Hmmmm… let’s get you up-to-date
All Hallow’s Eve
The Kilah’s, the two oldest Noakley kids, Dr. O’Neill, and the Dark Side, all came over to the Far Side for some good, clean (relatively) fun. After a Friday meal of fish and chips and a surprisingly mellow rosary (considering the number of children present under the age of 8), Thea took a majority of the kiddos out trick-or-treating. There was quite a variety in the costumes, covering a broad range of saints, cartoon characters, clownish figures, and royalty. Thea was confused, with her neon pink wig, jail-bird pants, clown ruffle, and goodness-knows what else. People were handing out treats to her when she took the kids from door to door. Apparently you’re never too old to trick or treat if you’re costume shows enough effort.
Those who stayed home glued together popsicle stick saint puppets and decorated candy bags.
After gallavanting about the neighborhood, everyone came back, sorted their loot, and then massed into the backyard for the annual pinata bashing. Colin had the pinata tied to a curtain rod, hanging over the top of the swing set, while Jeff and Felice photographed and Dr. O’Neill did the blindfolding. All the kids took turns swinging and hollering. Even the Three Amigos took swings when it was evident that a little more force was needed to break through the endless layers of paper mache.
After the pinata broke open, the kids scavenged through the grass in the dark, collecting the sweets and piling them into bowls.
Colin returned the Noakley children to their home, then we began to tidy up and get the little children into bed. Colin and Jeff carved their pumpkins, and we arranged them next to the Dark Side’s 2 faced pumpkin, lit candles in them, turned off the lights, and took pictures. Hopefully I’ll get pictures out this week. Maybe next year we’ll have to have a competition….hmmmm
Afterwards, those of us who were still awake settled in the living room to watch The Scarlet Pimpernel (a true classic) and wind down after the evenings festivities. It was lots of fun!
All Souls’ Day has come and gone as well. Colin and I managed to visit the cemetery to say some prayers for those who have passed away, and we made a trip over to Mountain View cemetery with some flowers. It is a season rich in graces- hopefully you all got an opportunity to think about, remember, and pray for loved ones who have passed away. Next year, I think I would like to gather some photographs of deceased friends and family members, and make a little altar for them, so that on All Souls’ Day we can light a candle by their photos and say a prayer for them. I was inspired by what Jodi told me they do in Mexico. They have so many rich traditions in that country!
Remembrance Day is just around the corner- a good time to think about the courage of our troops who have fought and are fighting so bravely for the defense of the innocent. Our car magnet is fading so I think I may zoom over to the army base some time and pick up a couple of those bright yellow “Support Our Troops” magnets.
St. Nicholas’ Day and Christmas are also approaching. A fun time to plan new traditions, organize tree hunting, and etc. I’m curious about the 12 days of Christmas at Heritage Park- we’ll see how much it costs. Colin and I are really hoping for a good turn-out for the annual tree hunt this year. It’s always tricky fitting it into so many different schedules for the same day, but it sure is great to get out into the mountains, hike around, find your own tree, hack it down, and then let the kids toboggan, and sit around the bonfire eating lunch and drinking hot chocolate. The Fraternity has already sent out Christmas card samples…we’ll see how timely we are this year.
I should make mention of the Zikka’s recent marriage encounter. Agnieszka and Isaac both had a great time, wished it was longer, got asked to volunteer for future events, and appear to be handling Isaac’s return to the home-front just fine and dandy.
Joe would like to say something: “Dear Grandpa, and I want to say Dear Nanny, and Grandma Snoek. And Grampy. Um, Nanny. Grandma. And the Bobbies. And I like the Bash brothers. And a robot, and Thomas the Tank Engine Movie, and a pumpkin, and I like Linus too. And I like the piano, and Linus, and the choo choo trains, and I like Percy has the light, and Thomas has the light, and I like Gordon, and James, and Henry, and Thomas. And I like other stories. That’s all enough I like to play with. And I like TV and eyeballs. And I like yogurt and I like strawberries. And I like this (motioning to Aiden’s egg-carton spider that we need to return to him). I would like to say to the people if Percy has a light in their drawers. I like caterpillars. And I like my special train book that I got from Grandpa. And I need to say thankyou to him.”
Birthday greetings go out to Elijah, Agnieszka, Dominic, and Sophia!
Oh, I should mention- Colin and I picked up Bella. Google it if you want to know more. I’ll just say that it is a fantastic movie, and if anyone around here would like to borrow it, they are most welcome! Also, what do you think of us asking Mark Steyn if he would like to freely contribute to Blarmpers. Thea and Colin don’t think he’d do it. Maybe if we offered chocolate as a bribe. I’m also hoping to get Kathy Woodard on here. We’ll see if she has time, being a busy mother and all. As always, we welcome contributions from everyone, be it a glimpse into your life, speculations about life, politics, recipes, whatever, as well as cartoons and pictures. I’m hoping to start up a new series of cartoons called “Boom boom”, regularly featuring the three amigos.
Finally, if anyone has any good winter craft ideas to do with 2 and 4 year olds, I’m all ears. Being thrust into the (apparently) frigid November temperatures, Gab and Joe have both decided that they won’t stay outside longer than 1/2 hour at a time, which is “a long, long day” as is, and I’m anxious about how we’ll weather through the winter with them being indoors so much. Read along CD’s are a true life saver, but only last so long. And the library only allows you to take out 30 holds. And there are only so many Thomas the Tank Engine and Amelia Bedelia read-alongs. ahhhh….. so any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Signing out- cheers and God Bless!
-F.F. Blarmpers Life and Times
