That seems like FOREVER ago!

Halloween feels like it happened AGES ago (literally like MONTHS ago), and yet I can't believe it was just this week! Where did the time go!?

But it did encompass an important part of our week, so I suppose I will talk about it none-the-less.

Wyatt continued to spook-a-fy his room on Halloween Eve with homemade decorations...







And then on Halloween day, we celebrated with old traditions...and new adventures.

In old traditions, we celebrated my mom's birthday (which happens to fall on Halloween Day) at Corvette Diner for lunch. Corvette Diner is ALWAYS fun, but excitement is magnified on Halloween when the entire staff at the restaurant dresses in costume for the holiday. This year, we were waited on by Ms. Marilyn Monroe...



We enjoyed amazing eats...



Drank delicious ice cream shakes (of course!)...







We danced...



And then we sung my mom, "Happy Birthday"...



This week in our study of the United States, we learned about the state of South Carolina. When the ladies in my family recently vacationed in Savannah, GA, we ventured to Charleston, SC for a day and night, and dined at one of the most AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS restaurants EVER! The menu item that this restaurant is most well known for, is their Coconut Cake. The chef of this restaurant has not only appeared on the Martha Stewart Show to make this cake with her, but he has also participated in a Coconut Cake bake-off challenge with Food Network Chef, Booby Flay. I'm telling you, this cake is FAMOUS, lol. You can purchase this cake from the restaurant for $100...but then Fed/Ex will charge you an additional $100 to ship it. Why pay that when you can make it yourself!? I soon realized that the $100 for the cake is a STEAL, and on a "spendy" day, the $200 (for cake + shipping) is well worth the cost! The cake was not difficult to make, it was just very expensive, and very time consuming. With 11 cups of heavy whipping cream, and 2-1/2 pounds of butter, the total cost of the ingredients were well over $50! And considering that there are 4 elements to this cake (coconut cake, coconut cream filling, cream cheese frosting, toasted coconut), this cake took up all of my day on Sunday, and then a small portion of my morning on Monday. But I am SOOOOO glad I did it...at least once in my life! I knew that I was going to be making this cake for our celebration of the state of South Carolina, but instead of making this dessert at the end of the week, like usual, I decided to make it at the beginning of the week, as a birthday surprise for my mom. The cake was amazing, and my mom's reaction was worth every penny, and every minute I poured into the construction of this cake.





In new adventures for Halloween, we actually went Trick-or-Treating for the first time! We usually attend the carnival at our church on Halloween, but this year, our church didn't do a carnival. Both kids were totally old enough to understand the concept of Trick-or-Treating, and so it was a lot of fun...



The highlight for the kids was when "Mario & Luigi" had them do some plumbing of their own, and they had to reach through a make-shift outhouse to get their candy out of a toilet, lol!



So that is it for Halloween!

We are now in the full swing of Thanksgiving! We took down the Halloween decorations, and put up our Thanksgiving decorations...



We enjoyed reading some of our Thanksgiving books that have been gifted to us over the years...



And all four of us participated in a what-we-are-thankful-for Thanksgiving Wreath Craft (to which I was able to use one of the cardboard circles from the bottom of a frozen pizza that I have been hoarding...BONUS, lol!)...



We got to play in the cooler Fall weather at the park this week with our friends...





And this mama got in some time on the swings! :0)



We even had some rain showers a few days ago...such fun! We took the opportunity to whip up some homemade hot chocolate...



And fresh whipped cream...





The experience left me wondering if Beatrice ever got any hot chocolate IN her mouth!?



This week, the kids and I got to celebrate at a dear friend's baby shower...





Where Beatrice thought she discovered the "largest tortilla chip EVER mama!" (Also known as a tostada shell, lol)...



And just last night, I got to celebrate with my family at the 25th Wedding Anniversary Party of my sister Jenni's in-laws, Phil and Shiela...



This was a formal event, with no children (other than their grandchildren), in the Grand Ballroom, of The Prado restaraunt in Balboa Park. Everything was absolutely exquisite!









But when you are with the ones you love, things get fun and silly too...



Believe it or not, work was to be found in our home this week as well. There was laundry to be folded...



Lunches to be made...



And dinners (with beautiful ingredients) to be prepared...



In school this week, Wyatt learned SO MANY fascinating things about insects and spiders! We were supposed to catch some creepy crawlers for a science experiment this week, but unfortunately there were none to be found...I suppose that is bitter-sweet. But that will be a make up lesson for sure...we are both eager to start our collection of insects in the freezer! :0)

Beatrice learned about the shape of the heart...



And focused on the letter "N"...





And so we made nests...





And finally, as previously stated, this week in our study of the United States, we learned about the state of South Carolina...



I was able to show the kids select pictures of my recent visit to the state, and that was a lot of fun!

We also learned that during the Colonial days, 9 of the 10 wealthiest people in America, lived in South Carolina.

And when we found out that SC is currently the only state in America that grows tea, we had to celebrate with a tea party!







We also learned that the waters off of Charleston were teemed with pirates when the legendary pirate, Blackbeard, sailed the seas. The wealthy people that I spoke of above, attracted unwanted attention...from pirates! We heard about many particular pirates, including Anne Bonny, a female pirate, who was a native of Charleston, SC. We decided to put on a theatrical performance! My son is just like his mama...this was going to be no small production! :-0 Wyatt selected costumes, and insisted on building a stage...out of our dining room chairs. (That made for some good comedy when Wyatt eventually fell through the cracks, HAHAHAHA!)

Our Blackbeard searching for treasure...



Our (uncooperative) Anne Bonny...



Anne Bonny eventually gets with the program, and sees Blackbeard on his ship, "The Queen Anne's Revenge", coming for her gold...



Blackbeard takes hold of Anne Bonny's ship, and grabs her treasure...



Anne Bonny is a rookie at theater, and is devestated when her brother stole from her, HAHAHAHA!...



This performance was such good entertainment for all of us...well, for most of us, LOL!

We closed out our week of learning with our state dinner. My food research for South Carolina was all things GRITS! So in honor of my dear friend, Julie, who shared this dish with me when we were vacationing in the South, I made Paula Dean's Shrimp & Grits!



Oh my word, this dish was so savory! It even had a delicious white wine cream sauce that was incredible! The kids had never had grits before, and my lovely mid-western husband had surprisingly only had grits on one other occassion when we were dining together at a Cracker Barrel in Indiana. I LOVE me some Cracker Barrel, but their grits have got nothin' on Paula Dean! :0)

Signing out...until next week....