Why I Oughta...

The windows at Macy's Marshall Field's are open!   Just less than a week since I noticed the 'coming soon' signs in the windows , they have them up and open. I only saw two of them on the very northwest corner of the building, so I can't quite figure out the theme...

Over the weekend, we picked up this "North Pole Communicator" for the girls. Add another 'activity' to the list of daily Christmas-related things during the month of December.  And...I'm not unhappy about that. The story with this thing is: you set the internal clock to the date/time.  Then...each day the girls can try to tune into the right frequency and 'communicate' with the elves each day.  There's a cartridge in the bottom that contains little sound snippets.  The trick is that it only plays ONCE each day (when you tune in that day) and doesn't go back or forward.  Think of it as kind of an advent calendar of sorts. The 'stay tuned' message that gets played right now (until December 1st) is cute (but loud) so I'm hopeful that the full month of messages will be interesting and worth waiting for...

Took this photo as I walked by this morning.  Even though I refuse to call this place Macy's, I still get excited to see the windows get all decked out for Christmas.  Brings back all sorts of warm/fuzzy childhood feelings... For the past few years, we've taken the girls down to the Walnut room and then spend a bit of time pressing our faces up against the glass to see what they've cooked up.  Even though I refuse to acknowledge Macy's and still call it Marshall Field's, I have to admit they have done a nice job with the windows since the acquisition.  Here's hoping they keep it up!

This year's total:  308 trick-or-treaters. That's down from last year's number of 326 .  (the numbers in parenthesis are last year's numbers) As you can see, the 'neighborhood kid' number was up 7 from last year, but the 'non-neighborhood kids' number dropped by more than 10%.  Have to believe that's because of the weather. In 2013, we had 326 total . In 2012, we had 327 total. In 2011, we had 269 total . In 2010, we had 236 total . In 2009, we had 184 total .

On Thursday night, we packed up all three kids and drove over to Carol Stream where a family has set up a pretty incredible Halloween set-up. It is called "Canyon Trail Cemetery" and...they live on a street named Canyon Trail. The yard is chocked full of pneumatic-driven creatures that pop out at you. The details are here on their Facebook page:   https://www.facebook.com/CanyonTrailCemetery . The folks who own the house sit out front and don't ask for anything to check it out.  There is a place for canned food donations and cash donations to a Dalmatian rescue fund.  They couldn't be more nice. We asked how long it took to set up and the guy said he starts the last week in September and then takes a full week off of work to get it going. Pretty incredible stuff.  (Like Richard Kristie...) They really, really, really love Halloween.

Here's the same event from back in 2012 . The Bird really grew up!

We've lost six or so pumpkins (that we grew ourselves!) on our front porch to critters this year and after the girls had carved their pumpkins last night, I figured we had to find a way to make them last until Friday. First....I filled a spray bottle with bleach and hit every 'cut' surface.  We'll see if that does anything to stop the mold? Then...as you can see...I took out a little bit of fencing and wrapped them up.  You can't eat what you can't get to, right? Come and try me, squirrels.  I dare you.

Another loss in Downtown Elmhurst as Leonard's Fine Mens Clothing store is 'quitting business forever'. Have to admit that I've never stepped foot in the place, so I'll take some of the blame, but this is another open storefront in the City Center and one less reason for some folks to head down there.  Sad for the business.  Sad for Elmhurst.

I'm going to be an adult about this vehichle stuff and take this thing head on. Live in the suburbs.  Check. Have three (gasp!) kids.  Check. Go to bed before 9 pm.  Check. Got the swagger wagon?  Check!

I've tried growing pumpkins for a few years and either mold or critters ruin the fun.  This year, I saw a few promising 'fruits' that had blossomed and I decided to try to keep the critters away with some fencing.  This is the biggest pumpkin that I've ever grown that doesn't have a single nick in it from squirrel teeth. Gnome for size reference...