Flashback

I'll just go ahead and admit this -- when we get rained out from doing a Chalk Portrait, I have a tendency to hunt down a certain kitten. That certain kitten happens to be a BEAST and is now too big for a lot of her clothes.

Shoosh. Every cat should have clothes.

ANYWAY, she's WAY WAY WAY too big to wear this shirt anymore, but that doesn't stop me from fondly remembering the six minutes when it did fit her.

Let's go Bucs!

She Still Can't Walk By Them Without Making a Wish

It's Getting Spooky Around Here

I take great pride in being that crazy neighbor who puts up WAY too many holiday decorations and puts them up WAY too early. Which is extremely unfortunate because it doesn't appear I'll ever be THAT neighbor again.

It's true.

At our old house, I would itch to start putting up Halloween decorations up on October 1st, but I would usually make myself wait until the 5th or 6th. Even then, I was always the first person to ghoul the place up.

Not so in our new neighborhood. By new, I mean "we've been here four years" but that's not the point. The point is I starting putting up Halloween decorations up outside last weekend, while it was still SEPTEMBER, and I felt like I was late. I felt that way because dozens of other houses were already fully decked out.

It's so weird. DOZENS of people had inflatable Halloween decorations, orange lights, and all sorts of other spooky stuff up weeks ago.

So now I'm trying to outdo them in a different sort of way. I can't be first. I can't have the most. I can, however, do things nobody else in our neighborhood has thought to do.

I am absolutely certain that I've seen the idea somewhere, but I couldn't figure out where. It wasn't in my neighborhood, that much is for sure.

The best part is that Alexis did most of the work. I handed her some felt and told her to cut, and she did exactly that. She didn't understand why she was cutting out a whole bunch of white triangles, but she diligently did the job while I taped the black felt to the door to act as hair. When I added the eyes (from Target's Dollar Spot--they are $3), it suddenly made sense to her. She quickly helped me tape the teeth in place and then ran to the neighbor's house to knock.

She had to show her friends.

And then she stood in the front yard and glowed each time someone walked by and commented on the door.

As if it was her idea all along.

She can have the credit, but only if she hurries up and finishes the little project I gave her for the windows.