It's All Saints Day, and approaching 7:30 a.m. Usually by this time, Isaac has been up about 1.5 hours and Anna is groggily lounging on the couch waiting for the warm milk to hit her blood stream. But today they are barely stirring. The excitement (or the sugar?) kept them up past 9 last night, and now they are sleeping it off.
Part of the excitement was that we had another family over for dinner and trick-or-treating. I made a yummy pinto bean and mole chili and a baked pumpkin filled with rice, raisins, apples, and cinnamon. Almost a dessert, really. Our guests brought an excellent chicken soup and bread, which was very fortunate since neither Jon nor the kids actually liked the chili. Was it the kale I snuck in there? The kids didn't eat much anyway -- too excited. So after the grown-ups quickly ate we headed out the door.
The actual trick-or-treating was good fun, as always. We know a lot of the kids on our block, and it's great to see all the costumes and wander around with everyone. Anna's Winter Queen outfit was lovely and sparkly and served as a nice contrast to Isaac's deep and dark Darth Vader. Jon also wore a Vader costume, so they were a funny pair.
This year, we noticed that Anna and Isaac have very different approaches to candy collection. I believe Anna's stream of thought went something like this:
"I am a beautiful Winter Queen! I am skipping/floating along to each house, I love seeing my friends, and enjoying the wonder that is this annual candy-coated event. I AM EXCITED!"
Isaac's stream of thought was more like this: "It is time to go to work. I have donned my costume and am ready to receive the candy that is due me. This is my job. This is what I do. This is what I was born for. I am serious about this endeavor."
All that to say Anna loved the event-aspect, whereas Isaac loved the candy-aspect. To further illustrate this point: Once we returned home, Anna delayed candy consumption in favor of drawing in a little notebook she got at one house. Meanwhile, Isaac held on to his candy basket like a drowning man holding a life raft, yelling in protest if anyone came too near. "I got it FIRST!" he would announce.
Over the course of the week we also managed to carve four pumpkins, including the mega-squash, which we proudly displayed. The two little ones ended up as Minnie Mouse and a Storm Trooper, while the big guys were a little harder to recognize. One was the classic Snoopy sillouette, as he rises up out of the pumpkin patch. The other was Pumpkin Pi: a pumpkin outline with pi carved in the middle. I wonder how many people "got" that one? Anyway, Jon did a great job carving the big guys with the saw - I didn't need to do much detail work after he got through with them. I'd post pictures, but that's just one step too many today. Maybe tomorrow. In the meantime, I have some chili to heat up for dinner (because it literally took all day to write this post). And they all better like it. (But if not, I saved some of the soup.)
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Has it been that long?
I guess my last post was in September, which does not seem that long ago. In truth, I am not a natural journal-keeper, so blogging has been more of a discipline than a hobby. But I think it's important to document this little slice of life for the kiddos sake, for my sanity's sake, and because I know you're reading this, Mom.
Usually at this time - the time that Anna is at preschool and Isaac is napping - I am madly cleaning something. But I had some minor oral surgery on Wednesday ("subepithelial gum grafts") which are more painful than expected. So here I am, slightly strung out on Vicodin, sporting jowls like Ron Perlman, trying to ignore my mouth. I'm such a wimp about these things. The worst part is that I'll have to do this twice more over the next 16 months. Ack! Anyway, enough complaining. Before you know it I'll be moaning about my sciatica (whatever that is) and then there's no turning back.
It's been a busy few weeks (is it ever not busy? of course not!) so I haven't been keeping up. Jon's been on multiple trips (is he ever not traveling? of course not!) and during his last one I just gave up and stopped cleaning, stopped cooking, and tried to take a step back. By the time Jon returned much catch up was, and still is, needed. At the same time, I'm trying to adopt a more zen-like attitude towards home-keeping. This entails an increase in playtime with the kids (to the detriment of cleaning), and a decrease in apologizing for the concomitant mess that our guests encounter. I report that follow-through on this plan has been intermittent.
In other news, we've been engaging in many autumn activities. Heading out to the pumpkin patch is always a big deal. Anna picked out a few pumpkins immediately, but found it difficult to narrow things down. Isaac took a more circuitous approach, unable to settle on anything, overwhelmed by the selection. Like snowflakes, all pumpkins are wonderfully individual when you're a toddler. Anna did her best to guide him, helping him select a little Isaac-sized one. We also bought a pie pumpkin which I'm going to stuff with rice, raisins, apples, and nuts, and bake to yummy perfection on Monday. A perfect Halloween dinner.
Jon also picked up two pumpkins, these grown by his coworker with a talent for gargantuan squash. They will be carved by sawzall on Saturday. Last year we used our giant pumpkins to make a snowman. This year perhaps a "Pumpkins Crossing" theme, or maybe something princess-ish. We could use our Yugoslavian finger squash as a crown. (Our CSA gave us the finger... squash. Ha! That joke will never get old. Right? Right?! Never mind.)
One thing we did not do this year is a Fall Walk. Previously, the kids and I loved to meander through our subdivision and look at the autumn decorations, the colorful trees, and enjoy the crispness of fall. This year, both kids have been getting nightmares just from the innocuous decor on our street. Isaac won't go to bed without the light on, and says everything is too scary. "Ghosties! Ghosties!" he says. Anna has been doing better, but was on a bad run of nightmares in early October. So, thanks to the houses that go a little too far with their Halloween decorations, we've been keeping it close to home. Our house sticks with scarecrows and pumpkins, thank you very much.
Some good news: Anna and I were able to come to a compromise on her costume. I wanted something easy to put together, warm, and inexpensive. Anna wanted something magical, pretty, and didn't want to wear anything over or under her costume. The winner was "Winter Queen" or "Winter Fairy Queen" depending on whether she's wearing her wings. We started with the wedding dress my mom made a couple of years ago, and added a belt fashioned from leftover silver material. Silver stars and hearts (made from cardboard and aluminum foil) hang from the belt, and the rest of the material can be used as a shawl. The dress is short-sleeved, so we bought some white leggings and use them to cover Anna's arms. Finally, aluminum foil to make the wings and crown sparkle. Voila! Winter Queen!
I wanted Isaac to be a tiger again, but he's really into Darth Vader. So I spent $20 and got him a costume. They only had a medium, so he should be able to wear it for... 6-10 years. I call that an investment! It's warm, but all black. He's practically Invisible Pedestrian. Maybe I can convince him that a flashlight makes a good light saber.
Usually at this time - the time that Anna is at preschool and Isaac is napping - I am madly cleaning something. But I had some minor oral surgery on Wednesday ("subepithelial gum grafts") which are more painful than expected. So here I am, slightly strung out on Vicodin, sporting jowls like Ron Perlman, trying to ignore my mouth. I'm such a wimp about these things. The worst part is that I'll have to do this twice more over the next 16 months. Ack! Anyway, enough complaining. Before you know it I'll be moaning about my sciatica (whatever that is) and then there's no turning back.
It's been a busy few weeks (is it ever not busy? of course not!) so I haven't been keeping up. Jon's been on multiple trips (is he ever not traveling? of course not!) and during his last one I just gave up and stopped cleaning, stopped cooking, and tried to take a step back. By the time Jon returned much catch up was, and still is, needed. At the same time, I'm trying to adopt a more zen-like attitude towards home-keeping. This entails an increase in playtime with the kids (to the detriment of cleaning), and a decrease in apologizing for the concomitant mess that our guests encounter. I report that follow-through on this plan has been intermittent.
In other news, we've been engaging in many autumn activities. Heading out to the pumpkin patch is always a big deal. Anna picked out a few pumpkins immediately, but found it difficult to narrow things down. Isaac took a more circuitous approach, unable to settle on anything, overwhelmed by the selection. Like snowflakes, all pumpkins are wonderfully individual when you're a toddler. Anna did her best to guide him, helping him select a little Isaac-sized one. We also bought a pie pumpkin which I'm going to stuff with rice, raisins, apples, and nuts, and bake to yummy perfection on Monday. A perfect Halloween dinner.
Jon also picked up two pumpkins, these grown by his coworker with a talent for gargantuan squash. They will be carved by sawzall on Saturday. Last year we used our giant pumpkins to make a snowman. This year perhaps a "Pumpkins Crossing" theme, or maybe something princess-ish. We could use our Yugoslavian finger squash as a crown. (Our CSA gave us the finger... squash. Ha! That joke will never get old. Right? Right?! Never mind.)
One thing we did not do this year is a Fall Walk. Previously, the kids and I loved to meander through our subdivision and look at the autumn decorations, the colorful trees, and enjoy the crispness of fall. This year, both kids have been getting nightmares just from the innocuous decor on our street. Isaac won't go to bed without the light on, and says everything is too scary. "Ghosties! Ghosties!" he says. Anna has been doing better, but was on a bad run of nightmares in early October. So, thanks to the houses that go a little too far with their Halloween decorations, we've been keeping it close to home. Our house sticks with scarecrows and pumpkins, thank you very much.
Some good news: Anna and I were able to come to a compromise on her costume. I wanted something easy to put together, warm, and inexpensive. Anna wanted something magical, pretty, and didn't want to wear anything over or under her costume. The winner was "Winter Queen" or "Winter Fairy Queen" depending on whether she's wearing her wings. We started with the wedding dress my mom made a couple of years ago, and added a belt fashioned from leftover silver material. Silver stars and hearts (made from cardboard and aluminum foil) hang from the belt, and the rest of the material can be used as a shawl. The dress is short-sleeved, so we bought some white leggings and use them to cover Anna's arms. Finally, aluminum foil to make the wings and crown sparkle. Voila! Winter Queen!
I wanted Isaac to be a tiger again, but he's really into Darth Vader. So I spent $20 and got him a costume. They only had a medium, so he should be able to wear it for... 6-10 years. I call that an investment! It's warm, but all black. He's practically Invisible Pedestrian. Maybe I can convince him that a flashlight makes a good light saber.
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