Happy Halloween!
I’ve mentioned this in the past, but let’s
start this update with a reminder that Halloween does not need to be
incompatible with Christian faith. That
isn’t something I want to write a lot about; so let’s keep it simple. Anything you do – including dressing up in
costumes and having fun – can be filtered through your beliefs and faith; so
Halloween isn’t any more dangerous than any other day. Here’s another news flash for some people –
evil is done on other days too – and sometimes, supposedly, in the name of
God. Sometimes, people need to focus on
the big picture; and not freak out because a bunch of kids dress up and go
door-to-door to collect treats.
Okay, that’s enough of that – let’s get to
the Halloween fun news!
Tai Chi by the river was a great way to
start the day; Mom and Dad had Halloween-themed breakfast for us that included
orange pancakes with scary cut-outs to make them look like
jack-o-lanterns. I helped with the work
on both sides of the meal; we had fun eating the special food; and then I
helped out with getting Ethan and Ehlana ready for school – and into their PAW
Patrol pup costumes. I haven’t mentioned
that, but Dad picked up those costumes while in the city – and the costumes for
Naomi and Aiden; so we’re talking about full, plush costumes that are adorable.
The weather today has been awesome for
Halloween, and while it has been cloudy all day too; the temperatures climbed
to right around eighty; and we had a perfect evening for going
trick-or-treating. Before I get to that
part of the story, though; we need to cover the rest of the news for today.
First up, we had fun with the walk to
school – especially doing that with four of the PAW Patrol pups. Rowen and I were dressed up too, and I’ve
worn my Ehlana of Avalor costume for most of the day, but didn’t really need to
do that; since Michael, Rowen, and I missed the afternoon parties and most of
the Haunted House at school anyway. That
was because the concert band was playing at the Seniors’ Halloween lunch and
party; so we had that to do on top of the rest of the work we did at school in
the morning. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I
did get the entire day off from classes because of the work and party; so that
was good for us – even if we worked harder than we would have in our
classes. We spent most of the morning
setting up the haunted house in the gym and one trip to the church to set up
for the band in the fellowship hall.
We were at school for lunch; Michael and I
volunteered to go with the kindergarten kids when they were first to do the
haunted house; and then we needed to head over to the church again in time for
the mini-dance we were providing the music for between one and two-thirty. The haunted house was fun to do with Ethan,
Ehlana, and Aiden, but while it wasn’t really scary for us; it was scary-enough
for the little kids – in a hilarious sort of way. The seniors’ party was especially fun for me
because Grandma and Grandpa were there for it this year.
Yes, you’re now noticing that I haven’t
mentioned them leaving for their annual trip to Arizona, and that’s because
they stayed later this year so that they could see their grandkids at Halloween. They’re heading out tomorrow for a shortened
holiday in Arizona; and will still be home for the Thanksgiving weekend mid-way
through their first warm-weather vacation of the winter.
Having them at the party made the duet that
Michael and I performed that much better too; though that’s always magical for
us. We didn’t have the full band with
us, but Rowen was there; and she had a flute solo for one of the songs as about
half of the music today was a mix of solos, duets, and small ensembles while
the band took care of the rest of the tunes – with most of them
Halloween-themed. At two-thirty, we
packed up and hauled the gear back to the school; Rowen and I helped out with
the gym clean-up after that while the boys needed to get to their football
practice; and then I needed to get home to help Mom with getting everything
ready for an early dinner and the trick-or-treating.
By the way, our first-round football match for
the play-offs is going to be against Ridgeway.
I’m only mentioning that because I should have before now; but will save
the football news for the Friday night report.
I was busy from the time I got home until
Michael came over when it was time to take Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden out
trick-or-treating. We got to do that
instead of Mom and Dad because they were looking forward to seeing all of the
kids as they stopped by our house – as all kids and teens in town always do
each year on our street. That’s still
true even with the new section in town adding to the available areas to go
trick-or-treating; and will likely stay that way for a while – at least until
most of that new section is completed.
When Mom and Dad were finished taking pictures, we headed out – going west
at first; and then back along our street on the other side of the road. We ended up adding Sophia to our group
because she was just getting ready to head out too when we stopped at her
house; and she was glad to go with us instead of with Jessica and Patrick – or Ryan
and his buddies.
I won’t offer a play-by-play of the next
two hours or so; but will note some of the highlights. Our visits with grandparents, aunts, and
uncles were all really awesome moments; we had fun when we met up with friends
of all ages; and Rowen and Tim had a fun little display going on at her house
that included Tim the Zombie wandering around in search of brains and Rowen
handing out candy while also using a microphone to make a pumpkin-headed dummy
in a chair near the end of the sidewalk ‘talk’ to the kids as they passed
by. After covering our street, we went
into the new section to visit the Seagers and Drapers – along with quite a few
of the other houses and one of the apartment buildings before we came back into
the ‘old’ part of town. It really isn’t
possible to visit every house in town on Halloween – at least with small kids;
so we didn’t try to do that. We did
visit our grandparents – including Sophia’s Bassett Grandparents; and we also
did some trick-or-treating with Aunt Leanne, Zack, and Brianna when we met up
with them at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.
The four kids had two bags full of candy each by the time they’d had
enough and were ready to head home.
Michael and I took Naomi and Aiden home first; I went home with Ethan
and Ehlana after that; and Michael took Sophia home on his way back to his
house so that he could get changed and then come over to hang out with me for a
while – at least until Mom and Dad were done with the trick-or-treaters.
We ended up sitting out on the front porch
with them – and with Ethan and Ehlana – for a while; went inside with enough
time to watch one last Halloween show; and then Michael and I took care of
getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night before doing a Magi lesson
with Mom while Dad got to work in the office.
There wasn’t much time left after that for any quality make-out time –
unless one of the teens is a Magi Master with the ability to time-phase! ;^)
That might be scary for parents to think
about, but Michael and I had fun; and he was a happy camper when he went home
at a bit after eleven o’clock. So was I,
but it was time to get to work after that; and I did that as soon as I was in
bed with Mandy and my computer. I needed
to use a time phase for the work and studying too, but used a bit of
self-healing first so that I could do that without being totally-exhausted
before even starting in on the stack of family business work that needed to get
done tonight. I won’t go into the
details there either, but some of that work was a priority right away because
of the earthquakes in Italy and some needs there that our charities and some
European companies could help with – once they had the approval to spend the
money. I’m really wiped out now, but
this was one of those nights when the work has been more than worth the
personal cost.
Getting some sleep now is an option,
though, and that’s enough of the news from today recorded for posterity to
satisfy me when I’m this tired; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
