Happy Halloween!

I have a hard time handing out trick or treat candy to teens, but I have an even harder time doing it when they don't bother to wear a costume and they use a purse as their treat sack. So when the eighth grader wearing sweats and carrying the fake Gucci purse just rang my bell, I gave her a pixie stick that I found in the pantry from a birthday party we attended months ago. She saw my chocolate, she saw me bypass it, and I caught her questioning look.

The pixie stick seemed like a good decision at the time, the perfect "that'll get her", but I am now fearing retaliation.

As I lay awake tonight waiting for the sounds of eggs hitting my windows, I will take comfort in knowing I have these guys watching over me.

Evan as Captain America, Keagan as a Storm Trooper, and Ian as a Ninja

Happy Halloween

I have a hard time handing out trick or treat candy to teens, but I have an even harder time doing it when they don't bother to wear a costume and they use a purse as their treat sack. So when the eighth grader wearing sweats and carrying the fake Gucci purse just rang my bell, I gave her a pixie stick that I found in the pantry from a birthday party we attended months ago. She saw my chocolate, she saw me bypass it, and I caught her questioning look.

The pixie stick seemed like a good decision at the time, the perfect "that'll get her", but I am now fearing retaliation.

The boys hit the streets tonight eager for their own candy collection. Evan went as Captain America, Keagan as a Storm Trooper, and Ian, our neighbor and third child, went as a Ninja.

As I lay awake tonight waiting for the return of the teenagers and the sounds of eggs hitting my windows, I will take comfort in knowing I have these guys watching over me.

Beach Weekend

Boardwalk Outside the Hotel We don't ever need a reason for a weekend at the beach, even if the temperature requires jeans and sweatshirts. However, this weekend, after our soccer games in Savannah, we drove to Disney's Hilton Head Resort to celebrate Evan's birthday. It was perfect, if for no other reason than I got to sleep for 10 hours straight and then nap all the way home.

Beach Weekend

Boardwalk Outside the Hotel

We don't ever need a reason for a weekend at the beach, even if the temperature requires jeans and sweatshirts. However, this weekend, after our soccer games in Savannah, we drove to Disney's Hilton Head Resort to celebrate Evan's birthday. It was perfect, if for no other reason than I got to sleep for 10 hours straight and then nap all the way home.

Skating

Apparently I am the only Marne mom that didn't know it was a requirement to teach your kids to roller skate while stationed at Stewart. Although I was a regular at the skating rink in good 'ole Mount Pleasant, I don't think roller rinks even existed in Northern Virginia. We celebrated the end of the football season, though, at the post's skating rink, and no one could believe that the QB who scored all but two of the season's touchdowns had never been roller skating before and spent the majority of the night on his backside. 

The same could be said about "The Punisher". After one go around, he decided skating just wasn't his thing, and he spent a good half hour in a chair laughing at his big brother as he fell legs sprawled like a newborn colt. Needless to say, we felt under-prepared when the other players walked in with their own personal pair of skates while we wore the disinfectant sprayed skates from the rental window.

With trophies, pizza, cake, and a pinata full of candy, though, we quickly left the new found of skill of skating behind.

                                                                                     
It's tough celebrating a 2-10 season, but we sure did. Someone has a really big decision to make next fall: U12 select soccer or football. I think Thursday night's game ending TD might have influenced his decision. 

Operation Pumpkin Decoration

1. Trace the design onto a "big and smooth pumpkin." Keagan wanted to make sure I understood the defining characteristics of the perfect pumpkin.

2. Paint by number, and add fierce eyes with a smile.

3. Pose with the finished product.

Skating

Apparently I am the only Marne mom that didn't know it was a requirement to teach your kids to roller skate while stationed at Stewart. Although I was a regular at the skating rink in good 'ole Mount Pleasant, I don't think roller rinks even existed in Northern Virginia. We celebrated the end of the football season, though, at the post's skating rink, and no one could believe that the QB who scored all but two of the season's touchdowns had never been roller skating before and spent the majority of the night on his backside. The same could be said about "The Punisher". After one go around, he decided skating just wasn't his thing, and he spent a good half hour in a chair laughing at his big brother as he fell legs sprawled like a newborn colt.

Needless to say, we felt under-prepared when the other players walked in with their own personal pair of skates while we wore the disinfectant sprayed skates from the rental window.

With trophies, pizza, cake, and a pinata full of candy, though, we quickly left the new found skill of skating behind.

It's tough celebrating a 2-10 season, but we sure did. Someone has a really big decision to make next fall: U12 select soccer or football. I think Thursday night's game ending TD might have influenced his decision.