Halloween and Photos

Happy Halloween to everyone! It is chilly and cloudy here today, with a chance of rain in the forecast, but believe me, that will not stop this mama from hitting the streets with the kids. Sam is a Ninja this year, and Owen is a dinosaur, and I can't wait. We do the Trunk-or-Treat thing, and then we head on over to the nursing home across the way, and afterward there are the stops to see Grandma and Grandma and friends. The ultimate goal for the kids is, of course, to acquire as much candy as possible in as short a time possible. I am like one of the people in the vans following along a bicycle race; there to shout out encouragement, mop the sweaty brow, administer first aid in the form of just one more bite-size Snickers in order to keep the sugar rush going strong. I do it well, though admittedly have ulterior motives. I love me some Almond Joy, and Kit Kats really light my fire, but what I really love is the inevitable crash that comes after the sugar wears off. Last year, both the little boys were comatose by 9:00, and I had the rest of the evening to myself-everyone wins.

On to other things; we had class last night, and wouldn't you know it, the class we skipped last week because I wasn't feeling well was The Sex Class-the ONE class I really, really wanted the kids to go to. The woman is going to come talk to us adults in a week or two, so that will be good, but I really wanted to kids to hear all she had to say. I guess she talked about all of the myths surrounding sex, the things that kids actually believe: that you can't get pregnant when he pulls out (um, hello Owen! and that was with birth control!), that you can't get diseases from oral sex, that anal sex isn't really sex...plus a lot of simple biology that a lot of kids don't know. I know that the kids and I have talked about the subject a lot, but not in such blunt, matter-of-fact ways about the intricacies of sex. T., one of the instructors, was telling us that one of the girls she knew who was pregnant when she was 12 is now 14 and has TWO kids-and she said that now there are 3 young people who don't have a chance. These are the things I want my kids to know. T. also said, though, that I am more than welcome to go to the Sex Talk in their other English Speaking class, so it doesn't appear that we have missed the opportunity.

In talking about sex, do you remember me telling you all about the man who was adamant that his 14 year old wasn't having sex? The one with hickeys all over herself? He told us this week that not only is she sexually active, but that she has been sexually active with a 27 year old man. This fucking pisses me off. What in the FUCK? I hold the man responsible for taking advantage of this 14 year old girl-and yes, I am sure it was consensual, I am not absolving her of her part in this, but still, what kind of sick fucker DOES this? Well-a sick fucker. And, ahem, where were mom and dad? This girl is already in trouble, but clearly mom and dad are either not capable or willing to impose appropriate limits. In my way of thinking, if she has already proven that she lies, sneaks around, and can't be trusted, then she shouldn't be out of the arena of adult supervision. I am disgusted, angry, and so, so sad for this girl.

However, I am grateful that this isn't our family. With luck and hard work and good kids, it won't be. Moving on....

If you guys have noticed the new icon up in the right hand side, I am going to participate in the NaBloPoMo this year. More for discipline than anything else, because I suck at following through-as is evidenced by the fact that I never got past Day 10 in the Guided Journal. But I am not a quitter, so will try again-but I need some ideas. Please feel free to tell me what you would like to hear from me in the coming month. I am going to get to use the "Scheduled Post" function in blogger, which will be fun (I don't have a PC at home), but I very well may run out of topics....so fill up the comments in the next days with ideas, okay?

With that, I leave you some photos of my little guys LAST Halloween-are they not gorgeous?