Beware!

This lovely little tradition has just legitimized all those times my kids got clothes for Christmas. I was just looking out for them...

Also, I think they will get new underwear for Christmas this year. New undies with giant, smiling cat faces on the butt. (Thank you Allen.) I wouldn't want them to get eaten, especially now that they've been to Iceland and could legitimately be on the Yule Cat's radar.

I think my friend Kelaine might need a pair, too...

Saying Good-bye

I haven't really discussed it much,  but my husband's father passed away this summer. A few weeks ago we traveled to Sunderland, Massachusetts, to say our final good-byes.

Sunderland is a lovely little town on the banks of the Connecticut River. The kids and I had never been there before, and while it was a sad reason for a visit, we enjoyed getting to explore his old stomping ground.

We laid him to rest in the most beautiful cemetery I've ever seen. There was just something about the light through the leaves that day. It was lovely.

He served in the Navy during the very end of the Korean War, so he was buried with military honors.

And while I know you didn't know Dick, know that he would have appreciated being laid to rest near a patch of brussel sprouts, a corn field, and in view of the church where he married the love of his life. You can read his full obituary here.

Rest in peace Grampie;

we love and miss you...

Teacher Halloween 2019

This year for Halloween, the Mackinac Island teachers decided to dress up as if we were characters in the Dairy of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinny.

We thought about just picking characters from the book, until I found this site - Wimp Yourself.  It's a fun little site where you can personalize a character. Some poster board, black Sharpies, tape & paint stir sticks and quick as a wink, we were wimped!

Halloween 2019

This year we were lucky enough to have friends come up from Lansing to celebrate Halloween with us. They moved off the Island a number of years ago, but their mom and I have managed to get the kids together once or twice a year ever since.

 

This year I had a D&D character - a rogue. K put a lot of time into creating her costume. She had a clear vision and worked hard to bring it to life through thrifted (and then altered) items. D&D is serious business but don't let that face fool you - she was thrilled withher creation.

I also had a Laughing Jack - a macabre clown. My son also knew exactly what he wanted to do. You should have seen him walking around the fabric store looking for the items to make each part of the costume. Finding the feather boas for the shoulders made his day!

S has gotten into horror (think Stephen King) and really enjoyed creeping people out with his costume. Luckily, he hasn't lost his sense of humor. 

As for candy, 2019 was an average year. The four kids brought home between 7.4 and 9.8 pounds of candy each (about 3 kg - 4.5 kg.)  Given that they all went together to the same houses, I'm not sure why there was such a difference between their hauls.  By far S's favorite item this year was the blood bag. I'm not sure if they came from Amazon, but that's exactly what they looked like; except these were filled with a thick blood-red sugary liquid. It was all I could do to watch S slurp it down...

How We Roll

My husband has been running a weekend D&D game for the kids and a few friends. It is nothing like the D&D I played back in high school.

He goes all out.

I sure hope the kids appreciate the effort he puts into it...

Escape

This little guy seems intent on escaping the third and fourth grade classroom. Three times in as many days I've discovered him making a run for it down the hallway...

It's Been a While

Apparently I haven't been picking up my mail often enough. All of this, plus a pile of bills, junk mail and catalogs was waiting for me at the post office this afternoon. The red envelopes are from my kids' new favorite T-shirt shop - Redbubble.

On Mackinac Island we don't have home mail delivery. We have to physically go to the post office to pick up our mail. Usually it is no big deal, but today my bike basket was a tad on the full side.