Halloweens of Old

My mother really let her talent shine when it came to Halloween. I am pretty sure that she made all of these costumes. Someone had to sew the "H" on my sweater to make me an official Hyattsville cheerleader. (I think I was a cheerleader nearly every year.) I don't know where Stephanie got the idea to be a Pilgrim, but there must have been some parental coaxing happening there. Good Time Helen made costumes for herself and my father too. I remember them being a bird and a bee and one year she was a set of lips. Anyhow, the little Extra Terrestrial in this picture is my little sister, Kim. This costume is amazing! When did my mother have the time to make it? A couple of years ago, I searched my parents house from top to bottom and couldn't find the E.T. costume anywhere. It is a mystery what happened to it...maybe it was taken via space craft (or flying bicycle) to it's rightful owner? My mother is having surgery on her knee today and will be home for a bit recovering. I'm thinking that this is the perfect time for her to start making costumes for the grandkids for next year. I promise we will find, and win, a costume contest.

Our First Visitor

It took five months, but we finally had our first overnight visitor! My father came out on Friday and spent the weekend, leaving Monday afternoon. We had a wonderful time. The boys couldn't get enough of Pop Pop and I couldn't get enough of the break that I had while he played with them!

On Saturday, we spent the late afternoon at Jackson's last soccer game of the season. It was exciting to have Pop Pop there to watch the action. Jackson scored once or twice. After the game, the team and families went to Pizza Hut to celebrate. Each of the Storm team members received a special medal. Jackson is still guarding it with his life. (He doesn't want Daddy to take if for himself.) He also snuck it into his backpack so that he could show his friends at school.



My father has been dying to see the Redskins play since they are doing so well this season. So, he purchased a ticket for Jimmy and brought loads of Redskin's gear for us all. Jackson decided at the last minute that he wanted to join them. They had a great time sitting in the 6th row! Things weren't so great as they left the game, though. Someone ran into the side of the car and then tried to drive a way. Unfortunately for him, they were both stuck at the same traffic light. Apparently, Jimmy leaped from the driver's seat to inquire where the man thought that he was running off too. The man signaled that he would pull over, but he didn't. No worries, though, because it gave my father just enough time to get the license plate number. What heroes!


We also had a blast bowling.

Another Tag...

This is a really fun tag. I used to hate tags, but I've really enjoyed the last several. In this one, I was supposed to go to my fourth picture folder and post the fourth picture in that folder. It was so fun to see this pop up.



This is from when we went to the beach in Nags Head, NC when Jackson was five months old. It was a great trip with the family. We shared our house with our dear friends the Garcia's (formerly Ludke's). (Kim married Greg who is now a big TV producer. I have seen their oldest boy and Kim as I've watched Yes, Dear and seen references to them all in My Name is Earl.) My favorite college friend, Robin and her family, met us and stayed with us. It was such a great trip. Seeing this picture is another reminder of how much Luke looks like Jackson did at this age.

To be fair, when I looked up the fourth picture in the fourth folder through Blogger a different picture came up. (I guess Blogger alphabetizes.) It is of Jackson(about 8 months) and Jimmy hanging out in bed in our University Park house. Jackson looks so happy and mischievous and Jimmy looks like he has died and gone to heaven. How could he not be in heaven mixing his favorite activities, sleeping and Jackson?



This is an open tag. If you are interested in taking a stroll down your own memory lane, try it out.

My Quirks

I feel like I've read about a lot of people's quirks lately. This is really traveling around the blogoshpere. I've been tagged by two people now, so here goes...

1. I can pick up anything from a pacifier to a Boppy pillow with my toes/feet.

2. Much of the time, I don't like to be touched. However, it is only a certain kind of touch. I just hate light touch. Once I had a massage that was too light and I thought I would die before the thing was finally over.

3. I feel like I'm going to freak out if someone is making too much noise with their food or their gum, especially my sisters. (Sorry girls.)

4. I walk on the outside of my feet so much so that by the end of the summer my flip flops are so uneven that they topple to the side while just sitting there.

5. The only kind of "sauce" on my food that I like is ketchup or blue cheese dressing. I can live with a very microscopic amount of mayo or mustard, but crazy concoctions like honey mustard or bar-b-que sauce should be poured into the sewer. This causes me problems when I order food sauce less and it comes with the sauce smeared on like crazy. I just want to scream when that happens.

6. I cannot allow any of my limbs to hang over the side of the bed. Otherwise, I think that scary things from under the bed will come out and grab them.

7. Along that same line, when entering a hotel room I make sure to check under the beds and in the closets. I am checking not for bugs or anything normal like that, but for dead bodies.

Now you know how truly crazy I am. So that I don't feel alone in my craziness I am tagging Kim, Aunt Sue, Jana, Karen, Michelle, and Stephanie (as if she will ever read this to know that she has been tagged.)

The Two Brooms

Quite soon after moving into this house, we learned that there would be a need for two brooms. Apparently, our cat decided that she needed to rid the neighborhood of all vermin. Upon arising nearly every morning for two months, we would find an innocent mouse or two laying on our walkway. The cat was so proud of herself that she would lay the sweet murdered rodents in nearly the same spot each day for us to find. (I suppose if we were her cat family, we would be impressed.) Jimmy's job was to dispose of the little bodies before Jackson had a chance to see them. That only lasted a few days before Jackson decided to run out to find out if we had, yet another, gift waiting for us.

Once Jackson became involved that was the start of the mouse funerals and a whole new way to take care of the bodies. This is when the broom was only allowed outside and designated for mice only.




The mice had to be buried, but not before a prayer was given for their tiny little souls. We now have a mouse graveyard in our backyard. Luckily for us, not so much for the mouse population of our neighborhood, we believe that our cat has successfully taken care of the problem and haven't seen a mouse in over a month. One morning we did have a gift of a sweet little bunny, may he RIP, but that is the last we have seen for quite some time.

This wild side of our cat did not help, however, when we had a little creature living in our kitchen. As you may remember, we thought it was a squirrel. We were wrong.



I have to say that I was pretty proud of the fact that I trapped this little chipmunk by myself. This is Jackson telling the story of our resident rodent and his journey to freedom.

Check out what my guys have been up to!

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