Halloween approaches

Recently somebody asked me if I was allowing my children to Trick or Treat.  Sometimes it is funny being a clergy spouse.  That was I guess because I try my best to wear my faith on my sleeve.  I know I don't always do a good job of it.  In this world where it seems to be so easy to offend and sometimes it feels like I am expected to accept all points of view, even the crazy ones, I have trouble some days expressing what I believe as a Christian.  However, bringing my children out to visit neighbors and collect a little candy is fine with me.  I know the arguments about it being a holiday for the devil, etc.  Yet it is a holiday that celebrates the night before All Saints Day - a Christian day celebrating those who came before us in our faith.  I know it's origins are less than Christian, but that is beside the point - it is the eve of when we celebrate those who are hallowed (set apart for holiness).

So my little people are dressing up and this year they are an ice dragon ninja and a cowboy.  The funny thing is that the way I figured out what type of ninja Harry is going to be is because somebody asked Robert what his costume was and then what Harry's costume is.  Robert knew the answer immediately.  I would have just said a ninja, but Robert gave the whole explanation (to a somewhat confused response on the part of the adult he was talking with, until I translated a bit).  We are at that stage where Robert can say anything, but sometimes it is a bit hard to understand him.  He now makes up stories and has his own make believe world.  It seems I have handed down to my children the land of make believe.  Harry especially spends hours in his own worlds.  Sometimes he'll say, having a good imagination makes life difficult, because he gets so caught up in his fantasy that he forgets to do something he was supposed to do or just does it at a painful snail's pace.

So without further ado - here they are in their costumes on the way to a Halloween Party.

Visit to a Pumpkin Patch & Nana's visit

On the hayride

The boys in the corn maze - the lollipop dripped all down the boy and his father!

 

with Nana on the hayride

Kevin's Mom came for a visit and stayed about 9 days.  We went out and got some pumpkins at a local farm.  They have a whole bunch of activities - hayride, corn maze and games.  Fortunately the weather was relatively nice except for some wind, and we enjoyed all the activities.  We got a bit lost in the maze though and ended up coming out of the entrance rather than finding the exit.  Harry was getting a bit nervous towards the end.  I think we were all ready to get out and so we just retraced our steps and went back to the entrance.

Robert was entranced by the various statues and did a good job just sitting and watching things on the hayride.  They have a scavenger hunt for the older kids and this year we found everything that was out along the way.  It was a space theme which tends to be very apt for us.  We were looking for aliens and the like among the corn and Christmas tree fields.  I was also looking at the trees and thinking that this year we should go out and tag our Christmas tree sometime soon, so we get a nice one.  We are in the season of many happenings - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, it seems to all come suddenly.

More Vacation pictures

 On the Perkins Cove Footbridge

Sharing a joke with Grampy

Lobster Fishing was fun, but cold!

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These days we relate over video games sometimes

Please don't disturb, I'm reading the comics

Playing with a new friend

Dad and I at Little Beach

Reading is still a favorite activity

What can I say - we still like each other :-)

Some time at the beach

For the past few Octobers we have gone to the beach in Maine with my Dad.  It is one of the the highlights of the year.  Ogunquit, Maine is where we went every summer for a week or 2 and it was my favorite place as a child too.  I think it is the place where I have always felt closest to God and so it is always like coming home.  At any rate, Harry now looks forward to the trip too and loves the time there. It is somehow very nice and comforting to know that Harry and I will both share fond childhood memories of the same place. Both boys were very good and we have a good time - we played on the beach, played on the huge lawn at the hotel and read and went for walks.  The boys each got to choose a special present from the toy store and we of course chose some candy from our favorite candy store.

The adults had steamers and lobster and fried clams.  Overall, it was a lovely time and each year we talk about how it would be nice to stay longer.  As an adult, I don't get to sit on a rock and just chill right now.  I am busy with little people who are exploring the beach or have other things on their agenda, but I did get a little time alone on the beach which I really appreciated all the more.  On the first day it was in the upper sixties and the water was probably a similar temperature and both boys got soaking wet playing in the tidal pools at the beach.  They didn't feel cold really at all, my theory is that children's nervous systems are not properly connected and thus they don't feel the cold.  I couldn't have stayed in the water for even close to the amount of time they played happily splashing and running around.

I'll add some more as the week goes along and I have time.  I got some great photos to go along with the great memories.

Some September pictures

I'd like my jack o lantern to be this size this year

Too bad I won't let anybody call me cute, 'cause I sure am

It is only fitting that Dad supervise the ice cream enthusiasm, as he gets it from him!

Hanging on the couch with my "cowboy hat", milk and Star Wars characters

I can get as many cookies as I want during coffee hour - as long as Mom and Dad aren't paying attention and it appears to be hard for them to consistently do so - a perk to being a pk

Where did September go?

In August, I looked at September and thought, "Lord, just help us get through it"  There wasn't a single weekend that wasn't busy for one reason or another.  I guess that is why the month went by so quickly.  This past weekend, the first in October went by quickly too and was also very busy, but it was full of things we chose to do, rather than things that we had to do for one reason or another.  It isn't that the things we had to do were all bad or even slightly bad, just somehow when you can go with your own rhythms things go better. 

The boys are both relatively flexible children and go with the flow rather well, but often scheduled events are at times of day when everybody is a bit on edge or involve sitting still too long or waiting to eat until strange times etc.  One thing that went wonderfully in September was having the bishop and her husband over for lunch.  They boys were great.  They played and ate and hung around, but they let the grown ups talk.  Kevin was a bit doubtful, but I think it turned out to be a nice lunch.  I made a quiche for the first time and some apple bread (thinking about it, nothing I made was an old tried and true recipe...hmmm).  Anyway, I had a cold so I don't know how well things tasted, but Kevin thought they were good.  So here's hoping.

This weekend we had 2 events that we wanted to attend and we went to both.  The first was the Harvest Festival at the Norman Bird Sanctuary.  That is probably one of the most family friendly events of the fall.  It isn't too expensive, there are all kinds of things that appeal to children to do and a few things thrown in for the adults.  Both boys enjoyed playing some games and collecting a couple small prizes.  My Dad came along too and that was fun, I think he enjoyed the people watching as much as anything else.  

Then yesterday evening was Jamestown Day at Fort Getty.  There was a huge bonfire, games, some pizza for dinner and the Jamestown band played.  Kevin climbed a tall rock wall (Harry declined the privilege as did I, I wore the wrong shoes, darn :-), Harry played a bunch of games and actually won a large cake at the cakewalk (he chose one with a toy on top - go figure).  Robert loved the band and was very upset when we told him we had to leave, but was somewhat mollified by the promise of cake when we got home.

Today is another crazy weather day and we took a walk this morning with Jen and Seamus expecting the rain to come any moment.  Rain has yet to come and it is almost time to get Harry from the bus.  Robert is currently napping and I have made cookies and done some dinner prep while he napped.  So far I've done a good job of keeping us stocked with home made cookies instead of store bought, but we'll see how I do.  I probably ought to get back to homemade granola bars too.  I have the ingredients.  Maybe tomorrow, they are certainly healthier than store bought.  The little goals I set for myself are crazy sometimes.

I don't have any pictures at the moment to post.  I'll look during homework time and see if I can put a few up.