LIST: Wishful Thinking Christmas List

Wow - I haven't done a list (let alone a post of any sort) in a very long while! Time for me to repent...

Tonight we had the kids write letters to Santa Claus. This was Claire's 1st year writing one (okay - she dictated and I wrote) and Hudson's 3rd. They were both very psyched about it and are excited to get responses from the big man in a week or two. And no, it's not me that does the return correspondence...we happen to have Santa's address and he writes back every year. Good deal.

Now, while the kids have no problem coming up with a list of the things they'd like to get on Christmas morning, I've always had a hard time coming up with anything to tell my hubby or my parents. But this year is different. I've come up with a few things that I'd really, really, really like to receive. It's not a very long list but unfortunately, I'm afraid that everything I want is more or less out of the question...

MY UNREALISTIC CHRISTMAS WISH LIST

• Uninterrupted showers for one whole year. I'd even settle for a month. No one opening the door or coming into the bathroom. No child: asking me what I'm doing, begging for a snack, letting me know that they're bored, or wanting to hang out. Oh - and no ringing phones that leave me wondering who called for the rest of the time I'm in the shower.
• Someone else to do all of my cleaning, laundry, cooking, and dishes. For free. Without prompting. Without complaining. Do you know how many projects I could finish up if I didn't have to, well, do my job as a wife and mom?!
• For my children to get along more...preferably all the time. They're pretty good but there's room for improvement. My sister and I were laughing about this one the other day because mom used to say that we could give this to her as a gift. We'd say that it didn't count and wasn't a present. She'd respond that it would be to her. Now I understand.
• For chocolate, bread, ice cream, pastries (all baked treats in general), butter, and everything else that tastes good to be completely carbohydrate, sugar, and calorie free. It would be very helpful to me as I try to shed some pounds. Very helpful indeed.
• A mute button for my kids. It seems like anytime that I'm on the phone, Max and I are trying to talk, or I have something to say to them, one or both of my kids (who were completely oblivious to my existence for the 30 minutes prior to that moment) have to start yelling, talking, asking questions, etc. I know that duct tape was invented for a reason but a mute button would be so much quicker for me and less painful for them.

I think that's about it...it's not asking all that much, is it? I'm only asking for a measly 5 things for Christmas. None of them has to be wrapped and no one has to spend a dime. Pretty please?!

Halloween 2010

In spite of the kids and I having colds and Max seemingly trying to get one, we had a great Halloween weekend. After lunch on Saturday, we brought a number of pumpkins in off the front porch and went to work. Max and I spent way more time and energy and got way more enjoyment out of doing pumpkins than the kids did. For the first time, we made Hudson stick his bare hand inside his pumpkin to try and pull out some of the innards. I couldn't stop laughing after seeing his face. He was beyond disgusted and didn't find it half as amusing as we did. Claire, on the other hand, was smart and before we could make her stick a bare hand in, she grabbed one of the little scoops and happily gave cleaning her pumpkin a shot for a minute. After that, the two of them stayed in the kitchen just long enough for someone (me) to clean out their pumpkins and to watch someone (me) carve them according to directions. Then they were off to the basement to watch a show while Max and I did our pumpkins.

Both Max and I started out just doing a regular carved pumpkin - mine freehand and Max's from a template he found online. After that, I didn't want to stop so for the 1st time, I gave "shaving" a pumpkin a shot. All I did was our last name on one of the two ginormous pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch but even without hollowing/cleaning it, the process was somewhat tedious and quite time consuming. I was really happy with the results, though, and I'm thinking that I'll go more extensive in my shaving/carving next year. In addition to the one with our name on it, I also hollowed and shaved a small white pumpkin. You can see in the picture that the area around the ghost is very thin). Max shaved a cat and a leaf on two other pumpkins. In the end, we had a total of 8 carved and/or shaved pumpkins (obviously not all pictured). And just like everyone else, we lit the candles and took pictures of our finished pumpkins...

Our pumpkin family (l-r): Max, Claire, yours truly, Miles, and Hudson. And yes, Hudson's pumpkin has a uni-brow. It started out with two normal brows and then he asked me to make them "attached" and was thrilled with the result. Still cracks me up.

Living in Utah, when Halloween falls on a Sunday, everyone goes trick-or-treating on Saturday night. The forecast called for rain that evening so before dinner, we got the kiddies all dressed up in their costumes and drove them over to Max's parents' place for the 1st stop of the night. We also got Miles ready for the festivities (not that he was going anywhere) with bright orange skunk stripes down his back. We were hoping to find white hairspray at the store but no such luck. Maybe next year. Anyway, it absolutely poured the entire time we were at Grandpa & Grandma's place. At that point, we were figuring that regular trick-or-treating might be out of the question. However, spending time at their place and then taking time eating dinner at home gave the weather enough time to change its mind. By the time we headed out the door for the rest of the evening, it had pretty much let up. We only had to use our umbrellas for the first few houses and after that, the only hitch was the cold wind.

Our favorite trick-or-treaters and the best skunk ever.

All in all, we had a great Halloween (or Halloween Eve...). My only complaint is that shortly after the kids went to bed, the doorbell rang. It was 9:15. We had been home for a good 45 minutes and hadn't seen a single trick-or-treater that entire time. I opened the front door and before they could shout out the traditional Halloween greeting, I quietly informed the visitors that our kids were asleep. They apologized, quietly took some candy, thanked me, and then headed to the next house. They're very lucky that my foot didn't meet their behinds on their way down the walk. Now, is it just me, or is 9:15 too late to be letting one's kids out to beg for candy? Please humor me and take the poll on the upper right corner...I'm curious as to whether I'm being lame or not.

Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!