Costumes, rain, and other weekend doings.

So to update you on the praying mantis situation, no it did not escape in the house. It escaped back into the yard where it belonged, with a little help from yours truly, while no one else was home.

It had to be done.

Interestingly enough, not a single child has noticed it's disappearance yet and it's been two and a half days.

And that's why I know what I'm doing around here.

In other news, the rain has finally come to our part of the Northwest, a lot of it, (the forecast for today was, and I quote: "a.m. showers and then rain". Ha!), and we enjoyed a weekend of watching football and the BBC's Sherlock in front of the fire while eating homemade chicken and dumpling soup and berry crisp. Well that was the fun part of the weekend at least.

There was also firewood cutting, sweeping wet leaves off my wood floors twenty times a day because we have 42 billion on our lawn right now and no one in my family seems to notice that they're bringing half of them inside every time they enter (we even managed to track a couple into church yesterday morning!), and the painful two hours I spent directing my children while helping them (read: making them) clean sweep their rooms because all of a sudden I just couldn't stand it anymore.

Does yucky weather do that to anybody else?

Anyway. The BEST part of the weekend was helping Kendall and her friend Hannah get ready for a costume birthday party they were invited to on Saturday night. I think I had even more fun than they did... I mean, c'mon, I got to do hair AND makeup!

The look they were aiming for was Pippi Longstockings and "80's punk girl". As interpreted by two 11 year olds.

(The girls colored their hair with wet chalk pastels. Very messy to apply but also very temporary... a key point.)

I can tell you that there is nothing in the world giddier than an eleven year old girl in makeup and neon hair, except for a mother who enjoyed herself way too much helping them achieve that look.

Seriously, look out world. I have the makings for a show-worthy stage mother.