This morning, mothers everywhere wore the same harried, strained expressions when they dropped their children off at daycare and school, the kids however were the most excited they have ever been to arrive at school. Dressing up for school just wouldn’t be complete without last minute stresses, like melt downs, last minute costume changes and lost homework.  And if you are anything like me, last night you were up late making or decorating cookies or cupcakes, cursing yourself for being up so late making cookies and cupcakes. 

Morning started earlier than usual for us, as I had 5 little monsters to transform with Hallowe’en attire.  By 6:30 we were all in the kitchen, amidst piles of costumes, makeup and gasp-black nail polish.  By 7:30, 3 out of 5 kids were dressed and makeup was applied, when screams erupted and an ominous puddle of black nail polish was spreading across the kitchen table. (Alright, I admit it, the screams were mine!!!).

Paulina, who had been planning on being a pirate, was a witch, as she needed to be one for her part in the haunted house at school.  Tomorrow, she will be a pirate, and thank goodness because I already bought all of her accessories.  Jeremy, as the joker, with a crazy wig and freaky makeup looked like a completely different person.  Jack, in his third year as a vampire, decided around 7am, after his makeup had been painstakingly applied, that he didn’t want to be a vampire after all…..and NO, this did not make me happy in the slightest, and yes, I did flip my preverbial wig and say sternly to him (while wagging my finger) ‘you are not changing your costume now mister!’.   Gregory, who had been excited about being a vanilla dip donut, (which I spent last Saturday making), had decided yesterday that there was no way he was being a donut, as the kids at school laughed at him when he told them what he was going to be, and threatened to eat him.  So he wore a Scooby-doo costume.  At least that was easy.  He will be a donut tomorrow, among the safety of his siblings.  Sabrina, as a lamb, had a dab of black makeup on her nose which by the time we were ready to go was smeared across her cheek.  I made her costume with a t-shirt, felt, cotton and my beloved glue gun.  My hands were raw for days.

Is anyone worried about the swine flu and Halloween not being a good mix?  Of sick and unknowingly infected people handing out candy to our little angels?  Even though we had the H1N1 infection in the spring, my hubby is freaking out about it.  (I will write more about our illness later).   We have tried to buy the kids Hallowe’en candy from them for $20 a bag, but the gang is just not going for it.  Jeremy is trying to negotiate the price up to$25 which is exactly how much the new hockey stick costs that he wants to buy. 

On another note, hubby and I are leaving our brood behind with my parents and heading to the Poconos in Pennsylvania for a little ‘adult’ time next week.  We are heading to an adult only resort called Cove Haven, situated on a beautiful lake, in a Muskoka-like setting, complete with all the activities you could possibly want, and rooms with heart shaped bathtubs and ROUND beds and mirrored headboards.  We love it there and are looking forward to some time for just the two of us.  

Of course, Jack has been crying about me leaving all week and I think the only thing that will help me to feel better about leaving him is some serious retail therapy at the outlet mall!!!I feel the shadow of guilt lifting even as I type!  Retail therapy, here I come!

Wishing you all a Happy, healthy and safe Hallowe’en!!

This is what happens when you take your kids shopping with you.  This would NEVER have happened if I had gone to Costco alone, but I would have missed hearing my little ones high voices squealing with excitement over the free samples.  This has never happened before, and really should not have happened now-especially with HALLOWE’EN this Saturday.  My husband told me that I made a major error in judgment and though I pretended to be offended-I know he was right!!What the hell was I thinking? 

Mmmmm...Lollies!

Okay I admit it-I love these too!!!

My almost 5 year old twins got into an argument while doing crafts at the kitchen table.  When I took notice of their conversation, this is what I heard:

Sabrina  “I hope your rash doesn’t go away- and STINGS!’

Gregory  “Oh yeah?  Well, I hope all your pajamas are dirty and you have to wear them!”

Can you believe it?  Totally vicious and cruel, I know.  To bring up the rash was mean, but ooohh, wishing someone dirty pajama’s is downright wrong!  What is wrong with children nowadays????

I was sitting at our desk trying to figure out my sixth grader’s math problems for her test the next day.  We were huddled together and I was concentrating on explaining long division, when my sweet daughter nonchalantly said:

‘Hey Mom, you have a moustache!!!’

I didn’t move my head, just my eyes, gave her ‘the look’ and went back to the problem at hand, at least until my delightful child continued with:

‘You should probably shave that, or something’.

Okay, so then I laughed.  And then I told her that she too has a moustache because hell, I am very immature that way, and I already know that all of my children will need therapy one day, so why hold back now?

My children often feel obligated to tell me when I need to shave my pits, legs, and now my stache.  Sometimes they like to ask me why my hair is BLACK underneath and YELLOW on the top.  Only when I’m really lucky do they decide to make these comments in the privacy of our home, so I considered myself lucky that we weren’t standing in line at Costco among throngs of people this time. 

For the record, I did continue to help her with her homework, twirling my stache into a handlebar all the while…

We often go to an indoor playground in Oakville, called Kidtopia, that the kids really love.  They love it because not only are there great spaces to play, including a large climbing structure complete with giant slides, but there are also computer games to play that can win tickets.  Tickets which can then be used at the big counter to purchase things, like at Chuck E Cheese, except Kidtopia is much, much cleaner, more fun and not hot as an oven.  My kids get ridiculously excited about going to Kidtopia, and not just the almost 5 year olds, my 10, 9 and 7 year olds get extremely peeved when they find out we have gone while they were at school.

I had the pleasure of meeting Kidtopia’s owner, Susan, last week.  She has planned a big Hallowe’en party for Saturday, October 31^st  from 9-5, .  There will be arts and crafts, loot bags and members from the Mississauga St. Michaels Majors minor hockey team will be there signing autographs.  My boys are freaking out about going for autographs, as they looooovvve hockey!  Admission is only $8 per child and it is guaranteed fun!!  We are looking forward to going and wearing our costumes, I’ll be the one in the big orange witch hat trying to control my overly excited children.

Check out the website http://www.playkidtopia.com for more details.  They also host great birthday parties, and make it so easy to entertain!  I love parties at indoor playgrounds, they are so easy and you don’t have to deal with a house full of sugared up 5 years olds who don’t like any of the games you’ve planned and would rather wrestle or hurtle themselves off the couch on top of their friends… I can break into a sweat just thinking about it!