A hidey hole

There is a cabinet in our living room that Lea has hidden in since she
was able to walk. We keep toys there, but occasionally the toys are
tossed out and she curls up and closes the door. Seems pretty normal
for a kiddo. There is a familialy famous photo of me hanging out in a
large drawer.
What surprised me about the use of the hidey hole was how it was her
safe haven. Over Thanksgiving we were watching a movie "Secret of the
Kells" (suggested by a magazine, but not recommended by me - NOT FOR
LITTLE KIDS! but some cool animation. The snow flakes were little
celtic crosses... but I digress) ... so here came the scary part.
Large scary red Viking monsters came to over take and burn down the
walled abbey (there was no redeeming happy ending, most the people
burned and died... again NOT for kiddos). Lea leaped off the cozy spot
on the couch next to me and went and started flinging things out of
her hidey hole. She had trouble getting it closed and I felt urgency
as if the big red monsters were coming for us. I helped her close it
and she tucked herself safely inside until we told her the scary part
was over.
It was very cute and sweet and reminded me amidst all the mature
things she does, she is after all just five. I'm glad she has a safe
hidey hole just for her.

Halloween Recap

Well so much for unbogging the blog. Here it is December and I'm finally posting halloween photos.
So here's the quick rundown of how Halloween went for us (I think the photos tell most of the story anyway).

Lea decided to be Rosetta the flower fairy and we got her costume done early in October so that she could wear it to "Lea's night out" at Gymnastics. Unfortunately something she ate or a flu bug caused her to throw up less than an hour into the evening so she came home early. But she recovered quickly and the rest of Halloween went very well.

Mommy and Daddy had fun dressing up for Michael's party. Mommy was Tinkerbell and Daddy was Homer, though since the bald cap wouldn't stick to his sweaty head it was more like the FBI's bad replacement Homer when the Simpsons went into witness protection.

The week before Halloween Lea's school had a Character Parade. They could dress in costume as a character from a book. They were supposed to carry the book around, but Lea lost hers from the van to the locker. She didn't get in trouble. There were some very cute costumes on both the kids and the teachers.

Character Parade at Lea's school.

Lea and her friends the cat and one of many princesses

The kitty reads her book

They paraded through the school and then through the auditorium where parents were gathered, but it was hard to see and photograph so I snuck in the gym where they were lined up to go back to class.

Halloween weekend was also our nine year wedding anniversary. Unfortuantely Lea's tummy bug (nicknamed the Kindergarden Krud) hit Mommy hard and we spent our romantic weekend with me huddled on the couch with a 102 fever. But we watched a lot of movies. 

Grandma took Lea for the weekend and they weekend so at least Lea wasn't bored by sick mommy. Grandma's church had a Trunk or Treat where they decorated their cars and gave out candy in the parking lot. Lea and Grandma decorated Grandma's van. Grandma dressed Lea up like a cat for the evening and they had a wonderful time. Except Lea ate so much candy she actually told Grandma "I don't ever want to eat candy again." Then in the morning as she was grabbing a piece of candy she said "I didn't really mean what I said last night." 

Finally for actual Halloween everyone was feeling well. I dressed as Tinkerbell and Lea Roesetta the flower fairy. Our first Trick or Treat stop was Grandpa Dan's house.

Then off to Richardson with the Brown and Harris families. We've Trick or Treated with them since Lea was born. Its been great to watch the girls grow together. We've gone from strollers going house to house, to coaxing them to the door and finally running off and leaving us in a their wadded wrapper wake. They kept up with the big kids for about a block and then we had to rein them in. Here is the initial rush to the first house.

Lea might actually be about to take off her with her wings.

Then we slowed to a more steady pace.

 
Our two red heads check their buckets.

At the end of about 3 blocks we made our way to their church where we loaded up at their trunk or treat. There were some great car decorations.

Taking a break to have one treat.

Tink & Minnie Mommies

One of the cars decked out in Dalmation fun. Even the car had spots.

The Brownie candyland car.

Then back to the house to feast. We just dumped the candy out and let the girls have their fill. Lea did not learn her lesson from Grandma's. She ate candy until she was sick again. I know, I know, that's what parents are for to save her from her self. We'll do better next year!

Our haul was better than any year past. It was a gigantic pile of candy!

And ooh so yummy!