The Power of the Darkside...

Saturday we had our Halloween parties... it's about time! I've been waiting FOREVER for it.
I was Lady Vader. That's right- LADY Vader. I bought a mask and wore a crushed velvet cape with a hood. The best part, however, was the light saber. Jeremy freaking MADE me a light saber. A real one. Or as close as you can absolutely get without being a real laser. And he made it pink for my costume. Normally, it's Darth Vader red. It makes the real sounds. It's the most amazing thing ever. I've been keeping it a secret for way to long. It's the coolest. Jeremy even made me a soundtrack complete with Lady Vader breathing and fight sequence music (the Darth Maul song). Man, we're nerds.
So here come all the pictures! We started off the night at Melissa and Greg's house. Lots of awesome food and awesome decorations! Then we went to Julie's house for her party- complete with lots of costumes and a fire pit for the cold evening. It was a blast.
I loved my costume. Truly. Jeremy and I made a grand entrance with a long fight scene. I choked him with the power of the Force. Loved it.
Be sure to also go to Chandle's blog and Leah's blog to see more great pictures!

We've wanted to do this ever since we were kids. For real. Dreams DO come true.
So Cameron's a reeeeeaaaal funny kid. He's been wanting to dress up as a killer clown to TERRIFY me for months and months now. He snuck up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I screamed bloody murder. Bloody.murder. Murdering clowns. It's SO not nice.

David and Judith= Fred and Wilma
Holly= Medusa... scary, but awesome.

Watch out for the cops, man. They'll get 'cha just as soon as look at you. Oh, wait, that's Ryan.

Chandle: Mr. Kool Aid, complete with pitcher of Kool Aid.

Leah: fits right in with our theme!

Blue: watch out, folks- here comes a Mountie.
Christy was a scary China doll. And yes, she was. Why is that people wanted to specifically scare ME this year?
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah!
Reunited and it feels so goooooood!

Fighting over Leia. I mean, Leah.

May the force be with you....
Luna was lookin' gorgeous in her tutu...
Aaaand Jaime was a starfish. How much do I love her??
Kelly was a witch and Julie was a peacock. It was a great evening!! Now I can't wait to dress up and pass out candy to the kiddies on Tuesday...

I've gone and done it.

Do I look nervous...? Cause I am!
Yowza!! There it goes!
Hooray, Emily! I love it!

It's Thriller Thursday!!

Remember how I said Jeremy and I went for a nice drive to the forest on Saturday? So we're driving along... la la la la la... when all of a sudden- we see something moving on road! So, of course, we stop and see what it is. And it's a huuuuge tarantula! And what do we do? Well, I stay far, far away because it's a devil spider, but Jeremy gets out a stick and pokes it and takes its picture.
And this is how he looks when he's angry. Which he was. Very, very angry.
Eeeeeeeeeewwwwww.... sick! What did you eat?? Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Last night Chandle came over to Jeremy's so we carved our baby pumpkins from ye old pumpkin patch and watched "The Omen" (the new one). Scroll down for some more faaaabulous pumpkin pics. And click here to watch the best video of all time... and the best dance sequence.

One big happy pumpkin-y family!
Here is Senor Jeremy's... He was in an accident. The plastic surgeon says he can fix it, and he should look the way he used to soon. But it's going to take time to heal. Lots of time...
My pumpkin... He looks like El Chupacabra! See? Creepshow!
Aaaand Miss Chandle's. It's Mr. Kool Aid! Ohhhhhh yeah!

Almost done...

The end of the volleyball season is quickly approaching, so I thought I'd post some pictures of me in action. As you can see from the first picture here, the parent who gave me these pictures has an awesome sense of humor. Yup, that's me. Ol' ball head.
Giving the girls a pep talk... Inspiring them to DOMINATE and crush the opponent.
And a fun action shot. I guess I always sit like that when I'm watching. I catch myself from time to time and I sit up and look a little more, ahem, lady-like. But I get too into it! And I need to lean forward so they can hear me... Right, right? Whoops.
So our last game is tomorrow night. And then the tournament starts on Sunday. Go Falcons! Yeehaw!

Funniest. Ever.

This is an actual drawing that one of Katie's students did. If you'll notice, the left side is "Me as a Jedi," and the right side is "Me as a kid." Please discuss. And laugh on this Tuesday.

Duh duh duh DUH, dum, dum dum! (Indiana Jones theme...)

No camera cord today... my bad! Weekend pics to come soon. I didn't do too much this weekend anyway, which was very nice- I got to get a lot of stuff done! Saturday, I bought new glasses after getting an updated prescription (thank goodness!). That afternoon, Jeremy and I drove out highway 10 (and 9) and explored the national forest there. It was beautiful with all the fall colors that are suddenly appearing! Sunday-- cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and made an awesome squash casserole for dinner. Nice, productive weekend!
Are you wondering about ol' Indie here? I have officially planned my first school field trip! I am taking my G/T kids up to Parkin, Arkansas, to visit the Parkin Archaeological State Park, where we will get to see an excavated Native American village, do an artifact scavenger hunt, and learn about weapons and story-telling. I am super, super pumped. It's going to take about 2 hours to get there, and we'll spend all day there the Thursday before Thanksgiving. Hooray!! Way to go, me.

Feliz Cumpleanos!

A very happy birthday to Missa Faye today!! This is one of my favorite pictures of us... And now I would like to share two of my favorite memories of my wonderful sister in the form of an e-mail I sent to her long ago (in college, the days of yore):
Hey Mis-
Just thought I should share my lunch table conversation with you from
today.... We were talking about falling stories-- like either where we fell
or saw someone fall... and I just busted out laughing. I proceeded to tell them about that fat kid at Six Flags or Silver Dollar City who slipped on the misty-cooling-off-sprinkler-water on the pavement. I told them how he sort of remained in mid-air about to fall like in a cartoon and saying, "Whoooaaa....!" and flailing his arms. Then I told them how his legs flipped out from under him and he fell flat, causing his glasses to flyyyyy through the air. And how we laughed. We laughed so hard we had to hide around the corner because his family was so concerned about him. But we thought it was the funniest thing ever, and I still do.
Then I told them about the time my wonderful sister decided it would be a good idea to JUMP at the bottom of the stairs near the playroom, only to remember she's tall because she smacked her head on the door frame. Then her legs flew out from under her, and she had a nice smack mark on her head. It probably only hurt after you stopped laughing at yourself, and after Robin and I were done laughing.... which I still kind of am.
Ohhh man, how I love my sister.... Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you. Love you, sis. Talk to you soon. Hee, hee. -Elizabeth

...Weekend update below! 

Hmmm...

What happens when nature gets ahold of a pumpkin you so tenderly carved with love?
And then gasoline gets ahold of it...? What do you do then?? 

You go to the pumpkin patch and pick out new ones! Notice "ones", plural. Virginia was in town, so we hit up Ferndale and scoured the land for some beautiful gourds.
V doesn't mess around when pumpkin huntin'. She went straight for the 35-pounder. The picture just doesn't do it justice.
This one helps you get a slightly better idea. That's a small child in pumpkin form.
With their pumpkin booty...! Jeremy and I picked out the one on the left in the wagon. It's beauuuutiful. Yellow with little flecks of orange. Can't wait to carve it up! But, must wait... don't want it to meet the same fate as our last one. 

On our way out of the pumpkin patch, we saw this stroke of genius. Creepy? YES. Awesome? Most definitely.  

Fantastico.

The Arkansas State Fair is in town, folks. Click here to visit the website and see all the fun that can be had! So you know what this means:
1. Carnies are in town. Lots of them. Toothless carnies, carnies on drugs, carnies not paying attention and doing their job right. When I was little, a carnie shut my hand in one of the locks on a ride. SHUT IT on my hand. My hand was stuck. My sister had to frantically flag down said carnie to release me before the ride started and more damage was done to my hand. I stupidly signed a form that said I wouldn't sue. Dang it.
2. The rodeo... Well it's bulls and blood, it's dust and mud, it's the roar of a Sunday crowd. It's the white in his knuckles, the gold in the buckle, he'll win the next go 'round... Rodeo=drunk rednecks... something not to be missed.
3. Gross but awesome food. Guaranteed to increase your caloric intake 15-fold AND make you barf.
4. The Gravitron- I used to think this was the coolest ride ever. LOOK! I can't move my arms! Gravity is awesome (as your face is being pulled back)!
5. The Pirate Ship- my sister was at the fair with a friend and on this ride. Someone yacked... yup- barf in the face for all on board.
6. Guaranteed to see Arkansas' finest. In leather.
7. Circus freaks are people too, ya'll. PS, don't pay to see the great white sharks. They're dead and on slabs in a cooler. Another $5 wasted!
8. My dad used to load me and all my friends in his OLDSmobile and take us to the fair. All 10 of us would cram in there. Can you smell the funnelcake yet?
9. The Hall of Industry! Those ducks that jump down their little slide are the cutest! They're having so much fun!
10. You get to make fun of your friends that won't ride on the "scary" rides with you because you're cooler than they are. And the part of your brain that tells you that those rides are DANGEROUS and portable is not functioning.

Let's go.