Halloween, Life and the Election

Halloween came and went and it’s already almost the middle of November and I am just wondering how in the world November is flying by so incredibly fast! It is crazy!

Anyway. 

For Halloween this year we had a costume that I have been waiting for all year long! I thought of it last Halloween and since family costumes are soooo expensive I started buying pieces a whole year ago, and slowly added to the box in my closet until we had every outfit perfect! It might’ve cost us a small fortune, but it was definitely worth it! One of my favorite movies of all time is Grease. And luckily I have a husband who actually likes that movie too! So naturally we wanted to be Danny and Sandy. But I didn’t want to be the “bad Sandy” like most girls are when they dress up as Sandy. I like the innocent Sandy the best. So that’s what I was. I might be an obese Sandy (😆) but it was still so much fun to dress up in her exact outfit that she wore when she sang the song “Summer Lovin’.” Shawn was Danny and even went out and bought Chuck Taylors to make sure he matched exactly. Next was Kenicke, and Sully’s outfit was identical to him in the movie! It was so funny!!! I honestly couldn’t stop laughing at him all night. He was just too cute! We chose Lucy to be Frenchy and Piper to be Jan, even though Rizzo is more of a main character than Jan, I didn’t want anyone to be Rizzo.... you can probably figure out why, haha!

To get my kids excited for this family theme we made them watch Grease a lot until they liked it 🤣. After awhile, they would just play the music scenes on YouTube by themselves over and over because they really came to love the the music and the scenes that went along with the songs! Who doesn’t love the Grease soundtrack!?

Having Halloween on a Saturday was just the icing on the cake. We didn’t have to rush home from school and get everything ready as fast as we could. It might have been a Covid Halloween, but it was so memorable and I loved it! Speaking of Covid- I don’t think I saw a single family wearing masks on Halloween while trick-or-treating- thank goodness. I mean, we were outside, but trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood is apparently legendary and the whole city of Jenks shows up it seemed like! It was like being at a crowded fair or something. The crowds were insane! (It was so much fun though.) And it was like Covid disappeared for the night. Yes, there were really creative ways that some people were passing out candy so that it wasn’t touched, but most people just handed it out like normal and it felt like the good old days. If this pandemic has taught me anything, it’s that I severely under appreciated ‘normalcy.’ When so many of your “rights” get stripped away, you realize that you didn’t know what you had until it was gone😢

In between Halloween and now we’ve had cheer parties, Piper had a class election to pick the best “candy-date” (see what I did there!?😉)- they registered to vote, they picked their primaries, and they voted for their candy in a real voting booth. Adorable. My Sister-in-law, Christa, delivered a precious baby girl named Elle (I now have 7 nieces!). Sully had picture day. We carved Pumpkins and Shawn carved Trump on his🤣. Shawn’s been traveling a TON. Lucy ran (and unfortunately lost, a seat on Student Council, we had Red Ribbon week, and just barely survived the business of October! Once November hit, Shawn and I attended a “virtual gala.” Back in March we were invited to a fancy-schmancy gala called The Sparta Gala, and it benefits our public schools. But Covid happened. They tried to move it to August, but still- Covid. So they decided to make it virtual. The original table hosts all agreed to just invite their table guests into their homes and we logged on via Zoom. We ate dinner and watched speeches and an auction online. It was pretty impressive how they still made it pretty special despite it being “virtual.”  They delivered AMAZING food, gave us all some gifts to bring home, provided decor and everything. It was fun especially because Shawn and I spent some time with people we have not ever hung out with, we laughed SO SOOOO hard, and we made some new friends! And since it was just down the street from where we live, Mrs. Sumler stopped by our house to visit Piper after it was over- Piper was in HEAVEN!

Ughhh. The next thing I wanted to brush up on is the election.  Even just writing the word “election” gives me anxiety. You guys..... it’s bad. Anyone reading this should know I am Republican and voted for Trump. I like that he’s not a career politician. I like that even though he’s arrogant, he fought hard for this country and didn’t even take a paycheck. I like that he got rid of the Obamacare penalty if you didn’t have insurance. I like that he has aided in saving hundreds of children from sex trafficking and they’re not finished yet! I like that he had a huuuuge impact on immigration reform. I like that he lowered taxes. I like that he helped our economy prosper more than almost any other president. I like a LOT of things about him. I truly think he helped the American people become better. Even though he might not have the best manners- I believe he truly loves America and I feel like 4 years just wasn’t long enough. I think my thoughts are mimicked by the majority of America, but.... 2 words: voter fraud. So much of it. So many people have proof of it. I thought that Trump would win by a landslide. There was what they called “the Silent Majority.” So. Many. People. love Trump because the alternative is such a horribly corrupt career politician who is power hungry. And he has a socialist Vice President who applauds terrible policies (full-term abortion included!) and wants to take over the country. Kamala Harris is a very scary lady. She just is. And Biden is no better. Them, together, will destroy America. And as of today, Biden won the election. If the Supreme Court cannot prove the fraud and demand recounts, he will be inaugurated in January. I think Trump’s team has until December 6th to turn all evidence in for their case? I can’t remember the date exactly.... but Trump has not conceded to the win because he knows that Biden rigged the election. This is not just a conspiracy either. Too many people have eyes on this with PROOF of fraud. So yeah. That’s all I want to say about the election. It’s a huge headache and I hate so much how divided the country is. In 2020 we’ve had so much hatred between citizens, we’ve had Black Lives Matter protests and looting, we’ve had riots everywhere, we’ve had Covid, we’ve had lockdowns, we’ve had a brutal election, we’ve had more crime than ever, we’ve had murder hornets?? (where did those go!?), we’ve had schools and churches shut down, we've had to homeschool, we are forced to wear masks, we’ve had rules upon rules placed on us and basic rights taken away. We’ve had to pick sides so many times; no one is united! It’s been terrible and awful and so painfully depressing. The election was just another slap in the face. And I’m only touching on it for my blog book. But it’s too stressful to go into too much depth. Honestly. I had to get off social media for a bit, I’m not watching the news anymore and I asked Shawn to please stop talking about this dang election, for just a few days! Mentally, it is so hard for me. I just want to fast forward to whenever Covid is over. I’m just so very tired of it all....

So, yeah. That’s where I’m at. However, in 11 days we are flying to Boise for Thanksgiving and I can NOT wait! I always get so homesick at Thanksgiving time (especially when we go to Louisiana) but this year I don’t have to have any sadness on Thanksgiving. And I need it more after this stupid year than ever before. I NEED my family to cheer me up right now. I will be with my siblings and nieces and nephews and cousins and grandparents and Mom and Dad, etc. There is literally nothing I want more. I can’t wait to hug everyone🥰

Idaho, here we come!