Monday, October 31, 2011

Big Bird and Black Swan

Happy Halloween!  I hope everyone had a fun and festive day today. I have to admit that the freak snow storm we had here on the east coast this past weekend has thrown us for a loop and Halloween wasn't as exciting or festive as it has been in the past.

Our town has an area of barely 5 square miles and we had 100 trees and over 240 power lines come down in roadways, creating hazardous conditions and knocking out power for many people. This snow storm wasn't particularly violent nor did it produce that much snow. We got maybe only 2-3" of snow, but it was very heavy and wet. Which again, isn't particularly noteworthy except for the fact that most of the trees still have most of their leaves, giving the snow a lot of surface area on which to fall and accumulate. The branches just couldn't bear that kind of weight and huge tree limbs were snapping everywhere. It was very dangerous out there!

Schools were closed today, bringing our total school closures for the 2011-12 school year to three and and it isn't even winter yet! [The first two were in September due to hurricane Irene]. Right now schools will have a delayed opening tomorrow, but there's a possibility it will turn into another closure by morning! Any more days off and they'll have to take days off our spring break in April. Ugh. :(

As for Halloween festivities, the girls went trick-or-treating today, so at least there was some Halloween spirit around here. And alas, now there's a ton of candy around here...

My youngest dressed up as Big Bird from Sesame Street this year. One of her friends went as Cookie Monster. You can't quite see it in the photo, but she has Big Bird eyes and a beak on her headband. Very cute.

My teenager dressed up as the Black Swan and her friend was the White Swan. They put the costumes together all on their own. They purchased one or two things and everything else was borrowed or from their own collection of dance wear. Very pretty!

Now my biggest challenge will be to ignore the presence of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in the house.


ONE Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
115 calories [calories I burn running 1.3 miles]
7.5g fat
        2.3g saturated fat
11.5g carbs
        10g sugar
3g protein
70mg sodium







13 comments:

  1. Aww, such cute costumes!! :D I always wished my mom was one for costumes and stuff, but she wasn't into it, and Halloween just started catching up a few years ago.
    We are all about Dia de los Muertos :D

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  2. Absolutely beautiful!! It looks like they had fun - at least in the design

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  3. Wow, days out of school and it's not Winter yet. Jeez! I'm just glad y'all are safe!
    Your kids look great for trick or treating! Daughter wore Chris' old AF BDU's and boots and attended a 'Vampire Prom' at the library. Son was a zombie and went trick or treating.

    Hope the rest of your week goes well!

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  4. Ugh, we have a lot of reese's here, I don't wanna know how many calories they are. I can't quite run for a full mile yet, so I have to do some power-walking in the mix.

    Your girls look great! That snow was a real surprise, mom is here so of course she was in a panic about someone shoveling. Luckily it all went away as fast as it came in Brooklyn.

    Paula

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  5. Well, schools opened today. Thank goodness!!! We have now had FOUR school closures and have one day taken away from spring break in April and NO SNOW DAYS left. What are the odds that all snow storms this winter will be on the weekends? Will we have NO spring break? That will be crazy. I feel badly for the teachers to go so long without a break and the kids will be dragging... Ugh.

    Alex,
    My daughters have learned about Dia de los Muertos in their Spanish classes over the years. How do people greet one another on this occasion? It is a festive occasion, right? I mean, it is a serious and somewhat solemn day, but still a celebration, right? Are schools closed?

    Brandy,
    I KNOW! It's been a crazy few months here with these weather related problems.

    Sounds like a great Halloween for you guys! The 'Vampire Prom' is a great idea for teens! Maria went to a Sweet 16 Party, costumes mandatory. It looked like so much fun!

    azteclady,
    I'm so sorry my blog is giving you problems! :(

    Be assured, it is NOT a reflection of my affection for you. xo :)


    Paula,
    Doing a mix of power walking and running is GREAT! That kind of interval training--making your heart rate go up, then down, then up, then down, etc.. is very good for increasing your endurance! You're doing GREAT! Keep it up!

    I imagine the city fared much better than those of us in the suburbs because it was the TREES that caused EVERY bit of damage. What a mess! :(

    I still have a little pile here and there of snow, but 98% has melted already.

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  6. Wow, that's a lot of fat in those little guys...those delicious little guys....:)

    Great pictures. I love the swans. Kiddo went as a Fireman. He had a great time! We too have way too much candy now.

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  7. The girls look great!! And I love Maria's costume! It's really different!

    And your youngest is smiling more and more!

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  8. Michelle, I saw kiddo dressed as a fireman on fb! SO DARLING! The little kids dressed up is the BEST.

    nath, I had to raise my voice and get stern to make my youngest ALLOW me to take a picture. She does not like posing for pictures. So I cannot believe she smiled. lol !

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  9. LOVE the costumes! :-D So fun and original. :-D I hope you were able to avoid the peanut butter cups! I mean, 1.3 mile run to burn of ONE peanut butter cup?!?!?! Eek, I had no idea. :-(

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  10. I know! Those calories are so easy to consume... and so friggin' hard to burn. Ugh.

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  11. Your girls came up with some great costumes this year!

    Our Halloween was quite too. Only youngest went out, I went with him. Middle and teen stayed home and handed out candy. We had less than 60 kids, maybe because it was a school night.

    I try to buy candy I don't like so if there is anything left I'm not tempted. :)

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  12. Leslie, I can't believe only ONE of your kids went trick or treating this year!!? What did he dress up as?

    I gave out packs of sugarless Orbit gum so I didn't have to worry about left over candy. The few kids who came to our house were thrilled. I might just give gum every year!

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