The Saturday 7

I forgot to write this before midnight, but then I remembered that we fall back an hour tonight, so if I crank this out in 40 minutes, I'll still technically be able to call it the "Saturday 7."

1. I decided this week that Halloween is more stressful than Christmas. I start prepping for Christmas (buying gifts) months in advance. I have detailed lists of who I'm buying what for and how much I spend. When we get down to the actual holiday, we spread parties out over days, and are able to enjoy time spent with family and friends. For Halloween, I frantically stuff my kids into their costumes over snowsuits, grab their buckets, and start making the rounds to see all our family members, meet up with our friends, try to find as many indoor activities as possible to avoid the rain and snow, figure out how and when we'll eat dinner (thanks, Sparta Baptist for the free hot dogs!), hold 3 pairs of gloves, hats, and scarves when the kids "aren't cold", then help Levi shove 10 wiggly fingers into 10 stiff glove-finger-holes 2 minutes later, juggle at least one kid with an attitude problem, one kid who's a runner, and one who insisted on wearing high heels and now her feet hurt. Next year, I'm buying 3 jumbo sized assorted bags of candy, dumping a bag into each kid's pumpkin at home, and sitting on my couch. But then we'd miss out of prime photo opportunities like these . . .

6 kids under 10 makes for an interesting picture. Haha.

Alien, Spiderman, pop-star

Lena's costume was my favorite. Haha

Caught red handed! Lol

That moment when Aunt Niki says, "take 10 pieces" and plops the bowl down in front of you.

Trick or treating in the snow . . . with your costume on backwards.

This is the first Halloween we've lived in town, and Lena really wanted to pass out candy, but I didn't buy any for that purpose, so I told her she'd have to give out her own. Once we were done trick or treating, she parked herself by the front door and handed out candy . . . the candy that's been sitting in a bowl on the counter since the parade in July. Lol!

2. Even before spending an evening outside in the wind, rain, and snow, most of my family has been fighting sickness this week. I guess this is what we get for taking a year off of school: lack of immunity to all the school germs. I started coughing on Sunday and have gotten progressively worse. I actually slept on the couch a few nights to keep my head elevated more than it would be in bed. I despise coughing. Levi and Justin both have the cough/stuffiness. And Lena has been fighting something weird for over a week. She stayed home from school three days this week. At first I thought it might've just been anxiety, but then she started falling asleep in the middle of the day, having terrible stomach pain, and [Kelly, don't read this] throwing up in the middle of the night - which is unheard of for her. Lucy and Levi puke at the drop of a hat, but I honestly don't remember Lena ever puking before this week.

3. After my rough weekend last week and Kara's "rhetorical" question in response to my blog post about cutting back on my medication, I decided to stop fighting it and just take the full dose. (You're right, Kara. It's silly not to do what's best for me.) I don't want to be on the max dose because I feel like there is nothing in my life that warrants such depression. I know people on high doses of meds because their lives are falling apart, they've been abused, they are living in traumatic circumstances, etc. I'm just a grumpy stay at home mom who has everything she's ever wanted and can't be happy with it. Vainly, I also feel like the antidepressants have contributed to my weight gain (along with other stupid factors like aging/losing my fast metabolism and an inability to say no to carbs or sugar). I'd love to wean myself off of them just so I don't have to diet or exercise to lose weight. Lol. Regardless, my brain apparently needs all 200 mg of the Zoloft to function without weeping and gnashing of teeth. So I'll give it what it needs for now.

4. This week news was finally made public that the family store is closing. My mom's cousins own a variety store in town that was a huge part of my adolescence. It was my first job outside of babysitting, and I went back to my roots this week to work at it a few more times before it's gone for good. After 26 years, Phil and Krindi are retiring. They've sold the building and put up the "Going Out of Business" signs on Tuesday. Friday kicked off their big "Wall-to-Wall Going Out of Business" sale. It worked out that Justin stayed home sick from work that day, so after I dropped the girls off at school, I went to check out the sale. Since I was kid-free and there were bargains to be had, I took my precious time, looking at everything, and filling my basket with treasures. By the time I finally got in line, it was stretched around the store! I stood in line for an hour (largely thanks to the lady ahead of me who spent $800!), and when I made it to the front, mentioned to Krindi that Justin was home and I could stay and help if need be. I ended up working for 4 hours that day, and 6 more today! Usually, my sisters and I run the store the Saturday after Thanksgiving - our one day a year that we pretend to know what we're doing so Phil, Krindi, and their family can have a break. But the way things were selling yesterday and today, I'm not sure there will be anything left by the end of November! It was so fun to see the community support and to hear person after person say, "We're so sad to see you go. We love this store!" I'm honored to have been a small part of it.

5. Working for a measly 10 hours over the past two days, however, reminded me that I would be a terrible working mother. I came home each day and fell asleep on the couch. Haha. And I cannot even begin to describe the state of my house after two days of neglect. I guess it should make me feel good that I do actually do something every day when I'm home. I don't feel like I'm the best housekeeper, but just following Levi around cleaning up his messes is pretty much a full time job, and when I take a day off, it's obvious! Mad props to all you women out there who work and take care of your homes!

6. That's it for today because I'm exhausted and not going to make it by "midnight" if I don't stop now. Enjoy these last few pictures and your extra hour of sleep tonight.