Happy Halloween and more....

This weekend was a typical Kolb family weekend, started with a party and ended with Casa Del Rey~just the way I like it. For about a month, I have been painstakingly planning the 101 Classroom Fall Party. Cupcake decorating, candy corn relaying and eating doughnuts off of strings hanging from the ceiling.... filled our hour together and I do believe all of the children went away having sufficiently celebrated Fall. While on my Saturday morning sojourn to Walmart, I stumbled across a pre-assembled cookie haunted house just waiting to be decorated on the clearance rack. I knew this would be the perfect activity for my crafty-minded daughters and they were thrilled when they laid eyes upon it and wanted to immediately begin the decorating. Ella and Lily each added their personal touches and then soon lost interest as the legos and building blocks were calling their names from the living room....

Grace and her neighborhood bestie, Carly, were more than happy to take the project to completion on their own and were quite pleased with themselves and their masterpiece....

Before we knew it, dusk was upon us and it was time for trick or treating. The girls donned their costumes....

and with their dad in tow, set off in search of the best treats in the neighborhood while I stayed home on candy handing out detail.

Before I knew it, my candy bucket was almost empty and Wonder Women, The Wicked Witch and Dorothy were home with bags laden with the stuff kids' dreams are made of...

Not quite willing to let Halloween come to an end, we hopped into the car and took off for a Halloween party we had been invited to. Now this party was so far out of my comfort zone that I had to resort to telling Mom and Josh that I was going just so I could not back out last minute. The party was being hosted by our school's PTA President. She and her husband have an annual Halloween soiree and this was the first year, we had been extended an invitation. Of course, we had nothing else going on and it would have been rude for us to not attend but I was quite certain we would only know a handful of people and would only know those people just barely. I persevered though and was pleasantly surprised. People didn't point and laugh at me as we walked in, nor did they ignore me or act as if I didn't belong. After a few awkward moments of Jason and I discussing, under our breath, where we wanted to plant ourselves, we found an open spot in the living room and before we knew it, were involved in conversations with other party goers~just like grown-ups. It was so exciting. After a couple hours and a few blue yummys, it was time to take our very tired children and tuck them into their beds. I was very pleased at myself for going to the party and had a good time. One of these days, I'm going to be able to accept an invitation like that without one moment of hesitation and I will finally be a real live adult.

Sunday morning came an hour late which was great and after a leisurely morning and a delicious lunch of grilled steak, compliments of Chef Jason, we were off to Mass. Casa Del Rey was on the radar for supper but since it was a little early for eating again, we headed home after church to watch the Vikings rule over the Packers. Finally, it was the moment I had been waiting for all week~original chimichanga with mole sauce on top and sour cream on the side time. It has been a couple of weeks since we have graced the fine folks at Casa with our presence and I figured we better show our faces so they didn't worry about their favorite customers. We were met with a hearty, "Hey guys, where have you been lately?" and I knew we had made the right decision. Chips and salsa and chimichangas~this was my best Halloween treat, hands down!

Now on to the week we have all been counting down to....wedding week. Saturday is Kristin's wedding and we couldn't be more excited. Ella and Lily are first time wedding participants and have been practicing their smiles and walks for weeks now. Grace and I are old wedding pros and haven't needed any practice but are no less excited than the first timers. Nails needed to be painted, the gift needs to be wrapped, hair needs to be coiffed and we will be ready to rock! Saturday can't come soon enough!