Ramblings of a Superprotective Parent (some might say "overprotective")

Where are they?

What are they doing?

Who are they with?

These are "the questions" when it comes to my children. You may find me a bit fanatical. My kids only watch a select few PBS cartoons (Caillou, Curious George...) a very select few Disney Movies and no video games. I'm fussy about their food, their clothes (no looking like "Pop Princesses"). I know I can't control everything. I don't want to. But the more time I am with my children the more attuned I am to answer "the questions."

Tangent...Think of all those Moms who encouraged their young girls to idolize Britney Spears. Afterall, she was a "wholesome Mouseketeer" once. Not me. Sorry Hannah.

This being said...

We are a house of parties. Kid parties that is. We have lots of parties for my children. Planning and pulling off a party with 17 little hooligans is truly a labor of love, but one Brent and I are willing to make. Here are a few shots from our most recent "Haunted Halloween Bash"

Ellery posing as a "Spooky Black Widow" Her words: "But mom when I dress up for my school party I want to have a black face and white lips. To scare the girls."
I love that the kids went at these doughnuts with gusto unmatched even by the large black flies. BTW, I think these were the first doughnuts my children have eaten. Look how lenient I am :)
Callista and Mallory we bent the rules for just a little bit...
I see some candy on Pip's Haunted House here. But mysteriously there was no candy at the conclusion of the party...hmmm.... Her Rapunzel wig lasted about 5 minutes. Be sure to take notice of the "made from scratch gingerbread." This was a serious faux pas on my part. Never try to make 20 gingerbread houses. As you may notice...an emergency run that morning to Harmons supplied interspersed graham crackers. Who would have thought it would take sooo much dough!
I can't believe I was the first witch to introduce all these children to a "bubbling brew" such as you see below. They were petrified. Brent in his usually brave and chivalrous manner stepped forward to taste it. He promptly gagged and fell over. The poor children looked on in horror.


Their eyes grew even wider and a few screamed "Noooo..." as Emmett proceeded to grab the cup and dump it into his mouth and all over the front of him. Brent and I had a good laugh. Emmy thankfully pulled through. I barely coaxed Callista into a sip of the "apple juice brew."The final hurrah...apple bobbing. If only Ellery and Callista had 500 friends, maybe we could have cut a dent into the proliferate tree.

The whole bunch of us. Brent is the hero at these parties for certain. He endured in remarkably good humor, quite a few tackles from the rash of football players we found amongst us. He may have even been the instigator.

Good times for all. Little kids are the best. Here's to keeping them little and at home as long as possible.