Thanks to all of the eight people that read this blog. If you are reading this, chances are you know me and/or my mom who is celebrating her birthday. Or you like reading up on Halloween and this caught your attention. So, welcome. And now you get to hear about my mom’s birthday.

She had one. And it was fun.

We got the family together and watched my niece’s presentation of Shrek for her school play.

Here she is along with the gingerbread man. Honestly, Amelia has personality bursting at the seams, and acting could totally be a thing for her.

But that’s not all! Cici’s birthday continued with dinner at the newest taco place in town, Southbound.

Getting together with the family is just fun. Sad to think the days are numbered now that the biggest one of the group – I am referring to the age of the children here- is in High School; those days are going to fly by, and she will be off to college.

But that’s not all! The birthday continued with a concert with Maverick City Music. If you haven’t heard of them, they were awesome. They do some powerful worship music.

Here we are before the show celebrating the poor lighting for selfies. Our seats were only three rows away from the worst seats in the place.

The venue was engineered for pretty awesome sound. Notice my technical words “pretty awesome”, and you will just have to understand that means the acoustics, even in the worst seats, were superb.

It was a powerful night of worship. It was good for the soul. These are the songs I have listened to over the past couple years, many on repeat, when things feel crummy, and seeing the show in person was a special moment.

The whole place was on their feet dancing, lifting their hands up, and just praising. Maybe more concerts like this should be on the agenda?

Ok, just one more about the show. Here is a short clip from one of the songs I have enjoyed over the past year:

Broadway

Well, it is a traveling broadway? But it starts with the letter “B” so let’s go with it.

Rosie, the apple of my eye, “Rosie Posie” as she is known, got to join Taylor and I and take advantage of our season tickets to the local venue to see the Broadway presentation of Aladdin.

It was dope. Aladdin was one of the few VHS tapes I owned as a kid; it was a Disney movie, without a princess, so of course I was into it. The best part of the movie? Robin Williams as the Genie. The best part of the play? Some other un-named guy playing the genie. I mean, he really stole the show.

We saw the lamp before the show.

Rosie and her friends totally 1-upped us when it came to taking a good picture though.

The show was a blast. And so was our fancy dinner before the show where we sugared up the kids before telling them to be quiet and sit still for a performance:

You probably guessed right: It was just me and a whole lot of girls for this evening as well.

Boo!

Not “Boo, you suck!” But “Boo” as in, Happy Halloween! Last post covered some halloween, like the fall-harvest festival at our church. If you didn’t read it, you honestly didn’t miss much.

But it did not include Halloween. And the kids in costumes that lit up Facebook: well, this is about 8 days too late to the party.

Every year for a few years now, Mallory, Everly, and Deborah come over for trick or treating. Guess what? Yes, I am the only dude in this situation as well.

Mercy is happier than she looks. Everly cracks me up every time. They love each other so much. And Rosie was almost shaking she was so excited to go get the candy.

Ok ok, this pic of Taylor just cracks me up. And if you zoom in on Mercy’s face.

Our neighborhood is bonkers for halloween. They close off the road, and the kids just do the rest. Rosie is old enough to run around with her friends almost unattended. Mercy didn’t really know to say “trick or treat” like she was supposed to (she did for 1 house).

So, we just strolled. Saw lots of friends, the weather was a bit chilly (coming from a guy who HATES the cold).

A few days later, Rosie didn’t have school for a teacher workday, so the daddy-daughter breakfast date at Tex and Shirley’s was special. Yes, the nostalgia that my wife loves to hate, that I went there with my dad when I was a kid, makes it pretty cool too. Back then, it was a different location, but I don’t want to sound like an old man going down memory lane…

We got to go on a hike around Greensboro on day last weekend. We made it 1 mile in about an hour, complete with a stop for a snack:

Again, Mercy is happier than she looks in this pic.

And, this just made me giggle, and I want to share it with no context: