The Halloween Party!!

This last Saturday we had our Halloween Party, and I will just go out on a limb here to say that fun was had by all! John and I had a blast running around trying to make sure everything went smoothly, and the adults had a good time hanging out at the house and/or watching their children try to find the buried treasure on the haunted trail and house. I got some pictures even! John has some up on his blog too, along with his version of events, and for some more click here to get to Timpani's blog; http://quisandvance.blogspot.com/
This is how it went;
The kids arrived and I gave them the first clue; a piece of a treasure map. They had to use that piece to find the other pieces hidden in the graveyard (our backyard) and other places to find the witch that would tell them where they needed to go and who to talk to in order to find the treasure, while avoiding the Grim Reaper who was making his rounds in the field behind the graveyard. They then had to then go through the haunted house (our garage) by passing through the mad scientist's laboratory (our library) to get to the ghost who hid the treasure who would then tell them where he buried it. The kids did pretty well with only marginal help from adults. Meanwhile, the adults kicked back and had some dinner in the house (not the haunted part). I made chili (which everyone but Todd thought was too hot!) and potato soup. It was loads of good fun, although if we do it next year, I won't be feeding everyone again. Too much work on top of all the other preparations!! And now for the pics!

This is John after all the activity. He looks a little tired and sweaty doesn't he? I can't imagine why....

This is just a random picture after the kids found and opened the treasure, which resulted in a candy frenzy. This is when everyone settled in their own little spaces to eat and enjoy the spoils. Here's Renae. What a ham!

My sister, Virginia. Isn't she cute?

Her husband Apollo, and their new baby, Lark. Two hams in one house was almost too much...

More random enjoyment of the booty.

Here's Trent on the right and Todd on the left in their costumes.

Here's Todd again. I did the make-up, and had a blast doing it. It's my first time ever doing any one's make-up too. Didn't I do great? His own sister as well as his mother didn't recognize him. His mom saw the picture and said "So who was this?" I took that pic as well. I am just the BEST!

So that concludes the Great Sever Haunted Treasure Hunt. We had a blast doing it, and I hope everyone had a blast attending!!

The Almighty Liz

Seriously Awesome Week

Have I said how much I love our new area yet? Because, man, do I LOVE our new town!
I have gotten to do all these things just this week;
Had a super good weekend to myself (see prior post).
Got to have a girls' night out with a neighbor. (we went to a really good restaurant where her husband works, although he was off that night watching their kids, and we got our extremely tasty-but expensive-meal for FREE.)
Had one set of John's aunts and uncles over for dinner. (Reid and Marsha-we laughed all night long)
Had one of my new friends from church volunteer to scrub my floors for me, since after all the other house work I did this week, I just couldn't muster the energy. We also went to story time at the library, and our kids played most of the day together, and had a blast. (thanks Elise! The floors look stellar, and you are the alltime BEST!)
John got a RAISE. (just the yearly one that everyone gets, and not huge or anything, but still ultra cool)
Jonni has her first loose tooth.
And we still have a Halloween party for all our nieces and nephews (biological and honorary) tomorrow to look forward to!
Seriously, I just don't think life gets any better! Anything better than this is just bonus at this point, for real. (not that I will turn down bonuses. That would make me a loser, and I think everyone agrees that I'm as far from a loser as you can get)
The Almighty Liz

My Weekend

Well, my weekend was not what I expected, but it sure was fun! I was supposed to go camping with my entire in-law family, but I got a cold at the beginning of last week, and so opted to not go, even though I was feeling just fine by the weekend. I didn't want to tempt fate! John decided to take the kids and go without me, so I was then faced with a whole weekend to myself? What's a girl to do...?
Well, I'll tell you. The fam left at four o'clock on Friday afternoon. And first let me tell you that I called everyone I could think of to hang out, and everyone was busy. So, Friday I went and test drove cars. Do you know, that was a lot of fun? I'm mainly doing research for when our car finally throws in the towel, so I don't have to scramble and do everything last minute. There was this one sweet little Jeep Grand Cherokee...but I won't go into details. It was painful enough to leave it at the dealership. :)
I was then going to eat dinner and go shopping, but after eating dinner, I decided I was too tired. So instead I rented a few movies, watched one, and went to bed early. Oh! I also talked to my best friend, Mary, for a bit before the movie. I just don't get to talk to her near enough these days. (Love you!)
On Saturday, after a blissful night's sleep, (no husband stealing my covers, no daughter getting me up at 2 am to tell me her bed is "messed up", ect ect), I woke, had breakfast, and decided to go shopping. I was having dinner at a friend's later that evening, and so decided to call and tell her I wouldn't call right before I left like I had planned, and wasn't sure when I would make it out to her place. Well, lo and behold, her plans for the day got cancelled, (or rather, her husband's did, and he was gracious enough to take the kids off her hands so she could come out and play), so I got a shopping buddy! Before I went over to her place, I had lunch at my favorite fast food place; Lion's Choice. I did it because I'm the only one that likes that place, ergo, I never get to eat there. Mmmm, it was soooooo good. There were some major fall sales going on when we go to the mall too, so we totally cleaned up. I don't have to go shopping for a long time now. Woohoo! We then went back to her house, ordered pizza, watched chic flix (much to her husband's dismay...sorry Erik! I didn't know when I rented them you would be watching them too!), and ate some cheesecake I purchased from our little grocery around the corner. The one with the pies to die for. Their cheesecake is very much on par with the pies. (and I am sure I gained 10 lbs in just that one evening)
Sunday was just lazy, waiting for the fam to get home. All in all though, a really good, stress relieving few days. I missed my kids and my hubby, but it was nice to have some time to myself too. To not have to be somebody's mama, somebody's wife, cook, maid, ect ect ect. To just be a girl for awhile was exceedingly nice. ;)
The Almighty Liz
ps everybody had a great time at the campout too. John took some pics on our camera phone that I would love to post, but I have no idea how to get them from the phone to the computer. Any suggestions?