Oktoberfest!

Even though we do not drink beer. It seems that every October is one big celebration. It is the busiest month of the year for me and is mostly exhausting. I know it is past the middle of November already but I needed a few weeks to decompress from the happenings in October before I could talk about it. Here is a brief snapshot at some of the things we did. By the way, these pics do not include the school parties, homework, PTA volunteer time, making of costumes, trick-or-treating, company in town to visit, and a million other things that kept me busy last month.

Tate turned five and had a fun little family gathering. He asked for a "Real Fake Gun" and shoes that light up. I have to be honest. I despise guns and abhor shoes that light up. Alas, how can you say no to your child on his 5th b-day. Needless to say, Tate got a fun cap gun that has smoke and smells real. He also got those terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE Skechers that light up. He loves both presents!

Blake entered his first skateboard competition. We were a little unsure how he would do. Turns out the kid rocked it. He got first place and was awarded a new skateboard deck. We were very proud of him!

We decided to use one of Mindy's costumes for Heidi this year. With a name like Heidi and her fair complexion she made a perfect little dutch girl. Thanks for the costume Mindy. It was a big hit!

This year Tate was certain he wanted to be a ghost. I was a little disappointed at the idea of such a generic costume. I refused to put a sheet over his head and cut out holes for his eyes. After a little thinking we came up with this. With a little sewing and a lot of strips he made a super cute ghost.

You can tell your children are getting older when they want to start wearing scary masks. As a concession Blake agreed to do a half mask. I just can't stand the idea of covering up his cute little face. Not just yet anyway. He was a zombie punk and looked cool in the process.

Just a little side not here. There is a lesson to be learned..... if ever tempted to put your head in a plastic pink pumpkin full of candy because your owners put you on a diet, think again. Our dog Pearl learned this lesson the hard way. Turns out you never get the candy & your owner has to cut the pumpkin off with wire cutters and do it fast because you are suffocating. The worst part is that they do take a brief second to snap a picture so the whole world can experience the funny and frightening moment too!

Lastly, our Haunted house was in full swing this year. We had many workers come and volunteer time. It took Robbie and friends five weeks to set up and a week to take down. We had about 815 people come through and I lived through it all. I felt so bad for the Schwan's man who had to brave the clown hallway to sell us some frozen food.

That about completes our October festivities. Remember... steer clear pink plastic pumpkins!