Party Weekend!

It's raining, it's pouring and Mr. Puss is snoring.

I missed posting yesterday, but I have a good excuse reason: I was still recovering from a super busy party weekend. (That usually works with your boss, right?)

My cousin celebrated a milestone birthday on Saturday night. There were about 60 guests. She and my aunt made their home into a "sports bar" to reflect my cousin's love of sports. Jerseys were hung from the ceiling with care, there was a beer tent in the back yard, amazing food and of course, a cake provided by yours truly:

Hockey Jersey Cake

We all came dressed in our favourite team jerseys or colours. Anyone who didn't come dressed appropriately was given a choice of several t-shirts from my cousin's collection. All in all, a very good time. 

Following that revelry, we had to wake up way too early on Sunday morning to set up for my father's birthday. Also a milestone: 60. He loves a good party, and this year he asked for a Roman/Gladiator-themed bash. Naturally, we obliged. If there's anything everyone knows about our family, it's that we love themes and dressing up. Come Halloween, we usually go nuts [this one notwithstanding]. So, my sister, my brother, my mother and I set the stage. We hand-delivered scroll invitations instructing guests to come in their finest Roman vestments for the celebratory Games and we were not disappointed:

Toga!

 We all wore gold leaves in our hair, and even the smallest baby was dressed in a mini toga. Golden [chocolate] coins were given to the victors of each of the games. A scale model of the roman Colosseum was built by my brother to hold a massive fruit bowl. [Yes, we do go that far.] We ordered a roasted pig, which was delicious, by the way, in addition to all the other food we brought along to the park. And, naturally, the cake. Because every birthday needs a cake:

Roman Temple Cake

Good times. Good times. Salve!

WW: Christmas is coming...

 

WW: Dreaming of summer

Summer daydreams on a cold November day....

Road Trip!
Stuck in the middle again. :)

Scary monsters in the badlands.

Please, Mama! Can we take her home!

Hanging out with Willie.

Heading home.

Linking up here:

   

   

WW: Tin foil makes everything cooler

Funerals and other fun childhood activities.

Last night, about 20 minutes before pj time, the Girl comes running up to me, practically glowing. She thrusts an ello creation in front of my face and gleefully asks: "Do you like my sculpture, Mama?"

I give the appropriate response of "ooooh... I love it. How, um, colourful!"

"Do you know what it is?!" she asks expectantly.

"Ummm..... it's a... well, obviously it's......"

"It's a funeral home, Mama! See, all the flowers everybody sent are around the coffin and the poor little dead baby has a beautiful little round coffin. Isn't it so cute?"

I tried to mask my horror in the face of her excitement. "Very interesting."

A little back story: In the past 14 months, I've gone to 5 funerals. The kids came to 2 of them, because they were close family members. Yes, I take my kids to funerals of close family members. Yes, I know they are only 6 & 8. They are allowed to approach the coffin, but we've never forced them. We've taken them since they were babies. I was taken to funerals as a child and learned two very valuable lesson which I've tried to pass on to my children:

1. Death is an unavoidable part of life. To live is to die.
2. There is no reason to fear a corpse. The dead can never hurt you - only the living can. 

They've seen us solemnly dress and prepare for funerals. They've seen my husband cry in public. They've seen me sob uncontrollably into my husband's arms. They've seen my husband don the white gloves as a pall bearer. They've seen the sealing of a tomb in a mausoleum. They've helped clean and light candles at the graves of predecessors they've never met. 

In my eyes, all of these are positive experiences. While they should never become routine, they've become familiar and less scary. 

Now though, I have to deal with "funeral home sculptures" and "Mama, do you want us to bury you in the ground or in a wall?" and "let's play funeral" and "look, Mama, I designed the perfect cemetery!". [That last from the Boy, who discovered the delightful combination of graph paper and bird's-eye-view drawing.] I've also had to deal with the Boy suddenly starting to cry at odd moments because he remembers that life is "too short". I've been able to deal with those episodes with open discussion, books like What's Heaven, and emphasizing the beliefs of our faith, but they still happen. 

What are your thoughts? Is there a place for children at a funeral? How do you explain death to children? In what death rituals should children be allowed to participate? Have your children seen you cry?

The Halloween Fairy

Does the Halloween Fairy visit your house? No? Well, maybe she will this year!

On Halloween night, after all the children have gone to bed, the Halloween Fairy may pay a visit. Like her sister, the Tooth Fairy, the Halloween fairy likes a good deal, and is willing to barter. For the small price of a carefully selected bag of candy and other treats, this frugal, tummy-loving fairy will leave a special non-edible treat. At our house she has been known to leave a book or game for each child.

This is how my monsters prepare for her nocturnal visit: after trick-or-treating for an hour or two, my ghouls come home to empty their bags onto the kitchen table to scan and sort their loot. After I take out all the unwrapped, old-looking and otherwise too-nasty treats, the beasties are welcome to pick what they would like to keep. I've never set a limit on how much they can choose. I always say: "Take what you want". For the past two years, they've not kept more than 10-15 pieces each. As for the rest, the happily throw it back into their bags and hang them outside their bedroom doors in anticipation of the morning. They prepare for bed with glee and [I assume] dream of what the dawn will bring. They seem to believe that the "better" the bag, the "cooler" the gift will be. I've done nothing to temper that belief. :)

For the price of a couple dollars per kid, the Halloween Fairy helps them stay away from sugar overload and upset tummies. Hopefully this year, she'll remember to take the price tags off.

Usually the Fairy is kind enough to leave me a small stash of Smarties and other special snacks that can be used as bribes doled out as treats every once in a while to make me look like a hero. I'm sure the rest is composted *whistling innocently* or taken into work by the Fairy's good husband.

Here's a pic of my little freaks last year:

That's Fronk N. Shteen on the left, and Spider Fairy on the right. This year I have to come up with a Jedi master [where am I supposed to find a brown robe to fit such a skinny little dude?!] and a Fairy Witch Princess.

Wish me luck!