Nelson Family Blog: Halloween into November

Another Halloween has come and gone. We had another good one. This year, Emma decided she wanted to Trick-or-treat with her friend, Lily. It was kind of sad to be kicked to the curb for a friend, but Emma had so much friend going around with some friends, and I'm really happy for her. She went home with Lily after school, and then John drove over at around 7:00pm to pick her up and bring her back home. She made quite a haul with candy, and she had a blast.

Elliott was a little sad to have to stay home and trick or treat with mom and dad, but he had a good time. We were blessed with beautiful weather. It was in the 60s when we started trick or treating, which is totally unheard of. Jim and Barb came to our house around 5:00 pm, and they brought some taco soup and chips and salsa. Then, they watched the house while John, Elliott, and I went around the neighborhood.

Elliott had a lot of good luck trick or treating, and we got more than enough candy. Elliott dressed up like a ninja this year, and then Emma dressed up as a witch. Eventually, when Emma made it back home again, we went around the neighborhood with her as well. We had a good time, and the weather was great.

Katie also stopped by for some taco soup and to enjoy some Halloween festivities. Eventually, the kids were done trick or treating, and then they had fun handing out candy for a while.

The rest of the week passed by with homework, basketball practice, and the usual. This past weekend was crazy busy. On Friday evening, we went to Fall Fest at church. It was fun. We had the chili cook off, ate some cupcakes, and then bid on some baskets for the silent auction. We donated a basket, made some cupcakes and brought a chili for the event. Jim and Barb and Katie all came as well, and we all enjoyed ourselves. The kids especially liked running around with their friends and playing with their friends.

On Saturday, we brought the kids to a BB gun safety class. Elliott really enjoyed it. We learned some basic gun safety, and then the kids even got to shoot at the end. Elliott did pretty well, and soaked it all up. Emma didn't really care for it, but I was glad she learned some basic gun safety.

After that long morning, we enjoyed just chilling at home and relaxing. In the evening, Emma and I went to a concert at the Denny. We saw Anne Wilson, Cain, and Casting Crowns. We had a really good time and we loved it. Emma even got Anne Wilson's autograph, which she thought was amazing. We danced, we sang, and we enjoyed the concert until 10:30pm. Emma was super tired by the end of it, and I put a very tired, very happy girl to bed that night. (John and Elliott enjoyed a Walmart trip and a movie night, so they were okay).

On Sunday, we had church, and then a new member potluck. After all that, we hustled to Parker for a 4-H awards program. Our club served drinks and helped set up for it. It was a pretty boring program, but we survived. After that, we went to Jim and Barb's house to re-upholster our kitchen chairs (which turned our pretty nice actually). We ate some supper at Pizza Ranch, and then we finally went home. Whew, what a weekend.

This week has been fairly busy. Emma had her first basketball game with her YMCA team on Tuesday evening. She did amazing. She scored 6 points, hustled her little butt off, and had a lot of fun. It's really fun to watch her continue to improve. Now, we just have to get her to stop asking her coach to take her out when she gets tired. Emma's team ended up winning 38-10. They had a lot of fun.

Yesterday, we had choir after work, and then we had a mini basketball practice with Emma and Elliott. It was fun to work on some fundamentals and play together.

Today, I got called to come pick Emma up from school because she wasn't feeling very well. So, I brought her home around 11:30 am and she slept for a while. After some Tylenol and rest, she's doing better. She's watched some TV, ate some toast, and I even made her do a tiny bit of homework, so hopefully we are headed in the right direction.

This weekend is actually pretty quiet for once. We have plans to put up with Christmas Tree (yay!!) and watch some movies with popcorn. We also have some Elliott birthday party planning to do, which he is super excited about. Basically, we are taking it easy (and hopefully getting the kids over their sicknesses). I have spent the day taking care of Emma and cleaning the house. It's been a nice catch up day, even though I feel a little bad about having to leave work early.