Halloween 2016

The boys went as SWATS this year.  They have learned from their experience as ninjas last year that it's not worth it to carry props.  Will's velcro SWAT vest held all of his tools.  Sean promptly lost most of his, but he was still pretty happy.  This is them before we headed to "Trunk or Treat" at their karate school.

As always, first we have a serious pose.

And then, a silly pose.  You almost want to be arrested by these fellas.

We have an annual tradition to go trick or treating with some friends.  Their neighborhood, unlike ours, gets tons of kids and is a lot of fun.  Sean and his best bud Patrick.  Patrick and his older brother Tom went as the Ghostbusters.  Awesome!

Finally, this crazy kid traded all of his Halloween candy for 2,000 paperclips!!  He said that he wanted to make a long chain out of them.  Naturally, it didn't stick, and he's been eating candy this week like a fiend.  I never expected it to stick.  

 And a little throwback.....these two have always loved dressing up together and are already coming up with ideas for next year.  So far they've done firefighters, ninjas, pirates and now police.  What will they come up with next!

Literary Character Day

We got a notice from Sean's school that November 9th was "Dress Like Your Favorite Literary Character Day."  Sean was completely apathetic over the whole thing, stating that he wasn't interested and didn't want to dress up.  And I was on board with that, I wasn't going to make him put on a costume and be miserable for the day.

 Then we see a picture of his best friend on Facebook.  Best friend is dressed as Skippyjon Jones.  Suddenly, Sean is very interested.  Naturally, it's  5pm on Sunday (the day before the event) and after I had been at the New England Fiber Festival for the day, So, since he doesn't really have a "favorite" character and I have no time to shop and am too tired to be really creative, he went as MY favorite literary character....Harry Potter!  The one caveat--Sean doesn't really LIKE HP.  He's a little scared by it, which I can understand because of his age.

Dress-up was a snap, using Will's old Halloween costume.  The morning of the event, Sean's too scared of makeup application to let me draw a scar on his forehead with eyeliner, so I left him alone.  He boarded the bus in his Hogwarts Robe and the scarf that I had knit, and was surprisingly cool about the whole thing.

And for the kid that didn't want to participate?  He was still wearing the costume at the afterschool program, running around and playing in the gym.  He told me that him and his friends were coming up with their own spells that didn't need wands, since I didn't give him a wand to take to school.

The Harry Potter fangirl inside of me is smiling and jumping for joy.  Perhaps there's hope for Sean to be a fan after all!

A Belated Halloween Post

I've been sick for almost a week.  I'm getting better, though.

I came home from work on Monday night with the dread that a fever was developing.  You know...that chilly, achy feeling.  Hubby knows I'm stubborn and insisted that I go to bed early (I'm a bit of a night owl) and for once I agreed, thinking I could nip this upcoming thing in the bud.

I didn't realize that it was going to be much, much too hard to nip with just one night of decent sleep.  Why?  Because it wasn't the usual little cold virus.  It turned out to be strep throat.

I've never had strep throat til now.  And if I ever get it again it will be much too soon, my friends.  This has been quite a long week, missing four days of work and barely having the energy to head into the living room and watch TV without needing a nap.  That's the thing that's thrown me for a loop....the absolute energy drain.  I didn't get antibiotics until Thursday night, which happens to be Halloween.

Halloween night!  Hubby took the books trick-or-treating and I agreed that we would leave the bucket of candy outside with a "Happy Halloween! Please take two" sign.  And likely that the first trick-or -treater would empty the bucket.  Ah well, at least I wouldn't have three bags of candy to eat once I felt like eating food again.

My sweet Harry Potter and Spider-Man.  Yes, I knit the scarf!

A half-hour later, they're back.  Because apparently, there's NO ONE giving out candy on our street.  I know that my neighbor said that we don't get many trick or treaters...but none?  Brian had come back for the car, to take them to a different neighborhood.  And our candy bucket in front of the garage was still full at the end of the night.  So next year I'll just turn off the front light and we'll go trick-or-treating as a family!  

Crazy.

Brian's singing Christmas carols in the kitchen the other morning.  Usually I give him a hard time about bringing them so early.  This year though, I was temporarily confused by what time of the year it is, exactly.  There was ten inches of snow (luckily it only accumulated about five inches) and it was coldcoldcold.  There is a chill in the air tonight outside, and the air smells like Christmas.  Fresh.  Cold.

Many people in Central MA are without power, and it's looking like it may be a few days before they get it, too.  No daycare for the past two days, and many schools closed.  Halloween was  pushed back because of a snow day!  How many times in your life can you say that?  We've been fortunate, with only losing the power for a few hours overnight.  And we've been fortunate to be able to offer a place for friends and family to warm up, shower, eat some hot food, etc.

Halloween was pretty understated this year.  Our town didn't postpone Trick-or-Treating, though most of the surrounding ones postponed until later in the week.  Some towns CANCELLED it.  (that's sad.)  We took our little Pirate boys to the local mall where there was an event going on.  Then, since Daddy had school, we stayed home and handed out candy to all the kids that came to our door.  Will enjoyed handing it out to all the kids, except when they were wearing scary masks.  Then it was "mommy, you do it!"

Sure hope for things to get back to normal soon.  If this is what Mother Nature has in store for the winter, it's going to be a long one.

Donning Mittens for Halloween

I've been listening to the squirrels in the trees in my backyard for most of the summer, and September too.  I've spent a bit of time in my backyard over the past 9-ish years, and I've never heard or noticed them quite like this before.  Every time we open the back door, there's usually two or three (sometimes five!) running along our back fence or skipping along in the grass.  They've been going beserk out there, running up and down and shaking the trees.  They're feverishly storing acorns for the season, and I think I understand their need for speed now.  Dude, it's gonna be an early winter!  Make that a really early one.....first snowfall was the other night and we still have autumn leaves on the trees.

Early snow is nothing new in New England, though usually that happens more often in the Northen parts.  But  they're predicting our first Nor'Easter, bringing down 6-10 inches of snow overnight and into tomorrow.  Now THAT is a little bit ridiculous.  I don't think the kids' Halloween costumes will fit a winter coat underneath!  Yesterday morning I was breaking ice off my front stairs before work, my car doors were frozen shut and we were doing a mad scramble for hats and mittens.  Sean's hat that I made for him last year of course doesn't fit, but he's thrilled with wearing it.  Funny how that works, huh?  Last year he would cry and rip it off in the car, throwing it to the floor.  Will's old hats suit him just fine, and I do have yarn in the house to make them new hats and mittens.  (Of course I do....my stash is legendary!)  I was just hoping that I could hold off and put them in their Christmas stockings.  Perhaps not....

Spooky Jack!

This is Jack.

Jack is something that I knitted for the Halloween Swap with my knitting group.  He was a lot of fun to make, and quite easy.  Felting him wasn't quite so easy at first, I will never attempt felting by hand again!  It's washing machines all the way.

After felting, I used a balloon to make Jack hold his shape while he dried.  It was kind of like papier mache.  remember papier mache?  Good times.

Once he was dry, it was time to pop the balloon, and carve the face.  I drew it on with a black Sharpie, which I intended to cut out completely while "carving" with some small scissors.  I didn't get it all, so Jack looks like he has a bit of burn marks around his eyes and nose.  In other words, close to an authentic Jack O'Lantern!

Insert a battery-operated votive and Voila!  My family thinks that he's one of the coolest things I've ever knitted!

An Earlier and Earlier Start

I can remember when Christmas wasn't really mentioned until the week of Thanksgiving, the holiday sales started with Black Friday and continued.  People didn't decorate until at least the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Music was nil until then as well.  But every year, it gets here faster.  It's already been here for awhile, I can think back to shopping for costumes last month and thinking "Let's get through Halloween first!"  But lo and behold, it's catalog city in the mail every day, and the shopping bustle has begun.  My own Christmas cards came in the mail the other day, ready to be slipped into envelopes, addressed and sent to our nearest and dearest all over the country next week.  (And it's a great picture, if I do say so myself!!) 

No Black Friday shopping in our house.  If you've ever worked retail in your life, ever, even if it was ten years ago, you will most likely never want to shop on Black Friday ever again.  I still remember my time at the mall, working at the customer service desk that year and wishing I could crawl under a rock.

So my message to everyone out there in the throes this weekend....be kind to each other, and to yourself. Smile to your fellow shoppers.   Be nice(r) to the people who work in the stores.  Be generous to your family as you're begging the kids to sit still during the damned holiday photo. There is no such thing as a "perfect" holiday, and the memories you're making are much more important than the gifts. I know I risk sounding preachy, but so be it.


 I find myself saying the same thing I do at the beginning of every holiday season:  this year is going to be less stressful involving the holidays.  Less Stress!  I am not going to put pressure on myself.  And, as said every year.....THIS YEAR I MEAN IT.  :)

Weekends

Know what the best part of the weekend is, according to Will?

We get to eat our breakfast in our pajamas.  He asks me almost every morning, "Mommy?  Is it the weekend?  I want breakfast in pajamas."  It's a strict rule during the week that Will get dressed upon getting up, otherwise I'd never get out the door.  But on weekends, that rule is out the door and we lounge happily, like this morning over fresh blueberry pancakes and crispy bacon.  Of course, I got a call about work towards the tail end of breakfast and had to break that relaxation by taking a trip to work.  However, that's over with and now I'm ready for some Halloween Costume shopping and apples!! 

Someone should have a frank discussion with Mother Nature, though.  I'd gladly take a 50-degree morning today than this heatwave she deemed necessary!

Halloween Wrap-Up

Hope your Halloween was as good as ours!   We did get a trick this year.  It's been a warm, windy day.  Imagine my surprise when I went to let our dog out into the backyard this evening and one of the neighbors trees had blown down into our backyard!  

Will thought that trick or treating this year was Awesome!  We visited more houses with Nana this year and he really turned on the charm.  People gave him two or three pieces of candy per house, and sometimes more.   Lots of times people would ask him his name and shake his hand.  If they wanted to talk to him any more than that, he'd politely say, "I gotta go to Halloween!"   One guy said that Will's "Thank you" was the only one he heard all night.  What's up with that??

Arrr!!!!!  I'm Pirate Will!

Trick-or-treating with Nana

"Posing" with our neighbor's grandson, Joshua

We headed home when it started to rain, to hand out candy with Daddy.   Later on at bedtime, Will told me that he wanted to go to do more trick or treating and to still be a pirate.  I'll bet he wants to put his costume on tomorrow, too.

Happy Halloween, Everyone!  :)

Will's Halloween Past

Happy Halloween from our family to yours!  This year Will's going to be a pirate.....a scary pirate! 

From Halloweens past, starting with last year.

Halloween 2008:  Dressed up as a monkey at the playgroup's Halloween Party.  We went trick-or-treating for the first time and he loved it.  :)

Halloween 2007:  Our little cowboy had just turned one year old!  Daddy brought him to a Halloween party at Mommy's work.  The residents at the elderly housing complex all oohed and ahhed.....

Halloween 2006:  Ten-day old Will in his fine Halloween PJ's.  He celebrated with Mommy and Auntie Tracy by snoozing while we handed out candy.  What a cute lil' pumpkin!

The Heat Factor

Yesterday and today are in the 90's in New England. I hate this kind of weather!! Even though I have AC at home and at work, I just feel miserable. I think that has more to do with being pregnant, though.

The thing I hate about this weather the most is the laziness on my part. I have zero energy to do stuff, like clean up the house or do laundry. Ugh!

Since fall is my favorite, I've already got it on the brain. All the magazines that we subscribe to are coming with pumpkins, apples and autumn treats on the cover. And I've already started thinking about Halloween costumes. I'm going to try to NOT go to Target or Wal-Mart this year. Will and I've discussed it and he's decided he wants to be a Robot/Pirate/Handy Manny. All three! Now where can I find that! :)