You Knew It Was Coming...

...don't say you haven't been warned. You know we do this every year and I can't seem to help myself where the picture taking is concerned. Get ready. Grab a cup of coffee and relax. This may take awhile!

Becky and Todd

Becky, Todd, Hannah, Morgan and Todd's mom, Karen

The 7 grand children got together their own Grease themed costumes this year so it could be a surprise to all of the adults-and Nana didn't have to make them.

Nana and Papa as the Angry Birds. We don't really even know much about them but we knew the kids would know who we were and that is always our goal!
 

My brother and sister-in-law as Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn.

Caitlin, Kristin and Olivia

"Rosie the Riveter"

Jennie and Elton as the American Gladiators

These are the kids' "real" costumes this year-the ones they will use for trick-or-treating.

The gang

Nana, Papa and the precious 7
 

The whole crazy group

We had a wonderful day and really went back to the basics-all of the foods and games we used to do for our neighborhood parties (we always had all of the neighborhood kids over for dinner and games. Then we would all head out trick-or-treating together. The kids had usually had such a full day by then that they were happy to just do a few blocks and then head home) and our Sunday School and G.S. parties. We had chili, worms on buns, casket dip and veggies, jack layered dip and chips, pumpkin cheese ball and crackers, guaca"moldy", salsa and chips and fabulous pumpkin desserts as well as a graveyard cake-we never go hungry with this group. We bobbed for apples, did doughnuts on strings, wrapped the mummies and made decorated cookies. And when that was all said and done, the "brave" hit the pool one last time. I truly love this tradition. Of course, the costume reveal is the best. It is amazing how excited we all get over seeing each other for the first time. I have a wonderful family. I love my traditions and we fight hard to keep as many of them going as we can. I know it won't last forever, but I savor each and every time we can all make it together.

So, one more party is under our belts but this Wednesday, a number of us are hopping into cars and heading up to Asheville-can't wait. And, there is still Halloween trick-or-trreating, so the month just keeps on-stay tuned.

Fitting It All in!

I will NEVER understand why ALL of these sporting events (swim meets, soccer games, volleyball games, H.S. football and cross country meets) have to horn in on my autumnal activities-ha-ha! But, that being said, we still try to squeeze in as many of these events as we can because it means a lot to our grand children.

Our oldest grand daughter puts us all to shame as she is not only involved in so many activities, she is the leader of most of them. Don't ask me, the couch potato, why anyone would want to get up to practice cross country around 4:30 A.M., have a full day of school and still be playing varsity volleyball at 10 P.M. that night, but she does and she does it well. So, it was a no-brainer for as many of the family as possible to be at her high school the other night for their senior recognition. We are so proud of this young woman-not only is she beautiful on the outside but she is beautiful on the inside as well. She knows no strangers and is genuinely nice to everyone-could be why she was elected student body president-can you tell I am a proud Nana and love her so much! She was our first and introduced us to the world of grand parenting-a world that we love-and we never looked back!

Our youngest daughter and her family live in the same town as we do-Hannah is about an hour away. So, Harrison was thrilled when he was the only one of the siblings who got to come along-the other two would never have made the late hour. Harrison even got to help Uncle Todd with a quick turn in the concession stand-and thought that might entitle him to some free food but, alas, the money goes to the school so that was a no go-haha.
 

Hannah and her parents being introduced.

A hug from her principal
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Loaded down with gifts from her family, team and school.

The three honorees and their parents.

Yes, that white blur in front of her is the BALL!

Didn't get a picture of the family cheering squad, but many of us were there to honor this sweet girl. As you can tell, a good time was had by all. I am cleaning for company this weekend and then our big Halloween costume party on Sunday. It promises to be a BOO-TIFUL weekend! Stay tuned.

"When Last We Visited"....

...we were all snug in our beds anticipating the fun the next day would bring.

We awoke to what I thought I could pass off as a simple breakfast since yesterday we did the Halloween food. I had planned to make my "famous" ghost pancakes (blobs of pancake batter in any shape or form studded with 2 mini-chip eyes when cooked) but I happened upon 2 different Halloween cereals-one where the ghosts turn green-and consequently so does the milk- and another that had spooky marshmallow shapes. I know my daughter isn't fond of the kids eating sweetened cereals, but heck, this is Nana & Papa's house and it IS Halloween. So I sliced up some fresh strawberries, bananas and apples and we sat down to the feast. It took no time at all for Harrison to ask what our breakfast was. When I told him cereal and fruit-which I thought was fairly obvious as it was all sitting on the table in front of him- he said "no, I mean WHAT Halloween things are they?". I guess I have imprinted pretty strongly in their traditions. And so, we got to thinking. They were O.K. with the ghostly cereals but we had to switch to "witch tongues" (strawberry slices), "witch ears" (banana slices ) and "witch lips" (apple slices). It was really a hoot but they were happy and a good breakfast was had by all.

As I straightened up and the kids got their showers and got dressed, they also sat and colored some sun catchers. I found these kits years ago-nothing but a Halloween design on translucent parchment, a black mat and a hanger-and HL had the nerve to have them marked at $14.99. Needless to say, I didn't pay that much-in fact, that may have been when they were new to Ocala and the first time I realized they have almost everything priced too high and I NEVER buy anything there unless it is on sale or I have a coupon-but, I digress. I found them in a cart after Halloween at 90% off - any wonder-so I grabbed a bunch. Anyhow, it kept the kids busy until Mom and Dad arrived to take us to the patch.

The patch we went to this year is in Dunnellon and I have never been before. It is a REAL pumpkin patch-many acres planted with every kind of pumpkin or gourd you can grow in Florida as well as a field of corn stalks and sunflowers of all colors for cutting. They have a nominal entrance fee and then everything else is free-corn maze, hay fort, tractor hayride and tons of photo-ops. Let's just say there were TONS of happy grand parents there that day!

It was a perfect day (well, it could have actually been a few degrees cooler but whatever). It was so much fun to actually walk through the fields and lift the vines searching for that perfect pumpkin! I really would have loved one of those large, white ones, but they were $30 and even I couldn't quite justify that! Jen and Elton brought us a picnic lunch and we sat on hay bales eating and watching all of the families coming and going. It was a wonderful place to spend the day with family-wish everyone could have come but maybe now that we know how great this place is, we will work on it for next year! Stay tuned.

"Out of Breath"

Wow! What a weekend I had! It was Nana and Papa Halloween weekend and even though 4 of our 7 grandchildren were tied up with H.S. activities and couldn't make it this year, the show went on with the 3 youngest.

The weekend started at Harrison's swim meet and Presley's soccer game. Hudson had an earlier soccer game but I was tied up trying to get last minute details in order.

Then it was home to start the fun-which always means starting with photos. Even though it is sometimes hard to get good pictures because of the sun in their eyes, the kids actually enjoy these shots and usually co-operate so we can move quickly.

Then we were on to the really fun stuff. We started the day with a bit of a science experiment. The kids drew ghost and pumpkin faces on sandwich bags (me too) and then we filled them with vinegar, corn starch and food coloring. Next we added a baking soda bomb, sealed the bag and watched the magic happen. The bag slowly expanded and then "blew its top" fizzing all over. We did this one by one and were enthralled with the outcome every time-really don't know who enjoyed it more!

And then of course, there were crafts. The kids actually ask if they can come do crafts at my house. Of course, without my helpers here, I tried to keep it to things they could handle themselves so I had time to stay one step ahead. And, I like to have them make things they can keep. I though that tissue paper covered lanterns would be good because you really can't mess up gluing on the tissue-even if it goes on uneven, it will "seal" itself when you apply the top layer of glue. The kids drew their own faces but I helped Presley cut hers-she is still working on perfecting that skill. Once they were dry, we put battery candles in them and they can use them as night lights in their rooms through Halloween- or Mom can group them together on a table for a cute decoration. The kids also colored wooden masks and played with the pumpkin pie play dough I made. It was a nice, laid back afternoon and they each worked at their own pace and had fun. If there was down time for one, they headed to the Legos or Barbies.

Then we were on to dinner. Again, since my helpers were MIA (as well as Papa who was trying desperately to finish up tax returns), we went pretty easy on dinner. The kids wrapped up some mummy hot dogs and made witch finger carrots. We added some Trick-or-Cheesy mac and cheese (thanks once again to Kraft), broccoli and Ghoul Aid. Then we made graveyard pudding cups for dessert.

While the kids watched "The Dog Who Saved Halloween", Nana and Papa watched the Gator game that they had TiVoed. We ran through it in fast motion-and quite frankly even that wasn't fast enough! After that, we climbed into bed and read some of our favorite Halloween books. Then it was fast off to sleep because we had another really fun day planned for tomorrow. Stay tuned.

And yes, there will be MORE pictures!