Halloween Recap!

Halloween was a blast this year.  Because of our recent financial difficulties, it was a little bit different than I had hoped (I didn't get to do the costumes I really wanted to), but we got to dress up nonetheless and we had so much fun trick or treating twice.  Yes, you read that correctly. TWICE.

Billa and Mama

My parents' HOA does a Halloween hayride every year since the neighborhood is so large and the houses spread so far apart (it's rural Hays County, what can I say).  It's a win win for everyone: the kids are kept safe by going in big group, it fosters a sense of community, and for those giving out candy, it means one visit only so you aren't constantly bombarded by the doorbell ringing every two minutes.  Billa wasn't the youngest by far, but she was one of the littler ones.  She really enjoyed running up to every house and saying, "Trick er please!" for her candy.  She got quite a bit too!  My parents house was one of the last stops and after heading there, she had a total meltdown because she thought she was done and wanted to stay with Boppa and Papa.

One of the funnier moments that evening was when she tripped in someone's yard and fell down.  She cried for all of two seconds before seeing the other kids pass her and then pushed us away to hobble to the door to get candy.  Girl has her priorities, ya know!  There were also a few times when she got really confused and bypassed people in their yards in favor of running up to their doors instead.  At one house, the lady was just as confused as Billa when B ran past her to ring the doorbell.

"Trick or please!"

Halloween night we went trick or treating with the Marino and the Patterson family.  This is now the third year that we've gone trick or treating as a group and it's been so much fun.  The kids are all so close in age and they play together pretty well.  Billa got tons more candy, although this time she was more interested in every dog and cat at every house we stopped by.  She kept waving people off so she could pet the dogs and even refused candy at some houses as a result.

All the little trick or treaters: Bumblebee the Tranformer (Cameron), Ariel the Little Mermaid (Madeleine), Tinkerbell (Sydney), Superman (Jacob), and the Halloween Sprite (Billa)

Ding dong!

At several houses, Billa was far more interested in people's pets than the candy.  I can't complain! 

I think Halloween is easily Billa's favorite holiday now.  It's not just the candy or dressing up (which she really enjoyed; she got mad at me when I didn't put her tutu on fast enough!) but the decorations that she loves.  Every house that had decorations she wanted to stop and look at.  One of the houses next door to her daycare had a lot of Halloween decor in their yard; the morning after Halloween they had taken it all down (I still haven't taken mine down...I'm in denial that it's over) and she keeps saying "Mama, puh-kin patch gone.  Ghost gone.  Puh-kin patch gone!" in the saddest little voice ever.  Somebody loves themself some Halloween!

The only problem now is figuring out what to do with all of the candy we got.  I've probably eaten my weight in it by now, so I'll freeze some for around Christmas time (stocking stuffers!) and maybe use some in some sweet treats to take to the office.  Not that the office doesn't have it's own perils there...everyone keeps bringing in their own leftover candy.  Argh!  Time to hit the pavements and up my yoga intake :o)

Gimme all yer candy, or ye walk the plank!  ARRRRRR!

Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween too!

Happy Halloween!

Hey ho for Halloween
When the fairies all are seen;
Some black and some green,
Hey ho for Halloween!

 

We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Halloween this year!

Love,

The Guerra Family

Pumpkin Patch Adventures

Every year Sybilla's daycare goes to a local pumpkin patch and every year, without fail, something has prevented me from going.  The first year I had a big meeting at work.  The next year was rained out.  Not this year!  I was taking the day off and we were going to go to the pumpkin patch!

Of course, Friday dawned gloomy and drizzly and our daycare lady called to tell us that she was cancelling the trip.  No way, I said.  We are going, RAIN OR SHINE!  Besides, it was only drizzling and intermittently at that.  We got to the patch just as it opened and already there were tons of kids.  The kids normally wear their costumes and things being financially tight this year, I put her in some stripey Halloween pants and her bat shirt from last year.  She however, decided to let her inner fashionista shine and added the skirt and boots all on her own!  I kid you not, scout's honor!

Billa in her get up. Add some wings and sparkly makeup and she'll be the cutest Halloween fairy ever!

"Mama! I run!"

We ran around the haybale maze several times and then went inside the main building for the "haunted house" and The Great Pumpkin.  It's all pretty tame since it's for little kids, but they love it nonetheless.

The Great Pumpkin, Jack. There's someone hidden behind a screen who will sing songs and talk to the kids as the pumpkin when people come into the room.

The "gross-ary" - like I said, it's pretty tame, but the kids love it any way!

Admiring all of the decor hanging from the ceiling. I swear, these people must have stockpiled Halloween decorations from the last thirty years...some of them are quite old!

Billa enjoyed riding on Daddy's shoulders to get a closer peek at the stuff hanging on the ceiling!

As we were leaving, daycare lady called and said they were going to come after all.  It was Billa's lucky day.  We ran around some more until her friends arrived and picture taking commenced.   The kids all ran around through the maze together, we revisited the haunted house and The Great Pumpkin, took more pictures, and finally ended our trip by picking pumpkins for the kids to take home.

Billa's class. She's the only girl. It explains a lot about my child's personality and behaviour!

Running through the maze with her buddies!

The perfect "puh-kin!"

Billa had a blast and I am happy to say that third time's the charm on this one.  I finally made it to the pumpkin patch!  Her outfit was such a success that I've decided we're going to skip the owl idea for another time and do a Halloween fairy instead.  I'll borrow some wings and do some cute makeup on her and we'll be good to go.

Halloween is my favorite holiday and I think it is quickly becoming Billa's favorite too.  Now every time Billa sees Halloween decorations, she now calls them "puh-kin patch!"  Even her little pumpkin that she brought home. I still haven't decided if we'll carve it or just leave it be.  Either way, this will be a Halloween to be remembered!

Cheers,
Kelly

Halloween 2009 Recap

As Cameron so succinctly put it, "Happy Halloween Day!" Below is a photo recap of our big night. We all met up at Casa del Marino and then went trick or treating in the neighborhood with them, their neighbors, and their neighbors' friends. The kids ranged in age from 2-5 with Billa being the youngest (ok, so she's really 20 months, but it's close enough to 2!) and they had a blast. Michael and I were the only adults to actually dress in costume–I was a black widow and Michael was a zombie hunter (he got off work late and there was no time for Tony Montana). We went around the block which took us about an hour; it didn't take Billa that long to figure out what was going on! Everyone loved her outfit and how cute she was. She didn't say a word (no Twick or Tweet this year)and opted instead for a 'bye bye' wave instead of saying thank you. Everyone loved it nonetheless, which made me feel a bit less guilty about her manners.

Since Billa was the youngest, Michael and I were the 'thank you'/safety patrol; we made sure each kid made it to the door in one piece and that they said thank you to each homeowner. Madeleine and Sidney were VERY proud of this whole process as they would continually announce to the group of parents: "Mommy! I said 'trick or treat' and 'thank you' and I got candy!!!" We did have several kid and candy spills, but we ended the night with a huge haul and no huge mishaps. Billa's bucket was so overflowing that Michael and I had to carry candy in our hands at the end. Her haul was somewhat depleted after a thorough inspection as we discarded anything that was open, a choking hazard, or just not palatable to Michael and I. Hey, we're gonna have to do most of the eating, might as well make it something we like!

Post inspection, the kids carved a pumpkin while the daddies sat by the firepit and smoked some cigars. We gave Billa a bath while we were there and borrowed some outgrown Halloween jammies for her before we all said our good nights and headed home. She didn't get to bed until ten which made for and ugly bedtime when we got home, but she slept in this morning, which was nice for us!

We hope you all had a safe and wonderful Halloween...enjoy the photo recap and a speedy sugar rush recovery!

Billa and Daddy are ready to go!

Madeleine, Cameron, and Sybilla in their Halloween get up...
no one could sit still or look at the same camera and smile at the same time!

The trick or treat pack of 2009: Jacob, Sydney, Blake, Madeleine, Cameron, and Sybilla

Bat Girl jams out to Thriller and the Ghostbusters theme!

Baby Hayden in his pumpkin bunting which was a little too big!

His lovely mama, Kellie, models the rest of it!

And we're off!

Trick or treat! Billa is still trying to figure out what all of the fuss is about.

Daddy takes a picture break with Billa in front of one house.
Hunting zombies is hard work!

Mama and Billa, such a pretty pair!

Mama's black widow costume...get it?

The back view...the red bow is meant to symbolize the red hourglass...
clever, yes? I thought so too!

Daddy makes sure it's a zombie free zone and that the kiddos don't forget to say thank you!

The take...AFTER candy inspection and removal of all candies that were not Billa appropriate...or to Mama and Daddy's liking ;o)

Pumpkin carving time!

Billa tries her hand at pumpkin carving

Batter up! Billa takes a break from pumpkin carving to go zombie killing!

Trick or treating is rough on daddies...a nice cigar and a sit by the fire pit are in order!

The finished pumpkin..he's a happy fella thanks to Madeleine!

Sybilla and Madeleine check out Cameron's Bumblebee action figure before bedtime...
check out BK's borrowed Halloween jammies!

Happy Halloween Day!
The Guerra Gang

Happy Halloween 2009!

The Guerra Gang would like to wish you all a Happy Halloween! This is our favorite holiday because costumers live in this household and this is the one day of the year we get to go hog wild! Admittedly, we aren't going as crazy as I would have liked, but given my energy levels, time constraints, and current finances, we did pretty good this year.

We plan on trick or treating with the Marino's like we did last year and visiting Daddy at work for the Harley Halloween Festival. Last year, we did a family theme and chose to be gypsies (or Romanian accountants as my parents cleverly called it), complete with our own organ grinding monkey. This year, Michael plans on being a zombie hunter at work and Tony Montana when we trick or treat. I'm going to be a 40's inspired glamourous Black Widow and Sybilla is a girly bat. Here is a preview of her costume from the daycare pumpkin patch excursion the other day:

Too fast for you, huh?

Here's a back view...and no the sweatshirt is not part of the outfit. Daycare felt it was a little chilly and put it on her.

This little bat needed to roost for a bit, hee hee (pun intended)

Can't wait to trick or treat!

We were supposed to go last Friday, but because of the rain, it was too muddy and had to be postponed. Darn. Another year missed for me, but at least Michael got to go. He said Billa had so much fun running around and climbing on the haybales and pumpkins and playing with all of the other kids that she didn't want to leave. In fact, she put her hand out and screamed "Noooo! Stay! Go back!" when everyone walked away. She could have played for hours!

I'll post pictures later this weekend of our trick or treating...I'm so excited and I know Billa is going to have a blast!

Happy Halloween and be safe!
The Guerra's

Halloween and the Worst Game Ever

First off, we are so sad cause our #1 ranked Longhorns lost to the Red Raiders last night in what was a Hail Mary bid for the win by Tech. We went to Hooters with our friends Zander and Sarah to celebrate Zander's 27th birthday (Happy Birthday buddy!) and we had a great time until the end. It was a very close game and we were really disappointed by the way the Horns played. I have to begrudgingly hand it to the Raiders...they played a damn good game and man, can those boys run!!! I still think they must have greased themselves up since Texas had a hard time making their tackles on them. The Raiders were slippery as eels! We had two opportunities to sock it to the Raiders and we missed them both: a possible interception was dropped at the last second and the Horns failed to bring the player with the winning touchdown out of bounds with only 2 seconds to go. Colt McCoy's face matched my own as we stared in disbelief. [sigh] I have to keep telling myself it's only a game, but losing still sucks. The Horns have played a good season so far and we will see where they rank in the next day or so. As the commercials say, every week can change the season. We'll still probably get the Big 12 championship and Michael thinks that it is still possible for us to make it to the National Championship, but I doubt that. We shall see! Alabama, USC, LSU and all the other top ranked teams could still lose big :o)

In other happier news, Halloween was a blast! Well the part that came AFTER the three hour long doctor visit complete with bloodwork, chest xray and attempted collection of a urine sample, anyway. Billa's fever came back and since it was Day 4 with a fever, Dr. Patil wanted to see her again. So Mommy left work early and took Sybilla to the doctor. Pray you never have to get a chest xray for your baby -- it's not pretty. The xray tech was asking me about Sybilla's name which is a medieval name shared by one of the queens of Jerusalem from between the second and third crusades. Well that segued into him telling me about the medieval torture device they were going to place my child in to get her xrays, something called a pigglestack (AUTHOR'S NOTE: I took the time to actually try and find the correct name and a picture of this device...it is really called a Pigg-O-Stat, but I like pigglestack better so we're sticking with it. On another note, I think the child in the picture has been doped because the minute those damn plastic shields close, the child enclosed starts screaming bloody murder).

The Pigg-O-Stat is a Medieval torture device. AKA Pigglestack in the Guerra household.

They literally strapped my kid into this plastic device that held her arms over her head and spun her around so they could get the angles they needed. Sybilla's screaming just about made me morph in Maniac Mommy and claw the xray staff to bits. Anyway, the good thing about having been in the doctor's office for three hours was that we got all the results while there and then discovered that Sybilla did not have a cold, but a virus called Roseola. Basically, it's a high fever for three or four days followed by a red blotchy rash all over her body. When Dr. Patil examined her the first time, there was no rash. By the time we left, there was a rash, so Dr. Patil was able to identify it. Once the rash is there, the baby is no longer contagious, so we were free to go visit the Marino family for Halloween fun!

And fun we did have! Madeleine had so much fun trick or treating and Sybilla got Mommy and Daddy lots of candy. Daddy was a little too honest at the first house we went to and Mommy had to educate Daddy about how trick or treating with babies works: you collect the candy for BABY, and then Mommy and Daddy eat it when they get home. Madeleine's little brother Cameron did NOT want to get dressed in his dragon costume but once we made it to the first two houses he finally figured out the equation: costume = candy! He was very polite too... Madeleine would say trick or treat, they'd get their candy, and the homeowner would get a big "Dank oo!" from Cameron. He'd been sick too, so Cameron and Kellie headed back to the house while Anthony, Michael and I continued to take Billa and Madeleine to a few more houses. Everyone loved Billa's monkey costume and we got some great family photos. Michael and I decided to go as gypsies to play to Billa's organ grinder's monkey. As the Hooters saying goes, delightfully tacky yet so refined :o) Please check out the album here!

Sybilla the Monkey!

I realize I haven't really blogged about Sybilla's growth lately, so here's a quick recap: we weighed in at 21 pounds at the doctor's office on Friday and we are only 8 months and 2 weeks old now! Yes, she has outgrown some of her 12 month stuff and I am having to buy her 18 month old stuff. We have pretty much gone through the majority of the hand me downs from Madeleine, so Mommy's going to have to start forking over cash for clothes now. Boo :o(

We also have two teeth coming in! The left one is pushing up faster but they are both there, making up for lost time. We've also gone to formula half the time now. When I got really sick a couple of weeks ago, my milk production suddenly dropped and I haven't been able to bring it back up. Billa only nurses for a few minutes anyway, and she's taken to the formula well. We're still nursing at night and in the morning and on weekends, but I have accepted that formula is ok. It wasn't that I ever had a problem with it, it was the price of formula I had a problem with. I am thankful at least that I don't have to buy the special Alimentum kind like my friend Robyn... I've been saving all of my Similac coupons for her since that stuff is twice the price of the regular! And that's the little can!! Ouch!

And finally, if you haven't voted, go vote! I don't care who you vote for, just get out there and exercise your right. The men and women of the armed forces aren't giving their lives so that you can sit on your keister and twiddle your thumbs. So go vote!

Until next time,
K & Co.