playing with friends

We've been having some beautiful fall weather here and there.  Isaac and James have some great playmates up the street and we play with them almost every day.

Unfortunately I am running short on patience.  This week has been very trying with the kids sick with ear infections and whiny and I am getting so bad with Isaac's questions.  I pray for patience to answer Isaac's questions every night.  Every day he asks so many questions, so many whys, so many things that are hard to explain or that I don't know the answer to.  Why did the bells stop ringing?  Why is that guy doing that?  A tree fell down on the path, when are the guys going to take it to the wood chipper?  Why do the guys dump leaves in our backyard instead of throwing them in the garbage?  What do fish eat?  Do turtles have teeth?  Why mom why? 
 

Happy Halloween from a turtle and a dragon

Andrew happened to be over when we carved our pumpkins.  He didn't want in on the action, though. 

James was so funny looking way down there for "guts!"  We would scrape some and then he would scoop it out.  Isaac, however, wanted nothing to do with the inside of the pumpkin.  Too messy.  He did draw the face he wanted for his pumpkin--all triangles.  Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

"Too yucky!"  Isaac says.

I did Halloween on my own this year.  Blake worked his long shifts on the day we had our church trunk or treat and Halloween.  These are pictures from before our trunk or treat.  James is saying, "no cheese!"  (translation:  don't take my picture.)  James barely fit into Isaac's old dragon costume.

 Isaac borrowed his costume from our friend Tyler.  Isaac was mad when people would call him a ninja turtle.  "Mom, I not a injun turtle, I just a turtle."  In case you do not know, Isaac adores turtles and his all time favorite toy is a turtle hand puppet.

And then James decided he didn't like the costume because it was too tight and would never wear the hood again.

We had fun at the trunk or treat and our friend Jenna was so nice to pass out our candy while I took the boys around to the cars.  James got the hang of getting candy really quick.  Yes, please, I'll take that.

On the day before Halloween we went to the History Museum and they did a little trick or treat thing there.  So Blake got to see the kids in the costume and pick up about four treats from the upstairs galleries.  The actual day of Halloween after naps (Isaac actually took one too) we just waited and waited and waited until it was time to trick or treat.  Let me tell you, it was not pretty.  Or fun.  I really really really wished I had backup (a spouse).  I was ***this close to putting the kids to bed at 6 instead of taking them trick or treating.  They were whining and trying to eat the candy I was passing out and just generally driving me crazy!

 see James trying to open some candy?  "No, I said AFTER we trick or treat!"

 This was James' face from about 4 PM until 6 PM.  In his defense, he's been cutting molars and has had a little cold.  But he mainly just wanted candy.

When I said we could finally go trick or treating, there were shouts of joy and Isaac ran at full speed toward our neighbors house.  I love trick or treating in our apartment complex.  Everyone who is passing out candy puts a special Halloween sign on their door so it's like a treasure hunt to the kids to find the participating doors.  And it's the perfect size--not too big, not too small.  About an hour.  We tagged along with our friends Peter and Sam and Anna and Andrew and their parents which made it even more fun.  And then the kids finally got to eat some candy and then I finally got to put them to bed and give a sigh of relief! Here's hoping Blake doesn't have to work Halloween next year.