This is a freaky mother/daughter costume duo. Those masks, while very simple in their design, were probably the scariest of the night.

Out of about 50+ people, there were maybe 3 or 4, who didn't have a costume on. Everyone gets into the spirit and as the years have passed, the more people who attend. At one point in the night, I had trouble maneuvering through the crowd....and NOT because I was intoxicated ;) I spent most the night chaperoning kids. We have decided to hire a babysitter for the entire month of October next year. Any takers???

Eric's co-worker got in on our theme, too. She was Max, the dog. This was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!! Have I mentioned, recently, how much I love Halloween????

Here are the boys in their perch, overlooking the party.

Vampire princess, Ally.

This is Eric and I as the Grinch and CindyLu Who. I think we'll have our photo in the Fredericktown newspaper, since a lady took our names. Either that, or our witness protection gig is up. We had about a half dozen people get our picture or stand with us for a picture while trick-or-treating. WHO knew our costumes would be such a hit? Get it? WHO???? Who-ville?? Maybe I'm just sleep-deprived.

Jeff is a zookeeper, trying to tame this lion and keep control of the cheetah. Good luck, Jeff. Although, both of these lady jungle creatures adore him.

Fredericktown is an awesome place to trick-or-treat. They have a gazebo in the middle of town, where you can get a steamy cup of cider and a donut. Kenz and Viv are doing just that.

As if she hasn't already had enough sugar.......oh well, it's once a year, right???

Wright's Halloween Party!!!

This year was the biggest ever. It's also Mark's 50th birthday, so it was quite the celebration.

Zombie Abby. Talk about freaky....I couldn't stop staring at her eyes. Love it!!

Vivian was tearing up the dance floor. She danced until she nearly dropped. Anytime she heard music, her body started to boogie. It was like she had no control over it. Hilarious.

Tirck-Or-Treating!!





This year, Kenz, Jeff's daughter, flew in from Iowa for a visit. She dressed up as a cheetah and helped us out immensely with the weekend festivities.

This decoration is up every year and as a special treat, (we) proceeded to trip over the extension cord, thereby deflating it after this picture was taken. You're welcome nice family who pretended to not see us fumble and panic, trying to get it plugged back in. Thank you for not adding to our humiliation by freaking out. Has anyone ever been banned from trick-or-treat festivities??? There's always a first.

The cutest little lion I ever did see.

Viv's first candy nugget. She said trick or treat all the time, in the days prior to the event. However, when it came time for the big show, she kinda froze. It's ok, they gave it to her, anyway.

*First of all, I want to post photos of Al's finished desk, but she hasn't been able to keep her room clean for any length of time, so my "tidy" windows of opportunity are severely limited. Maybe today. Or not.



HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!
I have said this a couple times in the last few weeks......our Halloween season is as busy, if not busier, than Christmas. It's crazy, hectic, chaotic..but fun. This year, Viv was such a trip. She really got into Halloween - wanting to see all the decorations at the stores, ,having no issue with putting on a costume, and of course, the candy.

Viv was treated to all sorts of goodies at Al and Jay's school. Here, she demonstrates the two-fisting of sugar delights.

Max,Dyl and Grant dressed up as the "Three Stooges" for their Halloween dance. I was very proud of them. Only a hand-ful of kids dressed up and the dance was for grades 6-8. I figured they'd be too embarrassed, especially being with the older kids. Of course, I did have to hear the downloaded soundbites of "Wise Guy, eh?" and "Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck" for days prior.

Here's Max and his "special friend", Rachel. I remember the days of wearing boy's jerseys,well. I don't remember doing it in 6th grade, but still. It seems remarkable how much the hormones seemed to have exploded upon entering the 6th grade. Will I really have to be dealing with boyfriend/girlfriend issues while enduring the terrible two's and independent threes????? Oy.

Labor of love.

Ally put "desk" on her Christmas list. We looked into some that Value City had, (employee discount!!!!!) but I didn't like any of them. I had one in mind, I just had to scour the Internet to see who had one and who had it the cheapest. However, Eric saw this beauty by the side of the road with a price of $40. We went to take a look, and I fell in love. It's almost exactly what I had envisioned. It's beautiful in my eyes. The detail, the mirror, truly one-of-a-kind. Of course, it needed a little TLC, so in my spare time, I sanded, puttied, primed, taped and painted. The only thing left to do is to find/order drawer knobs and haul it up to Ally's room. I will share the pictures once it's all done and in place.
Now, after looking at a ton of different knobs to replace the ones that were on the desk, Ally decided on some she insists she likes. I don't. There were so many pretty horse pulls, running horses, rod-iron, hand-painted, pretty drawer pulls/knobs and she picks pink and purple Pegasus knobs. *sigh* My dilemma is whether or not I lie to her and say those knobs are no longer available, or go with her choice and turn my nose up at the knobs that made my pretty desk ugly?
Oh yeah, and if the child wants to do her homework at this desk, we will supply her with a blanket to put over the mirror so she doesn't sit and stare at herself for an hour. You think I'm kidding? Nope. She'll do it. "Ally, are you done with your homework?" "Ummm............no, but I've learned that my face has 1, 042 different expressions! "

Before

Awesome fall......

My brother, SIL and nephew came for the weekend, to compliment Grandma's stay. We had planned to go to the orchard, but the weather had something else in mind, namely, rain and cold. Oh well, we still found stuff to do here.

Not sure who loved this more, Kyu or George.

I think Kyu had a good time on Vanilla. I wasn't sure he would actually get up on the saddle, but he did (without even a hesitation).

Of course he had to fight THIS one for all the riding time.

Our October is such a crazy, busy month. Football certainly takes a huge chunk out of our days and weekends. However, there is so much we WANT to do that it is difficult to squeeze it all in. There are parties, costume preparation and haunted houses. Last year we didn't get to a single one, which is a travesty. This year, we will try harder. Where does all the time go????? How is it that we only have a few weekends left in October? I don't have the answer, so if any of you know how to freeze time, please share!!