Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down 2012 #45

Up:

• The kids had a great Halloween. On Tuesday they had a party at Tot-time. Then Jackson had fun celebrating at his school. We went trick-or-treating with our neighbors that evening. The kids were exhausted by the end of the evening, but absolutely loved it. Jackson is still asking to put on his costume and go trick-or-treating again. 

Jackson was roaring like a dragon so Kennedy had to join in as well!

My neighbors Becky and her daughter Abby at the Tot-Time party.

Kennedy stealing another kid's food -typical!

Checking out what they got in their bags.

Jackson and Kennedy eating the suckers that Becky made for their treat bags.

Since Daddy wasn't home to help we had to put the treats out on the porch for kids to get at our house, but our kids thought they were for them!

Checking out our 'Toodles' pumpkin.

Trick-or-treating at the commissary. We saw some of our friends while we were there. 

Jackson getting some love from Eva.

Jameson didn't want to be left out so he decided to give Jackson a hug too!

Getting ready to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood.

As soon as Abby came outside Jackson ditched Kennedy and jumped in Abby's wagon!

Kennedy loved all the candy!

The kids surveying the loot when they got home.

• I painted my nails this past week which I maybe do once every 10 years. I actually think I might do it more often. It made me feel more girly which I need sometimes when I've been in 'mommy mode' too long!
• Halloween and the 'pumpkin pictures' with Kennedy totally confirmed the idea of getting a better/nicer camera. Can't wait 'til after Thanksgiving when I get my new camera and don't have to wait what feels like 12 hours for it to reboot before taking the next picture!
• We cut Kennedy's mullet this week! It was looking pretty bad and her hair is so thin that it made it even worse. My thought was, if we cut it off, maybe it'll thicken up as it grows back out. It looks so much better and I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Kennedy HATED getting a haircut and screamed the whole time. At one point we had to take a break because she was crying so hard she almost threw up - ridiculous!

Down:

• Mike, Jackson and Kennedy are all sick. So very thankful that I haven't gotten it yet because someone needs to take care of everyone! They all have bad congestion and high fevers. Mike has had his since Thursday night and still isn't rid of it. The kids I think are quicker with it and are hopefully on the upswing although J man still had a fever this morning. It seems like we aren't the only one in this boat though. A lot of my friend's kids have been sick too. In fact, my neighbors daughter even had a febrile seizure which is super scary, so I've been overly worrisome this go round!
• In addition to the illnesses, the time change has royally messed with my mind. The kids haven't adjusted at all and we end up going to bed at normal time,  but waking up at roughly 4:45-5:15am - ahhh! Hopefully they'll adjust soon and I can catch up on sleep.
• Christmas is just around the corner and I feel so unprepared. Usually I have an idea of what I would like to get for my family, but this year -nothing. Not even a back-up plan. Parents are super hard to buy for mainly because they have everything already. If you have any thoughts, I'm open to anything at this point.

Favorite Thing:

The Air Force family is great about taking care of those 'in need'! Our squadron always takes meals to those that have a new baby, a death in the family, surgery or any other hardships. They've used some pretty neat websites to accomplish this and I wanted to share then with all of you non-AF peeps so that you can use them in your own church/friend circles as well. They'd also be great with all the holiday events coming up!

1. http://www.takethemameal.com/index.php - This website lets people sign up to bring meals to others' house for example if they just had a baby. You can just sign up for a date and type what you are going to bring. This way the person doesn't end up eating 10 crockpots of soup, but you can vary their menu a little! It also sends you reminders so you don't forget!
2. http://www.perfectpotluck.com/index.php - This website has sign ups for different ingredients or menu items to make a potluck work. This is a great way to avoid duplicating menu items and to ensure you have enough food, not just desserts etc. This one also sends out reminders.
3. http://www.tastebook.com/ - This final website is a way to electronically share all your yummy recipes. After your potluck or meeting you can just type in your recipe onto this site. Our squadron created their own username and password that is known among everyone. This way once your recipe is loaded anyone with the log-in info. can access the recipe. You could also use this to create a cook book for your organization as a fundraiser!