If Christmas is your Birthday

I joke with my wife every time the conversation comes up. "Do you remember when the doctor told us Sean was going to be born on Christmas?"

I don't have to think for long because it is something that poises on my consciousness all the time; all year long. If the conversation or thought comes up I know where the file is and I retrieve it quite fast. The memory that my son was born on Christmas is something I would never had thought of before the moment I found out.

There's some self indulgent comedy or self-praise in the telling of the story. You see, when we were with the Obstetrician for our visit to confirm our pregnancy a question was posed to Mrs. Walsh.

"When was your last cycle Mrs. Walsh?"

I cringed at the question as I usually do when confronted with obviously private questions of innards. But as the pause stretched into an obvious faux paux I found the courage to compete to the answer.

"March 21st." I blurted out and cupped my mouth as soon as the date escaped my mouth.

"I mean.." "right, honey?"

"It was somewhere in there.." "The 21st."

I don't remember how long it took for our Dr. to tell us but I remember it wasn't long. Like the time it takes to look down at what your writing as you write a date and then look up to spill the beans.

"You're going to have a Christmas baby." and we're now officially doomed... Poor Sean.

Tomorrow I'm going to finish this tale, tell you about his birthdays and then think up a plan once and for all for the Birthday boy or girl born on Christmas.

Francis Walsh
Houston Banquet Planner.com

The Ultimate Halloween Party

by Bethany Sanders Oct 15th 2008 8:00AM

As my daughter reminded me this morning, there are only 15 days left until Halloween. Halloween falls on a Friday this year, perfect for trick-or-treating that runs past bedtime, but also a great opportunity to throw a Halloween party.Before you start thinking, A Halloween party? Now I have to entertain in addition to making costumes, baking cupcakes, and buying candy?, consider this. A Halloween party is a great way to enjoy time as a family, spend time with busy friends, or avoid going door-to-door, if trick-or-treating just isn't your thing.A Family PartyA party need not include guests. Instead, send invitations to your kids inviting them to a family Halloween bash, right in your kitchen. Here are some ideas for making this night of family fun more memorable:

Come in costume ... the young and the young at heart. Your kids will appreciate your enthusiasm.

Start with dinner, appropriately gruesome for the holiday -- try spaghetti and eyeballs, bat wings, and a cauldron full of witches brew.

Now it's time to have fun! Carve a pumpkin and have a seed spitting contest; load the wagon with hay and go on a "hayride"; or have a candy scavenger hunt in your backyard.

End the night with an easy craft (try one of these), then curl up in bed with some popcorn to watch a Halloween movie together, like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, or It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!. Or finish of the night with a not-too-scary book for little ones like Go Away Big Green Monster!.A Bigger BashFeeling up to a bigger party that includes family, friends and/or neighbors?

Try some of these ideas:

Consider a theme: Think pumpkin carving, monster mash, haunted house, or even fall/harvest.
Hold a Best Costume contest, with plenty of categories so that everyone can receive a prize.
Keep everyone busy with a game or two. Try Zombie Tag or Spider Relays, get them giggling with Mummy Wrap, or set up a pumpkin bowling alley.

Don't forget the creepy cuisine! Kaboose has an excellent list of simple spooky recipes, while those with a little more experience in the kitchen (and time on their hands) might want to try some of Family Fun's more involved recipes. Remember -- the little touches mean a lot. Freeze water inside plastic gloves, then peel and float these "hands" in your punch bowl. You can also freeze gummy worms in ice cubes for a slimy surprise!

Time to wrap it up? Settle everyone down with a craft. Buy mini-pumpkin gourds and supply paints, glitter, and craft supplies for decorating. Older kids might like making a candle-"eye"-bra. Or send everyone home with their own yummy-mummy treat cups. The most important part of your Halloween party should be your child's participation in the process. They can make invitations, plan and put up decorations, gather materials for crafts and games, and help out in the kitchen, all the while building excitement for this spooky night of memory making.

Growing Up Halloween Pt. 6

Lt. Lafleur, French Captain of the Guard

Before the next explosion came, Eric and Francis stood frozen in space. When you become so scared in an instant, the body revolts. Francis's insides were suddenly outside as if every inch of him were feeling a touch at the same moment. his blood rushed quickly to the surface of any surface, the hair stood up stiff from the root. Terror is something that is prolonged, but what occurred right after the first report was instantaneous fear, which gripped each friend for an instant in time making them unable to respond physically. The explosion was more than just a sound. A violent shake of the ground seemed to happen as the shock wave that was created caused the boys to fall to the ground. The fog that contained everything pushed and fell back into place as the shock pulsed through it. The fog which was so nice to look through just minutes...or hours before, had become solid and thick with the smell of sulphur.

KA-BOOOOM..BA-BOOOM, two more extremely loud reports went off from the opposite side of the field, and now in between, there were men yelling. Yelling at each other in anger. From the small theater that was the fog, these voices made the fog huge. from over a distance now could be heard more explosions and yelling a sound of what neither boy could relate to, but it was here, all around them.




"KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTHHHHH!!!!!!" KEEEEEEEEEEEEEITH!!" Eric began to call for his brother now in earnest. This boy had had enough, and his "scared" turned to terror. As if a realization had occurred, and the youngest friend had concluded on his own that it was his time to get things back to normal. Normal as far as he could make it, and the next best thing was to have his older brother around to take charge of the situation. For Eric trusted Keith to get them both out of any situation. Blood is thicker than water we always said.. Francis agreed inside with Eric too. It would be better to have three instead of two. When Eric stopped calling, Francis would start. They picked themselves up off the ground and made way toward what they thought was the far side of the field. If Keith had kept walking before everything went crazy, he could have made it to the sand pit and be waiting there for them.

What they wanted to do was walk, but now a regular beat of explosions had begun, and they were left to crawling on all fours as each explosion shook the Earth and air around them. They had gone about half-way to the pits when Eric found Keith. "Francis!!" "KEITH'S HURT!! Just because Eric found Keith first and was only a couple of feet ahead, was proof that the fog was still around. More smoke than fog maybe, the scent remained to burn the nostrils with each breathe, you could see the smoke when you exhaled, and as Francis got closer to Keith's face, he could see that his friend was blowing the same smoke out his mouth and nose. He could have been asleep. He could be faking. He could have fainted. But no, Francis could see that there was a patch of blond hair above his temple that was wet and red. What could have been a great way to end this whole event had become an even worse occurrence. More and more Francis felt like inside his head was been spun like a machine. Inside moving so fast while outside so slow. He felt like this on long car rides and tall building, but he felt like that now. Once again an instant scared feeling secured him to the spot. When the moment passed scared turned to fright, and then to determination because that's what you do when you have nothing else to do but cry.

If you buy a costume online in 2008...

Many Americans are looking forwards to a little celebrating this Halloween. With all the turmoil we face in these times of new presidential candidates, and financial downturn, this Halloween is going to be one of the best ways to shake off the bad JuJu we are facing in the "real world".

If you are looking at buying a Halloween Costume Online you should know when you have run out of time for getting that perfect Halloween Costume shipped to your home from the online retailers and shops.

As of October 7th, 2008 9:12AM, this was reported from Spirit Halloween

Halloween is fast approaching! For guaranteed delivery by Halloween (10/31) orders need to be placed by 12PM (noon) EST on these dates:

10/20 via Ground Shipping
10/27 via 3 Day shipping
10/29 via Overnight Shipping

Halloween is less than a month away so now's the time to get the best Halloween Costume to enjoy the festive spirit of the season!

AND.... Remember that Halloween falls on a Friday this year. The chance to get some fun in before returning to the "real world" is fast approaching. Don't let another minute go by without knowing you are getting a great costume to share the best part of Halloween. Fun and Fright can be had all around the Country, but it comes and goes fast. Get in on the fun and get a costume to enhance your fun this Halloween.

Great Halloween Sales for 2008 "October 7th"

Thanks for asking. We have received a very large amount of replies to our ad posted just a while ago.. I will be creating something for anyone who asks, but right now I am putting the requests in order and dealing with each one individually. Look for our email, and reply quickly once received.I am unable to guarantee that the 15 costumes will not go fast. If you do not get a chance to buy one, I have put some clearance links below for you to look through while I get your list together. Thanks..

Costume Craze 60% Off clearance

Shindigz Clearance (click on the clearance tab)

Spirit Halloween Clearances

Halloween Costumes 4 U

Extreme Halloween Network

Growing Up Halloween Pt.4

A Short-Cut

As soon as Keith and Francis reached the edge of the field, the morning mist took control of the day. It took only a few steps in between friends to make one disappear from view. "Keith...", "Eric?".."Hey, where did you guys go?.." It seemed as if this mist had carried Francis far away from where he once stood. Without moving a muscle, the sound of someone yelling far off in the distance was heard. "FRrrr rrrrrrrrrr rrrrraaa aaaaaaa ncis!" "Frrrr rrrrrr ranc" "Here I am!!" "I'm over here!" Francis let out a sharp report before the second call had finished the call. "Where are you guys?" The mist was still blocking out all but the muted sunlight that fights its way against a fog. The sun was all that gave the scene a grip on reality as what appear to happen cannot have happened. How it came to be that now his friends were no longer right by his side, but almost too far away to be heard when yelling out a call.





The Separation

Once again the sound of footsteps were close by. "Francis..where did you go?"... That was Eric, Francis was glad that one of the brothers was close by because for as fast as it all happened, this trip in the field was causing alot of delay in their walk to school. "I'm right here Eric, where's Keith?" Eric was close enough now to be seen. "He was right in front of me." "I don't know, he must have missed you and went right on by..KEITH!" The air was still cold enough so that any breathing added to the thickness of the mist. When you shouted, a lrge growing plume of condensed breath could be seen to push and blend with the surrounding fog. While both Francis and Eric had reconnected in the mist, in the field that was supposed to be a morning short-cut, they still had to gather up Keith, and get along with their walk. What was supposed to be a short mornig excursion, had turned out to be a pain in the neck. Without figuring out exactly what had happened in the mist so far, Francis and Eric looked to call out to Keith until the three of them were together again.

Growing Up Halloween

A Ludlow Halloween

The sun sets early. It's been weeks since the end of burnt umber leaves and rustling sounds of piles pushing against the fence. Drier is the season in New England when October falls. For now, the days are filled with friends and school. Bells ring forever in the crisp rolling airs of Ludlow, and Harris Brook bubbles under the way. Oh, what a sensational moment for a child who while smelling the cordwood freshly blowing up a chimney, thinks about the golblins and ghouls who soon will be running these small town streets for candy, goodies and fun.

Halloween in a 4Seasons Town

Francis pulled on one boot, and noticed the left had once again found the bottom of the cellar stairs. Now was the time of year that smells were at their peak. With the infiltration of Autumn, temperatures drop quickly and rise slowly in the morning. Even in the mud room the wet air of the morning hung low above the floor. Going down the stairs in the morning gave Francis the chance to feel the damp coldness of the cellar where not much went on but laundry. But this morning would be the same as any other which started off with a trip down to the 1st step, the boot catcher who caught foul ball boots, sneakers, socks, and the like.

Morning Retreat

Now that there was more in between bare skin and the encroaching frost finger of Autumn, there would be cereal and toast. Soon the kitchen would empty of the morning crowd. Mom made sure everyone left on time. Autumn in Ludlow was a time that had the feel of Halloween. Dark mornings and early nights mixed with blowing leaves and crisp, whispering winds which carried sounds and smells that screamed of Halloween.