Halloween and Other October Things

Ever had a school project that required the family to decorate a pumpkin together. Jim made it happen, although Ever was very much the artistic director. She was very proud of the result.

I took Ever to the dentist, who discovered and treated two cavities. I'm really hoping that's not a sign that she's got Jim's problem-prone teeth. The dentist previously recommended that we do sealants on her teeth, which have really deep grooves. I didn't do it because insurance didn't cover it, so I thought it probably wasn't necessary. The cavities made me trust the dentist, though, so we got it done. Frozen yogurt afterward seemed right. Waffle cones were free that day, so what could we do?

Usually Saiji Clarke walks Ever to the back gate after school so I don't have to park in front and walk to the kindergarten gate. When a funky schedule issue requires me to go to the kinder area, it is hard. Wrenzy really likes the curbs, which does not make the walk faster or easier for me.

Jim is the best dad. Sometimes he initiates dance parties.

As soon as we got home from Santa Fe, Tiny started walking. Apparently the practice she got walking around holding the cousins' hands did the trick. Maybe her mother should have walked with her a bit. This was the day after we got back:

The biggers were witches at our ward trunk or treat. Tiny Tot wore the Halloween shirt Nanny originally gave to Ever, I believe. There is something to be said for having all your kids be the same gender. Not buying clothes is amazing.

I don't know where Ever got this pose:

A couple nights, the biggers were put in their bunks and later found in makeshift beds on the floor. The first pic is from October 21. The second is from October 23. You build bunks, and then they don't sleep in them. 

Tiny continues to entertain with her scrunch face.

She learned a new word while we were in Santa Fe: "Bella." That's the name of Rob and Anna's dog. While we were there, Wren kept saying, "Bella dog-a," Italian style. Before we left, Tiny started saying "Bella" perfectly. Now she calls all dogs and some other animals "Bella." She seems to find it fun to say.

The Friday before Halloween, Anna Dubrovsky, mother of Ever's friend Leela from school, took Ever with them to the Halloween carnival at Rafi's preschool. (Rafi is Leela's little brother.) It looked like a grand time.

Anna had asked what we were doing for Halloween, and I invited their family to join us for trick or treating. I told her I was going to try to feed my kids as close to 5:00 P.M. as possible and then hit the streets. So Anna had her kids ready to go early. Meanwhile I compensated for an unproductive work-at-home-day by not knocking off as early as I needed to, so we weren't ready for trick or treating until well after 6:00. (Besides my work, the other major setback was the green makeup I tried to put on Ever and ended up taking off because it looked terrible.) Rafi and Leela were chomping at the bit, so Anna brought them down to our place while I finished getting my girls ready. (They just live up the street.) Their dad, George, got home from work just in time to join us as we headed over to Rancho del Oro for trick or treating.

I had told Anna that we'd probably go for a little jaunt on the trails over to Rancho del Oro to trick or treat there since it's more festive than our rather dead neighborhood. The walk is a lot farther than I remembered or prepared her for, and the kids were struggling. It was pretty much a disaster at first - another ill-fated tour led by the Kringels, much like unto our unexpectedly long and/or arduous hikes on which we don't bring enough water, etc. It seemed as if we were ruining Halloween. But then we finally got to the good trick-or-treating neighborhood. Houses were decked out, lots of people were out, and the kids loved it. All was well. The kids got plenty of candy, and Jim and I enjoyed chatting with Anna  and George while we walked. I didn't get any pictures of the kids, but I tried to take some of a couple of the houses. They don't capture the elaborateness. I can't imagine how much time and money go into decorating some of these places.

Tons of our ward members live and/or trick or treat in that area, so we saw lots of people we knew. At one point, Jim crossed the street to say hi to a bunch of youth that were out, and Anna said, "Jim is like the mayor around here! He knows everyone." It was pretty funny. 

Those connections came in handy at the end of the night when we were about to head home and Leela said she needed to go to the bathroom. Anna and George were going to make her squat, but I said, "We know people. Our friends live just a few houses down from here. They have people over right now, and they won't mind at all if we go use their bathroom." (Tom and Amber Sorenson live right near where the trail takes off to our place, and they invite everyone to their place after trick or treating every year.) So we went to the Sorensons', hung out outside by the fire pit, and introduced Anna and George to people while Ever and Leela made a pit stop. I told Amber about how we made them walk all the way over there, and she offered to drive us all back in her minivan. Jim didn't want the girls to go without car seats, but I didn't want to kill the Subrebosts* by making them walk the trail again. So Jim decided to save Wren, and he and George walked home with her while Anna and I caught a ride with the rest of the kids. All in all, it was a successful Halloween.

Jim and I were going to limit the girls to a certain number of candies while we trick or treated, but he immediately relented and allowed them unlimited junk. Afterward, however, we had them pick five or ten items (plus fruit snacks, which we considered freebies) and then took the rest to a dentist's office in Carlsbad where they pay $1 per pound of candy and also give raffle tickets (we didn't win anything) and goody bags that include coupons for Chili's and Ruby's Diner (buy one adult meal, get a kid's meal free). In years past, Ever has had so much candy that she couldn't ever get through it (since we ration), even with me eating all the good stuff at night after she goes to bed. The buyback was a revelation. Everyone was satisfied.

*Anna didn't take George's last name, so she's Dubrovsky while the rest of them are Subrebost.