Lex woke up yesterday, looked at the calendar, and said: “Mom, tomorrow is Halloween day and Saturday is Halloween night.  That means tomorrow we have to go to the store and buy candy to give to the trick-or-treaters.  We also have to go to the store and buy pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns.”  Like that was his plan all along.  I wish he’d start writing these things on the calendar for me!  We already had candy so we checked that right off his mental list and I started trying to work jack-o-lanterns into my Friday plans.  Truth be told, this Halloween scrooge was hoping to avoid the jack-o-lanterns this year.  We bought a few little pumpkins a few weeks ago and the kids happily painted them (per Lex’s instruction) and they both participated in the carving of many jack-o-lanterns at daycare, so I was hoping to skip it here.  But I guess Lex had it scheduled for Friday.  After I picked him up from school (the cookies were a hit, by the way!) we stopped at the farm stand and bought pumpkins, mums and apple cider, on sale :)

MY Friday plans had included a playdate with a friend and her kids, so after naps I gave them a call and, conveniently, they had pumpkins to carve too… so they came over and we had a pumpkin carving playdate.  As seems to be the case with pumpkin carving, the kids were interested for about five minutes and then ran off to play, leaving the grown-ups to finish the job.  Luckily we had fun with it. I also LOVED when Lex insisted we “play” the “five little pumpkins” game.  With some effort I came to understand that means singing a super cute song and at the end the lights go out.  Anyone know this song?  I love hearing about stuff he learns at school.  We tried to record him singing but the other kids were making noise and he is a quiet singer so you can’t really hear him in the movie.  It was a beautiful thing though, from a mommy perspective anyway! :)

Then we got pizza and around 6:30, after eating only a few bites of dinner, a very tired and sick (cold, congestion) Eve got down and said it was time for bed.  She does this at nap time a lot lately.  She’ll have some lunch and then say its time for nap.  She goes upstairs and climbs into her bed.  Sometimes she just sits there and waits for me, other times she reads a book to doggie while she waits, tonight she pulled the covers up over her head and fell asleep!  The door was open, the other kids were running and yelling downstairs, and Eve was out like a light.  I went up and put a diaper on her, she smiled and hugged me but otherwise kept sleeping.  She’s so funny!  She’s always been a great sleeper but lately she has become crazy and fights bedtime.  About a week ago she started putting herself to bed and really appreciating sleep again.  I think it’s just because she hasn’t been feeling well lately, but I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.

Then while my friend and I chatted, Alan did an awesome job of wearing out the other three kids.  They cleaned up the GIANT mess they had made in the living room and office, they played Simon Says, they played tag, and lots of other fun stuff.  I lost track.  I sat on my butt and chatted with my friend.  It was a great night :)

When they left Alan read a story to Lex while Lex had a snack (skipped dinner, too busy playing).  Then they went upstairs and Lex threw up, several times!  Blech!!  Luckily they were in the bathroom so the mess was fairly contained, but poor Lex just shook and shivered and moaned and cried.  Alan put him in a warm bath for awhile then I got him dressed and we snuggled in bed.  I’m hoping it was just from so much activity.  Hopefully!!!

We have a few Halloween plans for tomorrow, but I think we’ll see how the kids feel when they wake up.  There is so much to do around here (I love this area!) but I try to remember that my kids don’t like doing too much and are often happiest with one or two small activities. Lex’s plan for tomorrow is to empty out the Pampered Chef boxes that were delivered today and make another playhouse.  It’s Halloween and he is most excited to make a cardboard playhouse.  I hope the innocence lasts for a few more years.  Eve, on the other hand, has been practicing her door knocking and “trick-or-treat” yell and is eager to go out on the town!  :)