Halloween 2013!

First there were the traditional Halloween after school treats.

Nathaniel burst in the door after school saying, "Mom, I hope you made a lot of snacks because Benjamin is bringing home a whole gang of people!"

Fortunately, he dropped off a few along the way and it was only one friend who came home with him.

 And now I introduce to you: The 11th Doctor (Nathaniel), The 9th Doctor (Caleb), Oberon- King of the Faeries (Benjamin), A red faerie (Benjamin's friend), and a cute little witch (Lilyanna).

 They made me take lots of pictures, so they could pose differently with their sonic screwdrivers, of course.

And then we ended the night (after trick or treating through lots of wind and rain) with delicious mummy meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Happy Halloween!

Dancing

I love dancing. Not me personally doing it, but watching others do it. I'm amazed at the grace and control that dancers have over their bodies and how effortless they make it all look.

My four youngest kids all dance, and three of them are good at it. One of them enjoys it, but has to work harder for it than everyone else.

I realized that I needed a dance class. I've taken gazillions of exercise classes over the last 20 years, but not a single dance class. I haven't had to do any choreography for anything in more than a decade, so I was rusty.

Heather the Awesome suggested a year or two ago that we take a belly dancing class that was being offered up at our rec center, and finally last fall everything lined up to make it doable.

It's been a little over a year now that we've been taking the class, and I am SOOOO glad that she suggested it. Our teacher is wonderful! She makes everything seem completely attainable, but is realistic that practice is necessary. And I've had the opportunity to perform with her and my amazing classmates at both a belly dance workshop/retreat and several smaller community gatherings.

I feel like belly dance might be one of the forms of dance that is the most accepting of all body types. I know that seems weird since we all imagine perfectly shaped women in their little bikini tops and toned abs. For the most part it isn't that.  It's normal looking women who have learned how to isolate muscles that I wasn't even aware of having before I started belly dance.  And for some moves, the more belly the better!

I'm not quite ready to bare my belly while dancing, but I'm becoming more accepting of the idea.  Thanks in part to my religious beliefs and standards of modesty and in equal part the tremendous number of scars left by being pregnant with excessively large babies, I'm still a bit hesitant to don a spangly bra and let the rest of my torso hang out.  But I think I'll get there eventually.

Here are a few of my favorite ladies from our very first performance last Spring:

I've been pleased to learn that my body is capable of more than I'd ever believed. I always assumed there were people who could move "like that" and people who simply couldn't.  I placed myself firmly in the latter category.  However, with practice and the right teacher many things can be learned.

Wherein I empathize with animal mothers who eat their young...

Sunday evening Nathaniel said the prayer for our family before the kids went up to bed.  Here's an excerpt:

"And please bless us that we'll have a good week at school and that Dad will have a good week at work and that Mom won't spend all of Dad's money by going to the spa three times a day."

For the record, I have never been to a spa.

Ever.

Let alone three times in one day.

Also, Todd is a notorious cheapskate, but has never said anything about me wasting money, so I know Nathaniel didn't hear it from him.

No, the blessed boy came up with that one all on his own.  And after the prayer when I asked him what that was all about, just kept digging himself into a deeper hole by talking.

And again, I was comforted by the fact that both Benjamin and Caleb knew that he should not have said it in the first place, and CERTAINLY should have stopped talking afterwards!

There's hope for the rest of them.

To Nathaniel's future wife: I'm so sorry. I promise I didn't do it. He's always been like this.

A Nightly Occurance

When I went to college, I took with me a lovely feather comforter which my freshman year boyfriend eventually renamed the b.f.f.f.c. (big fluffy feather flannel comforter) due to my attachment to it. I would gleefully return to my dorm room after classes and curl up inside of it.  I loved that comforter and it's flannel duvet cover.

When Todd and I got married, I knew he was allergic to everything in the universe and as a mark of how much I loved him, I agreed to no longer use my b.f.f.f.c.!  (Seriously, people, if that's not love, I don't know what is!)

After a few years of marriage, Todd discovered that there was such a thing as hypo-allergenic feather comforters, and as a mark of how much he loved me, agreed to give it a go.  And that's what we've enjoyed using ever since!

The last year, though, it's become evident that it might be time for a new comforter.  Each night Todd has to shake the blanket so the feathers are evenly distributed and then each morning we wake up to this:

No, that's not someone sleeping in the bed. That's how the feathers are when we wake up in the morning. Now that the cold weather has set in, Todd and I sleep back to back in the middle of the bed  for warmth.  And when we wake up, all the feathers have fled to one side or the other, but none on top of us.

Well, at least I know what my November expense sheet will lead with...

My Drama Llamas

Nathaniel and Caleb were recently in a production of "Fantastic Mr. Fox". Nathaniel was one of the farmers and had the most wonderful Scottish accent. I was truly impressed by it.  Caleb played a drunken rat and had way too much fun with that role.  

 The also both got to be chickens for part of the play.

I'm so grateful to live in an area where we have resources like a fabulous community center and a wonderful drama instructor as well as a good pool of talented kids who enjoy participating in such things.

This sums things up nicely I think

We spent 4 hours at the church today. Mostly setting up and then cleaning up for the Halloween party/Chili contest. The rest was actually participating at the party. These kids all helped with the setting up and cleaning up.  Caleb was in charge of that cute little boy so his parents could help. Benjamin and Nathaniel were very helpful with the grunt work of setting up tables and chairs.

In case you were wondering, Benjamin was dressed as Oberon, king of the faeries. Nathaniel was the 11th Doctor, the little boy who's not mine was a pirate, and Caleb was the 9th doctor.

Uncle!!

I give up.  I have been sick for so long I don't remember healthy.  I have tried zinc, vitamins, teas, otc drugs, and yoga.  I didn't want to go back on antiobiotics since we were just on those for walking pneumonia a couple months ago. The cnp took one look at me and told me I needed to rest. She told me I was "ragged" and my immune system was "shot" and that I need to sleep and sleep and sleep and rest. She actually ordered me home to bed for the weekend. (I didn't mention that I'm one of the people in charge of the annual church chili contest/Halloween party tomorrow.)

Anyway. Yay drugs, and extra vitamin c, and medically ordered naps!