countdown to Halloween

Just a few more days before the big day!  McKenzie has been asked about halloween for months.  Not sure why...but she has been talking about it non-stop.  "Is it Halloween?" she'd ask.  "No McKenzie", "Halloween is in October".  "Oh, okay".  "Why?"  

get the picture...

The other day...while the girls and I should have been home resting due to upper-respiratory type colds...

we allowed Aunt Lisa to talk us into a few "Halloween visits".

*****

First we stopped out to Grandma Lee's work @ Boystown.  It would be an understatement to say that her office "went all out" for Halloween this year.  They have been decorating their areas for over a week, very funny & super creative!   :-)

 we posed for a quick pic outside, it was a GORGEOUS day!

 As you can see, Grandma Lee was very excited to have her grand-kiddos pay her a visit in their halloween costumes  :-)

 haha, funny  :-)

****

Next we ventured out to Vets Home where Grandpa Salisbury is living...we thought, of course, he'd enjoy seeing some of his great grand-babies all dressed up!  He was asleep when we got their, but did not mind the mid-nap interruption.  :-)

 Holding sweet Kitty-cat Macy - getting reacquainted...it has been a couple months since we have last paid him a visit.

 Even though he could not be at the Buddy Walk, Macy still thought it was important for him to have his own "Movin' with Macy" shirt.  I agreed  :-)

 We had a very nice visit - he was smiley and cheerful the entire time we were there...we definitely need to make it a point to get out to visit him more often.  It makes me sad to think about how lonely he must get at times.  :-(

****

Aunt Shelly took this pic of Kenzie.  It was the Pre-school Halloween Party!  She's a "fruity-licious CANDY-CORN".  Joe and I were in Vegas and had to miss out...so Thanks Shelly for going through the motions and GETTING HER THERE!  You rock!  :-)

It's supposed to be fun right?  well, as you can see, Kenzie is not exactly excited about being dropped off in her classroom...she probably was begging Aunt Shelly not to go.  :-(  

She's been doing this a lot lately.  She CRIES before school, acts all SHY before playgroups, WHINES before gymnastics, is CLINGY when I take her to my Volleyball games.  REFUSES to take naps upstairs in her bedroom.  TWISTS & TURNS when I try to brush her hair.  THROWS herself to the ground when she does not get her way.  uggh.  Really?  What is your problem kid?  oh yeah, you're 3.  Well SNAP OUT OF IT ALREADY!  Soon enough, soon enough.  

In the mean time, Joe and I are just trying to stay strong.  We know that there is no ONE way to handle any given scenerio, but we try to be as consistent with how we handle her.  She is, afterall,  just testing us.

During these "toddler temper tantrum" moments I try to tell myself, we are not alone, surely all kids go through this phase.  right?  And remind myself that they do eventually grow out of it...I often think of and connect with the Trace Adkins Song "You're Gonna Miss This"...try to take his lyrics to heart, because I'm sure he's right...but it's so HARD sometimes!  :-(

You're Gonna Miss This music video

This is the verse that really gets me!

Five years later there's a plumber workin' on the water heater
Dog's barkin', phone's ringin'
One kid's cryin', one kid's screamin'
She keeps apologizin'
He says they don't bother me
I've got 2 babies of my own
One's 36, one's 23
Huh, it's hard to believe

But you're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this
You're gonna miss this
Yeah, you're gonna miss this

****