What you all wanted to see...

Here is our lovely Cinderella. Course she is sick. Not sure what she has but there has been puking and a really high fever for a couple days. She seems to be on the mend now and fever is low grade and nearly gone, but no trick or treating this year.

So, the big Cinderella surprise wasn't quite what I had imagined. It went something like this.... I snuck into her room late Thursday night and hung the beautiful dress in plain sight, complete with the sparkly crown and glass slippers. My hope was it would be the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes on Friday morning. But, around 3 a.m. I awoke to hysterical crying coming from her room. She had tried to make it to the potty and ended up having an accident on the way. I cleaned her up, gave her a shower and dressed her in clean jammies. However, the crying continued....that is until I pointed out the beautiful outfit. She was elated. I tucked her snug in bed and went back to my bed. Around 4 I heard her door open and crying in the hallway. Yep, she was sick. I got up, took her temp (103.5) and we were up for the duration. Despite her feeling really lousy, she wore her glass slippers for most of Friday as she laid on the couch.

It has been an extremely long couple of days, but she is on the mend. Last night we carved our pumpkins. Today we roasted the pumpkin seeds and made mummy dogs for dinner. Currently she is dressed as her favorite princess and handing out candy.

Happy Halloween!!

Wordless Wednesday

For The Love of My Family

Never thought I would have to google "Medical Alert Button." Never thought in a million years my family would begin to disintegrate in the way it has. I have posted about my mom and her tragic medical issues. My dad's physical health is, however, much more fragile, much more immediate, much more terrifying. Mom's health, though forever physically limited by stroke, has stabilized. And though my dad has had constant health problems for the past 20 years, it is as if suddenly, with my mom out of the woods, he has taken a turn for the worse.

My sister is a saint. Seriously. For the past year she has spent nearly every waking hour caring for our parents. It has been emotionally draining. For her sanity, it became increasingly more important for her to get a part time job. For 13 weeks she will work as a traveling nurse for St. James Hospital. It amounts to 3 days a week. It will give her the opportunity to use her nursing skills and give her a break from caring for the folks for a couple days a week. She needs this. We all understand this.

However, it is terrifying. For my sister and for me, and I am positive, for each of my parents, it is terrifying. And though we have home health come in for several hours on the days sis is gone, there are many more hours when they will be alone. So, a medical alert button is necessary.

Never thought it would come to this.

Sweet Pickins

Every blog, every website, every year. They are named or referred to by different names, but they remain the same. Pumpkin patches. Those little slices of family heaven in the fall. Our community is no different. Our pumpkin patch is called "Sweet Pickins" and it is a joyful blend of farm animals, straw bale mazes, hay rides and of course, pumpkins. It has become a much anticipated family tradition. We love it. Good clean fun.

My Little Princess

I caved. I bought the Empress her heart's desire...a Cinderella costume, complete with glass slippers. You may remember my post from earlier this year regarding Santa's total disregard of the Empress' request for "glass slippers" for Christmas. Being the child spoiling mom that I am, I thought she would instead love 6 pairs of princess shoes. I thought...the more the better. Well, the Empress was heartbroken. I think she bought my explanation at the time but it made me realize that she wanted what she wanted, and no cheap imitations were allowed.

So, a while back she spotted a Cinderella outfit at Costco. She really wants to BE Cinderella for Halloween. Each time we go to Costco she insists on strolling past the costume rack and lamenting that she would love, love, love that costume. Early on I told her no because the girl has dozens of dress up costumes and I was resigned that she wear one of them for Halloween.

She has been such a sweetie lately, minding me, doing chores...gee, sorta like the real Cinderella (hahaha....except with a hot mom and not an ugly step mother!). So, won't she be surprised to see her new costume, complete with glass slippers, on Halloween? You bet she will.

We Won, We Won, We Won Wednesday!!!

That's right. We won. Justice prevailed. Today our system worked and worked well. Today I love my job. Today has restored my faith in people. They came through. They listened to the case and got it. They saw through all the bullshit being shoveled at them from the a**hole plaintiff. Today a genuinely good and honest person triumphed. Today is a good day!!

Oh ya....I didn't screw anything up!!! Amazing...don't cha think?

Happy Moon Festival

Today is the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Today is the Moon Festival, or Harvest Moon Festival. Today the moon is closer to the earth than it will be all year. It is round and bright and glorious.

We have celebrated the Moon Festival for the past four years. The Moon Festival is a Chinese holliday much like our Thankgiving. We celebrate it for our daughter's benefit. It has become our tradition. In the beginning, in an attempt to remain as true to the Chinese celebration, I ordered Moon Cakes from a bakery in New York. The Moon Cake is the cornerstone of the celebration. However, we didn't like them. They are beautifully made pastry with an interesting design stamped into the top. The icky part is the sweet paste inside. The flavors have names like red bean paste and lotus seed paste. Eww. Sweet but icky. So, we threw in an American twist. The Moon Pie. Yep, you heard right....the Moon Pie.

Happy Moon Festival!!