Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Hernando, everyone! We had fun tonight. Well, the kids did! Of course mom gets candy duty, but that's pretty fun, too. My favorite? A little girl dressed as Dorothy with a very real, tiny Toto tagging along behind.

But my kids were the cutest, of course! Well, the cutest and the creepiest were what I think they were going for. Exhibit A: The Unknown Phantom (insert spooky, ominous sounding music here). He wanted this costume sooooooooooooo badly. He picked it out in Louisiana before we even left, but I told him he had to wait until after the move to buy his costume. It was freakin' September, after all! Then he oscillated between Ninja, skeleton, and Unknown Phantom. Clearly, the initial instinct won out. It is a pretty cool costume, though! The spooky eyes fade on and off, and the mask is somehow simultaneously easy to see through yet opaque for the onlooker. Cool. This is the first halloween I've EVER allowed them to buy their costumes rather than have us make them. But with the move and me working, it was a good choice. Besides, spooky red eyes that fade on and off are beyond my mommy skills right now.

The cute aspect, of course, is with little Snow White. She was a hit, too. They made a nice pair, one spooky and one sweet. She loved it, but Ben said he did have to keep the little extrovert from running into people's houses and making herself at home. We also couldn't get her to say "Trick or Treat" -- she'd just say "Treat!" Well, that IS the idea, I guess, right?

And my favorite photo of the night? The kids with Daddy! Will and Daddy were trying to do a "scary shot," but Adelaide? No way! That's her daddy! He needs a big hug.

One other word of wisdom: Don't order pizza on Halloween night, especially if you're all really hungry. You start getting bitter at cute little trick-or-treaters who aren't holding pizzas.

Hope everyone had a fun, safe night!

A little early spookiness

I know I haven't posted much lately, but things have been pretty busy around here. I had an allergic reaction to a medicine I was taking, which sent me to the ER this week. I've never had something like that happen to me, so it was kind of surreal. While it was scary and awful, I have to say that it was so incredible to be able to call my dad, who was in town of course, and get him to meet us at the ER to keep the kids. I just kept thinking that this was so much of what we were here for. My mom and dad stayed in town an extra day and kept the kids all day Wednesday after I got home from the hospital. I'm finally doing better today, but I've been out of action most of the week.

We've been busy since we moved here, though. Will was so excited about the new house, he desperately wanted to decorate for Halloween, which is something we've never done before. (I usually don't even get pumpkins carved until a day or two before!) Anyway, Ben's parents came down to check out the new house, and they helped us get in the spooky spirit.

Our new neighbors brought us cookies, which was super nice. There are kids here in the neighborhood that Will plays with a lot, and he just started two new activities: a homeschool P.E. class and Taekwondo. He made a new friend at Taekwondo this week, and I hit it off with the parents, as well. Turns out they are new here, too, and were originally from Louisiana. They invited us to their son's costume party tonight, so the kids got dressed up and we went over there for a while. It was good fun.

Our new digs

So, here are our new digs. The movers came yesterday and unloaded everything, and we're trying hard to settle in. Just thought you guys might like to check out our new house!