Be Still My Heart!!

So we have officially lived through another Family Halloween Costume Weekend at Nana and Papa's! Plus, we had another wonderful day of football as well and the boys were so happy more of the family was in town to cheer them on.

Our weekend fun started on Friday afternoon when Kris and Olivia arrived and we all went to Jen's for dinner and catching up.

Very early Saturday morning, Kris headed to Tallahassee where Caitlin was to be initiated into ADPi. Since this was her mom's sorority as well, Kris was invited to surprise Caitlin at her ceremony. The rest of us headed off to the park for another day of football where we were joined by Becky and her two girls-confused yet? After a lovely day in THE MOST AMAZING autumn weather, we capped it off with a lovely lunch at a favorite of ours-Mojos!

Just when we thought we were nestling in for the evening, we heard the front door open and were surprised not only to have Kris home a bit earlier than expected but she was with Caitlin. Oh how happy I was to once again have all three of my girls and all seven grand children able to be with us for one of our favorite days of the year-as well as my SIL, brother and sister-in-law and SIL's mother! We were missing one SIL, Todd, but since he was having so much fun once again hiking the Appalachian Trail, we forgave him.

I am going to warn you that this is a picture loaded post. I really don't have to comment much as most pictures are pretty self explanatory. Hope you enjoy seeing another year of craziness!

The seven cutest witches in the world!

Even Jasper was in the spirit!

Steve with his "Handy Dandy" notebook and Blue.

The Masellis- "First Year College Student Zombie, "Hurricane Matthew Newsman" and one of the Minions.

The Hutchisons- the other two Minions and "Pigs in a Blanket".

The Hollands- "Geico Money Man and Progressive's Flo", lady pirate, the Grim Reaper and Slenderman.

On to the games: Cheeto Head, Cream Face Gummies, Bobbing for Apples and Doughnuts on strings...the same ones every year but the ones the kids request every year!

I am a bit "loopy" by this time. This thing gets harder and harder to pull off every year because all seven grands have now got totally full schedules of their own as well as all of their parents. There is much tweaking done and many, many miles put on cars. But, in the end, it is ALL so worth it. I love this crazy gang with all of my heart and when I look at these smiling faces and remember all of the hugs, laughter and smiles on these sweet faces, I am positive it is worth every bit of the angst we may feel as we try to prepare. I want nothing more than to leave my family full of memories of their crazy Mom/Nana. I hope I am giving them "fuel" for many stories about me in the many years to come!

And so, my favorite weekend of the year has once again come to a close. But, we don't have time to pout as this week is full of award ceremonies, pumpkin patches, scarecrows and finally Halloween in St. Pete. Hope Kris has my spot on her porch all warmed up for me. I CAN'T WAIT. Stay tuned!!

Come In My Little Pretties!

So, in between cleaning and cooking today, I remembered that I didn't post the guest rooms. Now mind you, they are no where near as decorated as the rest of the house because by the time I get to them, I am exhausted. But, I like them to have a bit of the feel of the holiday so our guests feel welcomed.

Kris' room doesn't have a lot of surface space so everything must fit on these shelves and dresser top.

Take note of the pile of witch's hats on the end of the bed. Every year I try to add a new one so the kids - and adult witches too - have many to choose from. For awhile, there were just one or two really fabulous hats and it was always a race to see who would get to them first. Now there are many, many lovelies!

Becky's room has many bookshelves and the large dresser to decorate and it makes me happy because I am trying to weed out so many small tsotchkes in the rest of the house but some of them remain favorites and they have now found a new home.

Jen's room is the third guest room/dormitory in the house but it is also my office so it really seems to get the tail-end of the Halloween stuff. The kids love the orange glow that these jack-o-lanterns give off when they spend the night in here so I try to always get them up and this year, these few other meager offerings are all I have. If only there was more time in a day..... The first of the gang arrives this afternoon so I am off to finish polishing my broom. Stay tuned.

Wrapping Up

I have been working on costumes today and I must say, this year's costumes are giving me a bit of a fit...and I chose them because I needed something that would be fast and easy. I am not in love with my choice and perhaps that is why nothing is falling in place. I don't like any of the pieces I have turned out so far. In the scheme of things, they will be fine and the little kids will know who we are and that is always our goal. But, that being said, I am the queen of costumes and I do enjoy making complicated patterns with many beautiful fabrics but that was just not in the cards for this year. I am taking a break and will show you what I have left of this year's decor and then I will get back to it to see what I can tweak to salvage the idea.

The bathroom is a little different this year as I have removed the two-tiered rack that used to sit between the sinks. I am sure my house guests will be happy because it gives them a bit more counter space but I am missing it for my decorating.

I had this extra black frame and I had printed this witch for a different project and never got to it, so I put two and two together and got this. I was determined to find another spot for her but I just haven't had time so this is where she will reside this year.

I did this shelf up a bit differently. The "BOO" bucket was filled with goodies for us when we spent the night at daughter #2's house recently. Unfortunately, she knows us so well that we dove into all of the goodies before I even had a chance to take a picture. I love that the container makes the perfect Halloween TP holder for this shelf.

Because we will spend a lot of time outside this weekend, I like to have the yard gussied up a bit too. Just a little something stuck here and there to give a pop of holiday color.

The front yard is pretty much as it is every year with the addition of this guy on the porch.

Everything is ready for the witches to arrive...can't wait! So much more to come. Stay tuned.