MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk

Homemade Fun

Last night was what seems to have become the Annual Halloween Party here. I started having a Halloween party for the bigger kids two years ago, when they were too big for trick-or-treating. I wanted them to have something to keep the holiday fun... besides, I like Halloween myself and the fun of all the costumes and spooky decorations.

For the last two years, we let younger DS come but didn't invite his friends, because he could still trick-or-treat. This was the first year that we let him have 2 of his friends come, and the older kids got to invite more. With 3 kids inviting their friends, you soon end up with an unmanageable crowd, so we have to limit it--- our house just isn't that big! We ended up having 12 kids, including my kids, and that was fine.

The kids showed up at 5:00 and stayed until about 11 pm. We had: a detective, a cowgirl, a German border patrol, a jail bird, Ginny Weasley, a monk, a Grand Wazoo of the Free Masons, a Renaissance maiden, a ghoul, a caped fighter and some kids not in costume. \

Here's where I have faith in our youth today-- all of these kids were excited to participate in the old-fashioned type games we play at these parties. Ones who had been here before were eagerly looking forward to them. Nobody was "too cool" or thought the games were dumb (or at least, didn't voice it). We played: eating donuts dangling on strings without using your hands (racing against others), assassin (killing people by blinking), blind man's bluff, and bobbing for apples. We had a bonfire going and our basement den was set up for watching scary movies.

Our food for the party was: Blood and Guts (all sorts of shapes of pasta mixed togethe with lots of tomato sauce), Bony Fingers (crescent roll dough wrapped around hotdogs so the hot dog sticks out, and sliced almonds used as fingernails), cheese nachos, chips, a chip dip, popcorn, carrots and ranch dip, and candy. To drink there was hot apple cider and Black Punch (grape and orange koolaid mixed with ginger ale).

Sometimes I think I'm crazy to go to all this work and wear myself out putting on a party, epsecially when younger DS is having a birthday less than a month from now, but then I think about the kids and how I like for them to have fun and special memories. I'm glad our house can be the one they like to hang out at. And it makes Halloween more than just a round of trick-or-treating. It's fun... for all ages!

So go put on a black cape and read some Edgar Allen Poe by candlelight. Get into the spirit... boo!

Hello Cousin C! Hi There, Sister L!

It has come to my attention this weekend that People Have Actually Been Reading My Blog. Okay, not a lot of people, but most of the time I'm thinking that no one is actually reading anything I write. We were at a family wedding on Saturday, and Cousin C impressed me with her knowledge of the trivial details of my life, as recorded in this blog. And my sister L said I never write about her in my blog. Gee, well, cool! So, keep reading and I'll try to write stuff more often.

Now just a little about them... after all, they are the Stars of the Blog for today!

Cousin C was the big sister I never had growing up (I'm the oldest in my own family). She is 3 or 4 years older than me, so whenever she came over I was fascinated by her, fawning over her and pestering her to death to play with me, which she graciously did all the time. I remember going through a Monopoly phase when I was 10 and I'm sure that got a bit old for her--- "play Monopoly with me! Play Monopoliy with me Again!"

She was the cool big cousin, the teenager when I was still pre-puberty. She'd spend weeks with us throughout the year, staying over and hanging out. I remember making cookies with her, going on endless trips in the summer to the Civic Center, where our family had a membership. Mom would push us out the door to go swimming there almost every day, and we walked or biked the 2 miles to get here. I remember being influenced by the music she was into. I remember long talks we had. And she didn't like to have her picture taken.

And then there's my sister L, who if I remember correctly was often hanging on the back of Cousin C whenever she was around. L likes to call herself "My favorite sister," but of course we have another sister and brother, and I'm not saying anything, smart girl that I am! L is my next youngest sibling, 2 years younger than me, and we shared a bedroom the whole time we were growing up, until I went away to college, and then even some times after that when I came back. Often we would be in the same bed together, and when we couldn't fall asleep because mom would put us to bed too early, we would play games in bed at night, like talking stuffed animals or drawing on each other's backs, spelling out words.

Now gee, we're all grown up. Cousin C is a Grandma to 2, L and I are each moms of 3... wow. But it's fun to get together. I got to talk to lots of relatives I hadn't seen in awhile at the wedding. It's good to catch up. And fun to watch our kids now dancing on the dance floor. Even my 15 year old son got out there, which amazed me. He can do a mean Chicken Dance! (Oh he'll love me for that!) ;-)

It's Been Awhile....

Where have the last few weeks gone? Fall busy-ness seems to have settled in. The kids are all busy with school and plays and archery and piano lessons. I've already had to go to conferences for 2 out of 3 kids, always a hassle. And I'm gearing up to teach a class at The Loft-- it's a 4-hour workshop on National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo.org) which I've participated in for three years. A fellow Wrimo is co-teaching with me, and for me, It's A Big Deal. I've only taught kids before, and I'm not a natural at public speaking. But we've got 28 people signed up so far! So more prep time for me this week.

Other big news is that we now have a kitty. He's a black kitten named Jinx, and we've had him for 2 weeks now. He's both annoying and a load of fun (trying to chew my fingers as I type right now). He's a good addition to the family. He'll keep all of us on our toes!

And I got sick the week before last. This one was 4 days of icky crud-- diarrhea, fever and chills, constant stomach cramps. I sat in my pj's underneath blankets and watched daytime TV and drank tea and occasionally braved some spoonfuls of rice. Not fun. Being sick like that always helps me not to take feeling good for granted! And being able to eat real food, too!

Well, off to get something done, I hope. It's hard to focus today, Monday, a gray but colorful fall day with all the leaves changing. And now to get Jinx out of my files!