Happy Halloween! The scariest part of our day was the breakfast meltdown, but he recovered in time to enjoy his pumpkin-eyed Martin's donut.
The highlight of our day was a MOPS outing. Schmidt Christmas Tree Farm hayride, snack, and park playtime was the best! It was the first cold jackets-required outing of the season. It was good to see the kids realize that their bodies needed the warmth. Maybe Mommy won't be carrying those jackets around constantly now.
None of the pictures of the reindeer were particularly good, but I've never seen a real one up close before.
The kids played so well with others, and nobody melted down. It was so nice! I think we're moving there. Or at least coming back for a Christmas tree.
I didn't get a picture, but the highlight of my morning was watching Devon's face light up as he shouted "Gabe! Gabe!" and seeing another little boy shout "Devon!" and run to him. The two boys played together happily as I blinked back tears. This is my boy who has been so, so lonely this past year. The loneliness often made him too angry for playmates, a very vicious spiral. Seeing him happy and making others happy is such a joy. God bless school!
Here is our best Halloween effort: twincesses and a king that wouldn't wear his "too itchy" crown. So glad they're still too little to want much more. Even the trip to Martin's for festive donuts was because my car battery died and after the AAA jump start I had to go somewhere to charge the battery and I didn't need any groceries.
We had the most excited trick-or-treaters imaginable. As Daddy went back inside to find their treat bags, Mommy had to keep them entertained by making them run footraces around the trash cans and back.
We live in the most decorated neighborhood. I've never seen people that care so much about a minor holiday. We even have a spooky deserted house to complete the effect: a foreclosure languishing in probate after the death of the owner over a year ago. We're seeing lots of drive-by activity lately, so I hope that means it's up for auction or similar and will change ownership soon. One year ago, the neighbors were regarding us similarly as we walked over every inch of our property and wondered if we were up for the challenge. I pray regularly that a family with kids our age will buy it and we'll have some friends in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the large family that needs the 5400 square foot monstrosity would ironically probably not be able to afford it, or be deterred by the monumental amount of work and money it takes to bring a deserted foreclosure back to life (which we well know). I'm hoping for a miracle.
Carrie: This is the BEST TRICK-OR-TREAT EVER!!! That man who answered the door was wonderful! The moon is beautiful! Our house is the best! Trick-or-treating is AWESOME!
Melina: I want to go to trick-or-treat again!
Devon: Mommy, I don't want to go home! No! No!
The best thing about 3's and 4's is they have no holiday expectations. So when only one house of the three we tried answers the door and says they haven't had a trick-or-treater in the neighborhood in eighteen years, this is their normal. They don't know that everyone else got bags and bags of candy tonight. They don't know that most kids aren't allowed to eat their "entire bag of treats" and then cookies and hot chocolate at home. Next year, we're either wrangling an invite or having our own party.
We finished up the very pleasant evening with Pumpkin Putty from preschool. It was so much fun that we're saving the pumpkin decorating for tomorrow. Our implements of choice? Washable markers. We're still not brave enough to wield a carving knife while fending off six grabby hands. Sorry, kids. The sharpest object you get tonight is Devon's plastic sword.
No comments:
Post a Comment