Is It Naptime Yet

So I’m a slacker mom. I blame it on a few things. First Linux, second Facebook, third trying to earn money by sewing, and fourth my procrastinating self.

I’m just a lame blogger lately, but I will record Halloween this year, finally, like three weeks later. Pictures to come once I reboot into Windows or figure out Linux.

Our Halloween this year was pretty low key. We had only one party to go to, though there were a couple others we could have gone to, and the girls used costumes that had been previously made, so I had no sewing whatsoever to do. Since I had no sewing to do I took on a job for a friend and made this cape for her business. I know, impressive, especially since I had to draft a pattern for the hood. It was a pain and but it gave me some money to put into my Sew Lacey account.

Our only Halloween party was for my sister’s work. We go ever year, or at least the past three years, and have a ball. Lilah was a fairy and Eden was Glinda, she decided not to be Jasmine, and I know this post isn’t nearly as cute without pictures. So I’ll try hard to get some up before the end of this week, maybe month…OK year. (I do have to order the Costco calendars and our holiday cards and I have all the pictures in Windows, so I may get them up within the month.)

The girls had a blast at the work party. I think it was because they were able to eat a doughnut before they ate their super healthy dinner consisting of a hot dog and bun, with ketchup. Luckily Lilah had gone bobbing for apples, so she had that wonderful germ covered apple to eat with her hot dog dinner. Eden later also bobbed for apples and ate half of her apple two, even more willingly than she ate the hot dog.

The girls also participated in the cake walk. Eden won after four or so dances, then when they wanted to end it Lilah simply won by being on a number! She was still really happy, though I’m sure it’s because she was able to eat a cupcake and a doughnut all in the same night.

After the trick or treating we headed home and the girls had fun sorting their stash of candy.

Saturday, on Halloween Day, we carved our pumpkin. I had the girls draw pictures, then I transferred them onto the pumpkin. I had to modify Eden’s a little because I don’t know how to carve a pupil in the middle of the pumpkin’s eyes or illustrate pink cheeks on an orange pumpkin, but I think they were both pretty pleased once all was done. After carving we got ready and visited the Blake’s so they could see the girls in their costumes.

Once dark we headed out on our street and hit up the four houses on our block. Then we visited my friend Beth and then onto the parents to trick or treat with Zarina! The girls were so happy to go with her, and she was adorable, even if she stole a little of my girls thunder since she was so. dang. cute. Right after we headed out Howard showed up with his three and we all trick or treated together. (Jon stayed home and handed out candy. He ran out a little early, at 8, and said next year we need to buy 12 bags, because the 7 I bought this year was not enough and we want those who trick or treat in our candy barren neighborhood to get some good candy, or at least two pieces from us.)

There was a street that goes all out in my parents neighborhood so we decided to go visit it. We took a wrong turn to visit a cool house, but we were able to see a fire truck and the firemen handled out candy to the kids. Eden by this time had decided to stop trick or treating, but I had her go get candy from the firemen anyways.

After being pointed in the right direction, or the direction I thought we needed to go, we saw hoards of people on the street where the decked out cul-de-sac was. I was also spotted by a high school friend, and we later figured out her mother happens to visit teach my mom. Small world since we both lived in a different area of town when we went to school.

On the crazy Halloween street there was a haunted house, but we opted to just walk the street and visit the houses handing out candy. They had barricaded it off so no cars were driving down it, and there were plenty of spooky costumes and houses. Lilah liked one where it looked like a head was on a table, but it was really a guy who was alive and just coming out of the table, or had his body under the table. (I’m trying to describe it like she did.)

After the major street Brien still had a lot of energy and he and Andrea finished trick or treating with Zarina and the older cousins, Howie, Kaitlyn, and Lilah and I took Adrienne and Eden home. As we passed one house some candy givers asked if we had been there, but I declined and said  we were headed home ’cause they were tired. I figure Eden wasn’t going to take it anyways and Adrienne was to little to care, and I wanted to just get home.

The kids went through the candy and I let the girls choose two things they wanted to eat. (They had already enjoyed candy throughout the day a little.) Before Eden had a chance to eat her Milk Duds she had to go to the bathroom. We used the upstairs one and I ended up staying upstairs to talk to Andrea. Around fifteen minutes later Eden comes up and asks if she can eat her Milk Duds. Since I wasn’t there to ask, she had patiently waited even though the other kids were enjoying their candies.

That night I decided that my kids are going to be highly successful because they can delay gratification. (There was a famous marshmallow study on delayed gratification and it predicting which kids would be more successful in life in the 1960’s.) Both Lilah and Eden are really good at delaying gratification, though not always. Like this week when we let them choose seven pieces of candy and we tossed the rest, and told them they could eat them whenever they wanted or just one a day to have them last, but they wouldn’t get any special treats again till at least neat Wednesday, or a week later. Both have only one or two pieces left and once I had to tell them they could not eat candy before breakfast, even if they were told they could have it whenever they wanted.

So that in a long nutshell was our Halloween. Candy, cousins, family fun and the possibility of highly successful adults, unless you give them no boundaries, which makes sense to me. They’re not getting more candy after seven days, they just can’t have other sweets until seven days, which may or may not happen anyways since I’d have to buy something sweet or make something sweet.

Now I’m slightly more prepared for Thanksgiving, but only because I don’t have to make anything except rolls.