Halloween

So yeah, Halloween was a couple weeks ago and I am finally getting around to posting something about it. Nothing too exciting happened. Riley went to a party at her friend's house the week before, her school had a party that I was able to make it to, and then the grandparents came over to go trick or treating with us.

Riley with two of her best friends

Earlier on Saturday, Riley and I decided to play with chalk which seemed like a good idea until the next day when we had chalk smeared all over our front steps (and then it didn't rain for weeks so it remained smeared with chalk until I finally washed it off... and then it rained the next day. Go figure).

Jesse carved the pumpkin, and Riley and I made a few ghosts to hang on the house, but that was the extent of our decorations. Our new (childless) neighbors went all out and dressed up... and put a poster in their window that I was even scared of. Here I was worried the mummy I drew on the sidewalk was too spooky for a small child. I didn't hear any kids go screaming from the neighbors house so it's probably more a reflection that I get scared easier than a 4 year old.

Riley was originally going to be a pirate, and then something else... I can't remember. I decided to take her to Target and go from there. She knew who Cleopatra was from one of her favorite cartoons so we went with that. It was fun to see how many of the neighbors figured out who she was and she loved showing off her costume.

And that was that. Happy belated Halloween!

Halloween 2014

This year we planned to go to a pumpkin patch as one of our Fall/Halloween activities, but it never happened so we picked up a couple pumpkins at Home Depot instead. I think Riley was just as excited and it was easier for us so it was a win. Everyone was also fine with carving only one of the pumpkins, and Riley loved that we made it into a princess pumpkin. We haven't had the best luck with pumpkins and squirrels the last few years (our neighborhood squirrels will take a pumpkin down in a few days), but Jesse tried a new spray this year and it totally worked. Unfortunately, the 30 minutes the pumpkin was left unprotected before the spray resulted in a fairly good gnawing by our outside creatures.

Ok, the spray must not have been perfect because princess is missing one of her eyes. Hmmm.

I'm Anna!

Riley's school doesn't necessarily celebrate Halloween, but did have a Fall Harvest Party where all the kids wore their costumes. They paraded around the school in the morning and the dance party was after nap time which meant that no one actually slept (we were told they were all abuzz on their cots).

Riley came home riled up, and looked tired. We just hoped this wouldn't equate to crabbiness later on. My in-laws came over and went trick or treating with Riley and I while Jesse handed out candy at home.

Performing songs for grandma and grandpa before we head out.

Our neighbors down the block go all out for Halloween. Above is only a small portion of the yard. They have friends over and hang out around a bonfire in the front yard. Riley is fine with this yard during the day, but when Halloween night come around she wants nothing to do it. However, this year she had no problem whatsoever. She even went up to the house that had the horrific sounding dog and that was a big 'no' last year. What was even nicer is that her tolerance allowed me to chit chat with the neighbors about Riley's school options next year They raved about one of the schools so I feel good about where we are likely going to send her.

There didn't seem to be a lot of houses handing out candy on our block this year so we went to the next block as well. A police officer pulled over as we were walking and started talking to us. He was very serious and we all (the adults, not Riley) commented later that we thought we were in trouble for something. However, the guy eventually asked Riley if she wanted more candy for her haul and produced a couple of suckers for her before he drove down towards the next group of kids.

Riley was also that kid that walked up and down each sidewalk while the other kids were running across lawns. At one house she rang the doorbell and took a step back to get out of the way of the door when some other kids ran up in front of her. She waited for her candy after them, but I feel like I will need to find ways to ensure that she is assertive in the future. I'm sure some of that will change in a couple years, but I don't want her to feel like she can't speak up for herself in situations like these.

Once we made the two block loop Riley was ready to head home. I think she was tired and maybe a little cold (although she was bundled up - She didn't seem to care that it was covering her costume, but to make sure I told her the coat seemed like a princess coat that Anna would wear in the snow when she was looking for her sister, Elsa. She was totally cool with that.) Of course, we had to trick or treat at our own house.

We let her have one piece of candy and watch a few more trick or treaters come to the door before bedtime. She willingly went upstairs to bed and was out fast. Overall, another successful Halloween.

I just hope she doesn't notice that I've eaten all her KitKats.

This and That

Riley and I have recently been having some interesting conversations right before bedtime, She is so full of curiosity and questions these days that I sometimes have a hard time knowing how to answer.

The other night while getting Riley ready for bedtime she asked me "how are cats alive?"

Me: Um, you mean how are they born?

R: Yeah.

Me: Well, it's like with humans... where they have a mom and a dad who make them.

R: But how are they alive?

She kept asking, not quite satisfied with my answers. I finally had to get into some details.

Me: Well, see moms and dads come together and contribute these tiny little cells and those cells, from both mom and dad, help create a baby. So you started out super small, then grew to a size of a bean, then a banana (I got big eyes from her on this one), and then a watermelon. Then I gave birth to you and you were about 8 pounds which is smaller than Lucy (our cat). Only mommies can grow a baby inside them - dad's can't do that. So that's what happens with cats too.

Riley: Why can't daddies grow babies?

Me: They just can't. Their bodies aren't made to have babies inside them.

Riley: What does 'birth' mean?

Me: (omg, how do I explain this?). Welllll, a baby grows inside the mommy and when big enough has to come out. That usually means the baby comes out the vagina.

Riley: (Cringing), but, but... I don't want to do that because it sounds like it hurts.

Me: (Haha, yes it does my child) I took some medicine to help it not hurt so much.

We talked a little more about how people and cats are made and she seemed satisfied, but then had one more question.

R: How do cats get milk?

M: You mean from their mom?

R: Yeah

M: The mommy's body makes the milk special for her kittens. The kittens drink it from the mommy cat's nipples - just like you did when you were a baby (we've talked about breast feeding before).

So then we had to find Lucy's nipples which was extremely difficult to do on a hefty cat. I finally found one before Riley was on to talking about human nipples and showing me her own.

I wasn't expecting this conversation yet.. or at this level of detail. My answers seemed to satisfy her curiosity, but I was exhausted by the end of it. Apparently, I need to brush up on my sex ed information before I was planning to.

Then the other night we were reading a new book we picked up at Goodwill. It was a Magic School Bus book about the body and I could barely get through it. I think it took me at least a half hour to read the book because she wanted to know every little detail about how the body works. Often the answer was on the next page, but her questions were shooting out so fast we had a hard time getting to the 'next page'. "Where are my lungs?", "How does my heart pump?, "Can I see my blood?". I tried to answer each question the best I could, but I finally had to ask her to hold on to the questions for a moment so we could finish the book. At the end of the book she said "Ok, I have two questions for you now." so I'm guessing those last few pages answered some of her other questions.

The next morning she continued to ask me questions. "Is this blue line on my arm where my blood is?"... and so on. I've promised her that we would go on the computer and find more stuff on the human body. This is something she talked about at preschool last year, and was curious about then, but has waaaaay more questions now. Still a lot I could not answer, but slightly less awkward than our "how are cat's alive" conversation.

Besides our riveting nighttime conversations we spent a day taking into some more fall activities. Saturday we went to a local event called the Pumpkin Festival. We went a couple years ago and found it worth going to again. It's nothing big, but there is entertainment and kids can go trick or treating at the stores there. This year Riley is going to be Anna (from Frozen, of course - in case you've been living under a rock or something). This sort of surprised me as I thought she might pick Elsa because of her blue flowy dress (and the ice powers and all), but I guess I can see Riley feeling more of a connection with Anna. Anyhoo, we dressed her up and headed over to The Shops at West End where the event was held.

It was a beautiful fall day. The event wasn't that busy at first, but things picked up as we walked the few blocks it covered. Riley's favorite thing was trick or treating at the stores, followed by the mini bounce house. She seemed utterly petrified of the small spinning wheel that you spun for prizes. Later, we went to Home Depot where they are selling this life size, creepy, automated witch. Riley absolutely loved it. Sometimes I just don't get this kid  - usually she'd be freaked out by the witch and want to spin that wheel over and over.

Cool marimba ensemble from Breck school. They were really good and were selling CD's. When we first arrived in this area they weren't performing. I thought these were just interactive and anyone could play on. So Riley and I did. I'm guessing we received some looks, but we didn't notice. Oops.

The Twin Cities Road Crew was also pretty entertaining. They basically just danced and got kids to dance. There was probably more to it than that but we were on our way out.

But first a stop to decorate a bag. Riley wanted nothing to do with this on our way in, but insisted on it on the way out.

Nothing too exciting, but really just our speed. Just the right sized crowd and an excuse for Riley to wear her costume (like she needs one). Love our neighborhood and what it has to provide.

Happy Halloween

This year Riley requested to be a butterfly for Halloween. We were all set after picking up some pink long underwear at Target and wings and a tutu at a traumatic visit to Party City. This store is waaaay too scary at Halloween for an easily spooked kid like Riley.

School encouraged costumes so we took a couple pictures before we left... (and I'm just noticing now that I put her wings on upside down. Whoops.)

Riley's school posted pictures from the 'party' they had...

And then grandma came over and we went trick or treating...

You can tell that's a cat silhouette, right? Jesse insisted it looked like something else.

Spooky house that Riley won't go near, but these people were so sweet they brought candy to Riley.

We went for a block or so and Riley said she wanted to go home and get candy from her dad who was at home handing out candy to other kids. We actually had to force her to stop at more houses on the way home. I'm glad we did because it reminded me how wonderful other people can be. They were just so great with my girl.

Ringing the doorbell to get her dad's attention

Waiting patiently

She was allowed to have one treat tonight and she selected the one that she got from her dad...

And then gave grandma some love before going to bed...

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2012

I actually need to step back in time... way back to 1978 to explain why I haven't been a fan of Halloween. Mrs. Nelson used to take many of the neighborhood kids trick or treating along with her three daughters. This year was no different, and besides the three Nelson girls the group included Tiffany and myself.

Tiffany was three years older than me and was sort of like a big sister to me. Our families were linked in that way that we both knew what the term 'dysfunctional family' was all about. My sister babysat Tiffany and her sister so I spent a fair amount of time in their house. Tiffany looked out for me and I adored her.

So. Halloween 1978.

We were making our rounds in the neighborhood. My new denim school bag (with a cool pocket on the outside) was filling up quickly with all sorts of delicious candies when some older kids walked by. They told they had a treat for us. We were already hopped up on the excitement and sugar of Halloween and weren't about to let a treat pass us by. All we had to do was close our eyes and hold out our hands. The innocent 6 year old in me looped my bag handles over my arm and did as was told as I waited for my surprise.

I was then told to put the bag down.

I know it was a long time ago, but I feel like I knew in my gut not to do so, but I thought "what could happen". Well, the older kids proceeded to put pumpkin guts in my hands and then threw my hands into my face... and took off with my bag of candy. Mrs. Nelson was down the sidewalk, not aware of what was going on, but Tiffany took off after those kids with me on her heals. We never did catch them, my favorite bag lost forever. I was pretty devastated, but Tiffany made sure that I had plenty of candy at the end of the night.

As I got older a lot of people thought I was a party pooper for not wanting to go to costume parties or hand out candy. I had no interest. At all. Over the years I'd occasionally go to a Halloween party, but only because someone talked me into it. And I never dressed up.

Except this time - my roomie made me a matching costume as his. He was a Manwich, I was a Sloppy Jo.

The last Halloween party I went to was probably a good 10 years ago and I haven't gone to one since. It might have been my last straw when one of the guests showed up with a stuffed bunny strapped to his nether regions. At one point during the party I watched him drunkenly stumble to the back of the yard to pee and then stumble over to my group of friends. I later discovered that the bunny had brushed up against one of my friends... and it was wet.

That was enough for me.

That is until 2011. 2011 is the year we took Riley trick or treating for the first time. She seemed to have fun and even said "trick or treat" and "thank you" at every door even if she had no idea what we were doing. My dislike started to break down a little bit, but I still wasn't embracing the holiday.

2011

Fast forward to 2012 and I find myself warming to Halloween a little bit more. Riley had a blast and something changes in you a little bit when you see how excited your kid is over something. Not that I was surprised that this would happen, but it actually makes me a little excited about next year.

But don't go getting your hopes up that you'll see me dressed up in costume anytime soon.

2012

Riley picked out her own costume this year - a cow. My step-mom LOVED cows and would have been proud of her selection if she were still here. Riley was in constant motion from the time I got home from work until she went to bed so the picture above is really the best head to toe shot of her costume. This year she wasn't quite as good about saying "thank you" at every door, because she was too busy saying "let's get more candy!".

Grandma accompanied us as we did a loop of our block. Jesse headed home during the middle of it to make sure kids were getting candy as they came to our house. Once we went around the block we headed home to the dissatisfaction of our kid. She had a mini meltdown, but recovered fairly quickly when she realized she got to help answer the door. "Here's the kids!", she'd yell while jumping around.

With some of her stash in the purple bag.

Giving some cheese while grandma tried to take her picture.

At 7:30 (the time she's usually in bed) we told her it was time to go up to bed which she balked at until I told her that we could go read a Halloween book. She got up from her chair and said "bye Daddy, bye grandma" and headed upstairs. I have no idea how this wound up little girl went to bed after one book, but she did it.

I can't wait to see what she'll want to be next year.