We survived another successful Halloween! And even the rain couldn't dampen our spirits(pun intended). Falling on a Saturday this year made it extra special. We decided to invite all the neighbors over to our house for a potluck dinner before the kids headed out trick or treating together. Kids started very early this year, around 5pm. I think because of the weather. Although it was still light out. Actually, most of the neighborhood kids started trick or treating Saturday morning at the neighborhood parade, including our two kids and Cookie. Scott put Cookie in her costume(a hot dog suit) and he donned a Hot Dog hat we bought at Busch Gardens. Since Cookie needed a nice long walk anyway, he headed out the door with Allison dressed as an Italian dinner table. She actually put together her own very special costume which included a cardboard box covered in red and white checked tablecloth, plate, silverware, a napkin, wine glass, bread sticks and her head covering which looked like a serving of spaghetti and meatballs attached to a hairband. She had Tom pull the head of a mop off its handle and colored some cottonballs brown to look like meatballs. Then we hot glued the whole thing together. She looked really cute(I will send photos later when I have Tom download them onto my laptop). She certainly got a lot of compliments for her costume, and Cookie was a big hit too! Scott wore his Yoshi costume when he went out begging at night and was dying of heat. It was actually fairly warm during the day and early evening(about 70degrees) until it started raining. Then it was just miserable. But my house was filled with costumed kids and adults and more food and beer than we could drink or eat. Including lots of dessert and even champagne! We had the party set up in the garage too so when we headed out to trick or treat, we left several adults behind to pass out candy to our visitors. And of course I don't think the kids and I left any part of the house undecorated-lots of lights, pumpkins, scarecrows, spiders and webs. The kids and I certainly enjoyed getting ready for the big day, including carving our pumpkins. I managed to carve out a spider this year. And we discovered that Cookie likes to eat pumpkins and pumpkin seeds. She kept running off with the tops to our pumpkins while we were carving them! I managed to keep her nibbling to a bare minimum since I heard from several dog owners that pumpkin can act as a laxative! Even Cookie enjoyed trick or treating with the kids(a long walk for a little dog). This time I got to wear the Hot Dog hat. Allison tried real hard to engage the kids in a few party games we had planned, but the rain made it difficult to play outdoors, and kids were coming and going all night. She did get a few fun activities done before we headed out for the night. Afterwards, the kids all traded for their favorite candy and the adults basically passed out! I really don't mind hosting parties-it is one way to get the house cleaned up and we always get lots of great left overs from all the guests. They sure ate their share of my servings though-I put out a big crock pot full of chili and about 2 dozen Kogel vienna hot dogs, a big serving of Mac n Cheese and a Chili casserole and most of it was gone before the party was over. Tom and I usually host an Octoberfest with a beer tasting contest this time of year, but we opted for a Halloween Block Party instead. Lots of fun(and lots of candy). Scott even had to count his candy for a math lesson this week-he managed to collect over 100 pieces of candy!

And if that wasn't enough, he also enjoyed a small party they held at school on Friday. Kids were welcome to dress in costume and they pretty much took the afternoon off. Since it was my day off, I signed up to help with the party and earn more volunteer hours. The kids start the afternoon off with a parade led by one of our priests(yes in costume). Last year Father Mike dressed as a banana, and so did Scott! They were quite a pair! This year it was an animal theme for Scott as Yoshi the dinosaur from Nintendo's Mario video game, and Fr Mike decked out as a big cow? He looked a little like the Chick fil A cow, complete with a cow bell. After the parade, the kids played a few Halloween games outdoors and then headed inside for a small party with treats and a video. However, we could not get our video to work so the teacher scared everyone with ghost stories instead.

The High school students did not dress up for Halloween. They had their opportunity last week to dress crazy during Homecoming Week. Monday night they had to finish their Homecoming football game since they were t-stormed out at half time last Saturday. The game ended with a win for us. And Allison's Varsity Hockey Team won their first league game in the state championship! Good Luck to them! Allison is now planning on playing Indoor Winter Field Hockey as the goalie for her school team in the Recreational league this coming January(a whole lot cheaper than the private league!). In the meantime, I think she is just enjoying being a student. She has started riding the bus home after school and is happy not to have to walk so far anymore! She has also experienced her first state assessment exams(a little like midterms). She has had a big test for every class starting last week and still has a few more to go this coming week. Not to mention the regular tests they are studying for. And she was just assigned an autobiography in english. I talked her into writing about James Herriott, the vet who wrote all those wonderful animal stories including All things Wise and Wonderful. Allison was supposed to pick an author whose life greatly influenced their books. Of course everyone wanted JK Rowling and the Harry Potter series. We actually could not find any books at our library on the life of James Herriott, so I ordered one on the internet and picked up one from Borders book store since Allison needed a book this week. I was surprised to see that James Herriott was actually born James Alfred Wight, aka Alf, and could not use his own name on his books as veterinarians in Europe were not allowed to advertise. He used the name James Herriott after a soccer goalie. He also died in 1995 from cancer. His son Jim Wight is also a vet and wrote one of the biographies about his Dad. His daughter became a medical doctor. Now I will have to get Allison to read that book series.

Speaking of school, we sat down Friday morning with Scott's teacher and the principal to have a discussion about the class organization. I heard from many other parents that they are not too happy with the inexperienced 4th grade teachers. I am hoping we made some headway in coming up with a win win situation for the teachers and parents alike(but Tom isn't holding his breath). We started out with a simple request of guidelines in helping the kids study-like providing a study guide. The principal was all for it, but the teacher did not look too convinced. Guess we will wait and see.

And we ended our busy weekend with a Raven's football game! My very first game! Tom was awarded the tickets from all his hard work in Salt Lake City. We had seats on the 50 yrd line on the club level(very nice). The game started out rainy and chilly, but the sun poked out its head around half time. And the Ravens beat the Denver Broncos which made it even more exciting. We just wish we had had better luck locating the tailgating tent before the game for free beer and food! Maybe next time. They certainly have tight security at these games. Once you enter the club level, you practically have to promise them your first born to return to your seat! No matter, we still had a lot of fun. And Allison did a great job hanging out with Scott for the day.

Can you believe it is November now! Where did October go! Tom will enjoy another boys night out for Monday night football. We hosted last Monday. I enjoy hanging out with all the boys and talking sports, etc. Last weeks Washington Redskins game was quite entertaining-looked a little like a 3 stooges film. Someone else is hosting, so no free evening for me. Anyhow, I will be with Scott at a cubscout meeting.

And I already have a packed schedule for my Girl Scouts this month. Allison started delivering her cookies this weekend. I took in some orders to work last week-it is always fun delivering GS cookies-everyone is so happy to see you!

I am happy to report that none of us seem to have the H1N1 virus, but we all sure had some type of GI bug and a cold. The kids seem to be doing better, now Tom and I just have to recuperate. (Maybe after Christmas!) We still haven't had our swine flu vaccinations, but then again, none of us have felt good enough to get one! And Allison and Tom did not even get the basic flu vaccine yet-although Tom doesn't usually get one. We are all getting ready for our annual check ups and teeth cleaning appts(end of the year and all). I hope we can stay healthy enough to get to the doctors!

Take care and try to stay warm and dry and healthy! Happy Fall Back for those that participated! Kathleen and Family