Halloween Report

Our Fall/Halloween celebration started with a trip to our first pumpkin patch. Well, in a way. Steve has wanted to go to a pumpkin patch every year since we got married, but somehow I always talk him out of it. It's pricey, quite a bit of a drive, would the kids remember anyway? Well this year I thought it was was time to make it happen. When I told the kids we were going on a long drive to a pumpkin patch, Trenton said, "What?! Why aren't we going out favorite Wal-Mart pumpkin patch? Their pumpkins are great!" To which I looked at Steve, shrugged my shoulders and mouthed a "Sorry." Yes, for years we drive to Wal-Mart and I say: "Here's the pumpkin patch guys, pick one out." Economical, yes. Memory making, maybe not quite so much.

We had an absolutely delightful time and I think the kids ages were perfect. We went to Berry Patch Farms - they had animals, baby chicks, silhouette drawings, crafts, hay rides etc. I just loved being away from all things man-made and out in nature. It made me wish my kids could have more time on a farm. There's just something about it.Without question Kali's favorite part of the day was the baby chicks.

Blake guarded this pumpkin with his life - I think he took this poor little girl down.

Trenton looked so hard for the perfect pumpkin.


The week of Halloween turned out quite differently than I expected it to due to the blizzard, but I think I liked it better. The week started with Trunk-or-Treat - this is typically the most popular night at church in which the fire safety limit is broken when every church member and many neighbors fill the church in costumes, chow down a yummy chili dinner (chili dog this year) while trying to keep your kids contained & calm in the gym, squeeze through the hoards of people in the hall to play games put on by the youth, then trick or treat out of car trunks in the parking lot. That last part includes dishing out candy as fast as humanly possible from your trunk in the freezing cold while keeping an eye out for double dippers. Do I love Trunk-or-Treat? Obviously not, but the kids ADORE it! It's better than Halloween night itself. And I will say this year was exceptionally organized with excellent crowd control. I did it as a single mommy (Steve was picking up a Craigslist mattress for our upcoming guests) and a youth leader. The kids were patiently assisting with the 'cookie' walk until they realized there were many other games to be had. Let's get going, Mom! So we went between the cookie walk, the games in the hall and trunk-or-treating- the kids were in heaven. It was the very best night of all for them.

Turns out it was a good thing we went to Trunk-or-Treat, because that was the only Halloween activity for the week thanks to the blizzard. Trenton & Kali's school parties were canceled as school was canceled :(. Trenton was most certainly too sick to care, and the snow playing was a fair trade for Kali. I was just grateful to be home for the remainder of the week. The day the blizzard started I was at work. The hospital alternated between lock down and letting us go home multiple times. If there is a risk that the staff for the next day won't be able to get in the hospital will lock down and essential medical staff are required to stay in hotel rooms close to the hospital or sleeping areas in the hospital. I wanted to be home so badly as I knew the blizzard would get worse and who knows how long I'd be stuck away from the fam. I almost skipped out to the car with glee that I was going home to my babies.So on Halloween night we carved pumpkins, made soup and went Trick-or-Treating. These are Daddy's awesome creations - Trenton requested the bat & Kali settled for the ghost after I refused to let her carve a skull. Really, honey a skull? No way. Trenton's fever broke that afternoon, so we put hand-sanitizer on him and he made it to 5 houses. Slowly. I was so glad he could at least get dressed up and get to some houses. He had been so excited for this night. Grandma Allen sent a Halloween package with the reflectors, among many other treats, they were very excited to wear (in the picture below). She asked Trenton if he was excited for Halloween, he said weakly while laying on the couch, "Grandma I am going to be sick with the flu for 6 days and will not be able to go Trick-or-Treating." It was so sad. Even as I write this 10 days later, his eyes are still a bit sunken and he doesn't quite have his old energy back. It was a bad one.

The weather warmed up nicely for Halloween night. This neighborhood has so many trick-or-treaters. It was a blast to chat with all the neighbors and see the great costumes. A group of moms just sat out on camping chairs around a heater chatting away until almost midnight. I joined them for a bit and enjoyed getting to know them.Trenton has wanted to be a magician since he laid eyes on the costume at Costco in, oh when do they start promoting Halloween, June, maybe? Steve wasn't real thrilled - I think he wanted something more manly, but this little guy wouldn't budge. I was set we were not going to buy new costumes, but he wanted it so bad I told him he had to use some of his birthday money to help pay for it, which he gladly did. Little sweety. Kali wanted to be a ballerina until one of her friends said she was going to be Tinkerbell. Once again, not too excited about paying full price for a costume so I convinced her she really did want to be a ballerina wearing our hand-me-down outfits. Until the (brilliant) used costume sale at Trenton's school & voila! There was Tinkerbell with all the accessories for $5. Nice. They also had this little bumblebee costume that Blake was so darn cute in. He also LOVES wearing hats and is certainly my busy bee, so I thought it was perfect. We taught him "What does a bumble bee say" His reply: "Beeeeeeez."

Happy Halloween! Let the holiday fun begin!