Halloween Happenings

Earlier in October, I asked told the kids that they could use anything in our dress-up trunk for their Halloween costumes. Amelia asked if she could be a bat (which is not in the trunk), and I told her I would think about it. Then Patrick's vertigo hit, and I didn't think I need to take on another project. So I explained that we were keeping Halloween simple this year and was sticking to my dress-up trunk guidelines.  Austin immediately pipes up, "well, then I want to be a tiger again". This was followed by Amelia's "I want to be a doctor too." So for the 4th year in a row, Amelia was a doctor for Halloween. But it was simple, and they had fun!

We headed out on a Friday afternoon to a local downtown's trick-or-treating. Patrick happened to be working from home that afternoon so he grabbed the camera while I was getting the kids ready.

Colleen was reusing a jacket of Amelia's.

Poor girl - the hoodie kept falling over her eyes!

Surprised faces always make me chuckle.

Mid-trick-or-treating photo

(Colleen was snugly tucked in the Moby on a COLD afternoon.)

On Saturday morning, I took the big kids to a local pumpkin farm for the annual hayride and pumpkin-picking excursion. The kids were beyond excited. It's so fun to see how the simple traditions thrill them more than fancy outings.

Amelia had gotten a pumpkin at school; so Austin was on the quest for the perfect one.  Since Daddy wasn't with us, Mommy's one rule was that he be able to carry his pumpkin by himself.  Initially, he chose this one and insisted that he was strong enough. (Although we had crossed 90% of the pumpkin field). His struggle across the field was adorable and cracks me up (mostly the facial expressions of effort).

Finally he gave up after crossing a third of the field. (See pumpkin behind him.) And chose a smaller one.

Amelia chose one for Colleen.

After lunch, we set out to carve the pumpkins. Daddy used his fun drill attachment to clean out the pumpkins.

The kids drew the faces they wanted; Mommy attempted to copy them to carvable faces.

Silly boy putting the pieces back in.

You've never seen such happy kids.

We had a great time trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. This was the first year that the kids seemed to really grasp how to go through the motions. They were respectful and SO excited anytime anyone had M&Ms. :) We enjoyed catching up with our neighbors, and Amelia had fun passing out candy for a bit after we returned home. Austin's tiger costume was a big hit with all the folks passing out candy, and we were glad that Daddy's long Auburn tiger tail was able to be used for fun!

Crazy in the Head

Unfortunately, shortly after our apple picking weekend, Patrick woke up around 2AM, feeling an onset of extreme vertigo, resembling his veritgo last summer. He tried to manage it for a week, mostly at home; but after another intense episode a few days later, he went back to his ENT and ended up with meds and more days of isolation from head movements/sleeping reclined/reading/devices/shows/etc.  It has been an intense time for the family, as the kids can't truly understand why this is all happening and why Daddy suddenly doesn't move from a chair. But God has been faithful to us - providing a lighter schedule where all 4 of us could chauffeur Patrick as he needed, a lighter work week for him to miss, a surprise meal from a friend and some good distractions for all of us in between. Patrick has maintained his humor at going 'crazy in the head' and offered me endless patience while I ungracefully juggle.

Some beautiful moments during the last two weeks:

One afternoon while I was sewing, Austin asked me how to spell "food". I assumed he was doing his normal 'writing' (i.e. copying Amelia's posture and scribbling). Then he brought me his notebook and to my surprise, he had written the word! Apparently I had not paid enough attention - Amelia had helped him practice the D a few times on a separate sheet of paper before he wrote it in the notebook. All of our relaxed 'school' time in the afternoons seems to be paying off!

Then he erased it and decided he wanted to write the word "fruit". Amelia helped him practice the R and he did it again! He won't write on-demand, but definitely has jumped ahead into this skill.  Surprised me for a new 3 year old!

Sweet girl's first ride in the umbrella stroller to the neighborhood park.

Post-bath grins are some of the best

First nap in her crib.  I can't believe she stayed in our room for 6 months. But it was time to transition her to sharing with Amelia.

We had our new storm door installed. The kids now love to play in front of it.

If Colleen is on the ground, she's likely to be mobbed.

Since Daddy was sleeping upright, downstairs on the chaise. I had Saturday morning snuggles all to myself in the big bed.

Tried a little gel as we're growing out his summer haircut. Within an hour, it was back to its normal style.

Impromptu playdate one afternoon with friends. Scarlett may be a month younger but she's got a bit of weight on Colleen.

Amelia is officially part of the local 4H chapter. Two of her kindergarten classmates joined and invited her to visit the Lego Club for K-4. She loves it! At this meeting, she had to build half of a design and then combine it with her partner's. For having very little lego exposure previous to these meetings, she has caught on very quickly to how to read the instructions and build. She seems mostly limited by her motor coordination; and most of these lego education kits are tough for adults to put the pieces together! I was also surprised by her presentation at the end. Usually our love-for-a-show Amelia clams up as soon as anyone other than family is watching. But she introduced herself and described their hammer project with confidence and clarity.

Their hammer

Quick park time while feeding Colleen

Practicing sitting up

We did manage to start redecorating Austin's big boy room without Daddy's help. My friend Gabrielle created these prints for him.

Re-doing Austin's room is helping with his unhappiness at being by himself since moving out of Amelia's room.

Hooray! Daddy was well enough this past weekend to hold Colleen; she was obviously thrilled!