happy halloween

RATS!!!! I DONT KNOW HOW TO MAKE PICTURES BIG...AND ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!

trick or treat! the peanuts gang is a big part of our holidays, and halloween is NO exception!! my mom was always a peanuts fan...it was part of our growing up, and my boys LOVE LOVE charlie brown and the gang...


i think this is where dawson came up with the idea to be a ghost for halloween...much to my surprise :) i'm kind of a halloween scrooge - which i feel really bad about. how i got that way, i'll never know, cuz my mom is crazy-nuts about gettin all dressed up...must be i got my dad's love for halloween :)

so here is my dodger...in his ghost costume. he informed me he wanted to go as "normal" for halloween this year...he's not big for wearing a costume. but when grandma had an extra white sheet...and big brother was going to be a ghost, well.....

here is his kindergarten class...he's the guy in the front

this is dawson....in case you couldn't tell...hee hee

dawson's buddy cole

victoria & kaylee...it's so fun to see all the costumes!

the craft we did with the 2nd graders....part of my craziness this week was being room mom & getting stuff ready...painting 27 pumpkins was A LOT EASIER with spray paint...thanks dad.

mrs. van denend with dawson...she is the sweetest teacher...she has the patience of job, and is soooo good with the kiddos :)

this is a small sample of what my back yard looked like last week....everything was bright yellow...its as close to sunshine as we're going to get too...it has been such a wet & gloomy fall...but when i saw those colors out back, it made me thankful God would paint such a pretty picture...reminding me he wants to give us beauty to see, too.

an old pic of the boys that i love...dodge is 22 months and dawson is 4 yrs. old

good governor...what i wouldn't do for a scanner...this taking pictures of pictures is for the birds!

this is one of my very favorites...this is me, kirk, and my grandpa & grandma wood....they were also a little crazy about halloween...i loved going to their house to trick or treat. i cant explain it, but their house ooozed autumn coziness...their house was surrounded by big beautiful trees, the interior was every shade of brown with lots of wood and character, it always smelled yummy - cuz something was ALWAYS cooking, and there was always tons of giggles, hugs & kisses.

i always miss them tons this time of year, and i think thats probably why. even when i was in college, me and a girlfriend got dressed up and went to grandma & grandpa's to trick or treat!

i can still smell them, and feel their hugs...getting poked by grandpa's pocket protector full of pens & pencils (he was a tool & die guy)and his beard against my face...they've been gone over 15 years, now. they were only 40 years older than me - 61 yrs old when they passed away - the other day, i heard a song by brad paisely talking about going to heaven, and hugging his grandpa's neck...i started bawling. it's easy to miss them and hard to remember i need to be thankful...i have a lot of good memories of them, and parts of them will always trickle down through each generation. oh how i miss them, but i have JOY, because i know i will see them again someday :)

grandpa wood with by brother-sister kirk...sorry, kirk, i had to put this in! gracie mae looks JUST like you :)....and me, and my mom...i must be about 6 yrs old?

this is me at 2 years old...with a 75 lb. pumpkin from jay & von poortenga...had to include this shot, cuz of the charlie brown carved pumpkin...i think my mom has carved one every year!

happy halloween everyone....more trick or treat pics later?