Gosh Halloween has come and gone and now it's time for Thanksgiving and then Christmas. It's too bad there not spread out more!! I really dislike putting out Christmas decorations. What a chore!!! Last week Rachel was sick with the FLU. Yes the H1N1. It wasn't so bad. She was sick two days and then by Halloween she walked in the Race for the Cure and that night went trick or treating. A friend of Rachel's had a PARTY for the Cure. Instead of having a regular birthday party, the girls met in the parking lot and then walked the 5K together. She gave all the girls a pink hat and a sash to wear. It was very cute. After the walk, we met back at the cars and had cupcakes and a drink and it was OVER!! I love simple!!! For Halloween, Megan and her friend dressed as a Jelly Bean Bag. It was cute!! Definitely not easy to walk around in and I was surprised they kept it on as long as they did, but before the night was up, they had shed the bags and balloons and were back to wearing normal clothes. Rachel was a Zebra. As they get older the costume becomes less and less of a costume and more of something you'd wear maybe to a party. It's hard as a parent to tell your child "Honey-that doesn't really look like anything". For Megan, I had warned her before hand that her costume would be hard to walk around in but she insisted and luckily it all worked out. Independence has really set in at my house. Megan and her friend wanted to trick or treat alone. That was fine. We live in a safe neighborhood and there were plenty of other 5th graders walking around. Finally at 8pm, I got in my car and went looking for Megan. I told her two more houses and it's time to come in. She pleaded and said "How about 5 more houses". I then said "how about zero houses". They seemed to have worked!!