Halloween Recap

I don't really like Halloween. I'm not sure exactly what it is.....or maybe I know exactly what it is. I've always hated to be scared. I don't like scary movies, and I really hate it when people sneak up behind me with the sole intent of getting me to jump (I've already had several talks with Lucas about this). I don't think I'm extremely creative, so thinking of Halloween costumes is taxing. Yet I really like homemade costumes; the store-bought things are, more often than not, a ripoff. With that being said, I think that most people with kids think of Halloween as a competition - who can dress their kids the cutest? Who has the most ingenious costume? I don't like it.

Most kids, mine included, do like Halloween. What's not to love? They can dress up and get tons of candy. I can remember the feeling of excitement as a child as trick-or-treating drew near, and I certainly would never want to take that away from my kids. As far as Halloweens go, I suppose this year's was very nice.

The festivities started for us on Thursday night with the first ever trick-or-treat event at the All-Sports Museum at Beaver Stadium. We got there early, and I am glad. By the time we left 45 minutes later, the line was still out the door. There is a guy from our church that works there, and he was estimating between 500-600 people were there by that point in time. We saw the Nittany Lion, the football cheerleaders and a bunch of other student athletes. It was a wonderful concept; they just need to do some fine tuning before next year's event to make some smoother transitions.

We went to Vicki and Drew's on Saturday. The day dawned early for us as we wanted to get to Williamsport in time for Ben's last soccer game of the season. He played very well, and it's fun to watch his talent increase over time. We went back to their house for lunch, then Hannah opened her birthday presents from us. Then it was time to carve pumpkins. The King children weren't very into it this year - I think there were too many other fun things at Aunt Vicki's distracting them. The rest of us had a good time, though.

We watched the beginning of the Penn State game and ate pizza for dinner, then got ready for the night out. The weather was great. It had rained earlier in the day, but it was relatively warm (I'd say about 60 degrees at start time), and we were very pleased with the way the evening worked out. Lance, Taryn and Elizabeth made it for almost 45 minutes, then I brought them home and the men took the older three out for about another 45 minutes. Vicki stayed home and passed out candy the entire time.

We left Vicki and Drew's at about 8:30 and headed for home. The kids fell asleep pretty quickly, so Adam and I had about an hour to just converse. Very nice. About halfway home, we were behind a state trooper. All of a sudden he pulled over, Adam passed him, then he started flashing his lights. Adam and I were dumbfounded. Was he pulling us over? Yes, yes he was.

He came up to the vehicle and asked Adam if he knew why he was being pulled over. Adam said, "No, I honestly don't." The cop said we were following too closely. Adam said he really didn't think he was, and the cop said, "Well, I thought you were. You need to allow more space." Adam was just so shocked, I don't think he really replied. We did get a verbal warning, but the more I think about this, I think that it's a bunch of crap. What if we would have gotten a ticket for something so subjective? What do you do? Oh well - at least it didn't come to that.

Today was All Saint's Day in church. I got teary-eyed during the first hymn, "For All the Saints." I think it was a combo factor - I was thinking about Grandma and Grandpa Bystry, I was thinking about how I normally played trumpet on this day in Villa Park and it really made me miss the Elliotts and the Heusers and I was just thinking about what a wonderful reunion it will be in heaven when we are once again together with the loved ones we've lost. Adam looked at me in one point, completely questioning what was wrong. I couldn't explain, and he looked so surprised, it almost made me laugh. He was just a doting husband and went and got me some tissues. I was appreciative.

Our afternoon was very nice. Our friends who have the NFL ticket (so they can see ALL the football games every single week) invited us over to watch the Bears game since it wasn't televised locally today. What a lovely treat. It was so nice to just sit and watch the game while the kids entertained themselves (for the most part). We came home, played outside for a bit and had a nice, low-key evening.

It ended up being a wonderful weekend. Now we're into November. Let the madness of the holiday season descend upon us.

Pictorial Update

I have a few spare moments (if you can believe it!), so I wanted to update a few photos from the fall fun happenings in the King household this past week.

I wrote a bit about Adam taking the kids out of the house all afternoon on Sunday so I could rest. It was much appreciated. They ended up on a hike, and Adam got a few nice shots of some of the beautiful color in these parts.

Tuesday evening was our trek to the pumpkin patch. It's quite comical to me how low-key this endeavor now is for us. We used to make such a big deal out of the pumpkin patch, and while it was fun while it lasted, I like this year's version so much more. When Lucas was a baby (and probably for the first two years of Taryn's life), we went to this grandiose pumpkin patch in Bolingbrook. I'm not saying it wasn't enjoyable; it was. By this point in time, though, we would probably pay $35 just for the five of us to enter. We would then wait in long lines with pushy parents so our kids could ride the train, go down a bouncy slide and run through a hay tunnel. Then we would go pick out our pumpkins (which, of course, would be ridiculously priced).

This year's visit was to a local farm. There were maybe another dozen people there when we were. The kids had just as much fun running around with the wagon, looking for the perfect pumpkin as they would have had waiting in line for the train or slide. We visited the two goats and laughed when they rammed into the fence. We bought a bag of apples and three pumpkins - for $14. Much more low-key; just as enjoyable.

Check out the photos. Lucas is really starting to look old to me. Makes me a bit sad.

Quiet Afternoon

I'm finally starting to feel a bit like myself again. This sickness, whatever it was, really knocked me down and dragged me out. I'm SO THANKFUL that Adam is home. Ever since he walked in the door Thursday afternoon, he's been nothing short of wonderful. My weekend has been full of resting, sleeping and drinking lots of liquids. I still have a bit of a cough, coupled with some wheezy feelings going on in my chest. I wonder if any of that is leftover remnants of childhood asthma? What do you think, Mom?

Anyways, the house has been quiet for almost four hours now. Adam took the kids to the dollar movies and then on a hike. I'm anxious to see the photos. The fall colors here are amazing, much to my surprise. I thought for sure we would lose all the prettiness after the crazy snowstorm last weekend. I'm watching the Bears game (huge disappointment so far - it's never fun to watch your team being blown out when you have the opportunity to see them so rarely) and messing around on the computer. I think the time has come, though, to lie back down. If Adam got some nice photos, I'll post those later.

What Lance Learned This Summer

Ideally I wanted to get a bit longer video coverage of this, because I think it's just too funny. This gives you a bit of flavor, though, of what Lance taught himself this summer.

Brightening My Day

This week has been trying. I started feeling ill on Monday morning, and I've sported different symptoms on three different days. On Monday I was very achy; Tuesday brought a killer sore throat; today was a low-grade fever, a nose that won't stop running and a cough that hurts. Adam has been gone since Saturday morning. That hasn't helped. My friend Sarah was a trooper today, though, shuttling my kids to and from school and entertaining them throughout the afternoon. I'm very thankful for her.

I've been in my pajamas all day, my hair is a sight for sore eyes and I just feel miserable. So you can imagine my delight when Lucas called to me at 6:30 and said that someone was at the front door. I certainly didn't want to see anyone in my current condition.

I opened the door, though, and my entire demeanor change. There was a delivery man standing there with these.....


Aren't they beautiful? Thank you for thinking of me, Adam. I can't wait to see you in person tomorrow!

Monday Blahs

I woke up this morning feeling completely fine. By the time preschool started, though, I started having a few aches. I'm now at home curled up in my afghan (the one my grandma made for me when I got confirmed - 18 years ago!) drinking my second cup of peppermint tea with honey. It's not helping. Murphy's Law, of course, dictates that I would not feel well while my husband is out of town. Oh well - I have no choice but to power through!

We saw the Haussmanns on Saturday as Vicki and Drew took our tickets to the Penn State game. Man, the weather was awful. It was about 35 degrees and rainy, but both Vicki and Drew had some pretty appropriate gear, so they said it wasn't that bad. I had my second day in a row with six kids, and I was exhausted by Saturday evening. I think I fell asleep on the couch at about 9:00.

We went to church on Sunday, then Taryn had a birthday party in the afternoon. We watched some football, played a few games, read a few books and had a pretty low-key afternoon. Lucas and I snuggled and watched the first quarter of the Bears game together, then I watched the next two quarters before giving up and going to bed. I'm glad I did. I wouldn't have wanted to watch them lose and then try to fall asleep (Oh, who am I kidding? I would have had no troubles.).

Tonight is Luke's last football game and the pizza party. I wonder how wet the grounds will be? I need to remember to bring a change of clothes for him before the party begins.

Snow Day in October

Yesterday I posted about a nice wintry covering of the bushes. Things drastically changed overnight. We woke up this morning to the sounds of the telephone; school was on a two-hour delay. About two hours later, we received another call. Schools were now canceled because of lack of power. With the leaves still on the trees and the amount of wet, heavy snow we were receiving, tree branches were snapping and crashing all over the place. From what I understood, it was kind of scary in some parts.

I am SO THANKFUL that we did not lose power at all. I spoke to a few others who did. I ended up watching my friend's kids for the day while their power was out. Sarah and Scott spent their day cleaning up their neighborhood. Some of the photos below are what we saw when we went out and about driving in their neck of the woods.

This is the earliest recorded snow fall for State College, beating the old record by three days. I think we have about four inches, and it certainly feels like it should be December 16, not October! State College even made it onto the Today show this morning.

It is homecoming weekend here at Penn State, and the weather is wreaking havoc. For tomorrow's games, 20,000 parking spaces have been taken away (yes, you're reading that right - 20,000!). Tailgating is not going to be allowed. We have no control over any of this, but it still stinks.

Most importantly, Adam is supposed to be flying out at 6:00 AM. Please pray for his safety. I hate when he flies on normal days, so tomorrow is going to be that much worse for me.