My goodness! What a weekend! Last night was the Chugach school carnival. I have such fabulous memories of my school Halloween carnivals when I was a kid. I can almost smell the popcorn and can easily be transported to the haunted house in the music room. I also have very fond memories of winning goldfish with the pingpong throw. I think my kids will have similar good thoughts.

Christopher (aka Uncle Sam) took his neighborhood friends with him while Cate hung with her school buds. Toph was funny -- he kept asking "can I be the grim reaper? Can I be a zombie? Can I be a werewolf?" I kept saying no, no -- trying to encourage a less gory costume. And then he comes up with "can I be Uncle Sam?" Well, that was an easy yes!

I was pretty busy with the school auction. I may have been a bit insane on the day I volunteered to be on the Auction Committee. Truly? Had I had too much coffee that morning? What was I thinking? I say that -- really, it is a lot of fun, and a wonderful sense of being part of a like-minded group of women who are working hard for the school. We had a really fun, smart, accomplished group of moms working hard to make it go well. We had business people, artists, and all types in between. There was a phenomenal amount of varied talent working towards the single goal. That said, it's a LOT of work and I'm really happy to have it completed. I'll be quite interested to hear what our final tally was -- as long as we make our "budget" I'll be happy.

Isn't this a nice shot of Cate with her new friend Ani? There has been some "mean girl" type of behavior on the playground this year that had Cate's feelings hurt earlier in the year. She then discovered Ani and it has been a joy to see her so excited to have a friend of her own. When I asked her what she likes about Ani, she replied "Well, she laughs a lot. And, when she sees me on the playground she runs towards me with her arms open wide yelling my name out loud." Doesn't everybody need a friend who runs towards you with their arms open wide, yelling your name in joy to see you? Somethings never really change. What a sweet answer. And I'm happy she has a friend who does that for her.

Poor Cate hasn't been feeling well. She really hasn't been acting like herself all weekend, but she's been a trooper and kept up with our busy schedule. Until tonight. She fell asleep at 5pm on the couch after snuggling on the couch with me most of the afternoon while we watched a movie. Definitely not her normal behavior. She hasn't had a fever, but the puking has begun. Pray for us -- it could be a long night.