Halloween

 Happy Halloween!  I am kind of a cheeseball about this holiday.  I love to see the little ones all dressed up in their costumes.  I still remember the nervous anticipation of this holiday and the excitement at seeing everyone look so out-of-the-ordinary.  It's fun to relive some of the feelings now as a parent. 

I know I have limited time left while I can still dress Barrett in cute costumes, before he wants to be superman or a transformer or some other total boy costume, so I had to take advantage of it of course.  Barrett was just the cutest little monkey and LOVED his costume.  He was so excited to wear it. 

The Saturday before Halloween we met some of our friends for trick-or-treating in a local town.  It was great fun to see our friends again and to enjoy a gorgeous day.  Barrett understood what he was supposed to be doing so we got a big kick out of watching him.  

 Little miss ladybug was along for the ride too. 

 Last  year Barrett was in awe but afraid of this Elmo but this year, he ran right up to give hugs.

 This is Audrey's latest move.  When she's feeling silly, she'll crane back as far as she can, smiling.  I love to nibble on her neck when she does this. 

 Afterwards, we went to the local library to play.  They have a great library, with the entire basement for kids, lots of books and puzzles and tables to play on.

 Walking back to the car.  This is Barrett's oldest friend, who he met when he was just 12 weeks old.  These two love each other and are so cute together.

 

I even got in on the Halloween action for once.  Halloween has become somewhat of a big holiday at my company in the last few years.  They really encourage costumes, and served apple cider donuts and apple cider in the morning.  For lunch, they brought in pizzas and cake, lots of candy and had awards for costumes.  My department is known for being the stick-in-the-muds at holiday season.  This year we decided to fool everyone.  We were all dressed in our normal clothes and received lots of eye rolling at our lack of participation yet again.  Then mid-morning, we dressed up as sumo wrestlers and paraded around the office to the song "I'm Sexy and I Know It."  Yes, this is what I wore:

It was completely unexpected, especially coming from me, who is usually pretty straight laced at work!

Halloween night was a little tough because it was a weeknight and so the usual madcap race to daycare and home ensued.  But we managed to get around the neighborhood.  We actually met up with our neighbors, who were heading out the same time we were, so it was nice to have some company.   Unfortunately, I didn't get too many photos because it was so late and we needed to get going. Oh well.

So that's our Halloween! It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is now just around the corner!

2012 Election

Well the votes have been mostly counted and the election results are in.

I am greatly disappointed and saddened this morning.  I am going to try hard to temper my feelings here with diplomacy and consideration for my friends who on the opposite side of the political spectrum but still try to express my frustrated feelings.

I am really scared with the direction our country is heading and I'm not sure it'll change.  4 years ago, Tim and I watched the election results rolling in and were not surprised with the outcome.  But we predicted that night that 4 years later our country would be in pain with this greatly inexperienced and partisan president in charge from our state known for its corruption and back-room dealings and that the election results would be a lot different.  Well only half that is true this morning.

This was my first election voting as a mother and it's amazing how much my feelings changed.  Not for who I was voting for, which didn't change, but why I was voting.  This time I voted with a much heavier and prayerful heart.  Thinking about the future of our country, the direction it's heading, the safety and well-being of these little bodies tucked into their beds in footie pajamas and the responsibility that I have to look out for them drove my vote.  Sure, I want to keep more of the money that I worked hard to earn, I want to want to be kept safe from those who want to harm me, and I want to avoid government interference in my daily life.  But mostly what I want is a better life for my kids.  I want to know that they're protected and safe and that their future is bright and optimistic, that someday they'll have good jobs and can buy homes and tuck their kids in at night someday in the future. The gravity of the election was so much heavier on my heart and mind than it ever has been before.

I am flabbergasted that the majority of Americans agree with me in thinking this country is headed in the wrong direction yet did nothing to try to change that.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  I'd like to think that 4 years from now we'll see vastly different results, but if the current state of this country don't persuade us to try a new tactic, than I don't see anything changing.  We've created such a society of dependence rather than Independence, of government reliance rather than self-reliance, of entitlement and expectation rather than hard work and ingenuity.  Unfortunately now, so many of our citizens are in this entitlement cycle and will likely never break out of it and that will have a huge impact on our future.

I'm an Accountant.  I think in dollars and cents and I'm very practical when it comes to decisions and outcomes.  I spend 45+ hours a week analyzing financial statements, reviewing profit and loss numbers and discussing budgets, forecasts, and actuals. But I don't think you need to be a CPA to understand that $16 trillion of debt is financial suicide for our country.  Forget terrorist threats - we are going to do ourselves in before long.  My kids' share of the national debt is over $100k and I am so angry at our leaders for the unfairness of this, for this selfishness and short-sighted thinking for which my kids and their kids will be paying the price. This spend, spend, spend mentality leads to a fantastic instant gratification but misery and self-destruction over time.   

I hope and pray that I'm wrong.  I sincerely hope that the decisions the Administration makes will benefit this country, its people and the world. The repercussions of the vote yesterday will be felt long after today, long after 4 years from now, long after those of us who made the decision are alive.  We had a tremendous responsibility to future generations when we filled in that circle on our ballot, one that is even more meaningful to me now that I am raising that next generation.  The decision has been made and we and they will have to live with the consequences for the rest of our lives.  A few of my friends are elated.  Me?  I'm terrified.

Family photos

I realize unless you share DNA with me, you probably aren't interested in this big post of pictures.  And maybe you aren't interested even if you do share DNA with me and are just too nice to say so!

But I have to take the opportunity to show off my beautiful babies from our photo shoot this summer.

This photo shoot was an absolute nightmare.  I got back in the car after the hour of photos and was wiped out.  I felt like I'd been at war.  The kids were completely non-cooperative.  Barrett, our little attention seeker, refused to smile, refused to sit still, refused to put his arm around Audrey.  Audrey was also unwilling to smile.  And when I held her, she would only chew on my necklace, so that I had to take it off or give her to Tim to hold.  It was exhausting and I felt like I'd run a marathon by the end of it.

Despite all the work and frustration, I am very happy to have these photos of my beautiful children.  I look at them, with their big blue eyes, silly laughs and smiles, determined (sometimes obstinate) little personalities and I am so thankful I've been blessed to have them.