This Reminds Me

Archive for October, 2006

Rachel the Superman Impersonator, Lois the Vampire, Hannah the Devil and Julia the cheerleader are now roaming the streets of the Glen of Stone Oak, extorting candy from the neighbors.

A devilish fashion emergency!  Hannah’s friend Torie knocked on our door similarly attired.

“When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you.”

Personally, I’m still trying to get past the trauma of having had to dress as Fred Flintstone when I was in the fifth grade because it was the only costume that fit.

Halloween…..Yabbbaa Dabbbba Dooooo!

Our church hosts an annual Fall Festival – not a Halloween carnival, mind you – on the Friday preceding October 31.  It’s a ton of cotton candy-spun fun for everyone.  Adult Sunday School classes staff game booths for the little cowboys, farm animals, angels and super heroes, with every child the winnah of a handful of candy.

Our church youth sell Fall Festival junk food, with profits going into their individual camp funds.  Next year, Lois will be going to youth camp, too.  Cha-ching, cha-ching, she and Rachel will be working every fundraiser.  You can…ummm….take that to the bank.

Even American-themed cheerleaders need to eat.  Most cupcakes contain colors not occurring in nature – sort of like spray-on hair colors.

Eye can’t believe this is candy.

The Fall Festival really puts us in the mood for Halloween.  I won’t open our Costco-sized bag of candy until the big night, because, amazingly, I’ve noticed when opened early, it tends to “evaporate.”   (Special note for San Antonio friends:  If you have leftover non-chocolate candy that you don’t want, and you can give it to me before Saturday, 11/4, we will happily include it in our Samaritan’s Purse boxes.  I’m going to have to go to Wal-Mart and buy a ton of it Thursday or Friday.)

Rachel, Lois and Hannah will be accompanying Julia on her first trick or treat night.  She chose an American cheerleader costume, after we steadfastly refused to consider Spiderman and Superman.  We think the pom-poms finally sold her.  We know when she figures out she gets candy by knocking on a door, that doors will be knocked!

So who knows who might be knocking on your door Tuesday night, hmmmm?

Our clan – or parts of it – attended two weddings yesterday (Saturday), a first for us.

Keith and Lois attended the mid-day nuptials of his AT&T friend Jerral at a small Baptist church while I managed the homefront in preparation for our evening soiree.

Hannah accused Lois of accompanying Keith to the mid-day wedding to get out of helping unload groceries.   Any truth to that?  Ummm…maybe.

I had everyone napping when Keith and Lois arrived home in the late afternoon.  I knew we’d be out late for the outdoor wedding of David and MIss Melinda, one of Hannah’s favorite former Sunday School teachers.  The girls and I have been living vicariously through their wedding plans.

Best friends Bailey and Hannah distributed programs at Miss Melinda’s outdoor wedding.  They made their jewelry the night before at Hannah’s early birthday party.   We do Hannah’s (12/1) and Lois’ (11/28) birthday parties in October because of so many conflicts during the holidays.

Rachel has largely replaced me as the family photographer.  Fine by me.  She is way more talented than her mother, and she knows it.  As she told me last night, “Mom, sometimes I see bits of creativity in you, but most of the time, no.”  (sigh)

Sitting in the last row of an outdoor wedding and you’re only 42″ tall?  No problem!  Climb up on the shoulders of 6’5″ Papa.  Great view.

I know one day it’ll be our girls getting married.  I hope their work friends and church family come to rejoice with them.  Rachel mentally selects and changes her bridesmaids monthly.  Lois says she wants some kind of “flamethrower action” instead of traditional candles.  Hannah offers a running fashion commentary on every wedding dress and and accessory she sees.  This was Julia’s first wedding, so, no plans from her just yet.

Keith says when they’re all married off, we’re moving and not leaving a forwarding address.  Ha!  What he doesn’t know:  I’ve already started naming our grandchildren.

I live by a long-standing rule which I espouse with fervor:

I DO NOT DO MAINTENANCE ITEMS THAT DON’T CALL ME “MOMMY.”

I don’t do indoor plants.

I don’t do yard work.

And I certainly don’t do animals.

I don’t even like animals.  I really don’t.  Unless they’re sauteed with some butter and a little garlic.

I spotted an animal here last night, though, scurrying behind Keith’s chair as I related the surprising news that Rachel and Lois had pierced their own ears’ cartilage.  I thought it was a mouse.  Keith suspected the truth and summoned Rachel to our bedroom to explain, and catch the rodent.  We heard a rambling, disjointed story about how she was keeping this dwarf hamster overnight for a friend and somehow it got out blah blah blah blah, nose growing by the moment.

Over the course of 24 hours, the bizarre truth has emerged.

A friend of Rachel’s gave her two male dwarf hamsters three weeks ago. She and Lois had been keeping them in shoeboxes in their rooms.  The first Sunday they had them, they took them to church – in their purses – and showed them off to their Sunday School classes (sworn to secrecy.)  Rachel assured me they were “really careful” while they played with them in the sanctuary, during worship.

If I had known that – they would have met Jesus in person as soon as I could have snatched them up by their carefully-straightened hair.

They moved the shoe boxes around to wherever they thought I wouldn’t be, including depositing them in the attic one weekday when I was home all day.  It’s a wonder the hamsters didn’t cook.  (And together, they wouldn’t make one good bite.)

On the way home from Costco, I was thinking of where we could turn them out.  There are still a few empty lots around.  But as I walked in the house, Julia ran to greet me, breathless with excitement, chattering a mile a minute and clutching little “Beast.”

They played the Julia card.

(sigh)

I guess we have two dwarf hamsters now.

And still four girls that call me “Mommy.”

Hannah holding Abba; Julia holding Beast – named, as Rachel says, for his “fearsomeness.”