Card #19 and a Toot

All right, this card is probably the fastest card I've ever made and it comes with an explanation: I've been dragging my heels when it comes to Hallowe'en, every year, but this year especially! I was put in charge of costumes, and I did nothing to get them together other than think to myself, "Ugh, what am I gonna do about costumes this year?" then moved onto more pressing thoughts, like, "Oh, I better call the principal because Nolan's been in another 'altercation' (polite way of saying 'all out brawl with gangs and sticks'!) at the bus stop!" (Side note: all a misunderstanding that the kids worked out on their own, but still a sample of what I deal with almost every day with him, sigh.) We got our pumpkins on Saturday, but didn't carve them Sunday because we went to the in-laws all day. Excuses, I know, but on Sunday, Ailis said, "Are we ever going to be ready for Hallowe'en?" in this sad, pathetic voice. Oh, it broke my heart, and I thought, you poor thing, having such a party pooper for a mom. So yesterday, I thought, "Suck it up, Buttercup, and get your act together so your kids can have a good memory!" I found this card from last year in my stash:

and decided to give it to Ailis, but then I had nothing for Nolan. So, in between getting out decorations and cleaning pumpkins, I pieced together this:

Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock, stamp set (Thriller), and ink, unknown patterned paper

I used a card pattern from a Close to My Heart idea book called Originals, cut some paper, stamped an image, put it together and wrote in it! Then, I placed the cards by their pumpkins so they would see them right away, and what do I get?

Ailis: Nice card, Mummy!

Me: It's for you, sweetie! Read it!

Ailis: Aw, thanks! (kiss, kiss)

Me: Here, Nolan, I made you one too!

Nolan: Grunt.

Granted, he was mad at one of the bus stop girls for making fun of his non-existent costume, but still, I felt my effort was wasted on him! I'm going to keep it, though, and one day he'll appreciate it (fingers crossed).

Here's me getting into the spirit, by myself!

Good thing I took this self portrait, because there's no pics of the kids carving this year! And here's one of the kids right before trick-or-treating, getting into character:

Ailis is a vampire, and Nolan's a zombie, in case you couldn't tell! We had a great time walking around the neighborhood, then somehow we convinced Jason to bring them to town for the fireworks, which they missed half of, but all's well that ends well. I'm just glad all that crud washed off their faces!

And while I have you enthralled with my Hallowe'en tales of woe, I just wanted to toot my own horn for a sec, because I was chosen as a fave at Scrapbooker's Anonymous, and I won the Golden Globe at From Screen 2 Scrap! I'm riding high on cloud 9 right now, and not even the thought of the kids coming home in an hour is enough to bring me down!!!