Monday's final hours

Imagine my panic when I get a text message from my brother whilst trying to nap with my boys. It read, "You only have a few more hours to blog to stay within the 24 hour rule." I forgot that I only had 24 hours to drop a post once I returned home, and since we're having another "Bachelor" party tonight, I figured I should get this put up before Nate gets home from work tonight. So much for enjoying an afternoon nap. Really, there was no panic, but I did have a good cache of stuff to blog about.

First things, in case I don't get to anything else, I figured I should write about HALLOWEEN last week since everyone else gets their pics uploaded the night of/day after and I am still carrying mine around on my camera.

Halloween was really good considering I was recuperating from uber bleeding "down there." I spent the afternoon horizontal while *SUCH* wonderful friends helped to take care of my kiddos. I snoozed in and out through the day as I still kinda felt like a truck had hit me from all the happenings on Tuesday. I do think I lost a lot of blood, and just emotionally I was really spent. I was catching up on some of my DVRd shows that day and watched an episode of "Brothers and Sisters" (one of my *FAVE* shows this year) and the storyline going on right now is about a mother losing custody of her kids in a divorce. I bawled. Like snotted all over my pillow, ugly cry, let-r-rip bawled. I guess all these emotions about possibly losing a child extend to all different circumstances for all sorts of moms. I felt pretty good after I let that go, and was surprised to get some Halloween treats from our neighbor across the street. Joanne stopped by to give us the some really yummy chocolate covered popcorn and sugar cookies and she brought me two heaping plates full of stuff. I know she didn't know what had happened (I proceeded to have a "way too much information moment" with her as I tried to explain my splotchy, tear-stained face), but I really appreciated her thoughtfulness and their goodness. In Vegas it's hard to find friendly neighbors, but she and her hubby are always waving at us and talking with the kids, and she made sure we were stopping by with the troops later that evening. Anyway, it was really kind of her. Halloween night was fun as we had a houseful of the regulars at our Halloween get together. The Salianis, my sister and brother (-s, Dave came later), my in-laws, and our pseudo-family, Tiff Mohler and her kids were all there. Each year we have a mini chili cook-off and hot dogs for the kids. Both Tyler and Jared did well, but Jared won the vote in a landslide. Tyler's chili was spicey, not usually a crowd favorite, so he came in second (which means he lost.) It was a houseful, but the lovely weather allowed the kids to eat outside and the adults to chat before we got the kids changed and headed to door-to-door. The picture above is all the kids and I feel so bad now to realize I took NO pictures of my kids in their costumes. I've thought about making them recreate the event, but haven't gotten to that yet. Brock was supposed to be Spiderman ($20 bucks on a costume, thanks!) and he freaked out and wouldn't keep it on. SO, luckily I still had the puppy dog costume I used with Brevin. Anyway, with so many age groups we ended up splitting and a special thanks to those who ended up with the majority of my kids while I hung with Brock. I do love Halloween when it is so mild outside and the neighborhood is so friendly and generous. After about 30 minutes the kids' buckets were full and we were heading back home. Sorting, counting, negotiating trades, etc. is still one of my favorite parts about the holiday, and I must say I was really impressed with my girls' organizational skills. Here's some more pics of the night:

I'll haunt you with my other info later! C-ya!