To Infinity and Beyond!!.... and a Little Aye Matey

You know that scene in the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, where there are hundreds of kids wandering the streets Trick or Treating? Well that was my neighborhood tonight. This was really the first year that we have really Trick or Treated instead of another "Halloween" activity. In years past we have attended a Trunk or Treat at church or a Harvest Festival somewhere, and maybe hit one or two neighbors houses. This year Carson was determined that we were going to a hundred houses. I drew the short straw, so we headed out to make the rounds. The neighborhood we live in really goes all out for Halloween, people gathered in their front yards with their portable fire pits and hot chocolate. Scary music and decorations really make it a nice spooky event. It was really enjoyable for all involved. We left Wayne at home to handle the hoards of traveling princesses, zombies, and super heroes. Fortunately for me, Carson's candy bag got too heavy after only 50 or so houses, and he had to go to the bathroom. We headed home and he helped pass out the rest of the candy.

Now if you will notice in a couple of the pictures below, Carson refused to smile... he insisted that Buzz Lightyear doesn't smile....he is always serious...all the time.

Finally was able to convince him that if he smiled, he might get more candy.At least he only got Treats....no Tricks from us tonight....He had just as much fun if not more passing out the candy once we got home.Now for the Aye Matey..... a couple of days ago Wayne started complaining of a sinus type of headache. He took some decongestant and was feeling better. Yesterday he comes home from work, and is having trouble drinking out of a glass... I look at him and the right side of his face is kinda droopy....and his speech was slightly slurred. We were a little concerned, but didn't think stroke or anything like that, I immediately knew we were dealing with Bell's Palsy. He was worse this morning, but went into work. He left early and headed to the Dr. and was officially diagnosed with Bell's. The Dr. prescribed him some eye drops, because his right eye doesn't close, and it can dry out very easily. He was also prescribed a prednisone dose pack. The cool thing is that we really could of dressed him up as pirate for Halloween....he already had the scowl and the eye squinch down. Hopefully it won't last too terribly long....It isn't uncomfortable, but he does have trouble speaking.... oh and drinking is quite comical...if I do say so myself.

On the downside of tonight... my super nice digital SLR camera was dropped on the floor....I'm not naming names.....or fault (neither Carson or I did it)...totally accidental.... The good news...it still takes pictures...it took these tonight after the fall, but the display LCD screen is shot. It is really amazing how much we rely on the display to see the shot after we take it. I will just use it as is, until we can wrangle the repairs.

Carving Pumpkins.....

When I was in first grade I entered a contest at school to decorate a pumpkin.... I remember my Mom and Dad helping me to decorate that pumpkin. It was a normal looking eyes etc, but the teeth were what made it unique. My dad, took toothpicks and attached pumpkin seeds to the mouth as teeth. That pumpkin won for my grade and was entered into the city contest. I remember going to the mall and seeing all the pumpkins on display. I got a certificate, I don't have a clue where the certificate is now, but the memory is one I think fondly of still.

We started a tradition with Carson several years ago that we carve our pumpkins the night before Halloween.

In the past I used those stencils for the designs, but I forgot to buy some more, so I free handed them... besides Carson insisted that Jack-O-Lanterns are triangles anyway.Daddy and Carson both did the dirty work.I did the actual carving.... of course you have to light them up to see how cool they look.

Oh Thank Heaven!

I love that the sign says it all!Never, ever did I think I would be thankful for gas prices..... this was over the past weekend in Front Royal, Virginia.... it has dropped even lower now...word is that Costco in Richmond has it for 1.96/gallon.....WOW almost worth the drive.

Amarillo By Christmas instead of Amarillo by Morning

Thought that I would share with everyone that we will be purchasing tickets tomorrow to go to Amarillo, Texas for Christmas. For all our Texas family and friends we will arrive there on the afternoon of December 21st and return home (Virginia) on the 2nd of January. Looking forward to seeing y'all and spending time visiting.

Have I Mentioned Yet That I Love Fall!

Just in case you were wondering, Fall happens to be my favorite time of the year. I love the crisp air, the smell of wood burning in fireplaces... and I really love the smell of jack-o-lanterns lit with a real candle. Weird I know...but just one of those childhood smells that you never forget. We are going to have plenty of pumpkins to carve, because we came home with two more today!

Today, I had the pleasure of attending Carson's first field trip in Kindergarten to Westmoreland Berry Farm as a chaperon. The kids took a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch and picked their own pumpkins, and gourds. They had several story and song times with the wonderful ladies at the farm, who did an outstanding job keeping 5 and 6 year olds entertained. It was the coldest day we have had yet this season, about 40 degrees with a real stiff wind. So it was well below freezing with the wind chill.... at least it wasn't raining!

I haven't ridden on a school bus in years, and that was interesting to say the least. I know I enjoyed myself tremendously, the kids had a blast, and we all enjoyed the beauty that is Virginia in the Fall. I am hesitant to post too many pictures of other peoples children on this blog without their permission, so what you see is but a small sampling, or difficult to see who is really in the shots.

When we first drove in there is a large contraption of sort that crosses over the road, with obvious perches and ledges. We all kinda wondered what that was for. As we were eating lunch we were treated to a show from the resident goat. There is a pulley and machine to buy goat feed from. You put the feed in the bucket and use the pulley to bring it up to the top perch. The goat must have smelt our food, because he wandered up and looked around waiting for someone to offer him a bite.

When he didn't get any food, he calmly trotted back down the ramps on the other side.

The kids seemed to enjoy themselves. Did I mention it was COLD???By the way.... I was informed by two little girls that they are Carson's girlfriends....He was indifferent to the whole thing, but he did tell me that they were beautiful... he's right... they are cuties.

Skyline Drive

The Fall that we moved from Virginia, I was 13 years old. I remember my Mother wanting to go up to Skyline Drive and see the Fall foliage before we moved to the treeless plains of Texas. I distinctly remember driving through the back country and eventually ending up at Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia.

I have been watching the foliage reports for a couple of weeks, because if you are going to go to the mountains to see the Autumn colors...no sense going unless they are at the height of their colors. We initially had planned on going yesterday, but the weather was a bit uncooperative. So we left this morning...for another family day!

The weather was spectacular...the forecasted high for Fredericksburg was 72, but I knew that there would be a significant temperature difference in the mountains, so we all layered up, and drove North towards Front Royal, Virginia. We entered the Shenandoah National Park at the Northern end and planned on driving about 65 miles South on Skyline Drive and then head back home through Culpeper, Virginia.

We entered the park, and took our time driving. We pulled over at several overlooks and were amazed at how beautiful the valley below was.

The Splendor of Autumn...is very visible in these next couple of pictures.

An Awesome lichen (I think) on the side of a tree.

Some more random pictures of some awesome sights we saw...Enjoy!Then of course, I have obligatory pictures of the two men in my life....Oh and Petey too!I love, love, love this picture....holey jeans and all!It was a beautiful day, one I know I will remember for a lifetime....I hope it is a wonderful memory for Carson too! This has been added as a yearly event for our family.