Schmalloween

I am all Halloween'd out and the trick-or-treat-ing hasn't even started!

In the last week we had a ward party, a friend party, and today was the costume parade at school:



The mustache really made the mountie costume.

Three different minor football teams were represented in Steven's school class.

Chloe wore the tiger costume that I bought for Jaclyn 10 years ago. I remember I really stressed myself out over the $20 price tag on this costume, but I justified the purchase by telling myself that all my children would wear it. As it turns out this costume cost me $5/kid - a number I would have been comfortable with even 10 years ago.

As for Jaclyn, she went to a Halloween party at a friend's house last night (today was a day off for high school). Her last minute costume decision was to buy a witch hat at the dollar store, wear her normal clothes, and call herself Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

SPT

#28 from my 100 list: "I'm not so picky about having a clean car."

But Ken is - we balance each other off nicely.

Birthday Cake

Every year either Christy or Sue treat me with my favorite birthday cake:

Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Sauce and Whipped Cream

The Cake:

Cream together:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup molasses

Add:
1 egg

Sift together, then add to wet ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Lastly mix in:
1 cup hot water

Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350' for 35 minutes.


The Lemon Sauce:

Sift together:
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Add to a pan of:
2 cups boiling water

Boil till thick, then remove from heat and stir in:
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp lemon juice


The Whipped Cream:

oh c'mon you already know this one


The only picture I could trouble myself to take:



Sorry about that.

Wide Receiver

Steven wishes I'd caught the QB in this series of photos, but that's not the boy I was watching!

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The fact that I missed the QB throwing the pass means it must have been at least 20 yards.

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I assume Steven's teammates were busy blocking for the QB, because there wasn't anyone around to block for him.

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You can't hear me (Or Ken, Or Truman's family) yelling at

this point.

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So I'll just type it out: GO STEVEN!

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He made it past the corner back,

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but here came the safety.

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Boys find this fun.

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(Her son, I presume.)

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A small load off my mind and memory card

Chloe wasn't too happy that I put her in skating lessons again this fall. Neither was I - I thought we were done with skating lessons in this house - but she somehow forgot how to skate, so here we go again. She really didn't like my explanation for mandatory skating lessons: I told her it is a life skill. (Our school does a skating field trip for every grade every year. That's a lot of skating even by Canadian standards.)
'

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I was thinking Chloe is looking like a hockey player with her front tooth missing, but now that I've got the picture up on the computer I see that she' s a little too cute to be a hockey player.
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Besides, the curlers under the helmet take away from the hockey player effect.

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Jaclyn turned 15 last weekend and held a classic teen boy/girl party.

No decorations. No party games (unless you count Wii). Just pizza, cake, and hanging out. And going to the park. Because somehow that didn't feel too juvenile?

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It turns out I really go for a man in coveralls.

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Our federal election is coming up on Tuesday. I'm not going to give you a lesson on the parliamentary system, but I will tell you I am one of the few Canadians who has the opportunity to vote directly for (or against) our Prime Minister.

SPT[h]

Perhaps I should have highlighted #9 in my list of 100 things about me since today is the 9th, but I am sticking to the challenge as given (this week anyhow) so here is #7 on my list:

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I buy one pair of casual shoes and wear them nearly every day till they're worn out, about 2 years, and then I buy another pair.

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I actually think I've been wearing these shoes for 3 years. They're not exactly sea-worthy anymore.

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I have a regular date at Winners on Tuesday afternoons during Jaclyn's piano lesson (unless I need to go to the grocery store during that time) and last week I found the next installment for my standard shoe-wear. I may break with tradition, though, and see if I can find a second pair of shoes in brown because it might be cheaper than buying myself a new black belt and black purse for those times that I feel I need to get all my leathers coordinated.
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Just let me finish up by sending a shout out to April for converting me to Moleskin back in May. It turns out I'm one of those knucklehead kids who ignore parental advice, but adhere to the very same advice when given by a friend.

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