All Hallows Eve

A damp and dreary Halloween night, brightened by wonderful friends.  And tea and cookies.  And candy.  And  a trio  of little boys running with delight through puddles and wind and the glow of jack o'lanterns on the porches.

It was quieter than usual on Somerton, with only the most stalwart trick-or-treaters braving the windy drizzle, and many houses dark. We only made it to Middlehurst-- but that was far enough to enjoy the Best Halloween House Ever and for all the kids to get a pretty nice haul of candy.  It didn't hurt that the Somerton crowd, prepared with candy for hundreds of kids, were giving liberal handfuls to the few who came to their doors.

I walked with Ivy and the dog and there was a lot of juggling and balancing as I held Ivy's skirt for her up the stairs, maneuvered the dog through the clusters of children, and tried (unsuccessfully) to keep us dry.  It was totally worth it to watch my little princess charm everyone she met.  We also got to spend time with Jeffrey, the most adorable superman you've ever seen, and occasionally Sam the power ranger.

I didn't see Jack, Greg, or Max (ninja, ninja, and Spiderman, respectively) until we were almost home.  Its a brave new world of Trick-or-treating, with these big boys, suddenly so confident and independent and capable.  Toy swords flashing,  running ahead of us, eager to check out their candy and make trades, eyes alight with the thrill and freedom and anticipation of it all.

How am I the mom of one of the big boys?  So soon?  Just yesterday I was holding the hand of a little Max-in-his-wolf-suit, shepherding him up and down all those porch steps.

Life, measured in Halloween nights.

These once-a-year events, in their brilliant focus, they contrast so sharply with the blur of daily life... Tonight, I see the speed of it all even as I slow my pace to savor this singular moment.  This is a night Jack may remember for the rest of his life.  We remember our Halloweens.

Even wind-whipped and dreary, this night is magic.

Snow and Pumpkins

Snow Day on Wednesday...

 

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.. and back to fall on Friday, with our annual pumpkin carving festivities, in which the adults worked studiously on their designs while the children drifted in to the living room to watch videos.

Tonight we braved the 40 degree temperatures to trick or treat in the Gardens, enjoying our visit to the Boo-tanical Bash thoroughly.  The kids were very into crafts this year, making pumpkin pinecones and paper bats, and dancing to a fiddle band in between.  The children's garden was impeccably decorated as always and we had a grand time looking at all the tiny ones dressed to the nines in careful costumes. 

These two were among the best, most certainly.

Thundersnow and rambling...

Ivy, while riding in the van:  "I love my brother.  And I love mommy.  And I love you too, Daddy.  I love everything in my whole house! .... Except pants.  I don't love pants."

There's a lot of love in our lives right now.  And a lot of busy.

Work has been insane, with my dramatic crop of middle schoolers and all their social drama, new students moving in every two weeks (we're now at 3 new kids since September 20th!), and unending paperwork to fill the moments in between. And time at home has hardly been a relaxing respite, full to the brim with cleaning and running and weddings, fast days and tired nights; school pictures and windy beaches, ships and museums.  Holding rats and doing homework, burning the candle at both ends and driving all over this town.  A lot of living life, all burnished by October leaves and a lingering warm fall that I've wanted to soak into my bones.

At least until last night.  When we got 4 inches of snow.  

It was freakishly beautiful, actually, green and red and golden leaves glimmering behind their coats of white.  Jack said, "I love the white hats on all the houses!"  Both of the children were thrilled with the surprise snowfall, made all the better by a snow day for Jack, whose school (like our house) was without power today.  While the grownups around here have fought stoically against despair, shoveling and digging out snowpants and commuting at a snail's pace, our littles have embraced the early winter with pure-heart joy.  They were out making snow angels and tiny snowmen by 9am.  They are ready for sledding and tromping and Christmas on its way.  I haven't the heart to tell them that this will be gone by the weekend.  At least, I hope it will.  It is still thunder-snowing out as I type.  Sigh.

Photos of Octo-winter to come.

In the meantime here are some photos of the calm before the freaky-fall-snowstorm.   Almost two weeks of our lives equals many, many pictures.  Here are the highlights, in roughly chronological order.

Second Sunday Soup-- off to a chaotic and wonderful start!  

Our third year of Soup was initiated with a great guest list made entirely of Parent Center friends.  With, as you can tell from this shot of the foyer, all their kids in tow.  There were not one but two babies to hold, and I didn't see our kids for almost two hours. 

It was grand and nearly two weeks later our playroom has still not recovered. 

Math and Science Night at St Paul's.  A fun annual tradition, pretty much an open house with a gazillion hands on activities tailor- made for the 3-7 set.  A glorious mess.  While the kids enjoyed planting pumpkin seeds, stringing beads and playing with iced shaving cream, the hit of the night was "face painting" with colored pencils dipped in water.  

A night out for the grown ups.

Actually, two.  Our friend Mike married the girl of his dreams last weekend and Nat officiated the ceremony for him.  So that meant a rehearsal dinner AND the wedding night off for us, and a great weekend with Gram and Bec for the kids.  

It was wonderful fun to have this group of crazy people together.  With an open bar.  

We need to do this more often.

We even went out to see a band on Friday.  We weren't quite the oldest people there. :)

Then on Saturday morning I got up and ran a 10k.  In 58 minutes.  There are no pictures of this, because I don't look very pretty when I run.  But I AM very proud of myself.

When we picked the kids up on Sunday it was a pretty day. So we decided to Do Everything Outside.  A trip to Rocky River Beach with Bec, where the kids played with leverage and built a bench....

Was followed by a jaunt downtown for a visit to the Science Center and a tour of the Mather.  Which was really really cool. Can't believe its taken us this long to check it out.  The view of the city from the deck was worth the price of admission...

Bonus sneak peek of Ivy's school pictures.  Perk of having Nat be the parent helper on picture day...

Tuesday at Lakewood Park.  A day before the snow.  Like a dream of another world...

Stay warm, all, and if you have some better weather to spare, please send us some for the weekend!