We bought a pumpkin!
A bright orange 11 pound pumpkin is currently sitting in our kitchen waiting to be carved. Slightly odd for an Aussie/English mixed family considering Halloween isn't all that big here but who in their right mind could ignore a huge crate of 'Halloween' pumpkins that has recently taken up pride of place in the middle of your local grocery stores fruit and veg section?
We haven't decided exactly what face we'll give it yet but its just one of the additions we are making this year to help make the night of October 31st more enjoyable for the neighbourhood kids. Glowing 'eyes' in the bushes out front are another.
I made the decision earlier in the year that I wanted my kids to enjoy their childhood and enjoy learning about what they wanted to know about. I may not be able to give Miss 3 a white Christmas, yet, but we can celebrate Halloween despite the slack it gets down here for being 'an American holiday'. We always get kids trick or treating, and the shops always sell a tonne of Halloween decorations and as you read above now they are even selling pumpkins specifically for carving (I know, that's a lot of Halloween for a country overflowing with people complaining about it being an American holiday) so this year we are celebrating in style and giving the kids a new cultural experience...All prayers anyone wants to offer for a positive carving experience will be readily received.
Now while I'm speaking of earlier this year now would probably be the best time to divulge whether or not I managed to keep to my New Years resolutions.
Resolution 1: No more take out/fast food: This one although it hasn't lasted all year I am still pretty impressed with our effort. 2 months before we were out at lunch time one day with very hungry kids who wanted to be eating five minutes meant that we found the nearest drive through and ordered two happy meals. The husband and I lasted 3 months. We are once again a fast food eating family though we have cut back dramatically from what we were eating last year.
Resolution 2: The sculptured eyebrows. If anyone really truly cares about my eyebrows I'm sorry to disappoint but they are still as ugly as they were last year. I think its just me though because I have been trying. I decided not to get them done professionally and have been doing them myself but unless I willing to pay obscene dollars I think Hollywood looking eyebrows will always be just a dream for me.
Resolution 3: Softer heels. It may seem like a very odd thing to be discussing though I'm sure there are others, I'm hoping at least one, out there who know the feeling of having nightmare inducing heels. The cracked dry skin from wearing nothing but flipflops half the year due to the depressing heat? Well I'm happy to say that I have succeeded in this one almost 100%. The sad news is that they have only just started to stop looking vile and Summer will be upon us in only a few weeks. I am depressed already over how quickly I know they will revert back to their nightmare inducing state.
Resolution 4: Put more effort into saving. I think I knew at the time that it was a stupid resolution to make. No matter what as soon as we get a decent amount of money saved in the bank something ALWAYS comes up that requires us to spend it. Please tell me this happens to other people as well and it's not just some sort of bad luck we have going on? Needless to say we have not reached the amount I would have liked, nowhere near it in fact we are so far from what I want that i think it jumped aboard the star ship Enterprise and is off exploring the universe. We have however managed to get back to where we were pre the 'pyscho demon from hell' visit so I have that to be happy about.
As well as the four resolutions made at the beginning of this year I have also managed to keep to the previous years resolution of having Christmas sorted by October. I'm making a lot of gifts this year and although I haven't made them all yet I have bought the materials needed so resolution met in my mind. The kids are also sorted and I actually know what I want this year so we all in all we are doing pretty good.
I'm not sure what I'll decide to add to the resolution list for next year though with an almost 2 year old son who doesn't like to leave his pants I see toilet training in my near future so perhaps "do all you can to remain sane while toilet training a boy" may make the list.
We haven't decided exactly what face we'll give it yet but its just one of the additions we are making this year to help make the night of October 31st more enjoyable for the neighbourhood kids. Glowing 'eyes' in the bushes out front are another.
I made the decision earlier in the year that I wanted my kids to enjoy their childhood and enjoy learning about what they wanted to know about. I may not be able to give Miss 3 a white Christmas, yet, but we can celebrate Halloween despite the slack it gets down here for being 'an American holiday'. We always get kids trick or treating, and the shops always sell a tonne of Halloween decorations and as you read above now they are even selling pumpkins specifically for carving (I know, that's a lot of Halloween for a country overflowing with people complaining about it being an American holiday) so this year we are celebrating in style and giving the kids a new cultural experience...All prayers anyone wants to offer for a positive carving experience will be readily received.
Now while I'm speaking of earlier this year now would probably be the best time to divulge whether or not I managed to keep to my New Years resolutions.
Resolution 1: No more take out/fast food: This one although it hasn't lasted all year I am still pretty impressed with our effort. 2 months before we were out at lunch time one day with very hungry kids who wanted to be eating five minutes meant that we found the nearest drive through and ordered two happy meals. The husband and I lasted 3 months. We are once again a fast food eating family though we have cut back dramatically from what we were eating last year.
Resolution 2: The sculptured eyebrows. If anyone really truly cares about my eyebrows I'm sorry to disappoint but they are still as ugly as they were last year. I think its just me though because I have been trying. I decided not to get them done professionally and have been doing them myself but unless I willing to pay obscene dollars I think Hollywood looking eyebrows will always be just a dream for me.
Resolution 3: Softer heels. It may seem like a very odd thing to be discussing though I'm sure there are others, I'm hoping at least one, out there who know the feeling of having nightmare inducing heels. The cracked dry skin from wearing nothing but flipflops half the year due to the depressing heat? Well I'm happy to say that I have succeeded in this one almost 100%. The sad news is that they have only just started to stop looking vile and Summer will be upon us in only a few weeks. I am depressed already over how quickly I know they will revert back to their nightmare inducing state.
Resolution 4: Put more effort into saving. I think I knew at the time that it was a stupid resolution to make. No matter what as soon as we get a decent amount of money saved in the bank something ALWAYS comes up that requires us to spend it. Please tell me this happens to other people as well and it's not just some sort of bad luck we have going on? Needless to say we have not reached the amount I would have liked, nowhere near it in fact we are so far from what I want that i think it jumped aboard the star ship Enterprise and is off exploring the universe. We have however managed to get back to where we were pre the 'pyscho demon from hell' visit so I have that to be happy about.
As well as the four resolutions made at the beginning of this year I have also managed to keep to the previous years resolution of having Christmas sorted by October. I'm making a lot of gifts this year and although I haven't made them all yet I have bought the materials needed so resolution met in my mind. The kids are also sorted and I actually know what I want this year so we all in all we are doing pretty good.
I'm not sure what I'll decide to add to the resolution list for next year though with an almost 2 year old son who doesn't like to leave his pants I see toilet training in my near future so perhaps "do all you can to remain sane while toilet training a boy" may make the list.