All Hallow's Eve

Halloween is seriously one of my most favourite times of year. I don't know why. Costumes and Candy and my birthday...it's just ALL awesome! I get excited to see my kids get so excited. This year, Lucy was a butterfly fairy. Originally it was just a butterfly, but she has recently started reading the Rainbow Fairy book series and so the costume had to incorporate a fairy. Grandma helped her do her make-up and hair so she would be just perfect.

We had our friends, the Larocques join us for trick-or-treating.


Max was dressed up as a Cobra Ninja. And Logan was a chicken. He kept shaking his tail feathers. It was so cute. He was really excited to dress up and go outside, but I'm sure he had no idea what we were doing.

At every house, Max would say, "Mom, look how much candy I have!"

We hit our neighbour's houses first. It was fun to trick-or-treat and see familiar faces. We went to the first house and held out our bags and they were filled with candy. Once Logan saw this, he was in. You could see that he became very aware that this is probably the best day ever. He was determined to hit every house and to carry his bag up there to get his share of the candy. And he said thank you at every door. So cute.

It was BEAUTIFUL out too, which totally made our day. I love trick-or-treating in nice weather. THAT is a treat. And our neighbourhood is awesome. Man, people go all-out here for Halloween...I need to step it up for next year. Apparently my typical pumpkin and skeleton decorations just won't suffice. One neighbour had a haunted garage, and the other had a pirate's lair set up in their garage. We had so much fun on our street.

The kids were always leery of statues that made sounds or moved. Checking them out carefully. We did both sides of our street, and about 2/3 of the way up the street that runs across from us, before we were all exhausted. And the bags were BULGING. I can't believe the handfuls of candy people were handing out. Crazy! This candy will last us forever, I'm sure! Partially because we got a whole bag of candy for Logan and he will not be allowed to eat much of it. But he did munch on some chips when he needed a break.
And since then, I keep hearing, "Mommy...a canny?"

The Williamson's Visit Kingston - Day 3

Saturday was a great day. It was a little grey and chilly...but definitely doable. We decided to head to the Fruition Berry Farm to check out the Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch there.
The website warned of muddy conditions, so we donned old shoes and headed out. Muddy was an understatement. There were people coming out of the maze with mud to their eyeballs...nearly. Grandma and Papa didn't have old shoes, so they drove back to the house with Tyler to borrow some of ours and the kids and I started in on the maze.

Lucy had come to the Farm on a class field trip a few weeks before, so she bragged that she knew the way. I trusted her. At first. We took many a left turn, only to find ourselves back where we started. Logan slipped within the first few feet and had mud up to his eye-balls...nearly...so I began carrying him while he ate his peanut butter sandwich. My pant legs were covered in mud from his boots, and his face was covered in peanut butter.

We made our way through the maze for a while, singing our Primary Songs for the primary presentation the next day. Grandma, Papa, and Dad found us easily. And then we continued on. A maze is a lot easier when the number of big people is greater than the number of little people. Just so you know.


We eventually found the exit. But we didn't pay attention to the hieroglyphics throughout the Maze so we weren't able to answer the question at the end about who's tomb this was...it was nearly ours. No 911 calls from the corn-maze here though.



We got a tractor ride back to the pumpkin patch (Logan's favourite part for sure), and the kids picked out mini-pumpkins.

Then, they climbed a stack of hay-bales. Good-ol' farm fun.





We went home to eat lunch, clean off, and relax for a bit.

That night, we headed out for dinner at Lonestar for my birthday. We filled our bellies until they hurt! The kids enjoyed the cowboy themed restaurant and Logan ate more food than I have ever seen him eat.

And what's a birthday dinner at a cowboy restaurant without the waiters singing "Happy Birthday" to you while you wear a giant cowboy hat? It's use not a birthday dinner...

The best part was when they asked me how old I was, "25 or 26?" "Sure!" "Hey everyone, Heather's here celebrating her 26th birthday!" Best Birthday present EVER!

Sunday, my actual birthday, was crazy busy with the primary presentation, home teaching, and a potluck and fireside at the church that evening. I decided to bring halloween themed cupcakes to the potluck in honour of my birthday. Plus, they were super fun to decorate with the kids.

The kids did a great job on the primary presentation. Lucy sang a solo (If I Listen With My Heart) and gave a talk. Her voice was seriously like a bell. So perfect. Max also gave a talk that he practiced SO hard so he could have it memorized to say it all on his own. He got a bit nervous up on the stand so he needed a bit of help, but I was so proud of him. Plus, he got to sing Scripture Power with all the boys in the primary. I, of course, was at the piano and finding it difficult to play through my tears.
Our fireside was on the tools of the adversary, and our new 1st counsellor was presenting. He talked a bit about C.S. Lewis' Screwtape letters. Tyler borrowed the discs to download onto his computer so he could listen to it while he was driving to Montreal.
Scott and Janie had to leave that night to get to Ottawa. Scott had a flight to catch early the next morning, and Janie was coming back for a few more days of visiting with us.
Before they left, Tyler and the kids surprised me with my birthday present. Picture frames...to house our family photos. (Which we got printed on Monday). They're beautiful, and my walls are no longer bare.

Phantom Bat

Someone on our street started a "Phantom Bat" pixie party last week. Basically, you know on someone's door with a bag full of halloween goodies and run like heck so you don't get spotted. In the bag you find dollar-store decorations, etc, and a note that tells you you've been visited by the Phantom Bat and that you need to do the same to two other people on the street within a day. Give them a copy of the letter, and the picture of the Phantom Bat to hang on their door so other participants know who's been batted (is that a word?), and who hasn't. So we obliged. It was SO fun.

The kids loved going to the Dollar Store to find cool halloween things. The dollar store is heaven for children. We filled two bags and set out to surprise our neighbours. The two houses we originally planned to get were already gotten, so we went to plan B. Each of the kids got a chance to ring the doorbell and run. Adrenaline and giggles.

As the week has progressed, we have spotted more and more Phantom Bat signs going up on doors and windows.

In our loot bag? Halloween stickers, a candy bowl, tattoos, a flashing pumpkin, and a bag full of spiders webs, spiders, centipedes, etc. The kids have loved playing with all the stuff. Sunday afternoon I opened my "Plastic Dishes" drawer to get Logan a plate for our pancake dinner and discovered some plastic spiders and centipedes...haha, cute. Probably Logan's doing, so not malicious. Just coincidental.

A few days later I go into my bathroom. It's late. I'm heading to bed with a quick stop. Decided not to turn on the light because I'll be quick and turning on the lights is wasteful. As I walk past my tub, I see something out of the corner of my eye.

I know it's not real, but it still creeps me out. Again, probably not malicious...but eww. And, come on kids! Give a mom a break.

We've decided our street is awesome, and we're going to plan the 12 days of Christmas. Happy Halloween!

The Williamson's visit Kingston - Day 2

Today we visited Kingston Mills. The Locks. We have driven past them almost every Sunday, since we moved here, but haven't taken the time to stop and take a gander. With Grandma and Papa visiting, we figured it was the perfect time...and we chose the perfect day. It was BEAUTIFUL. A perfect fall day for walking around outside.

The kids loved checking out the "Big Bathtub" for the boats, and walking around with Grandma and Papa.











After we checked everything out we played in the leaves a bunch. Everyone took turns getting buried in the leaves. And got them everywhere!







When we were done, we had to race back to get Max to school because he had his first field trip EVER and we didn't want him to miss it. They were going to the Gymnastics Center too, which is awesome. He had a great time.

The rest of us went to A&W and then home for Logan's nap.

We finished off the day with a trip to the park and RIBS for dinner.

It was a PERFECT fall day.