Jar of thankfulness

I have been thinking alot about how our family of 4 does not talk a lot about what we are thankful for, or really appreciate about ourselves or the people we know. I am going to decorate a jar for the month of November and each day we will write down on a slip of paper something we are thankful for and then deposit it into the jar. I think it would be fun to read them aloud to each other on Thanksgiving. I am hoping this will help the girls to get along better, instead of the constant bickering that seems to occur these days. I will let you know how it turns out!

Wahoo!

All I can say while watching NBC right now is WAHOO!
And how exciting that my children can be a part of this history that has been made tonite...something positive. I don't usually get political, but I did get goosebumps watching Barack Obama speak tonite.
Enough said.

The nun and the school girl

Yesterday we were just waaaaay too tired to blog about the Halloween bash I co-hosted at the Kerley's on Saturday night. We had a rockin' good time. There was good food, good music, and AWESOME costumes. Some of my favorites were Strawberry Shortcake and Huckleberry Pie, the Husky cheerleader who broke out in cheer AND did the splits, 70's basketball player, and my husband-a.k.a. Sister Peters.

A big shout out to the Matson's who brought the yummy ham and cheese ball, Maria who has adopted T's recipe for bean dip and all of the other food. We ate and drank ourselves silly. We also made some new friends who are so much fun to party with. Maybe next year we can get them to wear a costume! Becky, Theresa and I are already coming up with ideas for next years bash. It is going to be even better. Note to self: avoid setting off smoke detectors and getting a phone call from the fire department.

we went trick-or-treating and all we got was this lousy 10 pounds of candy

We went out trick-or-treating near our old house and had a ton of fun. We met up with some friends and their kids and hit up lots of houses of Hazelwood families.

There were even a few houses that ran out of candy. We are so happy that it was not raining tonite. Our friends little 3 year old daughter came back from each house yelling "Dad, I got candy!" It was the cutest thing.

quit clowning around

We just got home from the school costume party, which was packed. The girls had a ton of fun.
Most common costumes: Pirates and Princesses. I think Hayley was the only clown and she got tons of compliments on her costume. Now the girls are getting their soccer stuff ready to go because we have to be out the door at 8:15 in the morning. Whoever created this soccer schedule must not realize that I am not an early bird! I may have to stop to get a coffee, if I don't have time to brew a pot at home.
Mark and I are getting excited for the Halloween bash being hosted at the Kerley's next weekend. Tommorow is the big decorating day...we have a ton to get done. Hayley has an afternoon soccer game so we will have to take time out for that and then get right back to decorating. I know the decorations are going to be awesome...our friend Becky is renting a U-Haul to bring all of the stuff she owns. Yes I did say U-haul. That is not a typo!!! I have to make sure to get a picture of her as she rolls up. Hopefully we'll be there in time, I don't want to miss the initial unveiling of the contents of that truck.
Other big news we have to share: Hayley is going to a youth development program with the Seattle Sounders starting in November. We had the option of sending her for a specific soccer position, but decided to send her to learn the fundamentals of soccer. Then after the holidays, we will send her back for another six week round for defense, striker, whatever she wants to do. I know I am shocked at how much the girls are loving soccer. I am even enjoying it, and finding that the rules of the game are pretty easy for even me, the non-sports parent, to understand. I love that the girls are so excited about the game. Hayley has even asked me about playing in college so we had the whole talk of getting good grades in school, playing well and then she could possibly get a scholarship to college to play! Dream BIG Hayley!

This next week is conference week, and then trick-or-treating on friday. We like to take the girls over in our old neighborhood. They get to be out on the street and see school friends and even go to some of their friends houses. I refuse to let the old door to door tradition die off. We just don't find it as fun to go to a mall to trick-or treat.

Even though it is only a little after 9, I am headed to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep. With Mark gone to Wenatchee, I can hog the whole bed to myself!!!

Rodents

I ran across this article today, and my stomach turned a little. Just last week a few of us Mom's were talking at soccer practice about our various rodent experiences. My memorable mouse experience was when we went to Vegas in 2007 and mice were running around at the bus stop in front of Caesars Palace. Yuck! Thank god we have never had a problem with them in our home. I guess that is one benefit to having cats for pets.

27 Dresses - Benny and the Jets

I just watched this movie. I really liked it much more than expected.
Hands down favorite part was this part where they are smashed in the bar singing this song. "Sorry lyric police..."