Yep, a duck!
She was so happy with her costume and declared proudly to Taylor that morning that she was a duck. However, when the teacher asked her during class what she was, her pride turned to uncertainty. She still managed to distinctly whisper "duck".
The kids got to practice trick-or treating during class.
It took her a while to get the hang of it, but when she did, she thought it was very fun indeed.
That night we carved our pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns.
Everyone thought the inside was somewhat disgusting.
Morgan touched it once and proclaimed "ewwww!" just like I knew she would.
I try to give the children as much artistic freedom as possible when carving their pumpkins. I let Morgan decide if she wanted hers to be happy or sad, and she decided a sad pumpkin was the way to go.
Here's the results. Taylor chose a design from our carving kit (a bat with a heart design in the middle) and then drew some embellishments for me to carve out. Charlie drew his face, too. Although he did have some trouble drawling a carve-able mouth (his became the pumpkins mustache).
We then tried a new recipe for sweet pumpkin seeds with mixed reviews.
Throughout it all Taylor was battling a fever that ended up keeping her home from school on Monday and Tuesday.
On Tuesday, we picked out some crafts from Taylor's new arts and crafts book that Aunt Jan and Cousin Alison gave her. The first involved painting with cars. It was fun, but the kids whizzed right through it and were ready for a new craft in minutes.
Then we made snowman garlands and each child decorated their own. We are going to save them until December, and then use them to decorate. I have to pause here for my disclaimer. As much as I'd love to be that fun, craftastic mom that is always engaging her children in creative projects, I don't always fit that description. We all have those moments, though, when we come a little closer to being the ideal version of ourselves and this was one of those. Of course, this craft quickly went downhill as the children started fighting over every. little. thing. Ask Mark, it was brutal.
Finally, Halloween arrived! And luckily, Taylor was fever-free. Which meant she got to go to school as a blonde.
Her school let's the kids come in costume on Halloween. This year, she decided on Cinderella. She found a Hannah Montana wig that I had purchased after the season last year. After a lot of help from mom, it was transformed into this.
First I went to Charlie's preschool party. They don't do costumes. Just crazy hats. I actually had to run back home for his after realizing we'd forgotten it at home. The result was a late arrival to school, but a very happy little boy.
His party was pretty standard as far as preschool parties go. three games, a snack and a craft. Here's the game I brought for them to play.
They also did the hokey pokey at the end of the party.
I liked seeing the pictures that Charlie's teacher has displayed. These are from his show and tell days. He finds it easier to just draw an item beginning with the week's featured letter. Here's his elephant and goat.
After his party, I dropped him off at home where Grandpa was already watching Morgan and headed out to Taylor's party.
Again, games, snack, book and craft. Pretty standard. In truth, these parties have lost their sparkle for me. Still, I know it makes them happy to have me there, and I'm blessed to be able to come.
Halloween night I decided to try something my aunt had shown me on pinterest. I called them spiders and let the kids help assemble them.
(Here's the kids waiting for them to cook. Charlie was trying to teach Morgan cards and she was cooperating quite well. He even let her win.)
The spiders were a big hit. I told them that since it was a holiday we would have apples with carmel dipping sauce with them.
We needed to wait for Daddy to get home from work so I snapped this photo before putting on our gloves and coats. This kids didn't mind waiting, because it meant they got to help pass out some candy.
Finally, it was time to head out for some good old fashioned trick-or-treating. And I must say, it was fun. I had offered to let Mark take the kids (knowing he'd decline), because I knew just how cold it was going to be. Truth be told, I was not too excited about taking three small children out in the cold, (and rain as it turned out). But I'm a good mom so I feigned excitement. And seriously, what a great time it was! I realized that this is so often the case with moms. Our jobs are hard. And sometimes undesirable. And yet, so often it's the times when we are out there doing the grunt work (so to speak) that we are rewarded with those special little moments that make us so, so glad to be exactly where we are. Like getting candy from Santa, or the local firetruck. Or hearing Morgan's squeals and giggles as she enjoyed what I realized was her first wagon ride. Or having Taylor proclaim "this is such a fun tradition". One that you know she'll remember for years to come. Or listening to your children thank everyone so sweetly without any prompting from you. Or even just the simple statement from your son after you whack him in the head with a wagon handle "it's okay, mom". And realizing that that is you. You are mom.
After about one hour braving the elements, we headed home and examined our loot. I then eased up on my usual policy of letting them pick one piece to eat that night. They each had two. (Morgan snuck in a third.)
We finished off the night with some Halloween books. Then off to bed. Phew. Now it's time for this mom to get some rest!
