Halloween 2024

Another pumpkin carved today - I did this Ghostbusters one, and yes, it's another carving!  I spent a good bit of time on this one - Mom had wanted a Ghostbusters pumpkin to go with the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, so I was happy to spend a little time first this this morning working on that one.  It came out pretty good!

So it was a fun day today, as every October 31st tends to be.  I had my Frog's Breath coffee, and sat out on the front porch relaxing and reading.  We got through another chapter of Deuteronomy, the very one that is written in the Mezuzah by the front door  I finished the Goosebumps short stories book too.  This was actually my favorite book, this collection of 30 short stories.  Always a fun twist at the end of each one.

Here's Maddie in her new Ghostbusters shirt.

Birthday wishes came in, and there were some visits from Ye-Ye and Nana.  They always call super early in the morning with a birthday wish that echoes a scene from "City Slickers."  It's hilarious.  And it was super early too - at 4:45am this morning!

Anyway, we had a good day today, with beautiful weather outside.  I brought up one Christmas tree that we'll decorate this weekend, and got things prepped for that season a little.  And we listened to a few vinyl records, including the soundtrack to "Nightmare Before Christmas," of course.  

Our friends the Wellborns came from Lumpkin County, because they know our neighborhood has some good trick-or-treating.  And that was the rest of our night - some epic trick-or-treating.  The lights were all up out there, the houses decorated and bonfires roaring.  There were plenty of trick-or-treaters out there.  Some costumes were so clever - there was a family that dressed as the Jetsons:  George, Jane, Judy and Elmer!  No Rosie or Astro though.  There was also a guy dressed as Clint Eastwood in a poncho, which cleverly hid this speaker system that played epic western music as he walked along.  There was also a lady dressed up as Tomatoa, the giant crab from "Moana!"

It was a big night, always fun.  The weather was perfect, and the crowds were huge.  Mom was good to go at the front porch, giving out lots of candy.  She said it was super busy at the house, and I can believe that based on the crowds we saw in the neighborhood.  It was fun, chaotic, and unforgettable.  Maddie had her Jubilee costume on, and I wore my new Haunted Mansion blazer, the one with the same pattern as the wallpaper in the Haunted Mansion.

We got home and Mom had hot apple cider for everyone, and it was delicious!  We sat on the front porch for a while, giving out candy to the remaining trick-or-treaters as we sat and talked in the really nice weather.

It was a great night.  We got a lot of candy as always.  One house always gives out entire candy bars.  There was a monster truck out there, plus the usual hay rides and fun.  We went inside, tired and pretty much ready for a good night's rest.  We did watch an episode of "The Real Ghostbusters," a great way to bridge the gap between seasons - it was the episode where the Ghostbusters capture the three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

I read some more to Maddie and the Plush Entourage, going further into "Wyrd Sisters," and after that it was time for prayers.  That was it for October.  It's been a fun season though, and a really nice day.  We had fun, and fell asleep rather easily, as you might imagine.

Senior Trick or Treating

Maddie had a great day today!  She had Senior trick-or-treating, which is what you think it is:  the seniors dressing up and going around the school getting candy.  She dressed up in her Perry the Platypus onesie and had a great time roaming the halls with the others all dressed up and just having fun.  Some of her friends were dressed as characters from Phineas and Ferb too, so that made it a fun time.

Also fun, the final match-up between U.S. Presidents.  The government class is wrapping up the brackets competition with presentations on Presidents, and after weeks of grueling competition between many of our iconic figures in American history, the winner of this year's title for greatest U.S. President is none other than... Jimmy Carter!  Yeah, talk about a dark horse candidate with a Cinderella run to the top, knocking off FDR in the final match-up.  Only in this classroom will Jimmy Carter defeat the likes of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and yes, Ronald Reagan to grab a spot at the top.  Of course, this is based on the presentation, and the thing is, whoever it was doing the presentation for Jimmy Carter was having a great time and the audience was loving it too, along for the ride.  It was a foregone conclusion that Jimmy Carter would be getting there to the top.

Tonight, Pastor Franklin was there for FCY, and it was a United Night, which meant all campuses were present for worship, and to hear the message.  It was a great night, of course.  Maddie got to meet with Pastor afterwards, as Pastor Lance introduced her.  He was happy to meet her!  She has a great time at FCY.

While Maddie was at FCY tonight, Mom and I were concluding our classic Universal Monsters series with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," which is honestly the best of all the three movies - it's so much fun.  

To make it more fun, Mom had a cheese tray with all the Aldi's seasonal cheeses set up - the Freaky Franken Sage Derby, the Pumpkin Spice Wensleydale Cheese, and we tried a new one called "Death by Garlic," a black garlic cheddar cheese that sort went with the theme of vampire hunters.  All three are great, although Mom and I were pretty happy with the garlic cheese the most.  Anyway, we enjoyed that, and then of course got back to picking up Maddie.

We read tonight before bed, moving along with the story of "Wyrd Sisters," which Maddie can recognize the themes of MacBeth within.  It's a fun story, although the vile duke and duchess seem to have the upper hand at the moment.  Although that hand seems to have blood on it, blood that won't come off despite how hard he scrubs.

Closing out the day, we said our prayers and got everyone tucked in for a good night's rest.  Big day tomorrow, and I think you know what that is!