Halloween Weekend

All right, enough complaining from me.  I listened to my kids this morning conversing with their Dad.  Let's just say they are picking up some bad habit from Mom.  November seems to be a good time to practice being thankful.  I am very thankful for the children in my home.  Every single one of them.  They keep me very busy, doing many fun things.  I am thankful that I can do recess duty and push them on the swings.  I am thankful that I can pray with them to be brave when they have to speak in front of the school.  I am thankful that they speak well, and do not break down in tears over it.  I am thankful for teachers that can tell me when my kids are struggling and help me to figure out what is best for my child.  I am thankful that my children have good friends in their classes, that spur them on to love and good works.  I am thankful for the random stories that they tell at dinner, there are some real gems.  I am thankful for the beautiful, crisp, sunny days that we have had this fall.

We went to visit the grandparents this weekend, which caused quite a stir among the younger set.  Halloween weekend has become quite an eventful time.  We have lived in this little town for 10 Halloweens, and until we moved into this house it went pretty much unnoticed.  We moved into the trick or treating neighborhood.  Once my kids figured out that you could walk around the neighborhood in your dress-ups, holding a sack, and rake in 10 lbs of candy apiece in an hour, they were hooked.  Now that they have friends in the neighborhood, it is even more glorious.  I was sort of hoping to avoid all of this festivity by being out of town, but we caved, and left in time for them to hit the streets when we got home.  We had to stop at Costco to get candy to shell out of our front door.  We literally pulled into the garage, with people standing at the front door waiting for the goods.  It made for a wild entrance, but in the end the only not smiling was me.  I was trying to unpack the car, run to the door with candy, and scrape together costumes for those that hadn't planned ahead.  Martha was not at all sure about this whole trick or treat program.  She had volunteered to pass out the candy at home.  The first ghoul that came to the door, took care of that.  She then started to catch the spirit of dressing up and hanging out with her sisters.  I pulled together a princess outfit, and off she went.  I think she still thinks we are a bit loony in this area, but hey, a few pounds of candy has kept her from saying too many bad things about it.  I have to admit that some American versions of holidays are tough to explain.

The rest of the weekend we spent hanging out with our parents.  My Dad had just returned form Europe, so we helped him sort through some pictures.  He met some distant relatives and traveled to a town where our ancestors were from.  It looked really peaceful.  There is a picture of him and a couple of ladies that are likely relatives of some sort.  Let's just say, there seems to be a strong family resemblance.  If you didn't know he was in Switzerland, you would think they were cousins at least.

We also tracked down a pumpkin patch.  I have to say that the hometown did it up right.  The pumpkins were great, and the corn maze looked like a lot of fun.  None of us had brought enough money, so we ended up skipping the maze and pilfering the kids' money to get the pumpkins.  It was an oversight, really.  We carved the pumpkins in Rick's Dad's yard.  The deer barely let us finish before they came in and cleaned up all the seeds we left behind.  It was pretty slick actually, I wish I had a few to clean up my yard.  The kids love carving pumpkins, and they looked great on the front steps.  It was a good visit, and a beautiful time of year to be home.