A Heartfelt Thank You

I thought I would take a minute to thank everyone who remembered us this Christmas.

To our families. Your love and support each and every day of the year is more than gift enough, but thanks to you as well for the presents sent, phone calls made and memories shared with us during this Christmas season. We missed your presence this year, as we celebrated Christmas in Fort Collins, but we spent a good deal of Christmas Day remembering Christmases past when we were fortunate enough to be with you. We look forward to those in the future, when we are able to do so again. We are blessed beyond measure to have you.

To our friends. Thank you for the gifts, phone calls, time spent and laughter shared. We especially loved hearing your Christmas stories, seeing your Christmas pictures and knowing that even though working through the holidays wasn't optional, work was something to look forward to because you were there. We are blessed beyond measure to have you.

Love and Best Wishes for a Spectacular 2009!

John, Kristin and Taylor

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!

Without further ado, let the picture show begin. :)

This is the sight that greeted John this morning, when sounds of
glee erupted from the vicinity of the front room...

Taylor made the very wise decision to let her parents sleep in while she made short work of going through the presents from Santa in her stocking. Among them were an Ugly Doll named Ox, chocolate and mints, that elusive Wisconsin state quarter we spent all year looking for, juggling balls, a new Hello Kitty water bottle. The piece de resistance though, was the Nintendo DS personal game system. I'm pretty sure that's what all the squealing was over. :)

Taylor played the role of helper elf, as usual. Even though 99%
of the gifts under the tree were for her, as usual.

Among all of those bright, shiny packages she found a massive
make-up set from Uncle Henry...

the much coveted "Fat Man Book" from Grandma Lou...
(so called because of the 3D pic of the World's Heaviest Human inside)

Games from Grandma and Grandpa...

And a game for her DS from Mom and Dad. I was surprised she
didn't wonder how we knew she was going to receive
a DS from Santa...

And, after about 37 gifts, give or take a couple, it was time
to make Mickey waffles.

Every year that we celebrate Christmas at home, we make Mickey waffles.
We started this family tradition on Taylor's 2nd Christmas.

I stumbled to the kitchen to whip up the batter, break out the fruit compote and whipped cream and get the table ready. 10 minutes later, Mickey joined the festivities. I even felt brave enough to attempt a bite or two, which very soon thereafter proved to be a huge mistake. No regrets, though. It is Christmas after all!

The rest of the day was spent together, talking to our loved ones on the phone, enjoying the gifts we were blessed to receive. Late afternoon was nap time for everyone. John cozied up under the beautiful afghan his mom crocheted for our Christmas gift this year.

The best nap accessory ever--a 100% wool afghan made by Mom.

Alas, the festivities are winding down. John is scheduled to work this evening and Taylor is ready for bed. I am planning on taking up semi-permanent residence on the family room sofa until this illness is gone once and for all!

We were separated from loved ones by distance this year, but as always, feel very close to them in heart. May love and peace be with you all.

Kristin

The Santa Set-Up

Thank goodness for husbands.

I don't know if I've ever uttered those words out loud before, but I'm sure I should have. More specifically, thank goodness for my husband. Without his help and attention to detail, I'm quite sure our Christmas morning celebration tomorrow would be rather dismal indeed.

You see, I have caught the dreaded stomach plague that has been making the rounds in Fort Collins over the past several weeks. The past 24 hours have been truly miserable. When not writhing on the sofa in agony, I have been making repeated sojourns to the Throne of Horror. Yes, you know what I mean. I am not feeling very Christmasy--not at all.

But my husband has saved the day. Wrapping presents. Faking Santa's handwriting. Putting out Santa's snack and some Cheerios for Rudolph (a Grandma Lou tradition). Making sure all of the little things are done that will make Taylor's Christmas of 2008 a thing to remember with happiness.

First, the message board. Ever since Taylor was old enough to care about Santa and Rudolph, we've been having her write a message to him on her message board. We continued the tradition this year.

If you've ever seen John's handwriting, you know the effort
involved in this very legible message from Santa... :)

I love that Taylor still writes 'Mary Christmas' for her yearly shout out to Santa Claus, rather than correctly saying 'Merry Christmas'. When she was very little and we were living on Springfield Drive, we had next-door neighbors named Mary and Earl. Both in their late eighties, they were lovely people and absolutely in love with Taylor. Taylor's confusion about "Mary Christmas" came about quite naturally as a result. With no concept of what the word 'merry' meant, she automatically assumed that when we ran around saying "Merry Christmas" at Christmas time, we must be talking about her favorite neighbor. The cute mix-up has become a family joke and tradition, even though she does know what the difference is these days. Mary has been gone for a few years now, but the fond memories will hopefully never fade.

Next, the cookies and milk for Santa. We put out a Santa snack each year, plus some Cheerios for Rudolph. The cookies are always homemade and decorated by Taylor. I was worried about how we were going to accomplish this, as Taylor was sick for the last several days and now it's my turn. Thank goodness for friends and neighbors!

Here's an example of Taylor's finest cookie decorating efforts for
Santa this year. To be honest, this is perhaps the only reason I
can think of to be glad I have the stomach plague. :)

Taylor asked me, "How many cookies does Santa eat when he's
out making deliveries?" I said, "If they're anything like this one,
probably about 3!"

Taylor was invited to attend a sleepover at her BFF's house on Monday, but because of a last minute snafu, the date was changed to last night, the 23rd. The change in plans could not have been more fortuitous. Rather than watch me retch and kvetch, Taylor spent last night at her BFF's house making cookies for Santa and having the time of her life. She and her friend Arianna stayed up until 3 a.m. playing games, jumping on beds and carousing as only 7-year old girls can do. I am most impressed that the girls were allowed to decorate their cookies ad lib, without the influence of an overly anal adult around (me). Very memorable and quite, uh, sugary. I hope Santa enjoys every bite. And brings his injectable insulin with him in his sleigh. He'll need it if he eats so much as a single bite of one of these babies.

Knock yourself out Santa!

John set up the message board, the snacks and Taylor's stocking upstairs in the front room. We've just finished wrapping the last of Taylor's gifts. Everything is set and ready to go. According to the latest Santa Tracker update from 9 News in Colorado, Santa should be making his stop at the Anthony household sometime within the hour. Better get myself to bed!

Kristin

Christmas Caroling 2008

Taylor's Brownie troop has been working on their winter project over the last several months, ever since school started up again. Twice each month the girls met to make ornaments and gifts for their friends at Respite Care. They also decided to plan an afternoon of Christmas carols at the center for all to come and enjoy.

Today was the big day! Taylor was so excited when she got up this morning. It's Christmas Caroling Day at Respite Care! She practiced her songs a little bit this morning, went to school for the day, then came home to change and get ready for the extravaganza. Here's our very own professional Christmas caroler, all dressed up and ready to sing.

I told Taylor the the combination of dressy dress, mary janes,
Brownie vest and antlers was just smashing. :)

Here's a short clip of our very amateurish camera video of the girls singing one of the classics. Doesn't every kid sing this song for a Christmas program? If you look closely, you can see Taylor on the left by the piano, with her antlers jingling, hiding behind her 'cheat sheet'. :)

All combined, there were over 40 girls that attended this year's festivities at Respite Care. The troops pooled funds to buy the facility a new microwave oven and donated their leftover cookie money from last year to Respite Care's camp fund. The girls all reported having a wonderful time and have already asked to go back next year.

It was so rewarding to watch Taylor up there singing her little heart out. I spent the whole time trying to make sure my misty eyes didn't actually well up and spill over. I really needn't have bothered. When I looked around, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Kristin

Heaven in Winter

Never underestimate the effect of simple physics on the life of a child.......

What is it???????

A snowball maker?!?!?!?! Let's try it out!

It works!!!!! That is SO cool!

Unloading the wondrous creation...

By the little smirk on her face, can you tell what happened next?
SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!

Kristin

Send Me to the Moon

Wow! Did anyone else stop dead in their tracks to stare at the moon tonight? I knew nothing about the lunar specialness about to show itself, but it was breathtaking. Here's what National Geographic news has to say about the phenomenon:

Look for an especially large and bright Full Moon later this week. The Full Moon of 2008 DEC 12 will occur very near perigee. That perigee will be the closest between the centers of the Moon and Earth since 1993 and until 2016. The Earth is not far from its early January perihelion. That enhances the brightness of reflected sunlight. The closest perigees occur when they coincide with a Full Moon and the Earth near perihelion. Since this month’s Full Moon will be happening near the Winter Solstice, it will appear especially high near local midnight for observers north of the tropics. Where there is snow on the ground the lighting effect may be breathtaking.

No kidding! I walked upstairs to turn off the kitchen lights and looked out our patio doors. I was stunned by the oh-so-bright moonlight reflected off the pristine snow in our backyard. I tried to take pictures of it all, but no luck there. I didn't realize exactly how hard it is to take good pictures of the moon.

For we peeps in North America, the moon will be fullest and closest during midday tomorrow, the 12th. But the difference will be barely noticeable during the two nights on either side, so in essence we’ll be seeing the effect twice. If you missed it, there's still a chance!

Kristin

Puttin' Up the Tree

Today was Put Up the Tree Day at our house. Woo hoo! Every year we try to find one new ornament that we can't live without. This year Taylor's aunt Christine helped us out with that. A box arrived in the mail with this little cutie inside. Taylor was thrilled!

If you're a seven year old girl, this ornament is the cat's meow.
Thanks Aunt Christine!

Taylor also picked out the tree topper this year. We've used this one before, but she looks especially lovely with all of the dark red ornaments on the tree. Dad helped Taylor get her to the top of the tree.

Taylor loves angels, so no surprise on her choice of tree topper
this year.

With the tree up and all of the lights working, we feel ready to start the countdown to Christmas. Let the season begin! We've got Christmas carols to practice, cookies to make and many festivities to attend. We'll have posts up in the next few weeks to chronicle Taylor's holiday activities.

Kristin

The Only Child

It seems everywhere I go these days (supermarket, library, car ride to Tae Kwon Do) I am bombarded with messages concerning only children. No kidding. The last three books I've read have had entire passages devoted to the topic. Just yesterday, my favorite afternoon radio show had an entire portion devoted to discussing the Only Child Curse. Then, Taylor piped up from the back seat on the way to Tae Kwon Do class to tell me that she hated being an only child.

For about two nanoseconds, I was furious. Furious at the situation that I hated. I wanted to slam on the brakes and ask her if she actually thought for one second that I had planned things this way. Then I almost started crying. Because even after all this time I still feel guilty. About what, I don't know. Just guilty about all of it. And I couldn't think of one thing to say to her about being the one and only.

Wow. If I ever thought I was prepared for this discussion with my daughter, the overwhelming wave of guilt I felt yesterday assured me that I'm very, very wrong in that assumption.

I've heard over the years many, many opinions regarding only children. The litany of negative comments is one I can recite by heart. As in: They don't learn how to share. They're spoiled. If you don't take extreme precautions against it, only children turn out unsocialized and selfish. The teenage years will be hell because of the extreme pressure an only child feels from parents. Only children are lonely. She'll hate you because she doesn't have any siblings. She'll be all alone when you die.

I think the only way I'd feel more guilty about our family size is if I had been brought up Jewish. Seriously.

Then I picked up my fourth book dealing with only children and found my saving grace. While I think Taylor is far too young to listen to discussions involving my life-long bout with PCOS, or the several miscarriages I've had, I think she's probably ready to hear something like this:

Haroun wanted to know why his parents hadn't had more children, but the only answer he ever got from Rashid was no answer at all: "There's more to you, young Haroun, than meets the blinking eye."
Well, what was that supposed to mean? "We used up our full quota of child-stuff in making you," Rashid explained. "It's all packed in there, enough for maybe four, five kiddies. Yes, sir, there's more to you than the blinking eye can see."

Haroun and the Sea of Stories--Salman Rushdie

Yeah. I think Rushdie got it right.

Someday Taylor will be old enough to understand that we tried and failed. That we didn't have a fortune to spend on 'treating the problem', that we didn't plan it quite this way, but having her made it all okay. And we'll do everything we can to make being 'the only one' okay. Or even better than okay.

As for me, I no longer have many worries about how my only child will be. If the last seven years are any kind of proof, I think Taylor will turn out great. Maybe even more than great.

Kristin

Thanksgiving Cooking Kid Style

Make a request to begin the Turkey Day fun...

Start with these...

Add some heat and hear the pretty popping sound...

Wait for the bubble bath to finish...

TA DAAAA!!!

Take one of these...

Make some of this stuffing stuff...

Put the stuffing stuff in there...

Get one of these ready..
(and remind your mom you REALLY need a haircut)

And put this in it when it is ready. Then wait.

At this point, go play. Tell your mom and dad to make the pie and get the potatoes ready. After all, you're a mere seven years old and can only do so much. ;)

Enjoy!!
Remind your parents that you could do this more than once a year.
Remind your parents that you REALLY need a haircut...

When you look at it from the viewpoint of a seven-year old, it's really pretty simple, isn't it?


Kristin

Happy Thanksgiving!

A greeting from our house to yours.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Love to All!
John, Kristin and Taylor

P.S. Mom, I'm praying very hard for your oven to perform like a well-cleaned, Easy-Offed, turkey roasting machine! I'll miss you all like crazy--have a piece of Eunice's amazing pineapple pie for me. xoxo

The Mother Letter Project

One of my favorite bloggers recently posted information about a cool Christmas project called The Mother Letter Project. After reading about the idea, I'm all for joining in and hope some of you are too. It's simple.

Go here.

Read all about it.

Do it.

Even if you don't think you're a great writer, do it. Even if you think it's all been said about motherhood before, do it. Even if you think you're too busy or too tired, do it. At least consider it.

I know I'm trying to find the words and am more than interested in what mothers everywhere have to say about motherhood--especially those who are honest enough to tell the real truth about it. I'd love to hear what all of you have to say. I'll let you see mine when I'm done.

Kristin

Miscellania and Etceteria

Bonnie Bunny Buns is all cuddled up in Taylor's baby blanket--the one
she started using her first week of life and still snuggles up with
every night at bedtime.

I sent Taylor off to school today and came home to find her snuggle buddy all swaddled up and napping in her bunny nest. Too cute! When I asked her about it later, she reported a wild tale of Bonnie Bunny Buns being up all night and requiring a sleeping pill and the use of her blanket to sleep during the daytime. ;)

************************************************************************************

A week or so before Halloween, John came home after a night's work to tell Taylor and I how he single-handedly caught a robber at work. Taylor and I both said the same thing simultaneously:

"WHAT?!?"

John told us that he went outside just before midnight to take one of his 15 minute breaks. About halfway through, he heard the sound of breaking glass. With little effort, he eye-spied a young man breaking out the windows of cars parked in the PVH parking lot. Once the windows were broken, the guy proceeded to take whatever he thought was valuable. John watched him for a couple of minutes, then called 9-1-1 and told the operator what was happening. Three police cars arrived within minutes, with lights off, and used the directions John provided over the phone to catch the guy and take him away in cuffs.

John filled out an eyewitness report and talked to the police for a little bit. The guy had managed to take cell phones, cameras, car stereo equipment, CD's, etc. out of several different cars in just a matter of minutes. Apparently he had a long record of such crimes and knew what he was doing. Now he's looking at some serious jail time.

Wow! All in a day's work, huh? We've been wondering if John will be called on to provide anything other than his original statement. Haven't heard hide nor hair of the event since it happened. The guy apparently realized he was caught red-handed guilty, or it takes quite a while to get these things through the system. Either way, John gave Taylor a cool story to tell at school!

************************************************************************************

I bought a new curling iron the other day. Mine was a complete disaster, with the spring hinge practically falling off, the thumb press off and a permanent spiral twist in the cord. Taylor spied a really cool looking hot pink number, complete with LED lights to show when the iron is heated up. When I took it out of its package, I was greeted with this friendly warning:

Thank God this warning was included in the package!
A lifetime of blindness was narrowly
averted by such progressive thinking on the part of the manufacturer!

Seriously people! What grotesque comedy of errors (and litigation) was required to prompt the manufacturer to put this warning on their product? Good grief. I want to meet the person that was able to burn their eyeballs with a curling iron. It truly deserves some kind of award. Perhaps someone who lost their eyelids as a child?

I've burned many things with my own curling iron, including a narrow miss with very tender areas (don't use your curling iron when naked), but I can't imagine how anyone could do this, no matter how hard they tried. Wouldn't you blink? Burned eyelids, maybe. Eyeballs? I don't think so.

Even funnier? The "do-not-use-this-product-near-water/risk-of-electric-shock" warning was nowhere to be found. Huh.

************************************************************************************

Taylor is busy practicing the first 9 moves of her new orange belt form. They're pretty cool-looking, if I do say so myself. Here's a picture of her doing a double outer forearm block.

Taylor tries for a perfect block. Harder than it looks!
I was practicing with her the other day and was disturbed to find out
how fast a 7 year old can be. :)

***********************************************************************************************

My neighbor was kind enough to provide me with a spur-of-the-moment "Make Your Own Chai" tutorial last week. Most people who know me fairly well know that I'm something of a tea junkie. I absolutely love hot chai tea, but find most of the commercial blends way too sweet. Hence the desire to make my own. In less than an hour, my neighbor had explained everything and I was all set to try my first pot.

Sweet success! Well, in my case, not-so-sweet success. And that's just how I like it!

************************************************************************************

Have a great week everyone!

Kristin

Easy Off My A$$

I have a confession to make.

After 2+ years of living in this house, I have finally, finally cleaned the oven. As with all past oven cleaning efforts, I feel it was way too late and way too soon. Anyone with me on this?

No?

Well, the way too late part is easy. Two Thanksgivings, two birthday cakes, four baked macaroni mishaps, pan roasted vegetables up the wazoo and countless spills putting food in the oven left the bottom of my oven looking like, well, like this:

If you ever get to the point where you question yourself as to the whereabouts of the fire extinguisher while preheating your oven, well, there's your sign. I thought about conducting an informal poll on this blog to find out just how many applications of Easy Off (a misnomer if I've ever heard one, but I'll get to that in a minute) Oven Cleaner you think I needed to use to actually see the bottom of my oven. But I'll put the three of you out of your misery. It took 4 liberal doses of the napalm known as Easy Off to find out what color my oven is. And that's just starting the cleaning effort way too late.

The way too soon part? Well, that's a little trickier to explain. But it goes a long way toward understanding why I wait too long to clean my oven. I think I have PTSD when it comes to Easy Off. I have flashbacks about donning body armor (complete with a gas mask) and holding my breath longer than Houdini to apply the Easy Off. Even with the oven door only open the width of my wrist, I choke and gag during the application process, like someone has thrown a canister of tear gas into my kitchen. I'm in a panic for days after the cleaning, thinking the oven is permanently contaminated and my food will be too. And 4 applications? Come on! Easy Off my a$$.

Granted, no one responsible for developing Easy Off ever considered the notion that people might actually allow lava spills to develop in their ovens.

Whatever! I'm glad the chore-that-makes-me-wish-myself-dead is over. Mission accomplished. And if any of you have a better suggestion on how to clean lava spills out of an oven, let me know. I'm all ears. :)

Kristin

Orange It Is!

Orange it is! Taylor was awarded her orange belt in class today. She was beaming from ear to ear, as were the other kids who moved up with her. This is the only good picture I have of her with her new bright orange belt. Somehow, our digital camera was dropped and now has trouble focusing correctly and staying in movie mode. I'm going to have to figure out what to do....
Considering we've reached our 10,000th picture with this camera in just shy of 3 years, I guess I can see getting a new one.

Taylor also achieved a feat this week that I never came close to accomplishing at any age, let alone at 7 years old. She achieved the full center splits position (is anyone wincing with me?) which earned her an ice cream date with Mr. Kenny, her instructor. The girl is like Gumby, I tell ya.

Kristin

How About Orange?

Tonight was the big night!

Taylor spent the last week practicing her forms, one-step sparring moves and self-defense moves in preparation for tonight's testing session at her Tae Kwon Do school. I spent the last week attempting to help her remember everything (sketchy at best to rely on your un-martial arts mom for advice) and figuring out how to sew the patches on her uniform. The patches proved to be the source of much personal angst on my part, which ended with me sewing them on mere hours before actual testing was to begin at the school. I believe that the air over our house was exceptionally blue in color and that my husband now has several valid reasons to request a divorce. :)

Still, the patches did get sewn on and our ninja girl did great at testing. We won't know until sometime next week if she was deemed worthy of advancing to orange belt level, but we're fairly confident of her achievement.

Here's the almost-orange belt warrior moments after testing was finished.
If you have any comments about the patches
or their placement, keep them to yourself! :)

HUH! Must be in the FRONT row! If Taylor was nervous,
she hid it very well. I, on the other hand, did not hide it well at all!

After her testing was completed, Taylor had the best seat in the house.
She joined her classmates in cheering on the more advanced kids
during the sparring sessions.

After all testing was complete, the participants lined up for a group photo.
Taylor is in the front row with some of her white belt buddies.

Taylor gets her 18-step form correct...with a little help
from Mr. Kenny. :)

Taylor had oh-so-much fun at testing tonight. Actually, we all did. John was able to show up for work a little later than usual, so he was able to watch Taylor from start to finish. After I got over the patches debacle, I was able to enjoy watching her do her thing too! We'll let you know if our favorite color is orange sometime next week.

Kristin

I Couldn't Agree More...

No matter what slant you put on the phrase, I couldn't agree more. :)

Kristin

10 Things Not to Do When You're Mildly Depressed

1. Eat potato chips for breakfast.
2. Learn (feebly attempt) how to knit/crochet/do anything with needles.
3. Sew patches on a uniform.
4. Read books about still born babies.
5. Manage (feebly attempt) your finances.
6. Sit by the bucket of Halloween candy.
   
7. Get on the bathroom scale.
   
8. Watch the CMA Awards.
9. Walk by a mirror when naked.
10. Become part of a large crowd in a small space.

I have done all of the above things this past week in the midst of a mild depression. No worries, I know it will get better.

Some of the things on the list really are no-brainers. As in you should really just NEVER do them, no matter what the situation (can I get a shout out for #1 and #6 anyone? Oh, and what the hell, let's throw #9 in there too, K?).

As for the rest, well, what can I say? Some things you must do in order to live your life. But they might be just a tad easier with a large amount of Prozac on board.

Kristin

Ready to Test!

Taylor 'takes a knee' at class. Her attention span has grown by
leaps and bounds since beginning Tae Kwon Do training.

After almost 3 months of intense ninja girl effort, Taylor has earned her third white belt achievement stripe and is eligible to test for her orange belt! Taylor was beaming from ear to ear all during class today. She is soooooooooo excited to go to her first formal testing session at ATA Family Tae Kwon Do she can't really talk about anything else! Testing will be next Thursday, so stay tuned for some video footage and a few candids of her efforts. That is, if this mother's heart can bear to watch. Silly, I know, but I get all teary-eyed and emotional. Silly Mom!

Kristin

The Best Halloween EVER!!

Here's the pink mummy fairy in all of her glory!

The title of this post is courtesy of Taylor Anne, who uttered those exact words about 33 times during her trick-or-treating extravaganza this evening. I have to agree with her. It was just about the best night for Halloween that a person could ask for. Indian summer-like temperatures, no wind and on a Friday to boot. Sweet!

Taylor got her party started at school today. An hour long parade of kids in costume, followed by an hour long classroom party. The kids enjoyed games, treat bags from Mrs. Karst and enough sugary goodness to make trick-or-treating later in the day seem rather unnecessary. Not that we caved in to guilt. Oh no! Taylor trick-or-treated for 3 hours tonight before eventually giving in to fatigue. Wonder how many miles she put on her dogs today?

Taylor and her buddy Hanna put on some of the cool loot
they found in Mrs. Karst's treat bags.

Taylor poses with her BFF Arianna before the school parade.

Right after school it was time to finally carve her jack-o-lantern for this Halloween. She put much thought into the design. Much thought. I was beginning to despair that we wouldn't get the job done. But we did and I must say her excessive pondering paid off. Very cute Mr. Kitty jack-o-lantern. Very cute indeed!

Taylor helped dad do the cut-outs this year.
Say hello to Mr. Kitty.

Then it was time to speed over to the Tae Kwon Do school to participate in their Halloween party. Taylor had fun seeing her fellow students in costume and got a huge kick out of the pinata they had there. She also had great fun practicing some of her Tae Kwon Do moves in her costume. Doing running front kicks and ninja chops as a pink mummy fairy is 20 times better than doing them as yourself. :)

The pink mummy fairy goes ninja on the pinata.
Did I say pinata? At a Halloween party? Yup.
Interesting choice too. :)

Then, finally! What she'd been waiting for all day long! Trick-or-treating! Taylor made the rounds in our cul-de-sac, visiting neighbors who were kind enough to make special treat bags just for her. Our next door neighbors were also kind enough to share their special lemon glazed ghost cookies. Wow! They were so good that none of them lasted long enough for a picture. Gotta get that recipe!

But I digress. Taylor trick-or-treated with one of her friends from school. Here they are in all their Halloween glory.

By the end of the night Taylor was so over the fact
that everyone immediately guessed who Mariah was, and NOBODY
could figure out exactly who she was supposed to be.
Apparently 'pink mummy fairy' is not in the average person's lexicon.
Who knew?

We spent a good 3 hours out on the town, visiting every house with a front door light on. We made sure to go to Rock Guy's house (neighbor who is the president of the Fort Collins geology society) and get some cool polished rocks and to visit the retired couple two blocks down that hand out enormous whole candy bars to the kids. After almost 3 hours of fun, it was time to call it a night. I must say that we have a great neighborhood to celebrate Halloween in. So many people went all out on decorating their homes and yards, not to mention ensuring the safety of all the kids. Even cooler? No vandalism was reported in our subdivision.

Here's a short video clip of Taylor's class heading over to the
gym for the all school parade. Too cute.

We hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday. Happy Halloween everyone!

Kristin