Halloween 2010

When my doorbell rang tonight, it wasn't completely unexpected. I had received a heads up that I was going to get some trick-or-treaters. So I was ready. But I wasn't prepared for the incredible costumes and big smiles on the faces of the five princesses.

This will probably be Emily's final opportunity to actually collect candy on Halloween. She'll probably accompany her sisters on future trick-or-treat runs, but when you're as tall as she is – nearly 5-foot-9-inches – you're easily mistaken for an adult. I'm guessing that happened this year, though I forgot to ask.


Left to right:
Veronica as a lady bug, Olivia as a witch (she left her broom and hat in the car) and Julia as a teacher.

Lauren (left) as a "Pajama Princess." Emily as a Valley Girl.

Flashback to the Mount

Yep, that's me in white with the cape.
I came across this photo recently and thought it was appropriate to post here on Halloween. It's from the 1984 Mount Michael Halloween party, when I was a senior. My best friend in high school, Matt Eldredge, is playing "Shadow" and I am "Super Spook." Our friend, Becky Dooley, who went to Millard North, is (somewhat uneasily) posing with us.

The nicknames "Spook" and "Shadow" were given to us by Fr. Richard, then the sophomore dean. He thought we hung around together a lot. Admittedly, we did.

Happy 10th Birthday Julia!

Julia (far left) enjoys an Oreo shake
at Applebee's with Olivia (center) and Emily.
Poor Julia.

She said she kept forgetting that it was her birthday.

The nice, plush warm-up top and pants she received from the Birthday Fairy apparently weren't top of mind. Neither was the nice basketball she picked out at the sporting good store. Or the delicious dinner she enjoyed at Applebee's.

You can't blame her, though. There were a lot of other things going on: early dismissal from school, Dad's late pick-up from extended day (his alarm went off and he ignored it), a fun lunch from Bronco's that included huge trick-or-treat bags and two movies to watch at the apartment ("Mr. Destiny" and "Mannequin"). So the milestone of turning double digits was a bit lost in all the activity that comes with being the middle child of five.

'Back To The Future' In The Spotlight

Some of the major contributors to the first "Back to the Future" movie (from left): Lea Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Michael J. Fox, director Robert Zemeckis and Huey Lewis.
Twenty-five years ago, I recall watching "Good Morning America" preview a summer movie featuring "Family Ties" star Michael J. Fox. Joining him in studio was Christopher Lloyd, whom I did not know. The clip shown was the one where "Marty McFly" runs into his (eventual) mom in the halls of his high school. The movie looked "cute" but what really drew my attention was the premise of time travel and the science fiction-type storyline.

Little did anyone know that we would still be talking about this movie a quarter century later – and that the YD princesses would enjoy it as much as I do. So when I saw some cast members and major players from the movie were going to be on the network talk shows this morning, I cranked up the VCR. (Yes, I still have one.)

Most interesting of all to me is the fact that a good portion of the first movie was shot with Eric Stoltz playing Marty McFly's character. That had to be a bit of a nightmare for director Robert Zemeckis to go back and re-shoot so many scenes with Fox. But it certainly paid off.

Click here to watch the Back to the Future Reunion on the Today Show.

Bump, Set, Spike, Ohhh.

It doesn't always turn out like you want it to.

Emily's Volleyball Season In The Books

Grandma and Grandpa Weide watched Emily play Thursday.
Emily's season of eighth-grade volleyball has come to a close. Thursday was the regular season finale for St. Mary's and the Spartans came from behind to win in three sets. It was pretty thrilling and Grandpa and Grandma Weide were on hand to see it, along with Aunt Bridget.

Today was the first day of the post-season tournament. Emily's team rolled in straight sets over All Saints to earn the right to play St. Bernadette's Gold squad in the quarterfinals. St. Bernadette was seeded second, while St. Mary's was seeded seventh.

St. Mary's won the first set in a nail-biter, then narrowly lost the second. With no substitutes, they slowly wore down and couldn't come back from a 9-6 deficit in losing the final set 15-8. It was disappointing, but Emily showed incredible improvement from the beginning of the season – particularly in the serving department.

She served underhanded the first two-thirds of the season, but switched to alternating between underhand and overhand and had great success – including four aces in the final two matches.

Weasel Stomping Party

Lauren Puts Her Practice To The Test

St. Vincent de Paul hosted the Wits Clash competition.
For the past couple weeks, Lauren has been practicing for her Wits Clash competition. I know this because the sessions are on Tuesdays after school – the same day I get to enjoy the company of the five princesses for a few hours.

Today, I got to see all that hard work pay off when St. Mary's School participated in the Wits Clash competition at St. Vincent de Paul School. Lauren's sixth grade glass squared off against other schools for three hours of questions-and-answers about science, math, literature and geography. Unfortunately, St. Mary's struggled at times, losing all five of its matches. But after sitting out the first match, Lauren consistently came up with answers to some pretty hard questions.

It was nice to see Lauren "back in competition" after a few years away (she last did something competitive in extracurricular activities when she played soccer at St. Thomas More). And fortunately, there will be more Wits Clash competitions next spring.

Lauren ... caught sneaking a glance.

And Another One's Gone...

Julia's toothy smile has a few gaps in it.
Just like the chorus of Queen's rock anthem, "Another one bites the dust," another one (tooth) is gone from Julia's mouth.

Dad has lost count of how many she has lost, but our tooth fairy, Lu, is probably keeping track. Lu has paid out quite a bit of money to the YD family over the years and Julia is certainly making her pay up now, too.

Pumpkin Carving

Olivia and Veronica did the honors on our pumpkins this year.

YD Princesses Halloween Rap

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Ready for Halloween

The girls' work to decorate the ledge in the hallway.
We bought two pumpkins (for $10) at Bag 'n Save today to decorate the ledge landing in the hallway of my apartment.

It's always fun to spice up an otherwise drab area that seems tailor-made for some type of display – given that there are spotlights and all.

Lauren, Julia, Olivia and Veronica took turns standing up on the landing to put decorations in place and hang Halloween-themed items on the walls and window. As the finishing touch, we scattered three bags worth of candy around. It's always fun to watch how long it takes for the candy to disappear...

A view from the top of the stairs.