Planning Mode

I am in full blown planner mode! Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays... they are all right around the corner and I want to have a plan in my head for each and every one of them.

Halloween: Each year (for awhile now) we have done a theme. Last year was decades. We had a diner girl (50's), a gangster (20's), a "Scream" guy (90's), and two 80's girls. The year before was superheroes. We had Wolverine, a knight, a viking (Astrid from "How to Train Your Dragon"), a soldier and Super Girl. And one year we went with a Wizard of Oz theme... THAT was fun and cute and everyone loved it. Lexi was Dorothy, Jacob was Tinman, Kadie was The Cowardly Lion, Adam was Scarecrow and Sara was a flying monkey... I was the Wicked Witch. I put on my dress, put on my Snugli baby carrier and put Sara in it. THEN I put her costume over her so it looked like she was flying :) It is easily my favorite theme and I imagine everyone else's too. Up until this year, that is. This year we are all getting in on the action and we are back to a cast of characters. I revealed our theme on Facebook yesterday but everyone will have to wait until next month when the costumes are all put together and the makeup and hair is all done. I think I am more excited about this year's theme than anyone else! Do you want to know what our theme is? Well, ok, twist my arm... It's Alice in Wonderland! Most of our costumes are going to be homemade or pieced together... no store bought full costumes. This way is cheaper, more fun and let's the kids (and mostly me LoL) interpret the characters how we want but still make them recognizable. I bet you can't wait to see us all dressed up :) The tricky part will be when the older two want to split off with their friends and we end up losing two characters... lucky for us the main character is a sweet and sassy 9yr old that loves sticking to her mama's side!

Thanksgiving: This I hadn't really thought of. I don't want to cook... I know that much. I don't have any friends here so no one but the family to cook for and I do that every day already. I suppose I could meet people between now and then or just offer up my house as a place to go for anyone military families with no place to go. What I'd really like to do is take a weekend flight to visit a friend and be able to go Black Friday shopping with her! Of course, I don't know if this is a possibility. Flights aren't too terrible around then but I haven't talked to her about it and I haven't talked to the husband about it. I doubt he would go for it anyway... it's just a thought. I'll probably just end up using my roaster to make a turkey, make my amazing mashed potatoes and cook the day away. It's one of the few things I am good at, so might as well stick to it, right? As for Black Friday shopping... maybe I will take the girls out with me, or the whole family! What do you think about that, John? HAHAHAHA! Anyway, I'm not too concerned about Thanksgiving, that tends to just fall into place anyway.

Christmas: Oh, it sure is sneaking up on us. You know there are only 13 weekends between now and Christmas?! That means only 6 pay periods for us military families paid twice a month. Wow... how did it get here so fast??? Despite the fact that it's just right around the corner, I do know what I want to get my kids for Christmas but shhhhh don't tell them! The Santa gifts are going to be somewhat big... I want to get Lexi her own clarinet. One she can keep and we won't have to rent or borrow. She can have it now, and over the summer, and when we move. Of course I don't want to spend $800 on one so I hope whatever I do decide to get her will last and not fall apart because it is cheaply made. I guess if that's the case then we keep renting and/or borrowing. {shrugs shoulders} Jacob has been wanting a ripstik for quite some time now and I think this Christmas will be the one where he gets it. The weather is more conducive to getting outdoor toys for Christmas since they will be able to use them right away and it will keep him active. Kadie is easy... an American Girl Doll.,.. oh wait, no. I still don't want to spend that kind of money on a doll, so I am getting her a practice balance beam! It basically sits on the floor but she can practice her balance, her cartwheels and any number of other things on it. She already has a bar she plays on all the time, so this will be perfect (and I am slowly turning my great room into a gymnasium LoL). Adam is getting a 12x6 soccer goal... which I suppose really is a family gift... hmmm, might have to rethink that one. Anyway, all the kids will love it. I almost want to go buy it now and set it up for them... THAT is how much they are going to love that thing. As for Sara... I don't have the slightest clue. She is following in Kadie's footsteps with the love of gymnastics but I don't have room in my house for anymore equipment. She likes soccer but not as much as Adam & Lexi. She is basically a mini adult. She would rather sit next to me and watch a movie than play with the other kids. She would rather sit and have a conversation with the adults than play in the other room with friends. So what do you get a kid like that... an espresso machine?! I really am lost as to what to get her. I know she won't know if it costs less or think any lesser of it if it's smaller than everyone else's gifts but I will know. And it will bother me! Gah! Any suggestions??? I did already buy the girls some barbies and Jacob some Legos and some cool looking dino transformer thingy for Adam... all on clearance! Plus I got them each a body board for the beach. And for Christmas Eve we are going to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl! If you don't know what that is, it's a College football Bowl game. We have no idea who will be playing but the kids are super excited about it... and I haven't been to a college football game since... well, since college and it will be my kids' first one. We know Ohio State won't be there (their conference doesn't take part in that bowl) and that's cool because we are hoping to be watching them in the National Championship game ;)

Birthdays: We started our "Six months of birthdays" on August 1st with John's birthday. We went down to Waikiki Beach and watched a hula show then had dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Beachcomber which was amazing, albeit pricey, but amazing! On the 2nd we headed over to the beach again for swimming at dusk and fireworks at dark, right behind the Hale Koa for Jacob's birthday which wasn't until the next day but it was free fun. On the 3rd we had Da Big Kahuna for dinner. It was a good dinner, pricey again, but we got a good deal of food and the atmosphere was very kid friendly. It was also close to our hotel which was a major bonus. Kadie's birthday was 10 days ago. We started the day with donuts and balloons from Safeway then headed to Waikiki for a 90 minute submarine tour that John got an amazing deal on ($95... for ALL of us). Kadie had originally wanted Pizza Hut for dinner but since we were already in Honolulu we decided to find Round Table Pizza and eat there since we still had to drive back home and then order pizza and we had already missed lunch. We got lost finding the pizza place but eventually found it. The kids were tired and starving when we got there but it ended up being a great day. Sara's birthday is the next one up and we have decided to go with a spa theme. She is already talking about who she is inviting. I think I am going to stick with 2 friends, plus my girls for the party. It will keep my cost down and she will enjoy it all the same. I'm thinking simple but for her it will be perfect. Adam's birthday is only 18 days after that and I have no idea what we are doing for his. It's hard when they are on school break and people go out of town... of course we are in Hawaii now so he might just have friends around to come over for his party... if we have a party... hmmm. Why is it so much easier to have parties for girls than it is for boys?! Hmmm I'll have to do some thinking on this one. Then there is Lexi... she is turning 13 and this party is going to be BIG! Not Sweet 16 big, but big none the less. Her parties are usually the best out of everyone's... does that make me a bad mom? She is just so easy to plan for and she almost always has friends that she hangs out with all the time that she would invite. Plus her birthday is smack dab in the middle of the school year so it's much easier to plan and invite and actually have people available. Her theme this year is a glow party... or a rave, as John just so happened to point out. I have all kinds of ideas going through my head. It's going to be a blast! I foresee a large purchase from Oriental Trading Company before then... and I will most definitely be hitting up Halloween clearance too :) Oh, I almost forgot... my birthday is in there too. However, I have NO IDEA what I am doing for my birthday. John will be in Virginia for military schooling and it's unlikely I will have a babysitter or any friends or family here to celebrate with me. Might have to talk my kids into making me breakfast and pampering me all day. All I ask for is no fighting, no whining and them doing all the work I usually have to do... is that so much to ask?! I ask for the same thing on Mother's Day too... and that never happens LoL

So yeah... planning... lots and lots of planning.