Wednesday when Mallory & Clara went to dance they got to wear their costumes, and actually took their classes in their costumes. It was the cutest thing. Clara remembered her costume, but several little girls did not, so they drug out a big box of tutus from recitals gone by, & the little girls could pick out one to wear.
They also had out the new Nutcracker posters for this year – Mal is going to be an angel! As though she isn’t one every day!
Tuesday afternoon when Mallory & Clara got here after school, we got busy on our final Halloween craft of the year. Actually Mal has been sick for a couple of days with a severe sinus headache, so we thought she might just want us to stay at their house & let her rest, but she knew we had this craft on the agenda, so she decided she wanted to come on over here. Here she is mixing up her gak – half glue, half starch. Good & gooey.
After we finished up with that, Jeff was heading down to work on the trail, taking things down. I stayed up at the house to get a few things done, but the girls both headed down with him, with my camera in hand, and had great fun taking pictures of the trail in the daytime before it was all dismantled. Here are a couple of pictures they captured :-
What a fun, fun time we had Saturday evening when all the kids & grandkids, and a few additional family members and friends, joined us for Jeff’s annual Haunted Trail. He really does make it bigger and better every year. Everyone arrives all decked out in their Halloween finery, so we can get pictures, and this year we actually had a parade, complete with awards. Here is a group shot of everyone who came dressed up. I wish the picture was a little clearer, but you can see we had a fine group :-). Front row from left are Batman Mason, Wolverine Adam, Clara & June as Ana & Elsa from Frozen (a co-worker of June’s other grandmother, Bennie, made their costumes. So cute!), and my friend Charlotte’s granddaughter Brenna the cheetah. Second row is Charlotte’s grandson Aidan, who’s a black ninja, Charlie the Skull Commando and Mallory the Mad Hatter in front of Redneck Zombie Jeff, Little Hope, who was dressed as a character in one of the books she is writing, Charlotte’s grandson Jordan as the painted face skeleton, Shea the witch and Boo the old hippie. They all looked great!
Everyone changed into play clothes, and we had hotdogs & somemores cooked over the bonfire. Normally then we go inside and do crafts & hang out a while, but this year the weather was so perfect, and the kids were all having so much fun playing together that we just hung outside & visited until it was dark enough, & until Jeff & Jackson had put all the finishing touches on the trail, & then we headed down into the spookiness. Here are Adam, Clara, June, & Brenna, waiting patiently until the group has gathered for us to start off. It was a special time 🙂 
Friday the schools in town were closed for parent teacher conference day, so June & Mason were here most of the day. We spent the morning making candy to take to church for the Light Up the Night Festival Saturday night. We weren’t able to be there – it was the night of the Haunted Trail here at the house – but we still wanted to help them out. Here is June unwrapping the caramels, so we can get started.
Thursday night June finished up her fall ball season. It’s been fun seeing how much those little girls have improved over the course of the season, and especially seeing how much some of them love it. We will miss going to the games, but it’s not long until time for basketball season! Here she is at her last At-Bat of 2014.
This is Red Ribbon Week in the Clover Schools – and may be all over the world, I’m not sure. Yesterday was Hat Day at Bethany Elementary, where Mallory & Clara go. Since normally they can’t wear hats to school at all, this was a big thing for them, needless to say. In fact, Clara wore hers all day yesterday, except when she was actually in dance class. And she put it right back on as soon as she finished up & changed back into her street clothes! We have about an hour & a half to kill after she’s done, before Mallory finishes her classes and we go meet Lindee for supper. Clara does her homework, & I try to remember to take crayons & paper & a coloring book, and there are often times other younger siblings there for her to hang out with during that time. Here she is doing her school reading to one of the much younger kids that she plays with. Pretty cute.
Another good day yesterday, except that Mason was sick, so he didn’t get to go on his field trip to the pumpkin patch that I was supposed to accompany him on. But, that did give me time to be in Rock Hill when the Hospice Thrift Store opened, to get the few remaining clothing items I needed for Jeff to finish dressing the creatures on the Haunted Trail, and got back to church in time to help with the Nurture Luncheon there. It was a great group of ladies working together in the kitchen, so everything went pretty smoothly, & it was all pretty much clean & back in order by the time I had to go get Mallory & Clara from school. When we got back here, they made Vampire Doughnuts like their cousins had earlier.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and the girls were so excited that Jeff had the graveyard set up in the front yard, that as soon as they could get their homework finished up they headed straight outside to play zombie chase, & were not ready at all to come inside when it was time for them to head home. I do love a beautiful fall day.
Sunday afternoon I helped Charlotte with her mom’s 90th birthday party at the church. It was such a nice event – a good turnout, great food, and Ella Mae seemed to really enjoy it. Addie & Lee brought the kids by, which was special for me.
Saturday was when the extended family came into town for the play, so I headed back over to see the play once again, so I could be with everyone for that. Here is Elise with the Big Five after her final performance.
Mallory & Clara – and their mom – had intended to only meet us for supper, but the play had been so good when they saw it the night before that they decided to come on with us and take it in again. Here they are afterwards with the girl who played Elise’s best friend in the play. It was just an absolutely wonderful weekend.