Monday, October 20, 2008-Day Five

Monday mornings always seem to start with the feeling of ahhh, crap, don't they? This one was no different as I hit my snooze button for the second time and rolled my bum out of bed. It doesn't matter that I've woke up at the same time on week days for months and months, it never gets easier. After my trip to the gym I came home and woke the beasts from their slumber and started the battle all over again. Monday mornings bring a panicked search for lost items, homework that needs to be signed off, and reminders of what I need to do that week. We, amazingly, got out of the house on time and I got the two little kids delivered to my moms. I hate how dark it is now in the mornings, it feels like your leaving in the middle of the night.


I dropped Noah off at school and headed to work. Monday's at work are always busy. We have our Monday morning conference calls and then I have to get payroll in first thing as well. There was a point when I looked at my desk and honestly wasn't surpirsed I was a disaster, because I could barely find anything on it! When I die, I'll know if I ended up in hell if there are stacks of paperwork surrounding me!

This week, it is just Laura (my boss) and I in the office. Being rid of all testosterone we thought we could have a real 'girlie' week. We had big plans of watching "Beaches" or maybe "Fried Green Tomatoes" and having a good cry. Throw in some junk food and some turns at doing each other's hair and we'd have ourselves a regular slumber party! But, since the morning was too busy for such foolishness, we decided on a good alternative...FOOD! We ordered ourselves some chicken fajitas from The Taco Man!! Ummm, if you haven't tried The Taco Man, I would highly recommend the fajitas. Tender little morsles of delight.....


As soon as I got off work I hurried to my mom's to pick up Ian and sped home. It was my families annual Halloween party and it started at 5:30pm. Now, we don't normally have the party on a weeknight, but my parents are flying out on Thursday to go to New Hampshire to be with my big sis. when she and her husband have their new little boy sealed to them. So, they'll be spending Halloween with the missing half of the Marshall family.

The early party time didn't leave me much time to finish pulling together my jello molds of a hand and a heart, and my famous velveeta dip. And in between all that, I had to get the kids in costume and ready to go. Ian donned his Darth Vader costume in lightning speed! He'd been waiting for this opportunity for weeks.


Tay was a 50's girl and looked so cute. The costume was perfect for her and honestly one of the cutest costumes I've ever seen. It didn't have that cheapo costume look to it at all. Noah, at the last minute, decided to dress up in some old scrubs and wear some latex gloves and go as a doctor. The Halloween spirit caught him and he let the little kid in him come out! All my niece's and nephew's look forward to this party for weeks. One of my niece's said that Grandma's Halloween party is the best day of her life! My mom rocks!


As soon as Cory got home from work, we headed down to grandma and grandpa's. We were the last ones there, of course, and everyone was itching to get the party started. The kids did a little costume parade up and down my parent's street, so they could show off their costumes.


After that, most of us grown ups were STARVING, so we headed in to enjoy the spread. There was so much good food. My family has been blessed with some really good cooks, so everyone normally ends up eating way more than they should. Check out my cute dad in his pumpkin 'costume'.


My mom and my little sister Soji had planned some darling activities for the kids. They did a pirate's treasure hunt that ended in a treasure chest piniata. Just to name a few, they made witches finger pens, and read scary stories. Noah ended up doing a lot of helping of the younger kids, rather than participating, which was a change for him. It's sometimes sad for me to watch him become more of a young adult, rather than child. He read the scary stories to the little ones and helped them all do their crafts.

Once the party wound down, we gather the children and headed home to finish homework. Ian didn't do his before the party, mostly because he wouldn't have been able to concentrate long enough to complete anything. Cory and he snuggled up on the couch and did his 'Red Reader Bag' and he and I worked on his writing homework.

Since Noah and Taylor's homework was done immediatley after school they were put to work doing the dishes. Can I say how much I love having kids old enough to share in that awful task? It's fabulous!!


It was finally bedtime and we all eagerly climbed the stairs for bed. It had been a full day. Full of fun, family, food and festivities!