Five for Friday - Halloween Songs

There is a fun little website called jibjab.com where you can insert faces from your personal photos to make funny little animated creatures sing and dance to songs. Well, AC and I did this a few weeks back and the characters were singing to "The Monster Mash". This song introduced Anna Cate to the world of Halloween music and we began searching for the "best" Halloween song. Here are the ones we consider to be the top five Halloween songs of all time.

1.The Monster Mash. Considering it inspired the whole idea, this song had to be included in the final list. It also is just super catchy and neither of us can stop ourselves from dancing whenever we hear it.

2. Thriller. Being a child of the 80's, I simply couldn't let this song be excluded from the list. Honestly, I had forgotten how it sticks in one's head. We had plans to learn the dance, but they have not yet come to fruition.

3. Ghostbusters. Possibly one of the catchiest songs of my childhood, I felt a certain responsibility to introduce Anna Cate to this hit. Also, I must admit that Matthew and I, on occasion, will still utter the phrase, "Who ya gonna call?" and the other answers, "Ghostbusters!" After hearing the song AC is now officially "in the loop".

4. Purple People Eater. I really wonder what the writers of this song were thinking when they came up with the lyrics to this song. But, Anna Cate thinks it's funny and I suppose a flying purple beast with one eye that eats people should be considered scary enough to make the Halloween songs list.

5. Ooooo Halloween. This song is not a "hit" by any means, but the children in AC's music class think it is absolutely wonderful. They all thought it was hilarious when they yelled, "Boo!" at the end and scared all the moms. Also, Anna Cate has been singing it since the beginning of September, so I thought it was one that I definitely wanted to remember from this year.


So, these are the songs we have been singing and dancing to throughout the past several weeks. We even have special choreography that accompanies the music and I must admit, we're really pretty good. Happy Halloween!

A New Love

"Mom? What does it mean when you are standing next to a boy and all you want to do is..." I glance in my rearview mirror and see Anna Cate with her head tilted to the right and a shy looking smile on her face.

Uh-oh. When did this happen? Anna Cate has always had a special boy that was her friend, but it has always been more of the "who can run faster" type of friendship. She's not the little girl who can sit and dress her dolls for hours on end, but rather the one that can play tag, climb trees or ride bikes for an entire afternoon. So I knew this reaction was different than those of the past.

A week passes and I voluteer in her class (They were making applesauce and needed someone to core and peel the apples). As we walk in I hear several "Hey, Anna Cate!", the last of which comes from a little boy with dark blonde hair and blue eyes already seated at his table. Anna Cate looks up at me and says with a smile, "That's Samuel L". Later she explains that this is the little boy that really liked the kitten she brought for a measuring activity the week before.

Fast forward to this Thursday. Fall break has passed, Nana has visited, we've picked apples at an orchard and built a fort with Gator. On the way home from school AC askes, "Why do you think Samuel L didn't pick me to be on his team when we played basketball?

I answer, "Well, I guess it was just fun to be playing with everyone and it didn't matter who was on which team."

Before I am even finished, Anna Cate counters with, "But it's not like I hold Matthew's hand..."

What?! "Well, do you hold Samuel's?"

"Yes, Samuel holds my hand almost everyday."

"Really?"

"Well, yes, he loves me."

"Oh, he does? How do you know?"

"Because he tells me so...everyday."

(10 second pause)
"Mom, why are you laughing?"

Five for Friday - Five "To-do's" Done

I had a birthday this week and thought it was a good time to take a moment of reflection. The year before Anna Cate was born,I started a scrapbook devoted to things I wanted to do before I die. Well, the scrapbook, like so many things, is now tucked away in a box somewhere. But, the idea behind it is still alive in my mind. So, I was happy to see that I had accomplished many of the things on the list. Here are a few...

1. Build a Home. Granted, I only lived in that home for a little over a year, but it is still an experience I treasure. I will never forget the excitement of seeing the foundation poured or the fun of running around it with Anna Cate singing Christmas carols the week before we closed.


2. Become a Stay-at-Home-Mom. I loved teaching. I loved making an impact on students' lives and I treasure the friendships I made throughout those years. But, as much as I loved it, I hated even more leaving Anna Cate every morning in someone else's care. Although I do sometimes miss being part of the bigger world outside my doors, I am beginning to see how quickly time passes and how important it is that I am spending this time with my little girl.

3. Fly First Class. This one is just fun. I like the leather seats and getting a drink while everyone else boards. On the down side, it's hard to go back to those little seats and waiting in line for the potty after you've experienced the "good life" (wink, wink).

4. See the Grand Canyon from Horseback. We visited the Grand Canyon last Thanksgiving. It was beathtaking. I kept looking at it and it just seemed like an incredible painting - almost too beautiful to be real. And, it's also way too steep for me to ride a horse down into it.



5. Visit the Carribean. Matthew and I once said we were going to visit all the islands in the Beach Boys' song Kokamo. We made it to Aruba. The trip was a mixture of frustration, miscommunication, beauty and adventure. After that trip, I decided the song was catchy, but I was editting my "To-Do" list to just include the Cayman Islands.



The list included several other adventures that I had accomplished and encouraged me to add more. Next up - Taekwondo lessons.

Five for Friday - Taking Back the Castle

Sometime during late Spring and Summer, my rule over our figurative castle began slipping. Hard fast rules and expectations began to slowly erode until one day I woke up and realized that I was no longer running the castle. I had been dethroned by the princess. So, I created a plot to regain control. Here's how.

1. Delaying Breakfast. It seemed as if everyday, getting Anna Cate dressed and ready was taking just a little bit longer. This procrastination was not going to work with a school schedule, she had to be ready by 8:15 every morning. So, I told her that she must make her bed and get dressed before ever coming down the stairs in the morning. There have been a few mornings when her "legs were shaking so badly" that she had some trouble making her bed or her "tummy [was] so hungry" that she just couldn't manage to pull up her shorts, but amazingly, she is able to get through it before eating a bite. I also would like to add that we are now generally ready to leave for school 10 minutes earlier than necessary.

2. No More TV Dinners. (or breakfast or lunch) This bad habit began with snacks in front of the TV, then began to include breakfast and then morphed into dinners when Matthew was travelling. While sitting in a restaurant in LA in which she decided to lay down in the booth, I decided it had to be stopped. When we returned from vacation, I told her we would be eating all meals at the table from now on. She countered with, "But, I just won't be able to eat my breakfast!" I told her that was her choice, but that she would probably get hungry before lunch...and since then, she hasn't brought it up again. Added bonus - When I told her we could have a picnic in the floor while watching football with Daddy, she acted like I had given her something wonderful instead of something to which she was entitled.

3. Screen Time. This refers to any and all time Anna Cate spends in front of any "screen". It includes the TV, of course, but also the Wii, computer, DS or ipod. I have never been one to just leave a TV on all day, but I noticed over the summer that she would watch a complete movie, then want to play the wii and then I would find her in her room with her DS. Our excuse was that it was just too hot to go outside. But, I knew that it was still my job to set limits and so I did. Interestingly, she hasn't balked once about this new rule. I think she began to realize how much she had forgotten, particularly in math, over the summer and didn't want her brain "turning to mush".

4. Ban on Disney. Anna Cate is a strong-willed little girl, who has never held back when it comes to letting people know what is on her mind. But, the tone and volume in which she expresses herself has changed over the past few months. I really couldn't figure out exactly where it was coming from until I sat down and really listened to the dialogue in the shows she was regularly watching. What I heard was disturbing. They are sarcastic, disrespectful and condescending to one another and to their parents. Now, I am not blaming the shows for AC's language, but I also don't want her consistently exposed to that language to the point that she begins to believe that it is normal and acceptable. I didn't tell her she couldn't watch it anymore, I just stopped giving it as an option. She is quite interested in the shows on the Discovery Kids Channel and hasn't even asked for Hannah Montana or Wizards of Waverly Place in over a month.

5. The Happy Mouth Card. Banning Disney hasn't completely solved our problems with Anna Cate's language, so I devised a second attack. I made a "Happy Mouth Card" that she is responsible for keeping all week. It contains 20 stars on it and each star represents one quarter. She is given one warning for tone, sass, etc. If she stops, everything is fine. If she continues, she loses a star. At the end of the week, she can redeem the card for the amount of money she has earned that week. I know parenting books say that children should not be taught to work for rewards, but sometimes I think a reward sets them on the right path and then the behavior becomes the norm for them. At that point, the reward can be taken away and the behavior sticks.

So, as of now, the drawbridge and left wing of the castle has capitulated under my attack. The princess' counterattacks have been strong, but I'm thinking with consistency, authority and patience, I can once again bring the entire castle under my rule. (But please, keep me in your prayers all the same.)

Five for Friday - Five of Our Favorite Halloween Crafts

Fall has always been my favorite season, but when we moved to Arizona it became my least favorite. While the mornings do get cooler, the highs are still in the upper 80's to low 90's. I've worked hard to adjust to the continuing hot weather throughout the month of October so the crafts that we do every year have taken on even more importance. Here are five of our favorites:

1. Scarecrow. Every year we take a pair of overalls and one of Matthew's shirts and stuff it with newspaper. Anna Cate really gets into this one and will often wiggle her little body completely into the legs to make sure they are adequately stuffed. We change the head construction a little each year. We are thinking of using a pillow case this year so she can paint it's face and add yarn hair.

2. Salt Dough Ghosts. We started these last year and even coaxed Matthew into creating a few. After shaping the dough into ghost shapes, we put them into the microwave and reshape them every 10 to 15 seconds. The microwave causes them to dwarf somewhat which really gives them an authentic "ghost" shape. We then add paper bag trees to complete our haunted forest.


3. Painting Pumpkins. In previous years, I have bought the mini pumpkins and let AC draw on faces with sharpie markers and add yarn hair. But, at the end of the season, we are both really sad when we have to throw them out. So this year, I bought the manufactured ones from Michael's. They are bigger and she will have room to paint the features with acrylic paints. I think it will be fun to keep them and watch to see how different she decorates them from year to year.(The picture is from last year)


4. Milk Jug Ghosts. These little ghosts are super easy but turn out really cute. We simply save milk jugs and when we have collected four or five, we cut out the backs, then with black markers, we add simple features on the front. Using the hole, we attach the ghosts to the lights that surround our pool. When it gets dark and the lights come on, it looks like little glowing ghosts throughout our back yard. (We have also placed candles in the holes, but AC is very afraid of fire, so the candles cause more grief than joy)

5. Anna Cate Skeleton. This craft is fun because we get to see how much Anna Cate has grown each year. First, we trace around her feet, hands and head. Then, I have her lay down to measure her legs and arms. She then cuts out her hands, head and feet and then draws her face on the head. While she is doing that, I use the measurements to make her arm and leg "bones" and then cut those. We then use brads to attach all the "bones" of her skeleton. Then she can dance around with it and compare it to previous years.

Anna Cate loves the different crafts we create each year and we both look forward to spending this time together. It really helps me to focus on the fun of the season (and not the heat) and it helps lengthen the excitement of this time of year for her. So, here's to a month of happy ghosts, laughing pumpkins and dancing skeletons.