Trick or Treat!

Of course we had a blast this evening when we went trick or treating. We started out strong with the kids literally racing from door to door. Nathan was ecstatic with all the candy people kept giving him. He would run to me after he'd been to the door and say "Look Mommy, M&Ms" or "Candy". At one point, we walked past a little boy in a wolf mask. Nathan looked alarmed and immediately looked around for me. (I'm his comfort object). When he saw me, he wiped his little hand across his forehead and said, "Phew, that was close". He cracks me up all the time. He wouldn't let anyone near his candy. I kept trying to empty a bit out here and there to make it lighter for him to carry. He would scream and hang on to it. In the end he was practically dragging the pumpkin along as it was too heavy to carry. An hour in, he kept sitting down on the ground as he was so tired. Gary of course wanted to max out the trick or treating and cover as much ground as possible. I had to remind him that we were doing this for the kids and they all wanted to come back to the house and actually eat some of the huge pile of candy they had got. Other highlights include Anna needing the toilet so bad that she had to use a total stranger's bathroom. (Of course the home owner was more concerned about the state of her bathroom!). And then a fire engine showed up in the neighborhood with a couple of firemen handing out loads of candy. The boys loved it and for a couple of blocks afterwards, Nathan kept looking longingly behind him and saying "Fire chen chen". An evening to remember!

Pumpkin time

Today we did one of our favorite seasonal activities - going to the pumpkin patch and picking pumpkins to carve. Spencer's class was having a field trip so the whole family joined in the fun and went on a hayride as well. We got three great pumpkins and had a lot of fun carving them and making them "scary". Spencer decided the hollowing out of the pumpkins wasn't as much fun as the rest of it as you can see by the expression on his face. We think they turned out great and we can't wait to light them before bed tonight!

Sisterly Love

We have recently been having a little trouble with Spencer at school. The upshot of it is that yesterday we had to discipline him. We kept him home from a little Halloween party he was meant to go to. Leia still went to the party and I was convinced she was going to have a great time and not give Spencer another thought. Well at the party the kids decorated paper sacks to collect candy in. On her bag, Leia wrote "Spencr Asp" and said she was going to give it to him as he couldn't be there. When she got home from the party she went off to bed and later when Gary and I went to bed we checked on the kids as usual. When we went into Spencer's room, we saw that before Leia had gone to sleep she had slipped some candy from the party under his door for him. I'm such a sap and I teared up. She is such a thoughtful little girl with such a tender heart. It's so wonderful to see the relationships that the children have with each other. Parenting is the hardest thing I've ever taken on but for these little joys, it is so so worth it.

Do you want to see my pumpkin?

Today when I picked Spencer up from school, he said "Nathan, do you want to see my pumpkin?". I didn't know what he meant until I opened up his school bag and saw this little surprise. I always worry on picture day that my child will put on one of those fake kindergarten smiles. I ask them to show me how they will smile before they go off to school and that is always what they show me. But when the picture comes home I am always pleasantly surprised. So far they seem quite photogenic!

Pumpkinfest

Today was the annual pumpkinfest at Thomas Cloud Park. As usual we showed up when it opened in a state of high excitement (the kids anyway). Grandma Joan, Grandpa Jim and Auntie Sarah were there to have fun with us. All four kids took part in the costume contest. No prizes infortunately but the kids loved going on stage and being introduced to everyone. The fairground ride was a highlight for the kids. They were upset they couldn't have more turns. At $2.00 each for literally two minutes, it was a short lived excitement. The petting zoo was fun as well as all the games and crafts which were more reasonably priced at 25 or 50 cents each. Next on the menu of fall fun is the hayride and pumpkin picking coming up at the end of the month!!

Light Car

On Saturday we stopped by Lowes for a very boring item and found instead an exteremely interesting item for a bargain price. We snapped it up and brought it home. What could it be????, I hear you all ask. Well it is a hanging light fixture made of frosted glass and it is a formula one racing car. It was $20 in the clearance sale. Earlier on when I first painted Spencer's room, I wanted to buy a simliar light fixture in the shape of an airplane but these novelty fixtures are very expensive. The plane one was around $160. So we couldn't believe it when we saw this one for $20. Yippeeeee!

As you can imagine Spencer is thrilled with it and today he has told no less than 5 virtual strangers that he has a Light Car. Mostly the reponse has been. "Huh??"

Today we went to the Fire Station. Nathan was beyond belief excited. He was saying "firefighter" or "fire station" over and over. I let him out of the stroller to have a turn getting into the driver's seat of the big engine. Once he had his turn I had to put him back in the stroller as he will never stay in one place. He cried and cried and cried. And because he had touched the fire engine's tyres, he streaked black marks all over his face as he cried!

Off to the Fire Station

I don't know what it is about my kids and getting notes sent home from school but it seems to happen to my children at least once a school year or more. On Monday, Spencer brought home a note which said he'd been given a yellow ticket for yelling in class. When he was warned a second time, he said "I don't care" which landed him a red ticket and the note home. I was always afraid of the authority figures whether my Sunday school teacher, school teacher, or whoever.

So Spencer and I had a chat. He has a field trip to the Fire Station in town on Friday so I explained to him that he needs to listen to his teacher always and never yell in class. I told him that he had to apologise to his teacher today and receive a spotless report from her in order to go to the fire station on Friday. Thankfully I was told he had been a "very good" boy today in school and he gave his teacher a very sincere apology this afternoon. It's so important to me that my children become (amongst other things) thoughtful, kind, sincere, and intelligent. Even though they make mis-steps, it is rewarding to guide them and make a difference for good in their lives. Now Spencer is excited for Friday and when he came home from school he was wearing a hat he had made especially for the occasion. It has a picture of a firefighter on the front and he was very proud of it. Of course I had to take a picture and what is a picture of Spencer without Nathan sticking his head in too!