Five On Friday

 Five on Friday

Five of my favorite family friendly Halloween movies:

1. The Addams Family (1991) 

2.  Ghost Busters (1984)

3.  Hotel Transylvania

4.  The Haunted Mansion

5.  Coco

Added because I just can't leave these out:

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Monsters Inc.

Although all of these are mostly family friendly, ages of kids who are comfortable watching these will vary.  I know the Haunted Mansion traumatized my 5-year-old.  Parents, you know what your children are comfortable with.  And movies like the Addams Family and Ghost Busters are really for older kids (tweens/preteens and older).  

Halloween, The Election, and Jesus

 Halloween was a little over a week ago, and we are now moving well into November.  The election was last week (but not completely over... how very 2020).

Halloween:  It was a gorgeous night.  The weather really cooperated.  Here in Ohio it can be anywhere from 80 degrees, to snowing, to having remnants of a hurricane on Halloween.  I have seen it all and yes, the hurricane part is true even though we are nowhere near the ocean.  But this year the weather was beautiful.  We live in a fairly rural area and most of the kids in the neighborhood have aged out of trick or treating, but we still managed to get 6 kids and my 8 year old was able to go trick or treating.  We set up at the bottom of the driveway with our candy and fire pit and made sure to social distance.  It was such a gorgeous night that we sat by the fire pit well after the trick or treaters stopped coming.  It was nice to relax and enjoy the weather and each other.

Election:  I really don't want to talk too much about it other than to say that the way this country is divided scares me.  I don't know how we will ever get back to a place where we can respect other's opinions and try to work together.  Actually I do know, and it will only be by the grace of God.  I have been praying so much more lately.  And maybe that is why all this is happening.  Maybe it's to remind us of who is really important, where we should be putting our time and energy, and to remind us who is actually in control.  I feel Satan is prowling around this world and especially the USA.  

Ohio Covid update:  Well, we are having a nice surge in Covid cases.  I think we had 5,000 new cases in one day last week.  I'm afraid that it will only be a matter of time before things start shutting down again.  I just hope we don't completely shut down businesses like we did last time.  The economy will not be able to handle it.  My heart breaks for all those small businesses that are barely getting by as it is.  All I've got here is more prayer. 

Church:  We went back to church yesterday.  Not TV mass.  Not car mass.  We went back into our church and I can not tell you how that lifted my soul.  With all that has been going on, I needed to go back to church.  I NEEDED to be near Jesus.  I know He is always with me, but I needed to be near the real presence.  We felt completely safe.  We will continue to go for as long as the state allows the building to be open and I pray that if the actual church buildings close down again, that some priests will take it upon themselves to either have a mass outside (regardless of Ohio weather) or go rogue to have mass in the building anyway.  If there is one thing that I have realized that I can truly not live without, it is Jesus and my church.

Family:  The family is doing well and I am trying very hard to keep things as upbeat and as normal as possible for them.  I try to cook good, hearty meals and I am trying to keep the house as organized and picked up as possible to create peace here.  I can't control the things of this world, but I can control the state of my own home.

Senior Night

I realized I never came back and updated on Senior Night.  I did manage to go and get something decent to wear.  I always feel like I'm a troll because I'm an older mom.  I know clothes won't fix that, but if it makes me feel better, than so be it.  It was 20 degrees that night so most people looked like they were going out to shovel snow.  I was vain enough to not even wear a coat.

I still can't believe that I have a senior.

And Halloween went ok.  We did not get anymore kids than we have the last few years, but I did FINALLY get to meet that new neighbors (who aren't that new) and their sweet baby girl.  And mom is having another baby in March.  Maybe our Halloweeners will increase with all the new babies!

My guys:  The Cow, Ice King (from Forte Nite), and a Cleveland Indians player.

Halloween and More

Tomorrow is Halloween.  I think I'm ready.  I really do think that I should get more candy.  But we usually get 7 kids trick or treating so I've probably got MORE than enough.  But a few new kids moved into the neighborhood so I'm hopeful that we'll get more.  But this is a "negative" for living rural.  At the peak, we would get 20-25 trick or treaters.  But that was when the neighborhood was new and most of the families (almost ALL families actually) had young children.  18 years later and most of the kids have grown up and moved out.  And the ones still here are older, like my oldest two at ages 17 and 15.  We used to get kids from the surrounding farms, but even those kids have aged out and moved on.  It's sometimes sad to see the changing households.  BUT we do have a few grandkids that have come, and we do have a few new little ones so I'm hopeful that I'll get a few glimpses of Halloween cuteness.

Friday is Senior Night for football.  That I AM NOT ready for.  We got word 3 days before senior night that parents will accompany their sons on the field.  I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR.  This is what happens when mom puts herself last all the time.  So I'm hoping to go shopping tomorrow to buy an outfit that isn't 8 years old.  But I got an email today requesting that I help out with the first grade Halloween party tomorrow.  Some how I have to fit this all in and make it work.  It's not the end of the world if I don't get anything new, but I really hate to look like a homeless person on my sons big night.  This is of course my own fault.  I didn't buy anything new last year because I was going to lose weight.  Well, that didn't happen.  And all of my old clothes just got older.  I noticed the "shabby chic" look of my clothes as the weather got colder.  I did buy myself a new trench coat (my old one was discolored) and I bought two new pair of fall shoes (my other ones were falling apart).  And I bought new workout shoes last week (the old ones blew out and caused my ankle to bleed).  So not only is buying everything at one time expensive, but it's stressful.  Lesson learned.

1.  Don't wait to lose weight to buy something new.

2.  Replace things as they start to look shabby.

3.  Don't always put yourself last.


So wish me luck getting everything done before time runs out.  And wish me luck that I don't bawl like a baby on the football field on Senior Night.