Happy Halloween

As you can see they all didn't get carved.  I just completely ran out of time.  Must plan better next year.  :)  But the ones I did do turned out pretty good don't you think?

Cody drew the face for the middle one

Cody drew the faces of the bottom right and the 2 right ones on the top row.

Added the Grim Reaper to the door and orange flicker lights in the light fixtures.

Halloween is truly my most favorite holiday.  I just love the concept of getting dressed up and going trick o treating.  Our neighborhood does a great job of decorating their houses and we have so many kids out that it is so much fun.  This year we met up with our neighbors and Cody enjoyed walking around with Natalie and Griffin.  The rain ruined our parade for a millisecond but we still kept going.  Cody was a Pirate and I was an enchanting mistress.  Okay, I don't think that's what my outfit really looks like but whatever the case, I had fun getting dressed up and putting on my long diva wig that I no longer have to rely on.  It's more for fun now and when I wear it, I don't have horrible memories of being bald.

Anyway, here are a few photos at night when the trick or treating began.  I'd say we hung out about 2 1/2 hours.  We had such a fun time.

Our house at night

His 1st encounter with a scary ghost

Now a zombie - he's getting brave

Luckily it wasn't super cold out.

Carving pumpkins

I think I waited to long.  I have 12 pumpkins to carve and I'm now just starting the process.  Cody was a big help.  He drew the faces on the pumpkins and I carved them.  But he wouldn't stick his hand in the pumpkin to pull out the seeds.  To me that's the longest part of the whole carving process.  Besides, what 5 year old boy doesn't like getting his hands ewwiee goowie?  Apparently not mine.  Usually I clean off the seeds and bake them but with no time to spare, I'm going to have to pass on that this year.

Arizona Therapy

Ahhh....the beautiful mountains of Arizona and the warm sunny weather is such therapy for me.

Yes, you guessed it. I went back home to visit family and friends and I feel ALIVE!!!

Decorating

Ahh, the holiday season is upon me and this is the 1st month that I start decorating.

So doesn't look scary in daylight

Aye me matey

Aye Captain Cody here.  Listen to me or you can walk the plank!

So I took Cody to Party City to pick out a costume.  He couldn't make up his mind and then he looked up and saw a pirate costume.  Then a light bulb went off in my head.  He was a pirate in his June dance recital and I had a pirate costume already at home.  All I had to do was buy a patch and we were good to go.  Easy Halloween costume this year.

It's me, it's really, really me

I looked in the mirror this morning and I can't believe my eyes.  It's me, it's really, really me.  With my new blonde hair, I finally see myself.  I can't explain the feeling inside.  It's powerful yet emotional.  In a blink of an eye it almost looks like that girl in the mirror never lost 2 years of her life.  Who is this person?  It's finally me.

Later today, I turned on the radio to the 80's station and just started singing and dancing.  So much fun!  This is truly the best I've felt in a really long time.

Hello Blondie...well, more like light Brunette! But we're getting there.

Made an appointment to get my hair highlighted today.  I wanted to go lighter but wondered with fall coming up if I should stay a brunette.  I chatted with Val a bit and thought, oh what the heck.  A few hours later and viola!  HELLO BLONDIE!!!!

I was really nervous, wondering if I did the right thing.  I'm not as blonde as I use to be but it's a good start.  And so far, I really like it.