Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Halloween Happenings

It's hard to believe that today is already November 1st. Where oh where has the time gone? It is sneaking away on me so quickly.  This year I had a bah humbug attitude about buying costumes for the kids. I figured that we didn't need to spend any money on them since we have tons of stuff in the dress-up box in the playroom closet. I was right. The kids picked things out, dressed up & all they really cared about was getting the candy & going as fast as they could from house to house.  I'll admit, it was fun watching them smile with each added piece of candy to their baskets.  Not that any child needs as much candy as they managed to collect. In fact, the amount that just one of them received would have been plenty for all 5 of us and then some.

Trick-or-Treating was from 4:30-6:30pm this year in our town. The kids got home from school at 3:45 and we started to get them ready though they were less than cooperative.  We decided to keep things simple since my sister & her 3 children were here as well so we fed them oatmeal for dinner.  Do you know that getting 6 kids to put their costumes on along with having hats, coats, & mittens is a HUGE challenge. It was crazy. They were loud, couldn't hear directions being given to them & finally I had to raise my voice to be heard above all of them. The countdown was on & they ended up being 15 minutes late to start trick or treating.

First they went to the neighbors on our side of the street that we know. Then proceeded to head down the block & to the next block all the time I was watching my watch.  Our friends Chris & Belinda were due to visit us at 5ish & we didn't want to miss them since we already miss them so much from them moving away a few months ago.  We walked to several houses & then headed back when I got a text that they were almost at our house.  We were sooooooooo excited to see them.  Everyone hugged & we went in the house & sat down to visit.  Braly, Morgan, Kimmy, & Katelyn were anxious to go back out so after about 10-15 minutes of visiting, they went back out for more fun with my sister.  Gabby & I sat & visited with the Gilberts while Xander played the PS2.

When I asked Gabby why she didn't want to go back out she said she doesn't like looking at yucky costumes that some people choose to wear. She's 9 now but she didn't feel comfortable being by so many strangers & asked to hold my hand while we were out. She asked if she could even stay home when the others went back out for more fun & I explained that she'd have less candy than the others & she said she didn't care. So I was ok with that as long as she was.

Our visit with our dear friends was too short as usual but very enjoyable. So neat to hear what God is doing in their lives & share what he's doing in ours as well.  I look forward to each visit we have with them. We do need to make sure to head down to see them sometime too. Perhaps after the new year since the rest of our year will be hectic with Adam working longer hours prepping for the holiday season at UPS & then the actual holiday season being so busy.

And do you know what I did?  I completely forgot to take ANY pics of the kids this year. That's why I wanted to be sure to journal about it here so I wouldn't forget.  Morgan was so excited & was skipping from house to house as she wore part of her Pirate costume.  Braly decided to be Darth Vader & wore his actual helmet that he got for Christmas one year that talks, changes his voice, & breathes like Vader. He had fun & enjoyed collecting candy & seeing people he knew & saying hi to them. Gabby was less than excited about Halloween because of her dislike for strangers & costumes that make her feel uncomfortable so she wasn't into anything super creative. She choose to wear Jammie pants & go as a slumber party girl. I tried to talk her into carrying a pillowcase but she wasn't thrilled about anything so I dropped it.  Adam missed this year due to work & dropping his sister off for play practice.  And Reggie Dabbs was in town doing a night rally at the middle school & I heard that over 400 people showed up for it & 130 people prayed to start a personal relationship with Jesus.  What an amazing night that had to have been. God's Kingdom just expanded & that is so COOL!!!

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