Halloween

So, if you've noticed during this "Season of Halloween", each event has required a different costume for my children.  They are costume snobs in that regard.  Luckily, our costume stash is considerable, and I didn't have to buy even ONE new thing to cover 9 different costume changes for three kids, attending three different events each.  Thank goodness.  They came up with their own from the hoard in the basement, although I DID  make suggestions for the VFW Halloween costume contest.  Because there's money involved, and if you wanna chance at winning, you need an expert in your corner. 

Colby decided early on that he wanted to be a dwarf in a barrel, from Lord of the Rings.  That's a tall order, and rather obscure.  Would the judges get the reference?  Maybe, maybe not.  You never know with frat boys.  So we covered a foam tunnel from my work with brown fabric, and added a sign that said "Mirkwood to Laketown" to give them a hint.  And then Colby pranced around in his Thorin Oakenshield costume.  "Barrel boy" won 2nd prize for his age category.

Quinn listened to his mother, and dressed as Mr. Tumnus.  He looked awesome, and won first prize for his age category, 2nd prize overall, and came home $30 richer.  It didn't occur to me until afterwards that the frat-boy judges didn't realize that he WAS Mr. Tumnus.  They thought he was "goat boy" from SNL.  Whatever.  He still got the moola, so who cares ;). 

Reagan dressed as an Elven Princess, and looked appropriately adorable.  She had stiff competition in her age group (over 20 kids!) so didn't win for her costume, but DID guess the number of candies in the jar, and won a bucket full of the good stuff! 

Halloween at School

Oh, poor, poor teachers.  Halloween was on a Monday this year.  Which means that for five whole days, teachers will have to deal with children who are either comatose or on a sugar high.  Poor buggers.  Quinn and Colby are not too old to still dress up, for which I am truly thankful.  They looked dang good as an 19th century gentleman and a soldier!  Reagan, who is also Star of the Week, (SUCH A BIG WEEK FOR LITTLE GIRL!!) decided to dress as Belle for her Halloween parade at school. 

A Visitor from the South, and the traditional naked Finnish Sauna Picture

Uncle Doug is up visiting, and we took the opportunity to invite him over for a sauna, and record the moment for all posterity, as is our habit.  These men love their saunas!  Took me a while to notice Reagan photobombing in the background!

Carving Pumpkins

Treat Street

 A witch and a vampire hit the streets for some candy!  They were awfully cute for looking so scary :)

FIRST Snobots Scrimmage

Both boys joined robotics this year.  Their robot is called "Rubik" and they did a great job at the scrimmage in Marquette.  On to Petoskey!!

Feast Day Fun: Miracle of the Sun

Fatima, Portugal: nearly 100 years ago today (well, 99.  But that's awfully close to 100!).  The miracle witnessed by over 70,000 people at the same time.  The story fascinates us every year.  To celebrate, we ate a Portuguese dish called Vina Dosh, and had a lemon sun cake for dessert.  This year, we added some "Prophecy" wine as well, for those of us over the legal drinking age.  We read old newspaper accounts of the miracle, and discussed the three secrets of Fatima.  Such an amazing story, and definitely worth remembering!!

Girl's Weekend

Mama and her friends snuck away for an overnight stay in Neenah, Wisconsin in honor of Renata's 40th birthday!!  It was so great to just relax, do a little shopping, eat out, and go to an off-Broadway play (Book of Mormon).  These wild girls were in bed asleep by 10 pm, but still... we were ABLE to go to bed when we wanted to!!  The value of a good night's sleep is highly under-rated, I tell you.  Renata needs to turn 40 again very soon.

Daddy Daughter Get Away

For the 2nd consecutive year, Daddy and Reagan snuck away to Mackinac island.  Their trip lasted a bit longer than planned, as flying in a teeny tiny plane is very much dictated by the weather.  The overnighter ended up a 4 day, 3 night extravaganza because of rain... and Reagan was not disappointed.  Lucky duck. 

Such a memorable time, just the two of them, being all fancy schmancy.  They even went golfing for Reagan's first time!