three kids and a little whine....: Fall Festivities

It's Halloween night. It's 10 o'clock and Kevin and I are sitting on the couch after a fun filled Halloween. I'll admit, enjoying some wine. I look back at the blur of the last 6 weeks. A lot of good, some not so good (I could have done without that 2 week migraine, and I'm sure Kevin could have done without the unexpected extra night in Atlanta coming home from Puerto Rico). But, still, we are blessed with great kids and great family. Fall is such a nice time of year. I love the change of seasons and find it interesting how much I crave that change with each passing year. Summer into Fall is one of my favorite times. And I really think the kids enjoyed the change this year too. It was a hot summer. I love pulling out the sweatshirts, I love the fall colors and I LOVE fall decorations (almost as much as I love Christmas decorations). But it always goes so fast, and this one was no different. For us, the last 6 weeks have seen 2 field trips (both of which I accompanied), a 5k (ran/walked by me), 9 parties (too many of which I hosted), a trip to the Pumpkin Patch, 2 weekends of a garage sale, a trip to Wichita for my niece, Ainsley's Baptism, 3 football games, Kevin's birthday celebration, Trick or Treating, and a trip to Puerto Rico for Kevin. Schwew! I'm tired.
As I mentioned above, we enjoyed many parties last month. Some friends from Natalie's grade hosted some great parties. The Brown's had an afternoon party at their farm, complete with bouncy toys, hayrides and a small pumpkin patch. They had a fire pit set up as well, and the kids enjoyed making their first real smores. Nate & Ty didn't eat theirs, of course. But they sure enjoyed toasting those marshmallows.
And the night before Halloween, the Schwada's hosted a family Costume party. The kids really enjoyed dressing up with mom and dad to go to a party. Kevin and I were Waldo and Wenda. We felt it was fitting considering the number of hours we've booked searching for Waldo and his friends this past year. The kids loved our costumes. The Schwada's did an incredible job with decorations, and really threw a big bash. There was a photo booth that the kids loved (we came home with many strips of pics), more bouncy toys, a cotton candy maker, a balloon artist and more. Wow....needless to say, the kids had a blast.
But by far the most important party of the month, was the Halloween party that Natalie and Lauren hosted. The idea was hatched one summer day in July (yes, July). And Natalie, my little event planner, spent a good week or two (in July) planning the party to the tee. Lauren, who's not quite as interested in making lists and planning details happily went along with what Nattie proposed (thank goodness). So, there was no getting out of it for Terri and I. And the invite list? The ENTIRE 1st grade (of 40 kids!). We planned to have it outside, so we didn't want to exclude anyone. The day finally arrived and Natalie and Lauren were ecstatic. The weather cooperated (Thank God!) even though it was threatening rain just an hour before the party. Terri & Kevin made a spectacular assortment of Halloween cupcakes, I made popcorn balls (sticky, sticky mess! But oh so good), we bought decorated cookies and Shu Shu made a Fall chex mix. And of course, we had the Witches brew. Keg & Shu Shu volunteered (that sounds so much nicer than forced) to help with crowd control. While everyone was pretty well behaved, it was hectic at times. Especially, when everyone wanted to paint their pumpkins first! Craig was given the nice and tidy job of letting the kids search for eyeballs (grapes mixed into a bowl of spaghetti noodles). Ewwww....the noodles were sticky and yucky - but the kids loved it. They wouldn't leave him alone. We had face painting and pumpkin weighing contests as well. But, the saving grace of the party was the play set. I'm pretty sure it was taxed beyond it's limits that day, but it held up. When the kids were all done with the sweets and food, and were bored with the games they all migrated there. And had a ball. Eventually, the 2 hours was up and the parents picked up their kids. We all took a deep breath and had a beer. The girls loved it, and we had so many parents tell us how much fun their kids had. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. I only wish Kevin could have gotten off work to join us.
In the midst of this crazy month was Kevin's birthday....#46! So, we had the family (Boo Boo, K, LoLo, Baby Tsey, Shu Shu & Keggie) over on his birthday. I made enchiladas and Natalie and I made a cake. The kids got a kick out of putting all 46 candles on his cake and watching them be lit. Of course, Kev had a lot of help blowing out the candles.
Finally, Halloween night arrived after a long month of festivities. Natalie, along with Lauren were Brides this year and they looked perfectly beautiful. Nathan chose to be a Green Power Ranger and Tyler was a Clone Trooper from Star Wars. This is the first year they weren't coordinating. They seemed to notice too.....as they were picking their costumes, they each tried to talk the other into their idea. But each of them stuck to their guns. That was a little bit sad for me because as they get older, I know my habit of coordinating their outfits is going to be rejected someday soon. We continued with our usual Halloween tradition of everyone coming over to our house for dinner - straying from our usual Chili dinner and made Soup and Bread instead. This year was really a milestone - I'm not sure why. But the boys were more into Trick or Treating than ever and the girls had no interest in riding in the Red wagon like they always have in years past. Even the boys rejected riding in the stroller until late in the night. So, we headed out at dusk for the annual Candy begging. Natalie and Lauren leading the pack and Nate & Ty close behind - with their usual entourage following (Me, Kev, Terri, Kevin, Trey, Julz & Craig). Our normal slow pace of going house to house, loading the girls in and out of the red wagon and the boys in and out of the stroller was long gone. The kids dashed from house to house ringing the doorbell. At one point, Nate excitedly came running out of one driveway into the cul de sac jumping up and down with his arms straight up in the air yelling "I wuv Hawoween! I wuv Hawoween!) over and over. It was so cute! Then, at another house Ty was running towards the door yelling "I wunning supa fast"! We made such quick time this year, we actually made it up the hill and hit a few houses up on the main street this year! It was a special night. And a fun (if not exhausting) month.