Just Left of Norm

Yes, I’m a tad bit on the crazy side. I admit it. As I stated in the title, you’d probably consider me just left of normal…well, actually right, depending on the day. But I love to have fun, I love to laugh and I love those around me.

And I’m very impressionable. As in, you can make a suggestion to me, and for some reason my mind believes that things MUST be that way. For example…tell me there’s a man outside my window at night. I become freaked, hear the strangest of sounds and am ready to call 9-1-1 at a moment’s notice. My friends in school used to get a real kick out of it. Scary movies were really entertaining, because I couldn’t sit still, would scream and then wouldn’t sleep for weeks. Fun stuff.

What difference does all this make? Well, it’s moved with me into adulthood. And this time, it’s kinda funny.

You see, on Halloween Scooter was responsible for apples for his school reading party. As I was cutting the apples up Monday morning (and dipping them in lemon juice, so they wouldn’t turn brown before the party that afternoon), a spider dropped out of the bag onto my hand. Needless to say, I wasn’t impressed. But since these weren’t local apples, I caught the spider so that my boys could study it. (I’m such a good mom, right?)

Well, I’m also active in social media, so I posted it on Facebook…where a good friend made this comment:

 

Of course, I immediately thought of my grandmother. She’s been gone more than a year, and I still miss her so much every day. Not only that, but she would have celebrated her 91st birthday just a few days before, so I was content that the spider was her, telling me she loves me, supports me and misses me too.

So I kept the spider in the jar, talked to it, watched it…even fed it a few flies. I figured a day or two, the spider would die and all would be well.

Here we are, more than a week later, and this spider is still alive. And now I can’t kill it. I’ve tried. I want to, really I do…but…well…I can’t. I even asked Mark to kill it last night, while I was sleeping. He said no.

Any thoughts on how long a spider will live? Any volunteers to spider-sit when we’re gone? (And I believe Christy should be the first to volunteer.)

A Trick for Treats

Our 4-year-old, EJ, is in preschool this year, four days a week. Last year I didn’t have the chance to really get involved with snacks and things like that. (George was having problems and EJ only went to school two days a week.) Well, I’m going to do a better job this year!

Now, I didn’t say it was going to take a lot more time…I’m just going to take a few minutes here and there and try to be a more involved parent. Which is why EJ and I sat down and made these last night:

Witches’ Hats

Witches' hats...all ready for school.

Cute little things, aren’t they?

I got the idea from Pinterest, and it’s easy as could be!

Step 1: Buy fudge striped cookies, a bag of Hershey Kisses and orange frosting.

Cookie, check. Kiss, check.

Step 2: Place cookie striped-side down, circle hole with orange frosting.

Circle of orange frosting, used for "glue."

Step 3: Place Hershey Kiss on top of frosting.

EJ spent more time on placing the kiss than anything!

Step 4: Sit back, relax and enjoy the praises rained upon you by your 4-year-old that you’re the best cook ever. Because you are. Really.

Aren't they just adorable?

Yeah, not every one made it on a cookie...but that's to be expected.

What is your go-to school snack for the masses? Do you go season-themed? Or just general snacks?

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Halloween from the Past

Photobucket(Baxter, the Bat)I’m trying to come up with a great Halloween idea for my kids this year. Last year, we didn’t do anything special, because George was once again not feeling well…but this year, we hope to really do a bang-up job!

The year before that we had a Star Wars theme…and I have to say, the boys were cute as buttons (in a totally Star-Warsish-tough-guy way).

Here were my three big boys:

Scooter, EJ and Big Bro, all decked out.

And then came our little George…I made his costume:

My lovely little Yoda!

Yep, those are Shrek ears, folded down. Simple. The shirt is just a brown onesie (does yours have words on it? turn it inside out, or better yet, backwards!). Then brown pants. The “jacket” is a simple tan sheet, cut in the shape of a hoodie, then sew the sleeves together and put the hood together. Had I been blogging at that time, I totally would have shown a step-by-step way to make your own. Dang it!

Oh well, if you have specific questions on how to make one, I can make another and show it to you…it was a rough finish, but from a distance no one could tell. And I don’t think it turned out too bad!

But now for ideas for this year. Anyone?

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