened upon a "for real" newly married bride!  The kids were in awe (and are now in some of her wedding photos, too)!

Which brings us (finally!) to Halloween day itself! There was:

Pumpkin Math!  

We found that tub of candy pumpkins at Wegman's and just had to do something with them! 

We each made a prediction,

Then worked together to count them to see who was closest (and shockingly it was me).

Then Grace put those Math Gnomes that she loves so much to good use and figured out what it would look like if Plus, Minus, Times and Divide helped keep track of the pumpkins.  

Followed by a trip to the library for more trick-or-treating and some Halloween crafts too!

Once we got home I gave them the treats that my parents had left for them when they were here for their anniversary celebration earlier this month.  The girls were over the moon!  And as luck would have it, just as I was taking the gifts out of the bag they were in, my mom called.  Her timing could not have been better and she sorta got to be there as they opened their treats!

"Thanks, Gramma!"

"Thanks, Gramma!"

And then there was some quiet time, followed by putting their costumes back on to head to yoga followed by dinner and more trick-or-treating (with our friends, of course)!

And while I wish that my camera had not been acting up perhaps it was good that it was.  After all, this post is already long enough and seriously picture heavy as it is!  Could you imagine if there were even more?!  It was a truly spectacular Halloween.  One that we will be talking about for years to come!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I have so many wonderful pictures to share with you from all the fun-filled Halloween events we've been to but for today I will simply leave you with this one.  Regardless of if you are able to go trick-or-treating tonight or not we send many wishes your way for a magical Halloween day! 

Tuesday Morning. 7:40am.

What a storm!  Hurricane Sandy has come and gone.  No sooner did I post yesterday than our power went out.  We heard the transformer pop and that was that for roughly the next 26 hours.  I do have to say that we really had a fabulous time sans power.  Thankfully we are not a family that struggles to unplug.  Sure, we love to have light in the darkness, and we do love to check in with the world via Facebook, but it is lovely that we're able to unplug and take it for what it is too.

Dave and I were first up this morning thanks to the sound of a lone chainsaw in the early morning darkness.  They were working on the tree that had fallen at the end of our street, trying to make the road passable for the morning commute.  No such luck.  Traffic was blocked from that end of the street and rerouted a different way for the entire day (and the evening commute as well).  The girls were up next and there was much playing, laughing, snuggling and chatting before we went downstairs to see what destruction Sandy left in her path.  While Dave set up our outdoor kitchen, the girls walked around saying their good-byes to the fallen leaves, branches and trees.  "How will we fix them, Mama?"  "When will they come back?" were questions I spent the day fielding as we drove around town (and the neighboring towns too).  A library trip, complete with super heavy library bag, made the morning pass beautifully, lunch at Wegman's, a late afternoon play date with the neighbors and a lovely dinner with some of our dearest friends rounded out the day.  All in all, it was just another fabulously lovely Tuesday!

To those of you who experienced this storm too: we hope that you made it through safe and sound.  That you are finding light in the darkness to be lovely, and looking forward to having a completely normal day tomorrow.  To those of you still without power: we send many good vibes your way and hope that life is back to normal for you soon, too.  You will be in our thoughts and prayers.  

Storm Doins' In Instagram

We've hunkered down and are just beginning to see the true wrath of Hurricane Sandy.  A major branch in the backyard has sadly come down and we're sure that it won't be long before we loose power.  For those in Hurricane Sandy's path we pray that you stay safe and that the storm leaves little damage in it's wake for you.  We'll post when we can.  Stay safe, dear ones. 

Her Name

Yesterday while we were snacking on some very yummy cupcakes from Crumbs Bake Shop Emma took our her new blank book and crayons and proceeded to write her name for the very first time!  We were all  so proud!  In the time it took me to take the photo in Instagram she had added the extra A that you see at the end of her name, but I can assure you that it was correctly spelled when we all cheered for her! Good work, Em!  We are so very proud of you!

{This Moment} Preparing

{This Moment} - A SouleMama Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. We wish you a wonderful weekend!