Happy Halloween from the Butter Bites (and their Pirate Parents)

London, Maddie, Rex and Roxy wish you a Happy Halloween!

So far, we're just relaxing around the house, eating Rex's famous chocolate chip pancakes... later we'll head out trick-or-treating with friends. Be on the lookout for that girl band, the Butter Bites (and their Pirate Parents).

Happy Halloween!

Butter Bites Bring Home a Trophy in the Annual Bay Head Halloween Parade

Pictures on the way!

For now, here's the crowd pleasing "set list" that London and Maddie performed along the parade route from Mount Street to the Bay Head Firehouse:

• Taylor Swift's "Our Song"
• Demi Lovato's "Who Will I Be?"
• Taylor Swift's "Fifteen"
• Miley Cyrus' "The Climb"

and on the way home, they wrapped up with

• Taylor Swift's "Teardrops On My Guitar" and "Love Story"

We also have to keep our eye on our local newspaper, the Ocean Star... a photographer stopped me along the parade route and alerted me that she had a great shot of London... wouldn't it be cool to see her on the front page?

Music Monday: The Butter Bites Led Off the Bay Head Halloween Parade with Our Song by Taylor Swift

There's a long story about Roxy bringing the wrong video recorder with a dead battery down to our beach house in Bay Head for the annual Halloween parade, so I have to give you the following YouTube video of Taylor Swift singing "Our Song," instead of London and Maddie performing it along the Bay Head Halloween Parade route as their all girl basement band, The Butter Bites... I did bring my camera, so I'll have some photos of the trophy-winning singing sisters soon.




I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car
He's got a one-hand on the steering wheel
The other on my heart
I look around, turn the radio down
He says baby is something wrong?
I say nothing I was just thinking how we don't have a song
And he says...

[Chorus:]

Our song is the slamming screen door,
Sneakin' out late, tapping on your window
When we're on the phone and you talk real slow
Cause it's late and your mama don't know
Our song is the way you laugh
The first date "man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have"
And when I got home ... before I said amen
Asking God if He could play it again

I was walking up the front porch steps after everything that day
Had gone all wrong and been trampled on
And lost and thrown away
Got to the hallway, well on my way to my lovin' bed
I almost didn't notice all the roses
And the note that said...

[Repeat Chorus]

I've heard every album, listened to the radio
Waited for something to come along
That was as good as our song...

Cause our song is the slamming screen door
Sneaking out late, tapping on his window
When we're on the phone and he talks real slow
Cause it's late and his mama don't know
Our song is the way he laughs
The first date "man, I didn't kiss him, and I should have"
And when I got home, before I said amen
Asking God if He could play it again

I was riding shotgun with my hair undone
In the front seat of his car
I grabbed a pen and an old napkin
And I... wrote down our song

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Halloween Parade in Bay Head This Weekend... London and Maddie Are the Butter Bites!

My loyal Roxiticus Desperate Housewives readers know that our family takes Halloween very seriously, particularly our participation in the annual Bay Head Halloween Parade down at our beach house. Last year, London, Maddie, Rex and I won the "Good Sport" award for grown-ups who dress up in the best costumes and march in the parade with their kids. The photo on the right shows us in costume, from left to right: Maddie (as Sharpay "Golf" from High School Musical) Rex (as Ken), Bay Head Mayor Bill Curtis, Roxy (as Barbie), and London (as Sharpay "End of Year" from High School Musical).

This year, I don't want to give too much away to the competition in advance of the event, but London and Maddie are dressing up and performing along the parade route as their girl band, the Butter Bites, and we've prepared a special "float" to march in the parade. And Rex and I will be in costume as you've never seen us before... pictures on Monday!

Roxy's Halloween Recap: Mendham Township Elementary School Halloween Parade

After Tuesday's crazy snow storm, today was a great day for a Halloween Parade in the Roxiticus Valley, and Mendham Township Elementary School did not disappoint us. We were there to cheer on London and Maddie in their store-bought costumes as our two Sharpays from Disney's High School Musical, and came away impressed with the creativity of the students (and parents) from first through fourth grade.

While Sarah Palin apparently had another commitment, Barack Obama and John McCain turned out for the MTES parade, along with a Rubik's cube, Fancy Nancy, a very well done (homemade) robot, girls in their poodle skirts, and lots of scary monsters and Star Wars characters including a teacher as a perfect Princess Lea.

The West Morris Mendham high school marching band turned out in force, leading the crowd of costumed students in their march around the school grounds.

Continue reading (more photos)

On a separate Mendham Township Elementary School subject: Click here for news on Mendham Township Elementary School Principal Michael Craver's resignation.

Trick or Treat: London and Maddie, Rex and Roxy Ready for Second Halloween Appearance

Happy Halloween, everyone! Here in the Roxiticus Valley, London and Maddie hopped on the schoolbus this morning with their Sharpay costumes, excited about the big Halloween Parade at Mendham Township Elementary School at 2:30pm this afternoon.

On the left, in a photo from last weekend's Bay Head Halloween Parade, London appears as Sharpay in her "end of year celebration" outfit and Maddie struts her stuff as Sharpay "golf."

In addition to the school parade, the Brookside fire department is hosting a Halloween party at the Mendham Township Elementary School at 5:30pm. We'll be out trick or treating with friends in Drakewick, and will hope to see you out there in costume!

For our loyal Roxiticus Desperate Housewives readers from out of town and around the world, I would love to see your comments here about your plans for Halloween? Are any grown-ups dressing up for Halloween parties or to go out in the neighborhood with your kids? How 'bout the kids? Do you celebrate Halloween in your part of the world, or another holiday with a similar theme?

Maddie’s First Grade Class Trip to Stony Hill Farm in Chester, New Jersey

Last week, I had the good fortune to chaperone Maddie's first grade class trip to Stony Hill Farm in Chester, New Jersey. The first graders, teachers, and a handful of moms and dads boarded the school buses in front of Mendham Township Elementary School at 9:00am on Tuesday, October 21^st and made the quick trip to Chester. Our group was escorted into the barn for an educational session about farming that I found fascinating. We learned a great deal about growing corn, feeding livestock and the difference between straw and hay, raising and protecting bees (honey bees and other native bees), and the importance of supporting our local farmers. As many of the first graders seemed distracted, kicking the straw and stirring up dust (aaaahchooo!), I worried that our farm guide's expertise had been lost on the kids, but I was thrilled later that night when Maddie put all of the information into her own words to share it with Rex and London at the dinner table that night.

Continue reading (pumpkin picking, VOTE '08 corn maze, phone and directions)

London and Maddie, Rex and Roxy's Big Win at the Bay Head Halloween Parade

We won, we won! While I do try to teach my girls that "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game," it sure feels good to have that trophy in hand. As a family, we won the "Good Sport" award for grown-ups who dress up in the best costumes and march in the parade with their kids. So here we are in costume, from left to right: Maddie (as Sharpay "Golf" from High School Musical) Rex (as Ken), Bay Head Mayor Bill Curtis, Roxy (as Barbie), and London (as Sharpay "End of Year" from High School Musical).

I took an amazing bunch of photos (including a Bay Head appearance by all of the presidential and vice presidential candidates) that I'll be posting over the course of the week, hope you'll enjoy!

Continue reading

Today's the Day for the Bay Head Halloween Parade

It is eight o'clock on Sunday morning and we are waiting for London and Maddie to wake up at our beach house in Bay Head, NJ and begin the countdown to the 11:45am Bay Head Halloween Parade. Witches, goblins, ghosts and Disney princesses will start gathering on Mount Street in Bay Head, New Jersey, shortly after 11am for the 11:45am parade start.

As my loyal Roxiticus Desperate Housewives readers know, we stayed up north in Mendham on Friday night for the big Joan Jett & the Blackhearts concert at the Mayo Center of the Performing Arts in Morristown, NJ. We waited until late on Saturday afternoon for the drive down, and made it here in time for one of Rex's specialties...the last lobsters of the season. The weather forecast, including howling wind and rain all day yesterday, may have scared some other fair weather residents off, but we were determined to get down here and march in the parade...come hell, Halloween, or high water. Thankfully, the high water on Lake Avenue has gone down overnight to make way for the parade.

London and Maddie decided to go as a pair of Sharpays (the High School Musical character, not the dog breed) -- one Sharpay Golf and one Sharpay End-of-Year Celebration, complete with gold lame (pronounced la-MAY, not sure how you'd spell it differently than adding an accent over the "e") pants.


Rex and I are going as Barbie and Ken, and we're hoping this motley family can win a trophy this year. Rex really looks the part, and London promised to style my hair in Barbie pigtails, but the competition is always tough... we're not the only family in Bay Head that takes Halloween seriously!

Wish us luck...and if the girls' costumes, wigs, and oversized sunglasses turn out to be a suitable disguise, I may even share some photos here on Monday.

Weather or Not, London and Maddie Are Ready for the Bay Head Halloween Parade: Sunday, October 26th, Mount Street to the Firehouse in Bay Head, NJ

Rex read me a grim weather forecast for the weekend from The New York Times earlier this evening, but we're going down to our beach house in Bay Head, NJ, come hell, Halloween, or high water. Right now Weather.com is forecasting rain on Saturday, but sunny and 60 degrees on Sunday for the Bay Head Halloween Parade. Witches, goblins, ghosts and Disney princesses will start gathering on Mount Street in Bay Head, New Jersey, shortly after 11am for the 11:45am parade start.

London and Maddie decided to go as a pair of Sharpays (the High School Musical character, not the dog breed) -- one Sharpay Golf and one Sharpay End-of-Year Celebration, complete with gold lame (pronounced la-MAY, not sure how you'd spell it differently than adding an accent over the "e") pants.


Rex and I are going as Barbie and Ken, and we're hoping this motley family can win a trophy this year. Rex really looks the part, and London promised to style my hair in Barbie pigtails, but the competition is always tough... we're not the only family in Bay Head that takes Halloween seriously!

Wish us luck...and if the girls' costumes, wigs, and oversized sunglasses turn out to be a suitable disguise, I may even share some photos on Monday.

Alstede Farms Pumpkins in Action at Roxy's Annual Halloween Pumpkin Carving Dinner

Boo! I posted a couple weeks back about our family's trip to Alstede Farms in Chester, NJ to pick out our pumpkins for our annual pumpkin carving evening with our good friends Hope and Michael and their four kids. Friday was the big night, and the kids were all really creative with their carving designs.

Maddie went with a free-hand design and the traditional scary look.

London found a design in one of those pumpkin carving booklets that come with a set of tools. She carved a flamingo and a palm tree that she calls “Summer in the Fall.”

A-Maze-ing: Corn Maze at Ort Farms in Long Valley, New Jersey

I found this A-Maze-ing aerial view photograph of the corn maze at Ort Farms in Long Valley, NJ, by Joyce Bambach in the Chester Observer-Tribune and it forced me to make a confession to you, dear readers...London, Maddie, Rex and I have never gone into a corn maze. When I see a photo like this one, I get more than a little bit intimidated....visions of Stephen King's "Children of the Corn" dance in my head and I envision the National Guard coming out to search for our family of four.

Continue reading

London and Maddie's Fave Fall Activities for Kids in the Roxiticus Valley

Now that we're well into the back-to-school rhythm, including after school activities, I thought it was a good time to share a list of London and Maddie's favorite annual Fall activities in the Roxiticus Valley:

• The girls weren't very big (maybe 2 and 3 years old?) when we first went apple picking at Riamede Farm in Chester, New Jersey...I remember Rex picking up little Maddie so she could pull a few apples from the branches of one of the trees.
• On Saturdays and Sundays in October, kids can tiptoe through the spooky Halloween maze and participate in free pumpkin painting at Country Nursery in Chester, New Jersey. Our family has tried the Halloween maze several years in a row, and each year London and Maddie chicken out when the monsters tell them to “turn back!”
• Students in Kindergarten through 4th grade can enter a drawing in the Mendham Junior Women's Club Halloween Poster Contest; and
• Since we moved out to the Roxiticus Valley in October 2003, our family has never missed the Fall season at Alstede Farms in Chester, New Jersey...picking pumpkins to carve our jack-o-lanterns, climbing up the giant hay bale pyramid, and checking out the country carnival atmosphere of the corn maze, jumping castles, pony rides, hay rides and cider donuts.

That's all for now... hope that will keep you and the kids busy!

Halloween Is On Its Way, but London and Maddie Have No Costumes!

Halloween, the masquerading time of the year, is almost here. Rex, London, Maddie and I all love Halloween and we take it very seriously with our family's participation in the Bay Head Halloween Parade, which happens every year on the Sunday before Halloween (even if Halloween falls on a Sunday). This year the parade is scheduled for Sunday, October 26th, which leaves us with about 45 days to plan our costumes.

Last year, London dressed up as Hannah Montana; Maddie was her little known sleeping beauty of a sister, Aurora (Montana); Rex was Maddie's handsome prince; and I was Maleficent, the wicked 13th fairy who was not invited to Aurora's christening. I threatened to re-use my costume at my niece Candy's black tie wedding.

The year before, London was the Little Mermaid, Ariel, as a bride; Maddie was Little Red Riding Hood; I was Little Red's Grandmom; and Rex was the Big Bad Wolf. You can see Maddie holding our family trophy in the photo on the left.

This year, Maddie had hoped to be Binah, one of Madonna's English Roses, but it proved too difficult to enlist four of her friends to be the rest of the English Roses, so we're back to square one. I thought it would be fun if they dressed up as London and Maddie from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, but it turns out they don't make Suite Life costumes, only pillowcases! Now I'm sure my blogosphere buddy LadyJava would approve of the pillowcases over the girls' heads for blog photos, but I'm not sure about trick-or-treating! Even without the pre-packaged costumes, I still like the idea, so we'll have to check out the halloween costume stores to see if we can pull London and Maddie's outfits together.

The girls found grown-up Barbie and Ken costumes in one of the catalogs, and they're trying to talk Rex and me into it...believe it or not, it's not much of a stretch for either of us...Rex thinks he might even have some of his own clothes from the 70's that would work.