Oh What A Night!

Yes, it's Halloween Night :)

I've loved Halloween for many years but even more so since becoming a Mom!!  I really enjoy this fun time of year - from making fun school treats, to decorating the yard, to pumpkin carving and roasting pumpkin seeds, to helping the kids choose costumes, to volunteering in the kids classrooms and the Halloween parade at Blake's (and now Em's) school!!!  I love it all!

 

This year I made super cute Frankenstein pudding cups for Reese's preschool class and 1 for each Blake and Emerson to enjoy during their Halloween parties at school.  And then a Ghost lollipop treat for all the kids classmates!!  So much fun and quite simple (thank you Pinterest!!)

Our Halloween festivities began with Reese's Preschool Halloween party on the Wednesday.  I volunteered during the party and had a great time with my little Reesey!!  Our Preschool parties are always so fabulous, with creative, age-appropriate (aka the 3 and 4 year olds can actually do them with out too much adult help!), yummy and fun themed snacks.  Our teachers are the best!

 

Wednesday night the girls were allowed to wear their costumes to dance.  They had fun with that and enjoyed seeing all their dance friends in costume!  Blake normally comes with us to dance but Wednesday evening he had a hockey practice so I dropped him off at Cal's work.  Blake was disappointed because he wanted to wear his costume to dance - lol!

Friday morning was Emerson's classroom party.  Cal has vacation time that he can not carry over to next year, so he took Friday off and dropped Reese off at preschool so I could stay at school with Em.  Cal went to his November Project workout Friday morning and wore Reese's mermaid wig - looked pretty good on him ;)  Em and I had fun in her classroom with cute crafts, Halloween stories and songs and a Halloween parade through the school!  All the kids were so cute in their costumes and my little Dorothy was the sweetest!!

 

Emerson and I picked Reese up from Preschool and then at 1 pm we met Cal back at the school for Blake's Halloween parade.  I love seeing all the kids parading through the school gym!  Some of the costumes are so well done and original, it's awesome!  All the younger siblings dress up too and join their siblings when it is their classes turn to parade around!  After the parade Cal took Em and Reese home (with a lot of protest from Emerson ... sigh) and I got to join Blake's class for the remainder of the afternoon! 

 

And that brings us to Halloween night!!  My Mom came over to see the kids in their costumes and snap a few pics and see us off into the full night of trick-or-treating!  We always visit our neighbours across the street first.  They have an awesomely decorated house, even the inside and they are always dressed up!  Then it's down the block as we make our way towards the Parenteau's house.  We've been trick-or-treating with them for many years and always have a blast!!  This year the weather was fantastic and the kids were go-go-go!!  We were trick-or-treating for 2.5 hrs and we hauled home more candy then one family of 5 would ever need!  Our community league held a yard decorating contest this year and there were some people in the community who went alllll out!!!  Lots of 'The Walking Dead' themed yards (which I LOVE!!  Love the show!)!  The kids weren't even freaked out by all the zombie's and freaky music, so much fun!

 

(note: Blake wore 1 costume (Rocket Raccoon), Reese wore 2 costumes (Ariel and Dalmatian Puppy) and Emerson wore 3 different costumes (Anna for dance class, Dorothy and Curious George (a monkey costume but she said she was Curious George!)!)

 

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!  Our kids are already talking about what they will be next year!

 

~Tracy

Happy 10th Wedding Anniversary to us!

 

 

On October 9th Cal and I celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss!!  It really doesn't feel like it's been 10 years.  As I was looking back on our wedding photo's, it is amazing how fast 10 years have gone by.  October 9th, 2004 sure was a fun, love-filled day!  I'll never forget our wedding day.  There were some unplanned memorable moments that will always make us laugh and many love-filled, fun, beautiful moments that we will treasure forever. Over the past 10 years we've had our ups and downs and everything in between but at the end of the day, every day, I thank my lucky stars for my loving husband and the beautiful family and life we have built together.  Together the hard times are bearable and the good times are even better :)  We are a great team, Cal Cameron!

 

So much has changed in 10 years.  A move, career changes, a little bit of travelling, new friends, new experiences and of course, three amazing children!  We are very blessed and thankful!

 

I am not sure what the next 10 years will bring but I am sure they will pass just as quickly as the first 10.  So here's to making them just as memorable and amazing as the first 10!  Love you so much, Cal :)

 

xo Tracy

Reality Check

I've received some really sad news this weekend.  On Friday I learned a high school classmate has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.  We weren't terribly close but acquaintances and although high school was 16 years ago, most days it feels like just yesterday.  So when I heard this sad news, of course I automatically thought of the person and all my memories relating to the fun and good times in high school.

Then this morning a friend called to let me know that her husband has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.  He was admitted to the UAH one month ago, due to frequent falls.  Now after one month, a tumor has been found and he has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.  He started chemotherapy on Friday.  They believe they've caught it early and the hope is after 4-6 months of chemo and possibly radiation he will be transferred to the Glenrose to learn how to walk again.  This news is devastating and my heart goes out to my friend and her family.  They have a little girl, who is almost one.

Of course there are terrible things that happen in our world and in our own communities daily.  But when the news is close to home, it seems to 'hit home' harder.  My prayers and thoughts are with these two friends.  My heart breaks for them and I am at a loss for words.

This is a reminder to hug your loved ones tighter, don't sweat the small stuff and love like there is no tomorrow.  Because you just never know what tomorrow might bring.

xo