Time goes by so . . .not slowly!

I cannot believe how long it has been since I last posted. I'm not really sure where the time has gone! We've started Christmas shopping already and I'm making my plans to decorate for the season. And as many of you know, since November 1, we've been listening to Christmas music around here. What else have we been up to? Not much, but here's a little re-cap.

Halloween has come and gone. I managed to pull off Maggie's costume after some procrastination regarding the costume materials. This was the inspiration for the costume. It sold on ebay for $140!

I lucked out in that I found a supplier to purchase 175 yards of tulle in 3, 6, and 9 inch widths in various colors. I negated that luck by waiting too long to find the fabric and paying double for expedited shipping. In hindsight, I probably would have gotten all of the materials to complete her costume in plenty of time, but I was afraid it wouldn't come, so I paid for the shipping. So, I paid less than I would have had I purchased the costume from one of the crafters on etsy.com

or ebay, but I spent more than I should have. However, the costume was an award winner. We participated in the local Saxonburg Halloween VFD parade and Maggie won 2nd place for best costume in her age division. Here's a picture of the kids following the parade. It had been a pretty decent day - we had Will's birthday party and we decided to go to the parade last minute. I hadn't realized how fast the weather had gotten cold, and by the time we got to the parade, it had started to sprinkle. We sat in the car until the parade stared and then braved the mist and walked the parade route. It quickly quit raining, but it was cold. Once octopus would not walk, so he got to ride in the stroller. We had some trouble with the octopus costumes because the arms were so heavy they pulled the sweatshirts and made them stretch and pucker. The boys were happy with them though, so that is all that matters.

Here's Maggie in her full costume at the Clearview Mall trick or treat event. She got many a compliment from the shop keepers. Walker was at a birthday party that night at Chuck E Cheeses, so the little two had a lot of fun trick or treating. Will was pretty amazed that all he had to do was walk up to someone, say "tic tea" and they would put candy in his bucket. Woo-hoo! Will would not stand still for a Mall picture because he was too intent on getting candy out of his bucket.

Maggie is already thinking about next year's costume. She wants to be a lady bug or a bumble bee. I think I can handle that. Walker, a little jealous over Maggie's parade win, asked if he could wear Maggie's peacock costume next year. I love that he is still innocent enough to not understand that wearing that costume would cause him to be teased.

It's such a fine line, isn't it, treading that area between wanting your child to be able to do or be anything he/she wants and not allowing them to do it because you know it will cause them to be teased or tortured. It saddens me that we live in a society that kids just can't be what they want to be because they will be teased about their choices by other kids. Walker doesn't understand that Maggie's peacock is a "girl" costume. He just wants to have a costume that will win him a prize. It is for reasons such as this that I understand why people home school. I just pray that I am doing my job right and that he will be able to withstand the pressures of society and will live true to himself. It's going to be a rough road. He's already picking up some unflattering language at school that we have to address. We're doing our best to explain to him why we feel what he is saying is wrong, but I know how hard it is to resist repeating what most of his friends are saying. At least for now, he's slipping up in front of us and we can reprimand him and talk about why we don't want him to say that. I know when he gets older, he'll have the awareness to watch what he says around us. It's such a struggle being a parent. I have so many moments daily that I wonder if I'm using those "teaching" moments wisely, taking each opportunity to teach my children the values Erik and I want them to have.

Will we succeed? I'm not sure. I feel that Erik and I are strong parents and our children are clear about what we expect of our family. For now, I just try to review each day and remember the funny and silly things the kids say and do.

Some of the most memorable of late:

Walker participates in the "Book It" reading program at his school. In October, he was challenged to read eight books and record the title and author of each book and turn in a form to his teacher. After he did, he received a coupon for a free personal pan pizza. Maggie, jealous that Walker got to earn his own pizza asked me, "Momma, when am I going to get a poo-con to get a free pizza?"

Willie James is really talking up a storm now and loves to sing. His favorite song to sing right now is "Happy Birthday" and he sings it to his favorite girl, Ella. Here's also in love with football and loves to watch it on TV. He asks to wear his "Stee" (Steeler) shirt and just tonight was enthralled with the game.