Halloween 2009

Our family looks forward to Halloween every year. The girls think about costume ideas all year long and they are anxious to decorate our house. Some of our neighbors have elaborate decorations, including graveyards, mummies, and spiderwebs. I remember spending hours as a kid making decorations (gravestones and spiderwebs included) for my parent's house but I am reluctant to turn our yard into anything too spooky now.  We did put up ghost and pumpkin lights around the door and huge spider webs on the bushes and porch. It is the inside that becomes very festive. I have been saving the kids holiday creations and have emassed a huge collection of handmade spiders and pumpkins and the like.

On Friday Emma wore her The Money you could be Saving costume to school. Rae and Meg brought theirs and put them on after lunch. I took off early and met up with Bridget and Ms. Lacey at school for the parade. I helped in the classrooms and then we watched the parade at elementary school. Bridget and I then helped at the parties and Bridget was treated to goodies by Rae and then again by Megan when we went to kindergarten.

When we got home Emma was flying high after a day full of postive comments about her costume. I must admit I too felt great having my work be a hit for Emma. At lunch she said her Principal sought her out becasue he had been hearing about her costume all morning and then got on the mic to say "I've got a feeling somebody's watching me".

That night Megan was invited to a halloween party at a classmates house. Megan and I went to that together. It was a huge party of adults and kids and she had a wonderful time.

We split up on the morning of Halloween to attend the simultanious activities. Emma had 2 field hockey games that morning. Recently she became very passionate about the sport and really wanted to be a part of some scoring. I've never seen her sprint or stay on a ball like she did this weekend. After each game she wanted to play and try again. Megan had dance class and Rachael had a soccer game. Rae was goalie for 1/2 of the game and was full boar the whole time. Forget the net, she was determined that no one was even going to come into her box. Anytime the other team came near she would run up, but stayed within the penalty box where she could use her hands, and she would scoop up the ball even if feet were kicking around her.

After the morning of sports we came back to the house and I worked on the wet leaves. Megan got a book and practiced her reading in a tree, and Bridget rolled around in the really dirty leaves. Jim meanwhile worked with Emma and Rachael to scoop out pumpkins and carve safely.

The Brinks came over to join us for trick or treating. I was putting hot curlers in Rachael and Bridget's hair when they arrived. Rachael had requested to do curls in her hair for the jedi costume and Bridgie thought fancy princess hair was a great idea. Emma was going to join her friends for trick or treating like last year, but first would stay with us and visit our neighbors. Once the curls were ready and the spray glitter was in Megan and Emma's hair, it was time for pictures. They were so patient with me and my multiple shots.

We visited the neighbors on our street first and then Jim walked Emma to her friends house so she could hang out with friends. It was really humid and I was beginning to regret the umbrella and the raincoat that I carrying. We went from house to house practicing halloween manners and collecting candy. Jedi Rachael kept Princess Bridget company took her hand and said "This way, my Lady". JoJo was a lot of fun to have a along, he is very articulate and focused. At one house his focus turned to the toys on the floor in the living room. He walked right in and picked up toys. I was the closest adult so I had to go in after him. I told him we had to go and he responded "I want to play trucks". It was a bit awkward but we got out and had a big laugh. Jim joined us just in time to hear the story.

A few houses latter the rain began to fall, just a drizzle, so we opened the umbrellas and continued. We took a short break on someones step to enjoy a piece of candy. Once Bridget had the taste of chocolate it was hard to keep her out of her container. The rain got steadier and the temperatures started to drop. Poor Megan was looking cold and rather wet in her fairy costume so we did more walking than trick or treating and headed back.

It was then time for candy. The chill disappeared as we sorted and went through the candy and of course ate some too. The Brink's brought us cookies so we shared those. The kids played and Rachael built a Smarties tower. Then time for PJ's. They were tired and fell asleep fast. I went out to join Emma at her friend's house for their party. Emma was having a great time so I joined the Moms in the kitchen. We got a huge laugh when we realized we were each a decade older than the other. 36, 46, and 56 all with 11 year old daughters. It is nice to get along so well and have so much in common without age being part of the equation. I did kind of like being the youngest though.