When in Rome...

do as the Romans do. And that is what I did. Granted, I don't think the saying extends to the vicinity of Rome, Georgia; however, for the sake of this post we are going to pretend that it does.

Rome, Georgia. Floyd County. Home of Kay White. What an exciting place. It got even more exciting when a little white Corolla with the letters MLE stuck on the window came rolling on down 53. Funny side story, that is not the only thing that had been rolling down 53 that day. Kay's cell phone that had inadvertently been left on the roof of her car decided to take a little plunge onto 53 prior to my visit. But that's not my story to tell :)

I went to Rome to spend Halloween weekend with Kay and her foster children, a.k.a. R and Z. Our agenda for the weekend: eat lots of goodies, have lots of fun, eat some more goodies, go trick or treating, and maybe sleep a little. First of all, let me just say SUCCESS on that list. Check, check, check, check, and check. We wasted no time getting into the Halloween spirit by carving the pumpkin the first night I got there. Now, I used my pronoun a little loosely in the previous sentence. When I say "we" carved the pumpkin, I really mean Kay carved the pumpkin. "We" were the cheerleaders.   

 

Go Kay! Carve that pumpkin!

Wow, we made great cheerleaders because just look at that pumpkin...perfect. Even Z squealed and squirmed a few cheers for Kay. 

We spent the next day celebrating and eating in Downtown Rome with Jackie (Grammy). After a scrumptious meal at Harvest Moon (gimme more sweet potato chips, puhlease), we went trick or treating down Broad Street with the other 30,000 children in Rome. No really, masses and masses of ducks and vampires and princesses and cowboys and rockets and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Jackie pushing her way through the crowds. You don't mess with Grammy and candy. 

I remember being a little kid and how the anticipation of getting ready to go trick or treating just killing me. My thoughts would be bouncing back and forth from, "I AM GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH CANDY TONIGHT!" to, "IS IT TIME TO GET DRESSED YET?!" to, "CANDY CANDY CANDY!!" to, "WHY IS MOM MAKING ME WEAR A TURTLENECK UNDER MY PRINCESS COSTUME? :(:(" You get the idea. Anyways, I am sure R and Z were having similar thoughts. Kay and I were so mean and took them out to eat before the big night. After flying Vienna sausages and broken chopsticks (all now on the floor), we decided that it was time. DUNDUNDUN. Let's go trick or treating!!

I also click my heels at the thought of Halloween candy.

"Yes, I know I am the cutest dog ever. That does not mean I want you to pet me."

Now, this was interesting because only 3 or 4 houses in Kay's neighborhood decided to give out candy. Whaaaaat?! Where's the Halloween love, y'all? These poor children just wanted to be on a sugar high. Can't you help a poor kid out?! 

This tricky house had their porch lights on, their garage open, their tv on, and a bowl of candy sitting on a table inside. Did they answer the door? Nope.

Don't cry for these kids. Between Trunk or Treats, Girl Scouts, and Grammy there was plenty of candy stashed in the house. (I only stole a liiiiitle bit). 

My last day in Roma was just as packed as the others. I spent most of the morning finishing the touches on teaching Z to say, "Go Jackets!" Super success there. We now have our newest Yellow Jackets fan! Jim was excited about that one. I spent most of the trip trying to get Z to say my name. Here is how that went:

K: Say Emily

Z: Daaawg

E: Em-a-lee

Z: Dawwwwwg

R:Emily

Z: No ::furiously shakes head::

E: EMILYYYY

Z: Jackets!

So, I just want to give a quick thanks for Russ and Mary Caroline for picking out a name too hard for babies to say. I have been called Elily, Emma-ee, and Honey. I can now add Dawwwg to that list. Oh well, at least Z had no hang ups about showing his Georgia Tech lurve. 

It was a great Halloween weekend! Kay went from being a part time mommy to the Moore kids, to a full time mommy to R and Z with no time to think. She may have lost a few brain cells in this process (Hello, old phone smashed to pieces on the side of 53), but it's all worth it. Mommy Kay is a great mommy. And Jim and Jackie are a great Grandpa and Grammy. (Or, as they were once called, Grandma (Jim) and Jackie). Thanks for letting me come in for a few days! No worries, I haven't stolen the kids...yet...

P.S.- This is how one looks after spending a full weekend with MLE. We party hard. We sleep hard