'Twas the Day Before Halloween Weekend

We had a great "Day Before Halloween Weekend".

I dropped the kids off for school and came home, only to get a call immediately from the school. Monkey4's [5yo, Kindergartner] teacher called to say that she thought Monkey4 had pink eye.

I went immediately to pick up Monkey4 from the school. I was very sad because I knew she would be *heartbroken* [today was the Halloween party and all sorts of festivities at school and she missed it all].

I got there and picked her up. She was definitely heartbroken. :( Looking at her very closely, I could see that one of her eyes was very faintly red, but there was no discharge, no puffiness, no redness on the outside of her eye - nothing that would indicate Pink Eye in my opinion [and we've had some pretty extensive experience with pink eye around here ;) ]. I think the teacher just got paranoid - she said some of the kids in the class had had it this week. I think Monkey4 just has allergies - and I'm sad that the teacher chose to send her home [especially since the whole class had already been exposed according to the teacher because of other kids having it].

Sooo... we decided to party all day. We got Starbucks for breakfast [something that NEVER happens]. We came home and we did lots of snuggling, a fair amount of dancing, and she got to play with her baby sister. In fact, the Monkey Baby was thrilled to have an unexpected playmate - they had a blast.

I let Monkey4 pick what she wanted for lunch and then I bought her an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream [she picked the flavor] and told her she could eat as much as she wanted. [She has since shared it with several siblings just because she is so sweet - and most of it is still in the freezer]. She was thrilled though. [I did this because she missed her party and I wanted her to have a very special treat - no child of mine has ever been handed an entire pint of ice cream and been told "have at it! Its all yours" before LOL!].

Monkey4 had a great day after all and proclaimed me the "Best Mommy Ever". ;)

Then the other kids got home and we ran errands.

We got home and I made a great dinner of pasta with two different kinds of home made sauces and my "special" garlic bread. The kids loved it. [and I love making something they will all actually eat and that nobody complains about!]

After dinner it was Jack-O-Lantern carving time! The children submitted two different designs they had agreed on, and I carved our huge pumpkin. I put one face on one side and one on the other. Then we roasted the pumpkin seeds and made "pepitas". They were surprisingly delicious! In fact, they were so delicious that Monkey4 declared that she loved them more than Ketchup [she is known around these parts as "The Ketchup Monster" so that is TRUE LOVE indeed!].

[See "The Ketchup Monster" below - note the TWO empty bottles of ketchup beside her.]


Then another dance party broke out... :D I love watching my kids dancing [and dancing with them, even though I'm terrible at it!].

Tonight I just feel so content - life is so good. My kids are so wonderful. I enjoy them so much. THIS is what life is all about!

God Bless You!

Beautiful Monkey4:

Adorable Sisters: