Trick-or-treat

 I feel so behind, but then again this did feel like yesterday.  Our trick-or-treating this year was on November 4 due to the hurricane, which was weird at first but when everyone was out and about that night it seemed to work out alright.  It was cold that night but I made the kids keep their coats off for a quick picture.  I think it turned out great (despite it being on my phone because my camera is in repair for the third time this year).

They all decided at the end of summer what they wanted to be, and they didn't change their minds.  Rachel made a fabulous pirate, and Kate worked out perfect and easy using Rachel's old Minnie Mouse costume.  Such a cutie!  When Tommy told me he wanted to be an elf, I held off thinking (and hoping) he'd change his mind and be something easy like a superhero instead.  But he was telling everybody he wanted to be an elf, and not just any elf...the elf from the movie Prep and Landing.  It's true it is not well known, but if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it!!  It's a really cute short Christmas movie that my kids are obsessed with.

So, with careful studying of the costume, a few trips to the fabric store and a couple experiments that didn't work out, I ended up with a pretty good costume.  It was all worth it!!  Tommy LOVES his elf costume.  He was so excited to show it off to Daddy's work friends and couldn't wait to wear it again.  He got good use out of it and even wears it as pajamas sometimes.  The great thing is that he can still get use out of it and he really thinks (and is super excited about) helping out Santa this year.

I did not make Jake's costume.  He borrowed it from a co-worker and surprised Tommy with it that night.  Melted. My. Heart.  What a dynamic duo!  We had a great night.  It was cute watching Kate get the hang of it, at first walking right in to all the houses and then walking up and saying "thank you" when the door opened. 

All I want for Christmas...

Rachel lost a tooth!!  She has been waiting ever so patiently for this to happen, since Kindergarten!  She was playing outside when it happened and I guess it fell out and fell on the ground.  We spent forever looking for it.  She was SO sad she didn't get to see her first lost tooth, but...

Lucky for her a couple hours later we were eating dinner and out pops the second one!!!!  She wrote the tooth fairy a cute note and got two glittery dollar bills under her pillow.  She was so excited!

It reminded me of when she was little and only had those two teeth.  This is Rachel at 18 months.  She didn't get those first two teeth until 14 or 15 months and it took a while to get the rest.  So we may not see the tooth fairy again for a while.

Sandy

It's great to live in a day when we have the ability to predict some of these natural disasters to prepare the best we can.  I'll be honest, I'm not as prepared as I should be.  But I did have flashlights, and I did have water and a good amount of food.  I anticipated the power going out and so I cleaned the house and did all the laundry and had all the devices charged on Monday.  I just didn't think we would be out for so long. 

Our power was out for four days.  Which actually sounds shorter than it felt!  (And is short compared to a lot of people).  But we did sort of enjoy our "indoor camping" as we called it.  We were very fortunate to still have hot water and a gas stove.  Those things made a BIG difference.  The first day went fine, but then the temperatures started to drop.  We bundled and put on extra blankets at night and seemed to do okay.  Our neighbor was able to borrow a generator and was generous to let us use a plug off of it and we were able to plug in the fridge and our computers and phones for about an hour each day.

For the third day, my dad went to Home Depot and got all the things he needed to wire our furnace so that we could plug the cord from the generator into it.  I was skeptical, but props to my dad!!  Heat never felt SO GOOD!  We saw lots of people in the neighborhood gathering branches and limbs that had fallen for fire wood.  We saw a few people pack up their cars to go stay with family or go to a hotel.  We looked into hotels ourselves and couldn't find any availability.

We had plenty of good things to eat (never had to open a can) and in the end didn't have to throw out too much food.  We were also very fortunate to have Whole Foods down the street that never lost power and had plenty of everything.

Hearing stories of trees falling through houses and people without hot water and the devastation along the shore, really kept me with a grateful attitude knowing things could be a lot worse.  My most desperate need was laundry, as we were running out of clean clothes fast.  And, for the next emergency, I need to get a radio.  I really wanted to know what was going on.

Rachel's school was closed for 5 days because of the power outages at the schools (and was even delayed when we got our snow storm..with that and parent teacher conferences, she's only had 7 full days of school this month.  Hopefully we still get a summer vacation :)  Our power came back on Friday night, which was a huge surprise since we were hearing rumors about 10 more days.

I learned a lot of things that week and above all my heart was filled with gratitude for the blessings that we have.  I was never worried or stressed and I knew we would be alright...and we were.  Thanks again for ALL your thoughts and prayers!!!  It felt good to be so loved.

Anyway, here are a few pictures:

Kate watching the storm

The morning after Jake and I went for a run.  Lots of downed trees in the neighborhood.  This was just 2 streets down...they got lucky!

 This was also just down the street, at the abandoned seminary housing.

 Crazy!

The past couple weekends we have been helping out locally and out at the shore with the Mormon Helping Hands.  This tree was enormous and the branch Jake is working on was a good few feet in the ground.  My handsome hubby showed off his manly strength :)

This is the pile of branches we took out from their backyard.  This was one of 3 houses we did yesterday.

It has been such an amazing opportunity and blessing to do service and be able to help these people in need.  They have been so grateful.  Saying things like "You are inspiring" "I'm rarely at a loss of words, but I'm speechless" "I am amazed at what you've done!" "I'm not overwhelmed anymore" along with a million thank yous.  Lots of work to be done still, and we'll probably be going out closer to the beach next weekend.

Grandpa's visit

 A couple weeks ago my dad flew into town.  His timing was impeccable as he was here right through the thick of Sandy.  I don't know about him, but it was great for us to have him around.  I think he still enjoyed it and plus, Rachel didn't have school that whole week.  Anyway, I'll post more on Sandy later.

The first couple of days we had decent weather and went on a great bike ride along the canal path.  My dad, Jake and the kids did another bike ride Saturday morning (while I was at a dreaded Cub Scout commitment) and went through Princeton campus and over to the Princeton Battlefield.  They all had a great time and Tommy really enjoyed the cannons.

Kate's favorite things...reading stories and jumping on the air mattress

 No visit from Grandpa wouldn't be complete without a trip to Trader Joes...or two, or three...or four

 Grandpa's iPad was a saving grace during our power outage

 We had an awesome "Thanksgiving" FEAST Monday evening as the storm was raging outside and right before our power went out.  The leftovers were great to have!

 Being home bound gave us ample time to do all the fun Halloween activities we wanted to do.

 Grandpa got to see this ball of fun and spunky personality at it's finest.

 Decorating sugar cookies

When we learned that school was cancelled for a third day in a row and that trick-or-treating was postponed, we high-tailed it out of there to enjoy our Halloween in Hershey, PA for some chocolate and some warmth.

Thanks Dad for sharing with us some memories we'll never forget!!

Tribute to Kitty

After all, she was my cat.  A couple weeks ago Kitty passed away.  I'm not exactly sure old she was.  Some of these pictures were taken in 1994 and she was grown up.  So I'm thinking we've easily had her for 20 years.  Who ever made up the fact that cats have 9 lives?  Kitty had like 90!  Out of curiosity I just calculated how old she was in cat years...97!  And she didn't even die of old age!!

I was the typical kid who begged her parents for a pet and promised to take care of it.  I first got a bunny, and he only lasted for like a day.  Somehow, despite my dad's dislike in felines, I was convincing enough to get a cat.  Maybe they felt sorry about the bunny.  Her name was Kitty because I never could decide on a name.  It's true that I did not take care of her like I should.  But I do remember scooping lots of poop, scrubbing the litter basket, and occasionally filling her bowls with food and water.  The reason she lived so long, was not because of me.

Kitty had a million litters.  It seemed like for 8 years she was constantly pregnant!  One year she even had babies in our minivan.  That was kind of funny...and gross. 

 The kittens were always so cute and so fun to play with.

One time Kitty ate my birthday cake

Even though she was an "outside" cat, she managed to make it inside a lot and would be found in places like this and under beds.

We made fun of Kitty lots, especially when she would shed and get these nasty big chunks of fur on her.  But, I was sad when I learned she was gone.  I feel like she is a family icon!!  She has been with us for so long.  So Mom, this blog post is for you...thanks for all the love and caring you did for Kitty.

A Witch Birthday

Rachel decided early on that she wanted a witch birthday for this year.  It was really fun to do a birthday/Halloween party.

For breakfast on her her actual birthday we had our own Bubblin' Brew Restaurant because she loves to play restaurant.  I made a menu complete with food options, coloring, and a maze.   She took over from there and made the French toast.

I made a last minute decision to surprise her and check her out of school for an hour.  I wanted to just take her to a nearby park with her lunch but her lunch hour is early, so we did ice cream instead.  She loved choosing her flavor and all the toppings...mint ice cream with oreos and coconut.

 Her melted witch cake, which she loved

 She got an alarm clock, she has been wanting one for a really long time.

 Some fun gifts from Grandma (I think she's finished all the books too)

For her party we invited 7 of her friends from the neighborhood, school, and church.  Her friends arrived with the witch's brew already brewing.  It was NOT easy to find dry ice, but I'm glad I did.  It was a fun effect and the kids really liked it.

 We did lots of games...scavenger hunts, relay races, pin the tail on the cat, etc. 

The biggest "hit" was the pinata!! (How sad is it that she came without her hat...it was the second time this month that I ordered something online and it showed up wrong)

And of course the treats!  Can't take credit for any of these...they're all pinterest :)

 All the witches

Rachel's big present this year was a trip to the American Girl Store to eat brunch in their Cafe.  She brought her doll "Amy" and was really playful with her and made the whole experience so fun!

We then scooted up to Central Park and let her climb the rocks to her hearts content.  We came upon this fantastic playground.

As she was swinging she was saying, "I love this day...this is the best day ever!!"  Jake and I loved watching her skip around and realizing even though she'd getting older she's still our little girl.  We love her so much!

 On our way home we passed this beautiful site.  Rachel's favorite season is fall.

Rachel is enjoying the school part of second grade (struggling a little bit with a friendship trio).  She is continuing with piano and doing really well.  She has started a lyrical class, which is a mix between jazz and ballet, and seems to be liking that as well.  If she does have free time, outside of activities and homework she is playing outside with her friends, being silly with Tommy, or sitting down at a table with a crayon, pen, or marker to color or write stories or poems.  She loves to read and sometimes comes out of her room relatively late feeling bad because she just couldn't put it down.  She is excited to be baptized in just one year!