How to have a FUN Halloween party for 12 year old Boys

Over the years we have become experts in having children's Halloween Parties. From age 3 to age 18, we have done it. Of course, its harder for the older ones, but nevertheless, its FUN!!!

This year we are had one for Mitchell, who is 12. This age is a bit of a challenge as they are right in between. They want it to be fun, and be a little scary, but NOT to scary. I have had parents message me asking how scary it will be because their boys are still afraid of a lot...Especially CLOWNS, now that the clown scare has hit the country. Mitchell is terrified of this whole "clown" thing so clowns scaring the kids at the party is a definite NO! (Side note: we had clowns in the neighborhood driving around on dirt bikes last week, now hes scared to be outside by himself!)

We have been decorating a little bit each day all week. We have thought of some fun games for the boys and have lots of cool decorations and of course food! One thing I have learned over the years is that they don't really eat to much at these parties. I use to make a ton of food and had a lot left over. I decided to get pizza then have snacks but not to over do it.

As the old rule of thumb goes, invite the number of kids equivalent to their age. Mitchell invited 13 and 12 came!!!

Decorations: (As I said before, not to scary for this age, as they do still get scared )

Lots of lights! I think we had 1200 not including all the lit lanterns

Halloween themed games

Lots of Scary things hanging from the ceiling. .

Light up Lanterns

Halloween themed or colored table clothes

Door covers

Wall covers

Everything except lights can be bought at the dollar store

Games: (You have to have lots to keep the boys busy)

Frankenstein Frisbee throw

Eyeball cup toss

Ring around the pumpkin stems

Pumpkin hunt: We hid 25 pumpkins around our yard (one being a bonus one)

Ping Pong bucket toss

Break the balloon game

Pumpkin ball ricochet

Ping pong

Basketball free throw

We did a point system for every game. At the end of the night whoever has the most points gets to pick the first prize and so on. We always get one more prize than number of kids we expect. Most prizes I found at the dollar store, five below or ACMoore. I spend about $3 per prize.

Food:

Pizza

Carved Pumpkin throwing up dip...Yummy!!!

Rice Krispy Frankenstein

Chips & Pretzels 
& Salsa

Cupcakes

Cookies

Halloween Punch: I just mixed Hawaiian Punch with Ginger Ale and pineapple juice...(kids said it was the best punch they ever had LOL) We went through 3 large punch bowls!!

Having parties for the kids is one of my favorite things to do, especially Halloween parties!  There is something about it that is just plain fun! Having twelve, 12 year old boys was quite a challenge, but with all the games we had planned they stayed entertained. I think their favorite game was the pumpkin hunt because they could run around the backyard like crazy guys and find the hidden pumpkins.( I think they were out there for 30 minutes or more.) There was even a monster at the end of the yard to scare the kids half to death. All in all it was a great night, although Jim and I are still recovering!  LOL

Here we go Again!

Let me just tell you I feel completely blessed to live so close to such a great hospital like Hopkins! I know I have talked about the Children's Center and Taylor's many stays over the years. Although its a huge hospital with tons of very very sick children, when you are there with yours, its like they are the only ones that are.

Several weeks ago Taylor was once again having a lot of stomach discomfort and extreme nausea. This went on for days so we decided to do a cleansing as she tends to get backed up because she has slow bowel motility. 

Saturday we did a full cleansing, like one you would do to prep for a colonoscopy, she still was very bad. By Sunday she couldn't eat at all without having extreme pain and even more nausea, which is very bad for a kid with Cyclic vomiting syndrome. Much to her dismay, I called the GI team and they urged us to go to the ER where they would call ahead to give them instructions. We know the drill all to well and she pretty much knew based on how she felt that she would probably be admitted. 

When we arrived she was assessed and taken to a room right away. (I have NEVER had to wait in the ER there EVER).The doctor came in and examined her and within a couple minutes she was taken for an xray and a IV was started for more powerful nausea meds. About 30 minutes later the doctor came in and say she was being admitted and said that she was still quite impacted and there looked to be a blockage in her colon. They told her they would have to put a NG tube down her nose and into her stomach. This is one of her most hated things she has to have done from time to time and she was NOT happy about it. They placed that in the ER and off we went upstairs to her room.

As soon as well got to the floor she was greeted by some nurses who she has had before and they were fighting over which one would have her this stay. Its not fun to be in a hospital setting when you feel horrible, but its nice to be at a place that treats you so good! As a mom its heartbreaking watching her go through so much, but they as a team, make it so much more tolerable!!! 

She was given meds overnight to break up the blockage and clear her out and it worked. The next day she was feeling much better and was able to come home.

Like I said at the beginning, we are so thankful to have this world renowned hospital within an hour of our house. The care we receive every time we are there is phenomenal down to every janitor, secretary, etc. We call it the Disney Way...

Hopefully that's our last inpatient stay this year and in the near future. 

Apples Pumpkins and Fun

This year fall is taking its good old time getting here and staying. We have had some cool days, but then much more warmer days. I HATE it but our fall festivities must go on despite the weather. 

As I have said in the past we are so lucky to live in this part of Pa, where farms, orchards and pumpkin patches are plentiful. This past week we visited three different farms and or pumpkin patches with Jaxson. He is almost two now so loves every minute of it. He can say plain as day, "Have a Happy Halloween", which he said like 100 times to every person he saw. It was adorable!

He enjoyed the patch more than anything. He ran around and sat on almost every pumpkin and tried to pick them all up.

He's always very proud of the pumpkin he picks, until the stem breaks off, which is all of them, then he gets very upset and wants to put them back...

This weekend he spent the night and we decorated his windows for Halloween. He had a great time and after we were done he sat on the chair and said,"Take a Pic MeMaw" and smiled with his cheesy smile! 

Yes people told me being a grandparent was going to be great, but no one could have explained how great! 

Hope you have a great fall weekend despite these crazy temps!

My New Toys

You know your getting old when household appliances and such excite you!

I know I can't be the only one who LOVES a new vacuum, oven, washer and dryer, etc. I have to say a new washer is one of my favorites though. It just seems more fun to do the laundry when you have a new gadget...

I like to make things easier in the kitchen as much as possible. Having to make a veggie meal and a meat meal most times. That means I have to use multiple pans, or two big crock pots which is a pain in the butt. I have thought about getting a triple crock pot but they were usually too small to make a meal bigger than two people and more for dips.

The other day I was looking on a new site I follow called Offer Up. There was one of the triple Crock Pots a lady was selling. They were all three 2.5 quart and had the removable crocks and individual settings on each one. It was a very nice, heavy duty and was The Original Crock Pot brand. Best of all it was only...$15!!! The lady said she paid over $100 for it and she never used it! Wow, this could make my life a little easier with less dishes and mess. I bought it and used it the very same day!

So it is less than a week old and I have used it twice already. It was perfect, like I hoped, for a veggie meal and a meat one. Veggie Chili, Beef chili, and apple crisp last Sunday. Last night was Squash soup in one, Pork roast in the other and a fancy rice thing in the last one. Toss a salad and everyone is happy. The only Bad part about my new toy is that it is 31 inches long, so if you don't have space to store it, its not a find for you...

Now that i'm on a roll, I would love to have a new vacuum!  I don't mind getting one for my birthday or Christmas either! 

Falling for Fall

Happy Hump Day Everyone!

So fall has officially arrived! As you all know, I LOVE fall and everything it brings! The changing of the leaves, the crisp cool mornings, Leggings and sweaters, Pumpkin picking, the silent permission to put your PJ's on early!

This past weekend we were able to enjoy the temps and beauty fall as we went to Lake George and New England for a long and relaxing weekend! The foliage was not yet at its peak but nevertheless it was breathtaking, but Lake George always is!

It was a couples only weekend,  which meant NO KIDS!!!  So it was Jessica & Brian, Brian's parents, and Jim and I.

We left our house Friday morning early to make the 7 hour gaunt to the Lake. We arrived by two, got unpacked and headed straight to the Lake to take the boat out! I didn't grow up on the water, so I didn't quite realize how much cooler it would be on a boat when the regular air temps are in the 50's! Luckily I brought an extra sweatshirt!

On Saturday we decided to take a ride to Vermont, which is one of my favorite states! We took a ferry to the other side of Lake Champlain which was Vermont. We drove the scenic country roads to the beautiful quaint town of Middlebury. We walked around the town, found a cool wooden bridge which crossed a stream that had a cool waterfall. It was like something off of a Lifetime Movie!

When we were done touring, shopping and enjoying the weather we found a nice cozy restaurant that boasted the BIGGEST SALAD BAR IN VERMONT. Having two vegetarians with us, it was a great find! We headed home after and we just hung out for the night in front of the warm fireplace playing cards.

Sunday we all slept in a bit then headed to the lake around 11. We decided we were going to take the long, cold, but beautiful boat ride 45 minutes sound to see the famous Sagamore Hotel and eat at a nostalgic restaurant directly on the water. Although we pretty much froze our butts off, it was a spectacular scenic ride! Of course when we finally arrived at the restaurant, we treated ourselves to some delicious hot drink specials they offered!

We saw the Sagamore from the water, it was beautiful with the mountains surrounding the hotel and trees beginning to change color!

That evening we went back to the cabin and just hung out, had a late dinner and watched football. Monday morning we left early as we needed to get back home for some appointments.

Our weekend was a well needed and deserved one away after a month full of drama and heartache. Bad decisions made by one kid, and Taylor ending up back in the hospital with another intestinal blockage.

Welcome to life with six kids. It may not always be easy, but if you appreciate the good times, pull together in the bad and pray like heck in-between you can make it....just like us!

The Ugly truth about Addiction

I was that person!

The person who knew that I will do a better job than THAT raising my kids! 
They will obey their parents and if not would be punished and with the way we will be they will turn out GREAT! 
They will not end up like my niece, cousins kid or neighbors kid who talk back! 
And, oh yea, they will be potty trained at two and will get good grades! 
And when they are 18 they are going to college and moving out of the house...

Tell me we all didn't or don't have those feelings. Raising kids is nothing you can read about or plan how you are going to react in different situations. You heart and world is walking around in those kids! Thus one of my favorite quotes. 
'Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ' ... quote from Elizabeth Stone. 

 They are your life no matter what age they are, you route for them and always want the best for them. Its hard to imagine when they are babies and young children that they may be the one who goes down a dark and scary path, and that there is no amount of love, knowledge or expert parenting you can do to stop it!!! It SUCKS....

One of our six kids is an addict. I will not go into detail but to say that an addict isn't always drugs or alcohol although it can lead to it. This child was loved and raised the same way as the child who is now a lawyer, social worker, insurance adjuster. Nothing traumatic happened to this child. He/She is and was very bright, very athletic and is loved by all who knew or know him/her. All the stereotypes

of what we all have in our heads of an addict don't fit here!!!

To look back at that happy little face from years past literally crushes my heart. All the memories of their childhood when they were always smiling seems like another lifetime ago. What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? You can't imagine how many times I have wondered this just to come to the same conclusion...Maybe if he didn't hang with this kid or that. Maybe if we let him go more places, Maybe this and maybe that! Its no ones fault. It happens for whatever reason as heart wrenching as it is....it is! Sometimes I wish I could relive every day again to examine everything we/they did and maybe change something...

 All I can say is when you're dealing with a situation like this  you must continue going forward one step at a time, one hour at a time, day at a time, or month at a time.  Looking back or forward at this point is not a good thing. You just have to continue with your head up praying like crazy because this one is so out of anyone's  league!!!

 When people tell you having kids will change your life,  it's the real deal. It's hard when their babies, toddlers, preschoolers, elementary schoolers.  But the real challenge comes later. When we look ourselves in the mirror  and  answer the question that hopefully not one of  you will ever have to ask yourself.... Am I the reason my child is an addict???

 Finally I can say no to that question without a doubt!  And I will keep on keeping on because that's the only thing  left for me to do!

Back to School

So last Thursday was the first day of school. Mitchell is the only one in the house that is not out of school or in college. To think at one point we had 6 kids in one school or another! They were the
crazy days.

I can remember going back to school shopping for clothes and supplies. It literally cost us a fortune! One of the years I was in the hospital pregnant with Mitchell so it was up to Jim to do the back to school shopping of which he had never done and he HATES shopping. We had Taylor who was in kindergarten, then the rest were teens or pre teens. He took them to the mall and handed the credit card to Jessica and told her to go pick out whatever she Savanna and Taylor needed or wanted. Then gave one to Cory and told him the same for him and Kaylee. He said it was great because he didn't have to shop and they loved it! I don't think he knew what things cost because when the bills came in he was shocked. Of course all clothing had to be approved by me before they wore anything to school but they did a great job and nothing had to be returned!

I have it very easy now because most things Mitchell wants are online at Dick's or Soccer.com so we really don't need to leave the house except to get shoes that we can also get online if we wanted. This year I didn't buy a lot before school started as I knew he may change what he likes a bit and it's still Crazy hot here!!!

We were pleasantly surprised when we moved to Pa that we needed to buy very little school supplies for school. This is after needing TONS for the old schools in Md.

So far this year is going well for Mitchell. There has been no complaints at ALL and he seems to like it! He has had some anxiety in the past about school so this is a nice change for him and us! I think with him its the fear of the unknown with new a new school year and the fear of not doing well. I think we are lucky he cares so much!

Hope the year continues to be a healthy and productive one!