Happy Halloween!

Halloween began for our family on Monday, October 29, when Phoebe got to go on her first field trip. She recently moved up to the 2 1/2–3 1/2 room at school, so she gets to try all sorts of new things! She was so excited about the field trip that she spent the morning crying because we weren’t getting to school fast enough. We finally arrived, two hours before they were planning to leave, because I had to head to the airport to pick up Elaina, who was visiting for the week (hooray!).

After school Phoebe explained that they had gone in the van to the pumpkin patch. She’d had to bring her carseat (you can’t ride in the bus until you’re three), and she told me numerous times that it was because she couldn’t sit on the floor of the van. It turned out that there was a jumpy castle at the pumpkin patch, so life was perfect that day! She took her first sack lunch: a peanut butter sandwich, grapes, and pretzels. I meant to include both a drink and a note, but I forgot. No mother-of-the-day star for me. Phoebe also explained that her friend Fritzy had to sit across the picnic table because of the possibility that he might push someone off the bench. She got to bring her pumpkin (they were instructed to choose a hard one rather than a squishy one) home after school.

Just when it seemed life couldn’t get any better, it was Halloween! Phoebe took her costume to school to trick-or-treat in the other classrooms. She was delighted with her baggie of candy with her name on it. I’ve always wanted to have a little pumpkin kid, so I planned for Benjamin to wear a pumpkin costume this year. Phoebe was pretty indecisive (monkey, lion, princess) until she saw an older kid online in the perfect costume. She decided that if Benjamin was going to be a “lying-down pumpkin,” she should surely be a “standing-up pumpkin!” I bought patterns, material, and notions and set to work. This year I finished at midnight on October 30—not too bad! I’m definitely an amateur, but I’m enjoying learning a little bit about sewing each year.

After school we headed over to the Brinkmans’ to trick-or-treat with John and Thomas. The kids were too excited to eat their pizza, so even though the grown-ups might have preferred to dawdle over their beer, we soon costumed up and set out. We made it to about 10 houses before everyone got tired and wanted to head home. Back at the Brinkmans’, the kids ate candy while the adults chatted. It was a late night, but Phoebe had a great time!

And now for a few post-Halloween photos: