Halloween Festivities

Lydia enjoyed selling Girl Scout cookies to our neighbors and delivering them.  I discovered last year while Karina sold cookies that I don't enjoy the cookie selling process.  So this year, with Lydia,  we didn't put in too much effort into cookie selling - just enough for Lydia to get a taste for it.  Cookie booths are more fun for child and adult, and Lydia has enjoyed selling outside of grocery stores.  It doesn’t help that for being a “fundraiser”, the amount of money that goes directly to Lydia’s troop for each box sold is so low ($.58 per box).  Since Karina quit Girl Scouts, she didn't have to sell any cookies this year.

Here are incomplete pictures of the girls' soccer teams.  Both pictures are missing 2-3 kids. Karina was on the Brazil team and Lydia was on the Germany team.  They want to do soccer again next year. 

We have seen deer in our yard several times recently.  I think it is cute when they eat clover weeds in my grass.  

However it is not cute when the deer eat my hibiscus flowers, and pansies, and roses, and tulips, and begonias, etc.  The deer roam the neighborhood every night.

Lydia brought Emma to school for show and tell:

Derek and his many stuffed animal friends:

Crazy Hair Day at school is a big deal for Karina.  Lydia didn't want to participate.  For Karina, I braided her hair into this star shape, and then put blue hair spray on it.  The process took an hour, but I thought it turned out well:

Derek initially told me wanted crazy hair too.  I put some of his hair in a hair elastic and then his screaming began.  I got to hear how much it hurt and that he wanted it out.  He doesn't know how lucky he is not to have to deal with hair care every day.   Derek took the hair elastics out immediately, and he did not have crazy hair at school that day.  

For Halloween, Lydia was a wizard.  She wanted a hat that matched Mickey Mouses's wizard hat.  Derek was a diver.  He had a net, oxygen tanks, black clothes as a 'scuba suit', goggles, and flippers.  The flippers I made were annoying and we never figured out a great way to attach them.  

The kids each carved their own pumpkin.  Lydia designed and carved hers all by herself.  We were impressed with her and she was proud of herself.

Nate and Derek carved Derek's pumpkin together.  

Orly and Karina not only carved a pumpkin, but also cleaned out all the guts too.  

Karina couldn't decide on a costume for Halloween, so she wore her soccer uniform.  We were supposed to get heavy rain and a strong windstorm on the evening of the 31st and everyone was worried/panicking.  However the weather held just long enough, and it turned out to be the warmest Halloween I can remember here - 74 degrees and humid, with no sweaters needed.  Late that night the skies opened and flooded us with rain and wind, and the temperature the next day was 30 degrees colder. 

Snoopy's 10 year anniversary is coming up soon on November 14th, and we are planning a big party for him.  (Nate and I adopted Snoopy on Nov 14, 2009.)

The kids like being silly:

This week Nate is in Hawaii and my mother was nice enough to come and stay while Nate is gone.