Deer Park Farms: Happy Halloween

After hitting the sack after 2 am last night, 8 am came as a mighty shock. You see, on the farm, whether you're out all night, whether you've slept or not, the animals don't give a damn. They still need to eat, still need to be cleaned up after (though I can't say the stalls got cleaned today), and still need a thorough look-over. Stumbling out to grab the keys to drive over to the barn (there was NO way I was walking 1/4 mile to the barn), I surveyed the damage of last night's party. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be, but definitely was going to require some attention.

The horses seemed happy and fine, though Frank's swelling just won't go away and Avdou needs to get out BADLY. Thankfully, I made it out there just before the rain started in full force. I pulled down our "glowing ghosts" that now look more like melted ghosts, and headed back inside. After sorting through a few things, I found a gift that my friend Amy had brought to the party, and I'd set aside and forgotten about - more decorations for the most fun holiday of the year! Thanks, Amy, for the gift - I love them!

I tried to catch a few more hours of sleep before heading to pick up Ellie Graye at my mother's, but I got stuck uploading photos here! :-) Well worth it, though, as I had been getting lots of requests for photos! At least I was laying in bed when I was uploading them! That's resting, right?

I peeled myself out of bed around 1 pm, and began the process of cleaning up - the SLOW process. I found that I was much more comfortable with leaving things just where they were than using any energy to straighten things. As time creeped by, Jeffrey joined in the endevour, and things seemed to get done a bit quicker at that point. Our only goal? Making the living room halfway safe for EG - the rest is waiting until tomorrow or Monday. And oddly enough, I'm ok with that. It's obvious I'm tired if I'm ok with things not being "in their homes."

I think my tolerance for disorder is because I'm still on a high from last night. The culmination of hard work really does give me a bit of an adrenaline rush. Last night, as I was looking around the room at all the smiling, laughing people who were mingling, chatting, and meeting new friends, a feeling of overwhelming satisfaction settled over me. I really do love, love, love providing the forum for people to truly enjoy themselves. I believe entertaining and hosting go so much deeper than just "throwing a party." I also think that anyone can host a great party with the right instructions, elements, and details in place. I've thrown so many fun, successful parties in my life, that I realized that I've "got it down. Still, it was incredibly satisfying to be standing in the living room at 8 pm, putting the ice into the punch, looking at Pilar and realizing that everything was done, in place, and ready for the onslaught - and I didn't feel one ounce of worry or stress! One of these days, I WILL help other people and use that knowledge and skill. One day, I will pursue creating Scrummy Kits - my party planning guides; I just need to find the time. HA.

We picked up EG from Grandma and Bah-Pa's at about 3:40 this afternoon, then headed down to Bridgeport Village to meet up with the Radiches and Simmons for some Trick-Or-Treating with the kiddos. Ellie was enthrawled with all the kids and all the people, and was just so busy (yeah, I know. She was a bee after all).

Auntie Amy greeting Little Miss BumbleBee

That's Will behind the mask!

Zac (AKA Brown Craig)

Mia - we love this little girl!

After hitting up a few stores for treets, we headed over to grab some dinner together at California Pizza Kitchen. We did our best to keep Baby Ellie occupied, but had a few "toddler" moments that were a bit challenging for me to keep a good attitude through! Once we were outside and walking again, she was in good spirits, and excited to be seeing so many new things!

Mia helping keep Ellie entertained!

We hit up a few more stores on the walk back to the car - that's when EG got the hang of the "Look-Cute-Smile-Get-Candy" thing. Apparently the AT&T store was her favorite...she walked in, grabbed a candy, left, then promptly turned around and went back in for seconds! The staff loved her!