Can I just say how much I love how well my kiddos eat? Yesterday was their Halloween party at school. They had a room set up for the 2 and older kids with candy corn sprinkled across the table and a cupcake at each spot. Alexis, whose a month shy of two, was invited to join and she sat next to her big sister. Both girls rejected their cupcake in favor of fruit, although Nicole did eat a bit of the frosting on hers. I loved it because not only did they get something healthy, but Mommy got to eat the cupcake Alexis licked and subsequently set aside. (Hey, it’s not like anyone else was going to eat it!)

When we got home all Nicole asked if she could eat one of her candies from her school party, and I told her she could have two from her pumpkin after we went trick or treating. She was ridiculously excited with the concept of two. I figured we’d have more back and forth negotiation the amount of candy consumption allowed, but when Nicole accepted two I decided to roll with it.

The kids were feeling warm to me, so I took their temperatures before dinner. Nicole was fine, but Alexis clocked in at 99.6. She wasn’t acting sick, so we decided “daycare rules” applied. (If they’re not sick enough to be sent home from daycare, they can probably go trick-or-treating.) Luckily the two candy limit had already been established. At the time I was thinking her fever was probably just teething related, but you never know. Why jinx a stomach flu by letting them gorge on candy?

Initially we were planning on sending the kids exactly as they were last week, with a shirt or leggings underneath their costume if it ended up being cold. Nicole was really excited to wear her new boots. Alexis too. But as luck would have it, Alexis ended up with her first pair of light up shoes on Sunday. When I asked her which pair of shoes she wanted, she choose the light up ones. Light up shoes are great for trick-or-treating! They were way brighter than the glow stick bracelets.

(pictures the day of were on my cell phone and didn’t turn out very well. This was the best.)

Speaking of glow stick bracelets, those were a major disappointment. One broke and leaked purple fluorescent liquid all over the place. Next year it’s light up shoes for all!

We had been working with Alexis all week to say “Trick-or-treat”. She had an adorable “Ahhh…TREAT!” mastered, but was a bit shy the day of. They shyness was mostly just around speaking, however. When we arrived at the second house I had to stop her from grabbing the door knob and letting herself in! Ringing the doorbell is just too inefficient I guess.

We started earlier this year (one of our lessons learned from last year) and finished right at seven o’clock. Alexis is usually in bed by 6:30, 6:45 at the latest. I asked her if she was sleepy. In typical little kid fashion her response was an emphatic “No!” while rubbing her eyes. We decided to visit one more house, and it ended up being that of one of Nicole’s teachers! She loved that.

When we got home we let the girls pick their two candies. Alexis objected when we put their pumpkins away, but her objection was short lived as Daddy was also simultaneously opening her second piece of candy for her. Both kids went to bed very happy and very tired. After they were asleep we raiding Alexis’ pumpkin pail for all the candies she was too little for. They were put in Nicole’s pumpkin pail and replaced with them with more age appropriate candies we had left over from our own trick-or-treaters.

This morning both Alexis and I awoke with heavy congestion. I’d blame mine on the shared cupcake, but I’ve had the sore throat precursor since Sunday.

I’ll write my usually monthly business progress report tomorrow, assuming I’m feeling a bit less foggy by then.

Posted in Family Life | Tags: Halloween