Of course I won't cheat!

I am getting excited ... Sunday is Halloween. I am not that into Halloween - we don't decorate our house like Christmas, I don't wear orange and black all month long, and I certainly don't go broke buying costumes and stuff for the boys.

So, what am I so giddy about? I get to go pillaging through the boys trick or treat bags for

C-A-N-D-Y

Of course, it won't be for a lot ... I will only waste my calories on stuff that I truly enjoy. So, for your reading pleasure, my favorites are as follows:

1. Butterfinger
2. Baby Ruth
3. Mounds (no one ever gives these out!)
4. Milk Duds
5. Snickers
6. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
7. Twizzlers

And the stuff I won't waste one calorie on? The ones that should have never been made are:
1. Peanut Butter Kisses (gag)
2. Mary Janes
3. Raisins (why? really ... why?)

4. Bit-O-Honey

5. Circus peanuts

6. single wrapped peppermints (do people just take handfuls from their neighborhood Italian place?)

7. Three Musketeers ... I just never liked them!

So ... what do you want to find in your kiddos' bags this year?!

Happy Halloween!

We took the little guys trick or treating on Saturday.

It is amazing to me the joy that simple acts can bring to your life. It is amazing to me how watching my two guys can bring back a flood of memories from my past.

Remembering the friends I walked with, the Dads that took us ... the weeks that it seemed went by before the last few candy bars were eaten.

Now, I watch as my kids go door to door. As their Dad holds their hands and leads them up stoops and around other kids. I watch as they eat the vegetable soup I cooked all morning, the same way my Mom wouldn't let us leave the house without eating a bowl full of her creation every year.

Little j took right to the whole thing ... walking up to the doors, carrying his own bucket and holding it out to get the goodies. Big J was the voice of the operation, loud "trick or treats" and lots of "thank yous."

We lasted for about and hour and a half before Big J's hands were freezing and little j had so much snot running into his mouth that he probably was no longer hungry for dinner!

We stopped at 2 friends' houses to say hello before heading back to our place for a family Halloween "party." Meatballs, buffalo chicken dip (OMG - my FAVORITE), hot dogs ... and huge spread to show the kids that Mommy really does love them and wants them to remember these things when they take their kids out for Halloween some day!

My little guys waiting to go check out their loot!

Big J - my Cowboy!

Our family: me- the sorority girl, E - the construction worker, Big J - the cowboy and little j - the farmer

Mommy and her Cowboy

Weekend recap

Another weekend flew by and to be quite honest, I hardly remember it; we try to squeeze so much into a 2-day period that it just goes by quicker than a person can blink!

Friday night was carry out night. It was cool and rainy and quite frankly, depressing out. We ordered some Go Roma and Big J, E and I sat down to watch Sand Lot (Big J has been bored by "kiddie" movies, so PG movies here we come .... God help me). He loved it.

Saturday morning was "Mommy and boys" morning. We got ready and went to Starbucks over by the train station. Big J tried the sample pumpkin latte and flipped out because it was so good ... I am doomed. We watched the trains and ate our muffins and then walked over to the Farmer's Market. Big J picked out some veggies for the soup I would be making and one of each type of apple that he saw. :) We headed over to the Party Store to start looking for costume ideas: Big J is going to be a cowboy. Little j? Well, he detests hats and hoods so we are trying to come up with an idea that can do without those. Then it was off to Home Depot to pick up some mums to replace the sad looking impatiens on the front porch.

Saturday afternoon I went to a friend's house for a Tastefully Simple party. I ordered just a few things and it was nice to be on my own for a couple hours (until I came home and saw the house in MASSIVE upheaval ... is it that hard to clean up after 2 children for two freaking hours? I do it, why can Dad not do it?!?!?!??). We went to Durty Nellie's (one of my faves) for dinner and the start of the ND game (since my Alma mater cannot seem to win a stinkin football game to save their lives, I will hope that ND can pull out a few wins this season). A bowl of chili and beer started the evening off pretty nicely. Another trip to Home Depot on the way home (only to see Big J run around in the garden center and trip on the gravel and bust up his elbow ... poor little dude!) and then home to the couch to see the end of ND beating Purdue!

Sunday we went to Mass and then to Einsteins to grab some pumpkin bagels and Autumn roast coffee and then we went to my Uncle's house to watch the Bears game and eat some food. The boys behaved pretty well, Big J always enjoys hanging out with his great uncle ... it is his surrogate Grandpa S when we cannot be in Florida!!!!!!

Where did the weekend go????????

So, it is back to the usual crap I deal with Monday through Friday. Listening to bosses whine too much, clients bitch too much and wishing I was inherently wealthy. I am hoping that my week can go by pretty quickly (although, with 2 days - in a row - in this office, it could make for a slow go. At least I am finally getting my hair cut and colored on Thursday. I am embarrassed to go out looking like this any longer!!!!

My goal of the week? Pick out a web hosting company and start building the website. That isn't too lofty of an idea is it?

(Oh yea .... About the Sand Lot movie. So, we reminded Big J about the language used by some of the kids that he watched. He said that he understood. So, on Saturday he was on the phone telling my Dad about the movie and this is what I hear: "so, Grandpa, then the little boy takes the ball and runs away from the dog and yells 'oh SHIT!'" Both my Dad and I stopped, tried to quell our laughter and tell Big J that he shouldn't repeat those words. For the next hour he kept saying, 'Please don't tell Dad that I said a bad word ... I didn't mean too!'")