Trick or Treat night

Wow! God has blessed us with the best weather to trick or treat in than I can remember. (Oh and I have about 4 yrs of knowledge on that!)

Anyway, Adele wore her Cat costume and the hunt was on. Paul went with us for the first half hour then went to church band practice. Adele was so excited because so many people loved her cat costume as well as her spider bucket!

She was even reciting several jokes that neighbors had not heard. BTW - In Des Moines, you have to tell a joke to get candy. I do like that the kids Trick or Treat the day before Halloween. I think it is just a safer day to have it.

Here are her 3 favorite jokes she told: "Why do witches fly on broomsticks. . . Because vacuums are too heavy" "What is the favorite holiday of vampires. . . Fangsgiving" "What do witches put in their hair. . . Scare Spray"

When we got home, I really wanted her to take a bath but she wanted to sort candy. Mommy acquiesced and we sorted. After she was in bed and Paul got home, I explained that I didn't give her the bath that I intended. He said, "I always had to sort when I got home!" So I guess I made a good decision after all: A dirty kid is a happy kid! Just kidding!

The rule of the night:

Adele: "My feet are so tired"

Sandy: "Yes, it takes a lot of work to earn the rewards."

God and Jesus are our rewards. Sometimes it takes a lot to act like a Christian even if you don't feel like it or have a bad day but the rewards are definately worth it!

Raccoon Valley volunteering at Petco

Adele and I manned a snack and pop shack for Raccoon Valley Animal Rescue and Sanctuary at Petco in the Jordan Creek Shopping Center. We had a wonderful time. The photographer said Adele was a natural poser.
I kissed and hugged so many dogs! I think my husband is thankful that I got my "dog fix" in.
We fell in love with one in particular. He came costumed in a kissing booth - so big and beautiful. His owner was there and now she is signed on to volunteer also! They are going to do a kissing booth for Valentines Day there! I am so excited to get to know her. We clicked right away. I can't wait to tell her about our church!

The directors were so impressed with Adele and how much money she raised. Seriously, you can't say no to a child who is selling candy and pop can you? They want to sign us up whenever. I am not sure when our next event is going to be but they already are asking her to dress up as an elf for Santa pictures with pets!

Halloween/Fall Cookies

Adele wanted to make sugar cookie cutouts with sprinkles tonight so that is what we did! We had girls night while Daddy worked late at the store. The cookies are Fall and Halloween shapes with LOADS of sprinkles. She is one great decorator!

Adele: I love making cookies. When I have a little girl I am going to teach her how to bake cookies.

Me: I love baking with you too!

Adele: The only thing that would be better is if Daddy was here. He would be on the couch relaxing and watching TV while we are baking cookies!

Love it! (I wanted to laugh because that is so true!) Out of the mouths of babes!

Helping Out

So Sorry - there are not any pictures involved with this blog.

It is so funny how God works in mysterious ways. I was on the road to Muscatine IA and I needed to fuel my car so I exited off Merle Hay (lots of homeless people take cover under the bridges here).

I had packed my lunch for the road but ate a small bit so I had some food leftover. There was a sign with 2 people and a dog. It said, "We need food" I had leftovers from my lunch: an applesauce cup, fruit juice box, nut roll, and chips. I rolled down my window and said, "May God Bless you."

I truly hope that God blesses them as I have thought of them over the last couple of days.

What crazy timing - because P. Josh this week has a new sermon series called "The House" He is talking about how we can bless the homeless. It is not how they got where they are but how we can make an impact in their lives. Please check his sermon on this website. http://www.jordancreek.org/ Click on Itunes and you will learn more.

Plus you don't have to pay anything for this amazing and free download!

Dinner with Dino

So last night, we helped out our best friends, Suzanne and Andy Popson with a money raiser for their Unitarian Church. http://www.ucdsm.org/

They have a great money raiser in which families host dinner parties (all food in which the host couple personally buys). Other Church members sign up and pay $45/head to attend.

The theme of their dinner party was Italian food (including Dean Martin's favorite dish Pasta Fagole) which my friend makes amazingly well from her Gma's recipe. Their was an amazing group of eclectic couples which attended and we all had wonderful conversations.

Dean Martin's variety show played all night long and included an amazing feast of food which I would need a separate blog page to describe plus the pallet of food junkies to describe. Pictures with life size Dean Martin cutout and a disc of his music were sent home as party favors with everyone in attendance.

Paul and I went to help out - by refilling wine glasses and making sure everyone was attended to what they needed - while the delightful host couple was (hopefully) then more at ease by being with their guests.

We had a ball! Well the Belle of the ball was obvious - the elegantly dressed of the host couple - but I have to comment that my handsome husband wore some amazing pastel pink pants with a wonderful pink/brown paisly shirt! It was a wonderful evening with wonderful guests and I believe everyone had a smashing time.

Kudos to the Popsons how you pulled off a wonderful event and gave me ideas for church fundraisers for Jordan Creek Family Church!!! http://www.jordancreek.org/

13 yrs married and we celebrated with Frost/Nixon!

Paul and I were married 13 yrs. ago on Sept 23, 1995. Wow! We are excited for the next several yrs together.

We didn't celebrate that day due to each other's Managers in town visiting our stores. But we did celebrate later with a fabulous show at the Des Moines Civic Center. http://www.civiccenter.org/

We have season tickets and went to our first show. We saw Frost/Nixon. What a remarkable performance from Stacey Keech as well as the others. We have 3 but needless to say that we left Adele home that night.

The other shows we are excited to see as a family are Hairspray (exchanged it out), Legally Blond, The Color Purple, and the most awaited. . .WICKED.

It was so cute when I asked what she wanted to exchange for Summer Awakening for. I read several choices and we hadn't discussed it for several weeks. I decided at the last minute to do Hairspray over Mama Mia.

Yesterday I received the tickets in the mail and told Adele what I exchanged them for. In Adele's words, "Mama, I am so excited you picked Hairspray over Mama Mia. That is what I was really hoping for."

Announcing "Adele your Mom is here"

Okay - So I pick Adele up at DMCS care program. I walk past the cutest boy washing his hands and he looks at me and says, "Are you with Adele?" I said, "Yes, I am Adele's Mom." And then he says wait for me I want to announce you. (BTW - when you pick the kids up it must be a privilege to identify their parents before anyone else can).

He opens the door to the playground and yells "AAAADDDEEELLLEE Your MOOOOOMMMMM is here. AAAAADDDEEELLEEEE" and keeps repeating until someone hears or recognizes that he has "made his announcement"

The teachers (new) look at me and say which kid is yours - to which I calmly reply Adele!

How cute and sweet that children of God want to associate parents and children. God - Please help me empower these recognition skills when I am on name tag duty at Church! :-)