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{post halloween}

We had such a great halloween!  For a moment, I thought things wouldn't work out quite right:  it was overcast and drizzling pretty much the entire day; and Cael had his karate class moved to halloween night--of all nights--which sort of left me scratching my head.  However, as things always do, everything turned out just fine :)

Mei and Cael were up early with me, excited that it's halloween.  They giggled about the halloween goodies I put together.  Here's a few of them:  seasoned shriveled funny bones; tooth fairy's collection; leftover stubby toes; and vampie's mocktail...

 

It was such a hit last halloween that I thought I'd do it again.  We actually had even more junk food this year, including swirled marshmallows, chocolate dipper, cheese dip, chips, breadsticks, triple chocolate cookies...yeah...the list goes on!  LOL!!  I was going for a fondue-ish-inspired junking.  I think we have had enough junk food to last us weeks in a couple of hours--but who cares!  LOL!!

It was a semi-wet trick-or-treating night, but we had tons of fun.  We started early due to Cael's karate class, but during our trick-or-treating journey, we found out that his class was canceled <--- good call!  Cael was having such a hard time deciding what to do--as if he had a choice!  LOL!!

During our walk around, there was a man dressed in 'scary' costume just walking around everywhere scaring the trick-or-treaters, LOL!  I think he's one of the servicemembers who lives in the community as one of Cael's friend knew him, and several of the children were jumping on him at one point, LOL!!  It was so funny though since the second time we saw him, he was slowly creeping up to Mei and Cael.  So funny!  Totally added to the halloweenie feel, LOL!

So, two words to sum up our halloween according to Cael?  "Best ever!!"  I like that :)  But we know that next year will be even better with the five of us ♥

Our halloween celebration in pictures:

...my baby spidey stuck on me during the school festivities on friday.

...roasting pumpkin seeds for the first time!

Our adorable pumpkin.  The kidlets' creation, from beginning to end! 

...{pukie} halloweenie dinner, LOL!  The cream sauce was actually a bit more green than the picture shows, LOL!!  The kids got a kick out of this one.

...the magical witch (which mei completely handmade herself); baby spidey; tavern girl

...honey pot bear costume by mei.  Made with ♥ for teddy :)

...after we finished trick-or-treating, the kids rang our doorbell to receive the treat goodie bag I prepared for them :)  It was their idea to go trick-or-treating at our own house!  LOL!!

Then, we gave out candies--I left the children in charge of it, and they did an excellent job!  When it quiet down, we started our halloween evening fete:  loads of junk food and a movie (Imagine That).  It was quite festive in its own way.  Just missing one EXTREMELY special person :( who joined us very briefly over the phone.

I let the children go really all out on the sweets, which I've never done before.  Past midnight, we called it a night, but not before I made sure to 'fall back' the clock--an extra hour is a good thing :)

November is a special month in several ways ♥♥♥♥♥!!  Happy November!!

happy halloween

gosh, it has been awhile, hasn't it?

{peeking in quickly}...

 

*have a safe and happy halloween!*

National Cheesecake Day

I know...for reals!  Yesterday, the 30th, was National Cheesecake Day.  I find it yummy and amusing, and apparently, worth celebrating :)  I took the kiddies to Cheesecake Factory yesterday, and we had a nice merienda (that would be the not-so-light snack between lunch and dinner).  We had fried macaroni and cheese, along with some calamari—both so scrumptious!  For our merienda's 'main course':  Vanilla Bean Cheesecake for Mei; Tuxedo Cheesecake for Aud; and Cheesecake's brand new Red Velvet Cheesecake (pictured above) for Cael aka Mr. Red Velvet Cake.  All three shared with me + I got me a macchiato on the side.  Despite not finishing the cheesecakes, we were all so full.  Mei said she doesn't want to think about cheesecake for the next year, LOL!  And yet she also requested to have the Red Velvet Cheesecake for her birthday, too, after Cael mentioned that it's going to be his birthday cake, LOL!!  The kiddies were extra happy after, and even the gentleman on the register at Williams-Sonoma noticed that the kids had huge smiles and were in joyful spirits, LOL!!  He said, "looks like you are all having a really nice day!"  I told him I had cheesecakes to thank for the obedience + huge smiles.  LOL!!

♥ locks of love ♥

Mei's been growing her hair since the last time she donated her long locks to Locks Of Love.  The experience gave her such a great feeling of accomplishment that she decided, right after her first hair donation, she'd do it again.  I thought it was pretty cool when she first thought of doing it, and when she went through with it, I couldn't have been more proud...and now, the second time around, we are just as proud :)

Here she is with her new short hair:

 

I cut off just a bit more than 12 inches of her shiny hair...

The lady at the post office said Mei's hair was the second Locks-Of-Love package that she received this last week--that's so awesome!  Yay, kiddies!!

Oh, and she's been getting sweet compliments about her new 'do from her friends here in the neighborhood; they're so sweet!

Delaware Summer Day

From the beach on the west coast to a beach on the east coast.

Now, like I mentioned last year, the whole sunrise and sunset thing over the water is particularly cool to note.  The Californian in me insists that whenever I see photos of the ocean with the sun over the water's horizon, it must be towards the end of the day.  So, it's quite awesome to watch the sun rise over the ocean--yeah, admittedly I'm easily amused. 

We tried to get to the beach to watch the sunrise, but sadly, we missed it by this "|---|" much.  Still, we got to the beach quite early, early enough to get photos that depicts the awesome sun rising over the ocean.

This is Rehoboth Beach at five-something in the morning:  cold, serene, and beautiful.

Then, we were off to get some sand between our toes...

I noticed how low the sun still was, so I asked Mei to capture the sunshine...carpe diem, right?...

Then, as I marveled at the scenery before me, B and the kiddies were off collecting pretty rocks and seashells...

And, here's a proof as to why it's so hard to capture great photos of the children (most notably, Aud)...

We then headed to Cape Henlopen State Park - Gordon's Pond, which finally opened for the day!  I had to see the observation towers by the shore.  I mean, come on...how many times do you get a chance to see WWII observation towers right by the shore?!  Okay, don't answer that.  But first, a pose from Cael...

Seeing that I've got tons of landscape photos, and not many of ones with subject (especially me) in it, I volunteered to say cheese for the camera...

Two towers by the shore...

And, here's one of my favorite photos from our trip...

Mei and the lifeguard chair (or whatever they're called).  Here's the story behind the next photo, if you care to know.  I thought it would be cool to get her up sitting on the chair to get a nice shot, but it was cold and wet (as per the hubby), so I decided to be a good wife ::wink:: and forgo the idea.  That resulted with this a-bit-odd photo of Mei standing next to it, LOL!!

Look who I managed to get a photo of... ::insert evil laugh here::

After all the walking-on-the-seashore fun, B and the kids were off to catch some waves.  Me, I soaked up some sun, and after a bit, I joined B and the kids (just my feet though, LOL!).  I didn't want to have to worry about the camera, so I left it and thoroughly enjoyed myself with the family.  By lunch, we were hungry.  It was past lunch by the time we started our barbeque, which was quite yummy!  Even this little bird got plenty of food that afternoon...

 

...it was eating stuff from the ground!  Crazy bird!  At one point--right before I took this particular photograph--we thought it was going to choke on some huge piece of meat!  Yikes!!  Aud and I watched in horror:  do you save it from its greedy self?  Slowly, but surely, it gulped down the entire string of meat (or whatever it was)...AMAZING!!

By mid-afternoon, we were so tired, but we still managed to go factory outlet shopping, LOL!  :giggles:  Ah.  Awesome summer fun.

summer swim {ca-style}

Admittedly, for some reason, I've been really slow in going through the tons of summer photos I've taken so far!  Not sure what it is.  But, anyway, I thought I'd put several photos of our swim day there.

We stayed over at Atch's, and we had lots of fun--the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves!  Despite not knowing how to swim, my kidlets couldn't have had a better time 'swimming.'  So glad B was there to swim with them; he is ALWAYS their swimming buddy (never me! LOL!)

Oh, if you're my fb friend, these photos may get a bit redundant (the upload here does have 'better' quality...if that matters :wink:)

Anyway, without further ado...

...as you can see, it was a beautiful day!  We followed that with delicious mediterranean lunch and shopping.  Ah, good times!!

ready for lazy summer days

Abandoned blog, yet again.  No surprise there.  I'm just not really good at keeping up with things, I suppose.

This past three summer weeks have been most amazing.  I literally need to drag myself to go work off three weeks of pigging out!  LOL!!  I miss the days when 'working out' wasn't part of my vocabulary, and no-holds-barred eating caused no effects whatsoever!!  LOL!!

Anyway.  We've gone from here...

to here...

...two beaches on opposite coasts in a week's time. 

I have lots of photos to go through.  I just wish I patiently lugged my camera around wherever we went in CA, but I didn't.  :(  Oh, well. 

Now, we are very ready for some lazy summer days--anyway, I think our pockets would thank us for it, too! LOL!!  We're trying to get back into a slow-paced routine for the rest of the summer.  The kids aren't complaining, that's for sure, except for the part where I make them clean out their stuff, LOL!!

I'll share more photos from our little vacay in CA in the next days (week).  The children had so much fun that they were already planning our next trip before we even left.  Yeah, for reals.  :)

...school's out!

So, it's officially summer time in the antonio household.  I cannot believe how quickly this school year came and went!  School was only half-day today, so the day actually seemed long--in a good way.  If feel like we've done tons of things, and well...it's still today!  Oddly enough, it's during the summertime that we usually forget what day it is.  I guess we rely so much on the school week 'counting down' the days of the week for us that when school's out, well, we lose it, LOL!!  It's when the kids ask me, "what day is it, mama?"  And I answer, "...humm...wednesday? thursday? ...ahhh..."  Then, I go search for a calendar to check.  LOL!!

I saw Aud's school principal after school today and he said, "...one year under the belt!"  Then it hit me, wow, one year down only two middle school years to go for Aud!  Craziness, I tell you!!  Her first year of Middle School went as smoothly as one could have hoped.  I'm so thankful for that!  Mei and Cael's school year also went quite well.  They both matured so much from last year; it's such a huge {awesome} surprise.  What a difference a year makes--incredible!    Now, if they can only behave well ALL THE TIME!  LOL!!  ...I can hope, right?!?

Anyway.  At this very moment, we've got no plans for the summer.  I feel like everything is on hold...is tentative...and revolving around someone's schedule ::coughAHEMcough::  He knows who he is, and it's not Cael!  LOL!!  Whatever the summer brings our way, we are looking so forward to it and spending good quality time together.  So...here's to a enjoyable and safe Summer!

- two weekends in photo -

Well, we are gearing up for the end-of-school-year-start-of-summer day.  The kids are excited, and so am I, except for the part where we won't have a clean house for a few months.  I still haven't mastered cleaning the house + having kids + keeping the house clean at the same time.  As it is now, I usually tidy up a bit after I drop Mei and Cael off to school, after which, I get a clean house to myself for a few hours.  I'm constantly nagging the children to clean up their mess--which I really need to get better at.  I mean the part where I nag them.

Anyway.  This last two weekends have been really fun.  I think we are all feeling the summer coming, and already, I think we've had a head start on the going-places-keeping-busy part.

Last weekend:

...Lush bath is one of their favorite relaxing treat.

...Mei weaved a tiny (too tiny) hammock for her stuffed animals while Cael was taking a bath.

...music and reading time.

...we had a 'cupcake and a movie' night on Saturday, along with taco night (children's favorite) and those ultra-yummy cupcakes.  We didn't rent a new movie, but Ratatouille paired well with our taco night and dessert.  We were quite tired, but pumped after an afternoon at the school's Spring Carnival.

On Sunday, we made a quick run to Home Depot to grab some more pots and more herbs to plant.  We added Sweet Basil, Rosemary, and Garlic Chives to our little garden.  Cael's tomato plant finally has a nice size pot to grow in.  The children enjoy gardening A LOT!!

This weekend:

...they all love to paint.  They've painted several letter-sized canvases, and I'm hoping to make the hallway going to Cael's room our "Antonio Art Gallery."  :)  Just have to figure out the best way to adhere the canvases securely to the wall.  I'll be uploading photos of their artwork here on the blog soon-ish, too.  :)

Crafty goodness and snow cones on a warm spring (almost summer) weekend.  I don't know how much snow cones we've had this past two days, but the children just enjoy them!  They're yummy, fun and easy treat.  We also had a really late night last night (Saturday night), and we decided to have breakfast for a midnight snack.  Mei and Cael helped me make Very Berry Pancakes--that's our name for it just because we added lots of fresh strawberries, blueberries, red raspberries, and blackberries in our cinnamon + nutmeg pancake batter...then topped with maple syrup.  Ah, so good!!

I also treated myself this weekend with taking time off from cooking, LOL!!  I've only cooked three times since Friday.  I took the children to Ruby Tuesday's on Friday (their crab cakes are delicious!), and we went to the store to get some ready-made-just-pop-in-oven food for Saturday.  Ah, quick and stress-free, LOL!!  I wish they would make very low-sodium quick fixin' foods so we could do it more often (read that as me getting away with having to cook, LOL!!)

Oh, we finally got to rent Benjamin Button.  Unfortunately, I was not impressed.  The kids did enjoy it for the most part, I think.  Well, they generally love movie nights because:  1.  they like watching movies, like Bruce; 2.  they get to eat dinner and dessert, all while watching the movie.

One of the best part of late spring and summertime?  The lightning bugs are back!!  Check one out:

We take walks around the neighborhood once the sun is almost setting.  It's a great time for the children (Cael and Mei, especially) to search for buggy-friends.  It's fun to watch little fireflies glow all over the place as the children chase them around.  They are captured and released, so hopefully, they aren't really hurt, but enjoyed for a short time.

Anyway.  Now, it's down time.  Showered, tummy filled, teeth brushed, they are watching tv for a bit and it's on to start a new week.  Can't hardly believe it's the last two days of school!  Crazy how quickly this school year went by...again!!

***oh, update on Mei's science project.  She got a 98!  Why not 100?  She forgot to label her question "Question."  I can't believe I didn't notice either!  So proud of her though!!  We also ended up missing the Science Fair because Audrey wasn't feeling too well.  No biggie!

science project * egg bounce

Megan is again doing a project for the school's science fair this year. Originally, she wanted to do a project based on live shrimps, but later decided to do the egg bounce instead.  Admittedly, I did discourage her from projects involving living things, for obvious reasons.  Anyway, I thought this 'egg bounce' project was quite cool so I'll share it here :)

She started with two hard-boiled eggs.  One egg was placed in water, and the other in vinegar (we used apple cider vinegar as it's the only vinegar we have).  Here's what happened:

Now, the moment of truth :wink:

First, egg that was in water:

Next, egg that was in vinegar:

I was quite amusing, in a way, especially for the children.  Once the eggs were dropped into the liquid (day 1), it was evident that egg in vinegar is a bit 'special.'  The children enjoy watching the egg fizzing, and then it stayed floated with bubbles all over, while the egg in water calmly sank and stayed that way throughout the experiment.  By the experiment test day, the egg shell around the egg-in-vinegar has completely dissolved.  Of course, with a rubbery egg sans shell, it bounced when dropped, unlike its counterpart (egg-in-water), which cracked.

The only thing was that the apple cider vinegar made for a stinky experiment, LOL!!

I found this science experiment online:  Magic Egg.  Same thing; different name.  There are several other experiment on that site to do with the kids, which I think will be fun to do over the summer.