Halloween

In preparation for Halloween, we of course carved pumpkins. The boys all designed theirs and Cruise both designed and carved his own: R2-D2. I was actually pretty impressed that he had the patience and attention to actually complete it and that it looked pretty good! 

Jett's on the left and Miles' on the right.

Cruise's R2D2

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Not because of the super scary stuff, because I really don't enjoy that part, but I LOVE the dressing up, the silly, creative costumes, the jack-o-lanterns, the candy...it's great. However, as a parent, it is now one of the busiest days of the year. 

Halloween morning, we got the boys ready: Cruise in his Harry Potter costume, Jett in his S.W.A.T. costume, and Miles in his Gekko PJMasks costume. Dave took Cruise and Jett to school and stayed to watch their parade. I took Miles to school and then came home and got ready in my Louise from Bob's Burgers costume.

Then Dave and I went to his preschool to watch his parade and program. They each came out individually to show their costumes, they sang a bunch of songs, Miles hit Superman in the face with his mask for being in his space, you know, the usual. They also did a little trick-or-treating to all the parents, so I brought bubbles to hand out. 4 year-olds love bubbles. 

After that, the three of us ate lunch and then I had to get everything together to do the boys' parties. First was Jett's class party. I provided a snack (Halloween trail mix) & bottled water, and read Halloween stories. I had to leave early because I then had to run to my car, swap the trail mix and books with a big bowl full of prizes and treats, and then run to Cruise's class for that party. I did a scavenger hunt which turned out to be WAY easy because a classroom full of kids with autism means a classroom full of kids who see details and notice even the slightest differences better than anyone else. So yeah, not much of a challenge. After that party, I gathered the boys' pumpkins that they had brought for Pumpkins on Parade, grabbed the boys, and we headed home. 

Once we got home, I put in an order for our usual jack-o-lantern pizzas, drove to pick them up, came home, we ate, and then the kids were ready to go! 

Dave was less than enthusiastic having to take the boys trick-or-treating again. Unlike me, he is not a huge fan of Halloween. My feet hurt too bad from running around all day, so there was no way I was going trick-or-treating. So he was a trooper and took them. He was sure to bring the big wagon, some water, and a pillowcase for the boys to dump their candy into when their own buckets got full. Every year I get a phone call after a bit telling me to come pick up Miles or all of them, but they were out much longer this year, and I guess Miles was really into it. I drove to pick them all up and the amount of candy they had was insane! I quickly took them to the neighborhood haunted house and then back home. They showered and I started on the candy distribution. This is what happens when you have a socialist for a mother. I organized everything divided things up evenly, unless they didn't like a specific candy (Miles hates chocolate), and then Dave and I get the leftovers. Everyone has an equal amount, everyone has the candy they like, and everyone is happy. 

And that is how we do Halloween.