Our town declared Saturday to be the trick-or-treating night, thereby making my and every other local family's Halloween plans a whirlwind of activity in two short days (Friday and Saturday), with a day to recover before Monday arrives. This was the busiest and most fun Halloween with the kids ever, for us. We are also ever so tired!
I resist switching the kids' fun from October 31, but there were unexpected plusses this year. The blessing of an extra hour of sleep when we really needed it 'cause the time changed back as we slept after trick-or-treating. Beautiful fall weather on Saturday night, but rain all day and evening Sunday. Grudgingly I admit Saturday night worked out very, very well. Except for the craziness of being unable to find my box o' fall decorations all week, until 4 pm before trick-or-treating!?!
Timeline:
On Wednesday morning Son2 (age 4) and I attended a MOMS Club Halloween party. His costume was ready, 'cause we arranged to pick it up -- a loan from the party host -- when we came to the party, LOL! An extremely cool/cute dragon padded costume. Horns, spikey stuff down the back, tail. He loved it.
On Thursday we actually paid money for a costume for Son1 (age 8 nearly 9): a Bionicle costume at 30 percent off, whew. He really wanted something storebought after all, and amazingly we were in and out of the Big Red Double Circle store superfast, finding and deciding on his costume and our trick-or-treaters candy in a flash. I was stunned and relieved.
On Friday the kiddos went to school in costume. Son1's costume soon had detachable/detached parts; apparently he dealt with it fine; by class party time he seemed cheerful anyway (first I heard of the detached thing). Both boys' parties were fun (I went back and forth). Highlight of Son1's party: dry ice in water in a deep container, making lots of "smoke". Highlight of Son2's party: the candy haul from insane parent donors, and, for me, seeing all the little kids in very cute and imaginative costumes. One four-year-old was a lamp -- with a light bulb filament shape painted onto a white t-shirt, and a lampshade on his head! LOL!
Son1 had a basketball game Friday night. Probably contributed to his wiped-out-edness on Saturday (new word alert! hahaha).
Saturday morning I tried to walk my precinct to get out the vote, but I kept missing the guy who was going to give me my info. We threw in the towel when I only had an hour left to volunteer. Then it was time to costume-up the kids for an afternoon family Halloween party, which was very fun. For parties Son1 decided to wear an alternate costume from a previous year -- a hand-me-down Batman that's still nearly too big! We had fun, then headed home where everyone vegged except me. Sadly, I wigged out.
I unearthed the box o' fall at last, after looking for it all week. Then I got all frustrated at the cool post-Halloween-sale stuff I had but didn't have time to use, dumped a bunch of stuff back in the box, deleted multiple items off my to-do list, and then got a grip. I put up my favorite kid-made decorations, some silly fake pumpkins in the living room, and a little tableau in the dining room of fun and silly things. Good enough.
Somewhere in there we got the kids to eat something with peanut butter. And milk. In a last-ditch effort to insert nutrition into children before the candy-to-come froze their minds and appetites. It worked okay.
A good friend of the boys came over with his dad for joint trick-or-treating, and all of the guys headed out to walk our long block. I handed out treats and welcomed home the tired crew quite a while later, with their buckets heaped full with bounty -- apparently our street was generous! We kicked back for a little while as the kids revelled in their candy. Then the friend and dad headed home and we headed out to another party. Last year I skipped this party, but I had such fun this year that I vowed to come along every year!
At this post-trick-or-treating party we know a lot of the parents and the kids from the boys' school and our former extended neighborhood. It was sooo enjoyable to hang out and enjoy conversation with the adults while the kids had extended battles and peacemaking with play swords etc. in the back yard and the house. Son2 nearly fell asleep on the way home (10 minutes)!
We got the kids to bed, tucked the house in for the night, dear husband settled back with a movie or something, I changed all the clocks and checked my email, and then I went to bed. At "9:40" pm. Ahhhhhhhh.
This morning I got up just before 7 am. I love getting up even just 15 minutes before the kids. Usually it's the opposite, and as soon as I make an appearance the kids want to know, "what can I eat????" They aren't impressed that I can't think and just want to blink and make some coffee and gradually wake up. Fat chance, LOL. Anyway, this morning I prepped for my Sunday school class (adult class about prayer and spirituality), the kids got up, and we had a couple of nice hours and then got to church early, with boy hands scrubbed, boy teeth thoroughly brushed, and boy bodies wearing church clothes!! And they were good in church!! This afternoon we vegged and fussed a bit and vegged some more, and I started catching up on the things I've put off since Thursday. Tonight is actually All Hallows' Eve, and a rainy one it is.
Tomorrow will be extremely busy. I'll try to do some laundry, but mostly it'll be getting the car tag renewed, meeting some friends for early morning coffee, going to the monthly MOMS Club meeting, walking my neighborhood/development/precinct to get out the vote, fixing as easy and fast a dinner as possible (meatball sandwiches? chicken nuggets, biscuits, and green beans?), and maybe going to an evening church service to celebrate All Saints Day on the very day (Nov. 1). Some friends have planned the service and are really excited about it, but we have single-car coordination problems (Son1 has basketball practice) that I will need to work out first.
Tuesday, All Souls' Day, I'm expecting to spend walking my precinct (pretty much the same as my development). And voting. And then watching TV that night. My poor dear husband -- though he's as interested as I am in the results at the state level and nationally. Perhaps he'll vote early on Monday? The line was over an hour long Saturday morning, I'm told. Wow.
My plan for Wednesday? Laundry. Maybe some weeding of the terribly weedy garden beds. That sounds nice. Perhaps a bit more fiction reading. And keep up with my ACTION folder in my household central; my Cheerios-box file folder system is working really well so far -- I speak the truth, I promise!
I'm heading to bed. I really want to get up before the kids tomorrow and keep that going. Obviously I needed to write this all out for some reason. Thanks for reading this far, if anyone did!
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