Update on craziness..

Things around here have been busy (now I'm sure that you are surprised by that). The Dads & Daughters (the group I sing in) have been practicing very hard for a concert we are doing tomorrow night in Richland Center. We have another practice today. I pray it goes well.

Last Wednesday was of course Halloween. The kids were very excited, but it was a hard one for Jacob, because it was his last year of dressing up. It ended up being easier for him though because he realized he did not enjoy it as much and spent most of the time waiting with me while Jessa went. So although it was a little sad, it all worked out without trauma. It was very windy here and Jessalyn had fairy wings. She could not wear them though because she almost "flew" in the wind.

A friend of mine who never had kids of his own always gives out toys. Not expensive toys, but fun ones. So here he is with this big ru*bermai* container with a lid. He pops it open and has the kids reach in quick (no sorting through) and grab one. Jessalyn pulls out critters that grow when you add water. Their cousin Jessica pulls out a magic trick kit. Now comes Jake in his Darth Vader costume complete a mask that covers his entire face. He can hardly see anything at all and here he was trying to grab something out of the container. He reaches in and grabs and pulls out............refrigerator magnets. Poor guy. He just shrugged it off and got back into the car.
Thursday morning I went to a conference in Lacrosse. It was a fall conference about the tourism industry. I attend a few of these each year for Cranfest. We network with other destinations and events while holding meetings with the tourism council members etc. It was a quick one. Noon on Thursday until noon on Friday. We crammed a lot of info into our brains and then came home to sort it out. It gave us lots of ideas for this year's festival though.

When I got home I started cleaning out the back storage room. I now have 4 huge bags full of stuff to go to a local charity. There are three more bags of garbage and a huge box of stuff to shred. Luckily, Jessa loves to shred papers, so that will give her a treat. Now I'm putting everything back in and will start cleaning out my craft stuff. I have this creative streak in me that causes me to pick up odds and ends all year round to use for crafting. This year I decided to get each little project together and let the kids sort through them and find things they want to do. I can supervise, but they'll have the fun. It gets the project done, gives them a good time and also cleans my crafting area. Hopefully, I can get to that this afternoon.
As soon as I finish my fall cleaning, I can start planning Thanksgiving (we're having 2 this year) and I will also start working on Christmas Eve. Lots of planning goes into that one too. Of course the mail is starting to pick up too. Something about Christmas and the post office.
Well, I'm off to work in the back room. If you don't hear from me in a couple of weeks, come looking.
Have a great day.
dea