I’d sort of been dreading Halloween. Caroline isn’t the biggest fan of costumes and when she doesn’t want to wear something she ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT WEAR IT. Evan changed his mind 15 times on what he wanted to be, so getting him into a costume we actually had in the house was doubtful. We failed at trick-or-treating at Sesame Place, they had no interest in dressing up for the Seaport or the Aquarium events, and the idea of drag-carry-pushing two kids up and down the hills in my neighborhood was giving me a migraine in advance. I’d been looking for excuses to get out of it pretty much all week, but they managed to behave JUST well enough that I couldn’t take away their Halloween after the Little Einsteins got them so jazzed up about it.

His shirt says “Will Trade Sister For Candy”

It turns out that sometimes lowering your expectations is the best thing you can do. Since all I was hoping for was one block of non-complaining children who said “thank you” after getting a piece of candy, I was blown away by my super polite, super friendly, willing to take turns, willing to walk on their own 2 feet, pleasant, costume-wearing children who made it three blocks before we came home and handed out candy instead, since leaving a bucket with a note that said “Please take 2 pieces!” led to an EMPTY BUCKET after only half an hour. Either we had 200 trick-or-treaters in 30 minutes or some people are douchebags who can’t follow directions.

Since I was pretty much expecting that to happen, I actually saved the good candy for Evan and Caroline to hand out. BOOM. That’s what you get for being jerkfaces, neighborhood kids. Enjoy your fireballs and generic lollipops. Too bad your parents never loved you enough to take you trick-or-treating themselves and teach you how to get whole handfuls of candy from old ladies who think you are absolutely the cutest thing they’ve ever seen.

You know, like my kids:

Caroline vetoed the tutu that was supposed to go under the skirt, but wore the wings all night – which is more than I was hoping for. I’m still ridiculously proud I made her costume.

We only had one person totally baffled by Evan’s costume. I said “It’s from ‘Where The Wild Things Are?'” She said “Oh, my kids are grown up, I don’t know about these shows kids are watching nowadays.”

E made it home in time to come with us, which made the kids super happy

A little flashlight thrown into one of those $1 pumpkin buckets makes a GREAT light for trick-or-treating.

We had a great time. We gave out $35 worth of candy from our house, even to the way-too-old kids who couldn’t be bothered to dress up. At one point, three teenage boys wearing hats and scarves stood on my steps and sang “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”, then asked if I had any candy canes or figgy pudding (they turned down my very sincere offer of a whole handful of candy since I got such a kick out of them). We let the kids eat several pieces of candy and enjoy their sugar buzz for an hour before Caroline went into a trance in front of Mickey Mouse and we made them go to bed.

I hope your Halloween was just as fun! Now please excuse me while I throw myself FULL FORCE into Caroline’s 2nd birthday party.

1. Paleo pumpkin bars so I’ll be less tempted to eat the Oreos.
2. Our patio is prepared for the storm.
3. The last of my Halloween decorations that probably no one will see.
4. Glued to the TV for updates.
5. Giant tree less than 7 feet from my back porch. I heard from the previous owners this tree’s twin on the other side of our yard fell during a hurricane a few years ago so it’s my biggest worry.
6. Guest room ready in case local friends are evacuated.
7. Brutus is pretty worried.
8. Bathtub full of water for emergency toilet-flushing.
9. The kids just think it’s awesome that Daddy has the day off.

This is our second storm in as many years, but Irene didn’t do much more than make a mess. We’re hopeful Sandy isn’t any worse, but the updates from the new stations and weather channel are starting to sound serious and not just in the standard OMG-END-OF-THE-WORLD exaggerated way we’re used to in New England.

We aren’t in danger of flooding or being evacuated ourselves, so we’re just waiting for the winds to pick up later today and praying we don’t lose power for too long or have a tree come through the roof. Luckily E took care of his last urgent work thing this morning and none of us have to leave the house again until at least tomorrow. I’m trying to balance being reasonably concerned with not freaking out, but when the governor closes the roads – like, ALL the roads – it’s hard to keep my anxiety at bay. For now, I’m cheerfully eating Halloween candy and enjoying frivolous electricity usage while I still can. Sending safe thoughts and prayers for everyone in the path of the storm. As long as our house is still standing you’re more than welcome here if you need somewhere to go.

4 pm Update: Still good, still have power. The wind is getting sort of crazy and we’ll be “camping” on the main floor tonight instead of sleeping upstairs tonight but so far we’re OK.

10 pm Update: Power still on, just a few flickers so far. Sent the kids up to bed because we were going CRAZY with all of us in one room all day and the way the wind is blowing means our two scary trees would fall away from the house. We are still HAPPY to host anyone who needs somewhere to go tomorrow, although I’ve heard a ton of roads are blocked by downed trees. Stay safe friends!

8 pm Tuesday Update: Hello friends! I forget sometimes that I’m not real-life (or at least Facebook) friends with everyone, so I forgot to update here. We made it through the storm with no problems. E even had to go into work today although Evan’s preschool was cancelled. We’ll have our porch light on tomorrow for trick-or-treaters (after a quick stop at Target to replace all the candy we ate!) and we’re hoping the neighbors do the same for our first time out!

We’re battening down the hatches for the tropical storm/hurricane/once in a lifetime Frankenstorm disaster that’s headed our way, but right now I’m too hopped up on the Halloween candy I broke into early to feel too worried. That’s probably a mistake, but let’s just enjoy some pictures.

Sunday:

Birthday party sugar hangovers makes for grumpy children.

Last time we visited, Caroline HATED this dog. Now? BFFs.

My children are attractive.

Monday:

The dog is judging me. Dogs don’t understand Mondays.

That’s what you get for judging me, DOG.

Mad sewing skillz.

Tuesday:

Shopping with Caroline has become…challenging.

Someone talk me out of buying this.

Out of control baby mullet

Wednesday:

Chillaxin’ – she’s an expert

That doesn’t look like gymnastics.

Puppy love

Thursday:

Working out is WAY easier when this is your view

Sliiiiiiiiiiiide!

NO YOU CANNOT EAT MY PHONE

Friday:

If I wear a backpack I get to go to school too, right Mom?

Trying to figure out how to change NPR to The Fresh Beat Band.

Wild Things at Mystic Seaport

Saturday:

Caroline has recently become obsessed with Brutus’s…uh…undercarriage.

Thousands of books inside the library…and they’re staring at the empty train tracks that run behind it.

Emergency storm rations

Do you have camera/iPhone photos from your week? Link up below and grab the code for your site too!

Where the Wild Things Are is one of our very favorite books, read over and over without complaint every time one of the kids climbs into my lap with our well-loved copy. Evan can recite most of the story by heart and shouts all of Max’s lines with the enthusiasm of a child who really understands what a wild rumpus means.

It’s a beautiful story, so beautiful some nights I can barely get through it without choking up. I hope my kids always have amazing, heartbreaking, wild adventures but remember to come home for good things to eat in the end.

Sometimes a wolf suit is all you need for an adventure in your own little yard. Well, a wolf suit, an apple box from BJ’s and a little imagination. Two dowels, an old pillow case and a gallon jug full of sand for a sail doesn’t hurt, but mother nature can provide all the extras you need to turn your box in a private boat.

In a month full of new toys and big trips and dollars spent on experiences and cider donuts and candy and costumes, it’s nice to remember 3 year olds don’t need much to be happy. Just a place where someone loves them best of all.

Costume from PBKids