Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

We love this holiday, spend much time decorating (I can't WAIT to get a house!), much time preparing, and much time hiding the candy!

Enjoy the posts - I had to split them up to get the pictures that I wanted of each of them on here...sorry if it's a little lengthy!

Neighborhood Ghouls

Neighborhood Spooks before the great "Trick-or-Treat Adventure"...

Neighbor Michael - a girl

Manny - the Pimp

Jillyan - Sleepover Nightmare

Evan - Ninja

Elly - Witch

Neighbor Jeremy - Dragon

Melyssa - Zombie Waitress

Lil' Witchy Woman

Elly was a witch - but refused make up. I finally talked her into a silver glitter star. What a little trooper! She made it through the whole thing - and was lugging about 10 pounds of candy in her little pumpkin. Since I had a big shoulder bag with me (every non-essential piece of costume ended up there - this year I was PREPARED!!), I talked her into dumping in her candy. All fine and good until we came to the next house...

Elly refused to go to the door stating "I am NOT going trick or treating without candy in my pumpkin."

OK - back into the pumpkin goes a handful of candy.

"Oh Mommy," Elly gives the stink eye. "I'm better than THAT!"

Mommy gives back the stink eye.

Elly decides it's in her best interest to go to the door with the candy she has...

Mis-match Girl

Allyson decided to go around with her friends - so no group pictures. We caught up later this evening for an impromptu photo session - which she made the most of. Yeesh. Allyson also took Gooti with her and the gang. I was more than a little suprised that Gooti had gotten her own stash of Halloween goodies! Milk Bone, anyone?

Ninja Boy...

Evan went as a ninja - complete with the swords and moves - and was slowing WAY down about half way in! Luckily, his big brother was there to help keep him motivated to "go the distance"! Mr. Analytical had to pick apart each houses' Halloween decorations and decide which effect worked best to be "real". It was like trick or treating with a professor...

Sleepover Nightmare

Jillyan trick or treated as a sleepover nightmare. Her hair was a literal rats nest with a curler hanging out of it...again, I think she looked pretty great! She even had the "mud mask" thing going for her!

The Zombie Cafe

Melyssa was dressed as a Zombie Waitress...a great friend of mine who owns her own embroidery business made her the waitress apron, and she carried a tray with cockroaches, worms and eyeballs glued on it. It looked great!! She even got serenaded by a fellow "zombie"! It was awesome!

Pimpin' ain't easy!

OK...so Manny went as a pimp. Funny by itself, but when the neighbor boy dressed up like a girl - let's say it was even more hilarious! It was pretty hard to keep a straight face through the pictures!!

As usual, Manny helped wrangle the younger two, since Allyson went about her merry way with her friends. Manny didn't mind - he at least scores some candy from the deal!! Apparently at some point, there was a difference of opinion over who got to play with the pimp cane!!

Pumpkin Carving AND a Fashion Show

Digging out their pumpkin guts!

Melyssa and Jillyan posing with their pumpkin creation - for once they actually agreed to share something AND agreed what to put on it! WOW!! Mark a calendar!

Halloween Cuties!

Naturally...Allyson can't have pictures taken without clowning around, or putting her best modeling face forward! Elly looks more than a little enthralled with the glowing pumpkin!

It was chilly here tonight for the pumpkin lighting...hopefully their Halloween costumes won't need to be swallowed by winter coats. I have the hot chocolate ready for after Trick or Treat (helps warm up and cut down on the loot consumption), the costumes are mostly put together, and the older kids have concrete Trick or Treat strategies! I guess we're ready for Halloween! Manny plans to be Flavor Flav, Allyson is going as mismatch girl, Melyssa will be a zombie waitress, Jillyan - the jury is still out on that one, Evan is a ninja and Elly will either be a cat or a ballerina. I paid a lot of $$ for her dance costume that she wore ONCE!!

The kids are excited. We weighed the loot a couple of years in a row and total weight per year averaged out to 65 pounds. Oh the fun trying to hide that!

Family Pumpkins 2007

Pumpkin Lighting 2007

All of the kids got into the fun!

Noel really applied his artistic side in rendering a pretty fantastic ghost. No stencil...just his imagination!! We thought it turned out great!

Living Traditions

As Fall is in full swing here in Illinois, and the winter holiday's are approaching, I find myself growing more and more nostalgic...

Apples - the scent, texture and taste of the fruit reminds me of my Grandparents house, where a peck or two always sat waiting on the screened porch. Even with a bitter chill in the air, the aroma of apples would waft through the welcoming door. It brings to mind rustling leaves, the sound of wind through the majestic trees along the sidewalk and streetlights winking on ever earlier as the seasons changed...

My family is from West Virginia. While I was born and raised in Ohio, there are many southern traditions that remain strong that I want to pass along to my children. So many lost arts that are being replaced by an immediate gratification society...

I can remember my grandmother, great-grandmother and great-aunt canning and "putting up" food to last through the winter and into the next canning season. I'll admit...for so long the ease of opening a can from the grocery store held much magic for me as I struggled to put together a healthy dinner for the table every night. After some thought, and a lot of long distance help from my Grandma Wackenheim - this summer I began to can myself.

Preparations can be lengthy for some items, but to my surprise, the entire family eagerly took on the tasks! All of us, including Evan and Elly, snapped green beans. Allyson helped by peeling tomatoes and apples, Melyssa also took turns with the paring knife. Jillyan was an awesome runner to supply cries of "More apples!" or "Wash more berries!". Manny's endurance for running from kitchen to garage for items and supplies was much needed, and Noel peeled and mashed and stirred and ran timers and did whatever else needed done, the trooper that he is!

This summer was a lesson for me in teamwork, and this winter our family will be able to reap the fruits of our labors. I can't get anyone to pick their socks up off the floor, but my pantry is bursting at the seems with gleaming jars of family pride and togetherness. I am humbled...

This season, we were able to can strawberry jelly and jam, double berry mango jam, orange marmalade, dill pickles, peaches, green beans, tomatoes, tomato juice, ketchup and apple butter. Not too shabby for beginners! We are already making plans for next summers pantry fillers!

The box always seems to be more fun...

This year for my birthday, my Grandmother bought me a roasting pan. To make things easier during the massive cooking and canning projects that I embark upon, this massive electric roaster has already come in handy! This weekend was apple butter time at our house (late, I am aware), any the kids were all involved in the preparation and making of this treat! Evan stayed well preoccupied with the box...which while big, it still surprised us all that he was able to fit entirely inside the box - flaps closed! There was even still some packing material left inside! If you look closely at the above picture, you can see some little fingers waggling through the crack in the flaps...

Flying High!

Jilly's show-n-go
Wow! What a day!
The purple squad, out youth level 1, placed third at competition today after 3 music false starts. We were pretty proud of the way those girls kept it together on the floor!! What an awesome way to get into the groove of this sport! Luckily, we have some experienced cheerleaders that are really mentoring the "newbies" on this squad. Without them - I think that this competition could have gone the other way. These girls kept their cool and delivered us a great routine and floor presence! Way to go Purple!!
The Silver Squad placed 2nd out of 8 squads in their division. We have 12 on that squad, and were competiting against squads of 21 - 31. Imagine our excitement when the places were called...from 8th of course. I don't think a single one of us coaches have fingernails left!! What an awesome execution of an awesome routine...the only place we have to go is UP!! Go Silver!!

more pix from comp

YEAH BABY!!

Purple Squad = 3rd / 4
Silver Squad = 2nd / 8

Haunted Chicago - Hull House

Can you see it?

Gazing through the window at Hull House, a nefarious characters fixes it's gaze on the tourists...

I can honestly tell you that there was no one in the house at the time of our tour, and this was not vi sable to anyone on the tour. Sherry's camera was the only tourist camera to capture this picture.

Hull House has been named one of THE most haunted locations in the United States. The premise of the book/movie "Rosemary's Baby" was taken from Hull House lore. I'll let you research the story of the Hull House...and just say that this was not the only interesting picture to be taken at the Hull that night (Wendy, the others are posted on myspace). Open your mind...and see what you can see...

Haunted Chicago - Death Alley

For those who believe...

A very good friend of mine and I finally took a Haunted Chicago Tour. No fun house antics here - just history. Can you see anything in the orb?

This picture (the second is a crop of the origional) was taken in Death Alley. This alley is behind the site of the Iriquois Theater Fire. I'm not going to explain the fire, or the circumstances behind the naming of Death Alley - I'll let you research it...and draw your own conclusions...

First LOST tooth...

Still just wigglin'!

Yes, today Evan came home from school with his first baby tooth in a baggie. Where has time gone? When we moved here, he had no teeth (they were a little late). Now he can be a bona fide Halloween jack - o' - lantern if I painted his face orange. How is it my baby boy is suddenly looking like something that does NOT resemble a baby? Am I truly packing his back pack and sending him off to school - ALL DAY?!? What happened to my endearing drooling "Bo-bah" who was counting at me in languages (first couple of days I thought it was new gibberish - turns out it was Spanish and Tagalog). Where has time gone? I know that he has a baby sister, and four older siblings that I've had gut-checks on before - but Evan is my baby boy...

Fear in labor and the ultimate joy of his birth...the chapped cheeks pinkened from his never ending supply of drool...his first head bashing on the kitchen table...cheering him through his first steps to the "other baby" in the mirror...the kick in the gut and helplessness while holding him through his first grand mal seizure...the fantastic realization that his mind is absolutely amazing...watching too short legs try to climb onto the school bus for kindergarten...hearing him struggle to breathe through his near respiratory arrest episode...watching him solve a video game in about 5 hours...

While watching that first baby tooth wiggle and seeing the sheer joy in his face coming up the stairs clutching his precious cargo, I had a "moment"...for in that baggie nestled within the rough school paper towel was the absolute certainty of the Tooth Fairy. Childhood beliefs that they lose so quickly - reminding their parents that true childhood is indeed fleeting, leaving us reeling with the realization that the speed limit on the road from Infant to Young Adult is faster than any of us truly want...as evidenced by the 17th birthday of our oldest tomorrow.

Big News - well for us anyway...

The stinky purple cast is GONE!!! I haven't exactly gotten a picture of her arms yet, but this pic was too cute not to post. Scary how much older she looks than she actually is...

Competition is a go, but limited basing (depends on her). I don't think she'll be ready to bear weight on it and not dump her flier. She says it hurts pretty bad when she "whale tails" her hand, so I'm betting on a back spot for October...November will be wait and see...

Apologies ahead of time...

I'll apologize ahead of time...I haven't blogged for a week, and had a bit to catch up on. It was a crazy five days...no school for the younger kids, our 5th Anniversary and my birthday kept us hopping! Enjoy the rare instance where my brain is too fried to function through an actual thought - even more rare is the inability for me to put these thoughts on "paper".

Funnin' around on the days off :O)

Evan's 1st loose tooth...and the final days of the purple cast!

The five days off had quite a bit of drama, fights, play dates...you name it - we had it!! They thought "vacation", I thought "more work for me". The weather was nice, and there was a lot of outside time - but enough indoor time to completely TRASH my house...I pray for patience...

A little culture...

Melyssa and I were invited to attend a Cultural Fair by a friend of Melyssa's. Melyssa couldn't walk past the Henna artist...and I think it turned out pretty fabulous! It's amazing that all of this art work took about 5 minutes - and this is one of the less detailed designs that she offered. All I can say is WOW!

They went BACK to school!!!!!!!!

Jillyan workin' that full layout!!

After missing some tumbling classes, our neighbor and friend came out front to WORK Jilly out for a while. After about an hour and a half of continuous tumbling, she was pretty wiped out. For those who think that tumbling is easy, I can give you some statistics:
1 - It takes about 40 hours to learn a basic tumbling skill CORRECTLY.
2 - It takes about 80 hours to learn any hands free tumbling.
These hours also include conditioning and strength training. This is a pic of Jillyan working a round off/full layout. This is in hopes that she can throw a pass of round off/flip flop/ full layout (her latest tumbling goal). For whatever reason, Jillyan seems to be better at throwing a full layout than a back tuck (the easier of the two), and can do it on the air track in the gym...but she's DYING to do it on the floor. She wanted to keep working, but it was dark when we finally called it a night!
The next day, I could hear her climbing up the stairs saying "Ow, crap! Ow, crap!" with each step. I couldn't correct the language...I was too proud of her for working towards her goal! If I ever need a dose of dedication, I can look at Silly Jilly and get OD'd!!

The things we do to our pets...

OK...so I haven't painted her nails...but I DO dress my doggie up. Since this was something I never really thought I would do, I find it kinda funny that I actually SHOP for dog clothes (pet edge, baby!). I also try to coordinate her clothes with her collar. It's an illness. I know...but doesn't she look cute in her witches hat complete with orange and black hair and a reflective star? Gooti; however, apparently draws a line at wearing a hat. She hates this thing...

Proud Blond Moment...

Melyssa is - gasp - blond. Her hair is VERY blond. Her brain? The jury is still out on that one. Since she has NO filter from her brain to her mouth, and wouldn't know tact if it smacked her in the face - I'd have to say that she is "blond" in that respect. In her defense, she's no airhead. Again, the jury is out on her "blond" factor. That being said, I've a story to tell...

After trying out, being recommended to play the sax by the band directors that tested her, good Mommy standing in line for three hours (more like two, but it was ridiculous enough to hedge on the time!), and paying THROUGH THE NOSE for this damn sax - Melyssa is a bona fide saxophone player.

We have been stressing to her that playing an instrument and being a part of the band program, her practicing is as important as homework. It IS homework. One hour a night total is her average, and she has been plugging away - and if you don't know, the sax is a LOUD freakin' instrument.

Melyssa band class meets once a week on Mondays for between 30 and 45 minutes. There are only 3 sax players at her school (she's the only girl). While her director was discussing their weekly homework, Melyssa told him that she plays every night so that she would have a shot at being first chair. Apparently the director got a kick out of this, and told her that she already WAS first chair. Melyssa, flabbergasted, said "Really?!?" and Mr. Bell said "Well, yeah!"

I'm not sure if they really do separate the kids into chairs in 5th grade, or if he was pulling her leg, but I DO know that she no longer "honks" the instrument, and can play almost 10 songs. Melyssa is also quite ahead of the two boys she plays with. She's only had the instrument for about three weeks.

Proud moment...proud moment...

Fall color is on the way...

I have to give Kudos to Allyson for taking this shot. She is getting interested in photography as a career, and we think that she is developing a good eye. This is one of the few trees that have already started changing in our neighborhood.

I have to state first that I LOVE FALL!! I love it for the crispness in the air, the smell of fires, the lengthening night. I love the contrast of colors in a forest, the brilliance of change. Fall sports at their best, after sweating buckets to prepare all summer long. I love the decorations reminding us of a bountiful harvest - even if we work in a home or behind a desk...

Fall signifies the honoring of family through Thanksgiving - and I'm a sucker for traditions. I love the continuity of them, the bringing together of family and customs. The remembrance of Thanksgivings past and the beloved that are no longer at the table but among in spirit. The bright promise of Christmas...

I am taking this moment to savor this month and the significance of the season that is upon us before I am thrown into the throes of October. October is NUTS at Casa Malabanan. There are three birthdays in our household alone, and our anniversary. Family wide, there are about 12 celebrants. Yes, that is twelve. Not a typo. Yikes...