Halloween

We are still alive... just buried under the piles of laundry and mess that have invaded with full force this fall as we juggled Zane's referee schedule, full time jobs, and Graham's increased activity schedule. If I am still awake 10 minutes after the kids have gone to bed, I'm thinking it has been a pretty ok day!!

Lots has happened in the past month or so- here is a quick summary:

1. Zane injured his achilles tendon while reffing a game and was in a walking boot for a month. During that month, he was going to physical therapy two or three times a week in addition to all of his games. He couldn't work the field, but he sure is a pro at manning the clock!! We were glad that he was able to keep working some games so that we can pay cash for Christmas!
2. Karis was bitten by our neighbor's dog a few weeks ago and it has been a pretty bad experience for her. She has never liked dogs, but now she is TERRIFIED of anything that has 4 legs and fur. We were extremely blessed that our neighbors were so easy to work with and had good records on their dog. Tracy could produce the formal receipt and paperwork for the last rabies shot so that we had no doubt about Karis' health. They even called the police themselves to report the incident so that there would be the proper record on file and we think that they got rid of the dog. It was a bad scene, but it could have been sooooooo much worse. We are so thankful that Karis was not hurt any worse than she was!

I'm sure other crazy things have happened... like Karis asking me in the car Sunday if she had a penis and if I'd ever seen one, but I'd never stop typing if I documented all the hilarious stuff that happened around here. : )

The title drew you in to see our Trick-or-Treaters... so without further ado..... here they are!

This year it was Zane's turn to accompany the kids around the block and I stayed home to hand out the candy. When did kids forget that you are supposed to say "Trick or Treat" when you open the door? I think I had three kids all night who actually said "Thank you" to me... it made me sad to think that our culture doesn't value manners the way I was raised to value them.

Once the kids returned home, we threw our suitcase in the van, and took the costumes on the road! Our first stop was at Aunt Susan and Uncle Terry's house. We didn't stay long, but long enough to see the cool planet that were shining brightly in the clear sky. Awesome site!!

Our next stop was at Trish's house. For all 7 Halloween's that Graham has been alive, we have gone to Trish's to wish her a Happy Birthday and to have pumpkin pie. We though that this year would be the one to break the tradition as they had planned to go out of town for the weekend. Much to our surpise and definitely to our delight, those plans changed during the week, so we headed over to see Trish and Bean. Part of the tradition is to take a photo of the kids on the loveseat in their living room. In the first photo, there are four Nolan children with baby Graham... now there is only one Nolan with my two. Next year, the couch will be empty as Bean heads off to college. Here are some photos from that wonderful visit... and glimpse of what Karis was like at about 9:15 after 3 pieces of Halloween candy!!!

After we wrangled Karis into her PJs and doped Graham up on the Benedryl, we pulled off to grab a quick bite to eat at the local Wendy's. Never expected a huge line at the Wendy's in Walkertown at 9:35 at night, but you have to expect the unexpected in life. It was 10:00 before we headed off into the night to travel up to Nana's Mountain. We pulled into the driveway in Jefferson at about 11:30 with two sleeping munchkins who were pooped out! What a night!

We had a great weekend in the mountains... too short, but good just the same! Mom and I collected leaves for a craft project that we worked on, and Zane and I built a toilet bucket for my friend Dave's surprise birthday party on Sunday. More pictures and details to come on that adventure... photos are on Mom's camera and I need to show the final product rather than explain!

Fall Break is over in 15 minutes. I have students coming in for class tomorrow, so I must bring this update to an end. Hope all is well with you and that I can post more frequently now that football season is over!!!