Costume Time

What costumes are your kids mulling over for Halloween? Who's already got the glue gun, sewing machine, and velcro on the ready? We've got a Cinderella, ninja, goth rag doll, and Katniss Everdeen in the works @ our house :) Large pumpkins at the pig $1.98 w/ card btw :)

- Lisa

Junie to the Rescue!

Junie has announced that she wants to be a Rescue Hero for Halloween. She is also convinced that the wildfires in Colorado would be put out if they would only call the Rescue Heroes for help.

Lisa Composes a Poem

For Halloween, Lisa had to compose a nursery rhyme for Junie to take to school to accompany her (award winning) unicorn costume. Here it is: There once a unicorn named Uni/She was cute as can be, but puny/Wherever she went, she galloped so slow/her friends laughed and called her looney

Junie wins the costume contest!

We had a great time at the STAA Halloween Hoopla. Junie even won the costume contest in her age bracket for her "Uni the Unicorn" outfit!

Haunted Hayride and Zombie TV

Home from Eric's. Once his wife came home it was kibosh on MLB night. Lisa and the kids are in the Dells with a friend (enjoying a haunted hayride, I'm told) so I Redbox'ed "The Walking Dead, The Complete First Season" and plan to knock that off tonight.

Election news, some random pics, and other malarkey

Nov 1st

Yest was a long day. I took Lu to church to sell candy w/ her Brownie troop (my rare contribution to her Scouting; Lisa's one of the leaders), then went off to work before returning at halftime of the Sunday Night Football game. Meanwhile Lis took the kids trick or treating again (Milwaukee has different times than Bay View) and ran the show at home. Another long one ahead of us today . .

I've finished "Worth Dying For" the latest Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child. 'twas a time, a few yrs ago, when I thought the series was going to hell, and quickly, but he's turned it around BIG time with the last 3 bks. Very enjoyable. Book geeks - who'd win a three way fight: Reacher, Joe Pike, or Spenser?

Some random phone pics:









Except in cases where the obvious exceptions apply (illness, travel, deployment, handicap) absentee voting is absolute BUNK. Getting off your butt & showing up at the polls is a sign to the world of how much you value YOUR voice being heard. It's also a great way to teach kids the same lesson. If you reduce the act to something akin to filling out a sweepstakes form or voting for A. Idol, all the more shame on you.

Nov 2nd - General Election Day

[re Disney star Demi Lovato dropping out of a tour to receive treatment for mental illness] Save the snark. I wish her well.

The Brewers have hired virtual unknown Ron Roenicke as their new manager. Roenicke was the bench coach of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. There are rumors that he got the job only after $ caused talks with Bobby Valentine to break off, but the club denies that they wanted anyone else. True or not, best of luck to him.



Drudge is calling the WI Senate race for Johnson, but I'm loathe to rely on exit polling with voting still open. We'll have to wait and see.

Family night in progress: pizza and garlic bread, followed by homework and a rental of Toy Story 3. YaYa and LuLu are even getting along, chit chatting, helping each other with chores and homework and standing up for one another. That last bit just isn't right. The world seems somehow . . . off.

Obama: Agenda 'all at risk' if GOP wins today. Let's hope so.

‎{Fair Warning: Gonna be a lot of political posts tonight. If it isn't your thing, feel free to scroll on by.} "Tea Party Scores Multiple Victories, ABC News Projects Rand Paul Win in Ky. Senate Race"

‎*Fair Warning: Gonna be a lot of political posts tonight. If it isn't your thing, feel free to scroll on by.* Dan Coats won Evan Bayh's seat in Indiana, marking the first Senate gain for the GOP today; also, as reported below controversial Rand Paul (R) will win in Kentucky.

CNN.com is now reporting that the House is in GOP hands . . .

Nov 3rd

Ah, happy day, happy day! Here in WI we put Scott Walker in the Governor's chair & knocked Feingold on his keister. Nationally the GOP picks up at least *60* seats and control of the House, the largest gain since 1948. The only downer was the local defeat of two folks I know. November 2nd 2010 = a great bleepin' day.

In non election news, Toy Story 3 was great, if a wee dark for the younger kids. Kudos to Pixar for crafting a fine trilogy. Later Lis and I watched the Swedish film "The Girl Who Played With Fire". Bleh. It was so slow we didn't even watch it clean through. Weird - the bk was better than the over-hyped Dragon Tatoo, but the movie version of that blew this sequel away.

Your likely Speaker of the House, John Boehner of Ohio.

One last political blurb (for the time being). I notice, coming off a trouncing, Dems, including Harry Reid, are big on saying "we must work together". I'm not against the notion, but uh, where was that crap when your Prez was telling Republicans to "sit in the back of the bus" and to "shut up"? How hypocritical to ask for courtesy when you were willing to offer none when YOU had the power.

[failed Gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett states he'll run for re-election as Mayor of Milwaukee] This one doesn't count. It's local. :) Yeah, he's an allright Joe, but I think Barrett has done little more than tread water and raise my property taxes as mayor. I just don't know anyone (better) who is interested in running right now, so he may get a bunch of votes by default.

Nov 4th

I just finished 'Splice' , a horror film about a genetically engineered humanoid. It wasn't terrifying, but it was intelligent & raised some valid concerns about that line of research. It also featured the oddest sex scene I've ever seen in a mainstream film. BTW, I found the female researcher morally repugnant, start to finish. In another life she would have been sewing kids together in a concentration camp.

[a follow up to Lovato] Again, save the snark. She seems like a very nice, talented young woman and my kids like her. According to her parents, she suffers from both eating disorders and a history of cutting. My prayers are with her.

Yesterdayt

Yesterday was a long day. I took Lu to church to sell candy w/ her Brownie troop (my rare contribution to her Scouting; Lisa's one of the leaders), then went off to work before returning at halftime of the SNF game. Meanwhile Lis took the kids trick or treating again (Milwaukee has different times than Bay View) and ran the show at home. Another long one ahead of us today . . .

Halloween Fittings

Fitting for Yaya's Fallen Angel costume

A test run of Ginger's Halloween costume

Pumpkin Carving

Well, since they're rotting on my porch as we speak, I reckon it's about time to post pictures of our pumpkin carving, circa 2009. Note our lovely, original-to-the-house 1892 farm sink in the first photo.









The best part of this business are the seeds of course, and Lisa has perfected the preparation process. Something about salting the water before boiling, I think . . .









Smiley's pumpkin . . .





Here's YaYa's Club Penguin entry . . .





And LuLu's moon and stars . . .

The Great Pope/Halloween Hoax of 2009

Note: Religious and Cultural Commentary

I couldn't possibly imagine, just a few days ago, writing a serious commentary about the Halloween holiday. It is what it is, is it not? Kids dressing up in tacky costumes, begging candy from their neighbors while adults decorate their house like carnival scare houses.

But Friday there was quite the barrage of misleading, anti-Catholic articles that hit the front (online) pages of major news services. All reported on an alleged announcement from the Vatican that Halloween was evil and to be avoided.

USA Today: Vatican warns parents that Halloween is 'anti-Christian'

UK Telegraph: Vatican condemns Halloween as 'anti-Christian'

Daily Mail: Halloween is 'dangerous' says the Pope as he slams 'anti-Christian' festival

London Times: Hallowe’en is the devil’s work, Catholic church warns parents

Each of these articles is followed by public comments that are clearly anti-Catholic, although as I follow the links again much of the early, bigoted rhetoric seems to have been removed or pushed aside.

So are the reports true? In shorthand: Bull - and not the papal kind either.

First of all, the Pope has diddly-squat to do with the issue, and including his title in the headline would appear to be a cheap stab at generating hits (and so it did).

Second, the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano may or may not have a stand on the issue, but in fact, as noted FOUR paragraphs into the Telegraph story, it was actually an article discussing European opposition to the American holiday. It was not a grand and official announcement of anything.

Specifically, the article quoted a Spanish priest; not a Bishop, as reported, but a priest present at a conference of Bishops. Disturbed by the new popularity of an American custom, he offered the opinion that if such a holiday was to be honored it should be done as an affirmation of life rather than a celebration of death. Good luck pulling that off, but hey, he has the right to dream.

So, to summarize: a priest in Spain talks to a reporter about his opposition to an American custom crossing the pond. The Vatican's newspaper quotes him in an article about European opposition to Halloween (which, lets face it, is probably a cultural objection, ala Euro Disney). This is then reported by English newspapers as an official Vatican announcement. It is embellished to get as much value out of anti-Catholic feeling as possible, which is when American papers catch the scent of blood and latch on.

Think I'm exaggerating? Then check out the opening paragraphs of the Daily Mail's wonderfully even keel report:

When Victoria Romero, 6, dressed up as a witch for a Hallowe’en party this week she could hardly have imagined that she was provoking the wrath of God by attending a celebration akin to a Black Mass — at least in the eyes of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church in Spain.

Wearing skeleton suits, dressing up as vampires, witches or goblins or slapping on fake blood is not far removed from communing with the Devil, according to the country’s bishops.

However, the bishops, with Vatican backing, have reserved their venom for the millions of parents who allowed their children to celebrate this “pagan” festival.

For the record, I'm Catholic, and decently serious about it. Yet in 35 years of Catholic school, church, youth groups, PTA, Scouting, etc, I've never once heard of an official Catholic objection to Halloween. Even if you want to argue it promotes the occult, I'd counter by saying it marginalizes and weakens it, doing to that belief what Santa does to Christmas.

It is quite possible that from a distance, European eyes see the practice as a morbid and decadent holiday. It is possible the Vatican will, someday, make an official announcement about the practice. I can't speak for what it will say - but I'm pretty sure it won't come via a Spanish priest quoted secondhand in a British newspaper.

It is stunning to discover that 49 years after JFK lost votes because of his religion, and half a millennium after Luther, institutional anti-Catholic bias is still entrenched. Disgusting - would Judaism or Islam be treated the same in the press, or would there be a damning outcry?


h/t The Catholic Key Blog

Happy Halloween!

Good spooking and safe trick or treating to all!

Many posts about this holiday will follow in the weeks to come, but for now I thought I'd write about the snack Lisa made for each of the kids classrooms (and the Daisy Scouts meeting too!). Just in case you need a last minute treat, this is simple, quick, and relatively cheap (~$13 for fifty or so handmade ghosts)

Just take some Nutter-Butters cookies, dip them in white chocolate, and add mini-chocolate chips for eyes. Oila! Cookie Ghosts.



On the first go-round the store was out of Nutter-Butters, so we substituted a different cookie (seen in these pictures). I'd say it didn't hold the chocolate half as well as the NB, nor look (or taste!) as appealing, but you get the drift. Either way, the kids loved them.



Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat - October 25th 2008

Trick or treat in my neighborhood fell on my 12th Wedding anniversary this year, which I admit annoyed me at first. Those emotions quickly retreated once we hit the annual trick-or-treat trail.










Along for the ride: my four, Lisa, our friend Chris and her three kids, along with their father, and my sister C and my niece.









Nighttime trick or treat is *not* the norm in Milwaukee, but it is allowed in my neighborhood. It's still new enough to me that the novelty hasn't worn off. It's a whole different atmosphere than daytime trick-or-treat, although it has its drawbacks too - grumpy little kids out past their bedtime, increased danger from passing cars, and, of course, Ghouls



Here's some pics of the walk:





Smiley loved his outfit btw, choosing it over an assortment of options. It was hard to find in his size, so I'm glad his affection for it didn't wear off.

















Note: this isn't me in this pic. It's another bearded overweight guy in a green pullover. Seriously.



















Along the way we ran into a school friend of LuLu's



The temperature dropped at the same time the sun did, but we made do:







This past Friday their school held their annual Halloween Social, which we'd intended to become an anual tradition. Unfortunately Lu was sticken with a fever and couldn't go, so Lisa, YaYa, and my niece KayKay went by themselves:





Happy (belated) Halloween!