Another amazing weekend: Halloween + New BMX Bike + Hurricanes Hockey!

Another great Halloween for the books! Valentino was so excited for this day, and he was bouncing off the walls and ready to trick-or-treat from the time he woke up. But first, we had to have a full day of school - much to his dismay! Valentino thinks Halloween is a holiday worth having the day off for... can't say I disagree, but I'm a meany and we did school anyway! Long weekends can be tough to come back from, and we've had far too many of them so far this year. Thankfully he was an attentive student, and we made it through the day.

When it came time to get his costume on, Valentino couldn't move fast enough! He was so excited to be an alien:

He's kinda creepy.

Obligatory shots with the proud parents. MEOW.

Vic and I went back and forth over what to do about the candy-passing-out situation. I walked with Valentino most of the time last year, while Vic stayed back and passed out candy. He joined us about half-way through the night, by leaving the bowl on the porch (which we heard ended quickly once teenagers dumped the whole bowl and took off). This year, I volunteered to stay back because I was bound and determined not to let some punks steal all the sweets from the kids. That didn't last long... our group (Valentino, Vic, and Vale's best buds and their parents) was taking off and I didn't want to be left alone, so I grabbed the candy bowl and became a mobile candy passer-outer:

I win because I did my duty AND enjoyed watching my son trick-or-treat/hung out with the group. Score!

Valentino made out like a bandit - see that orange bowl in the picture above - Friday night it was full, to the top, with candy. And not a bunch of necco wafers and bit-o-honeys... it had all the good stuff. We indulged in candy, then had cider and donuts with my brother in law and nephew (new family tradition for us? Vic's family always had cider & donuts on Halloween night). Valentino finally passed out around 11 and didn't get up until after 8 am on Saturday (which never happens!).

Best Halloween yet!

Saturday, Vic happened to see a Facebook post about a barely-used junior-sized complete BMX bike for sale. We have been searching for a bike for Vale since he started to really show an interest in riding at the track in the past month. The stars aligned, and we were able to go pick it up Saturday afternoon. Both of my boys were beaming with pride as he took his inaugural cranks on his new ride:

Saturday night, Vic and Vale were treated to a Hurricane's game together - I won a drawing at work a few weeks ago, and since Vale and I went together this past spring, it was Vic's turn to take him (and momma's turn to have a quiet evening alone!). Vale got a Jeff Skinner jersey from my dad for his birthday, so he was stoked to wear it to the game:

My little CANIAC

To make the night even more special, the Hurricanes won their first game!! They have been stinkin' something awful so far this season, but they shut out the Coyotes to take their first win... then followed it up Sunday night with a win against defending Stanley Cup champs, the LA Kings. Valentino loves the 'Canes no matter what, but he was so proud of their wins :)

Another non-stop weekend, but I wouldn't have it any other way. So many smiles and laughs and quality time together.

Happy Halloween!

As cliche as it sounds, I cannot believe today is already the last day of October! The past two months have seriously flown by in the blink of an eye. My inbox is already filling up with sales for Christmas, and Valentino was singing "Jingle Bell Rock" this morning... slow down 2014! I am not at all ready for Christmas nor winter.  Nor turning 31. Why does 31 sound way older than 30??

Valentino is seriously excited to get out there tonight and fill his pumpkin to the top with everything sugary. He is going as an alien - he looks super cool (and kind of retro!) in his robe and mask.

We carved our pumpkins Wednesday night, which was a lot of fun. Valentino is finally old enough to do most of the process by himself, and he was very determined to do it without our help.

I was impressed at how hard he worked and how good his pumpkin looked afterwards:

Pumpkin carving is definitely turning out to be a fun family tradition that I hope our kids will remember, just like Vic and I do.

Guess who's back?

I’m not sure what it is, but I have had this major urge and desire to BLOG lately. I kind of deserted this little blog last year when things (mostly my job) started to get uncontrollably busy, which in turn made me not want to spend even more time at my computer typing up blog posts.  Things have changed – my job title, my mental state, my free time, my body, and my family – and we’re in a new season of life. For whatever reason, I just feel the need to type it out, even if it’s only for me to look back on someday and read.

I don’t know if I’ll be regularly posting, but I’m going to try to create a few posts each week. We had a very, very full summer and so far, fall has been more of the same. Lots of time spent together and many family memories made.

In West Virginia, on one of our many adventures this summer.

Until next time… hopefully sooner than later J