Halloween

I'm not sure if anyone even reads this blog anymore...after a 2 month plus hiatus. This blog is so stagnant that there are these random spam businesses leaving creepy comments on old posts. Yuk. (Let me know if you know how to get rid of these bugs.) It's not that we aren't doing fun things worth writing--we are--it's just that I can't bring myself to look at the computer at the end of a tiring day. I'm happy to report that we are surviving with 4 kids and even enjoying a "normal" sort of family life much quicker than I had imagined. I think we look and act like a family that has been together for a long time--not just 4 short months. Yet I am most certainly off-duty by bedtime and in great need of relaxation. And, sorry folks, blogging is not on my list of relaxing things to do. :) Maybe I should just cave and join Facebook. It would probably fit with my schedule a little better... So, once again, I'm not going to attempt to play catch-up from the last couple months. I'll just try to get back on board with the latest events...
Halloween is fun in our neighborhood. People really get into it. There was even a vampire opera on a stage in the middle of the street--they lost their teeth from eating too much candy :) I love the day-of, but never seem to get around to the costume-planning frenzy. We just lay out all of the dress-up clothes we have before each event and try to be creative. We did our cutesy costumes on Saturday (pictured above) for the festival in our park. My personal favorite is Adaline's flower--completely made up and pieced together. Dad said she looked more like Lady Gaga.
We decided to go with scary costumes for the main event. It all started with Adaline wanting to be a princess vampire. She looked really nasty, I must say. (I should add a close-up of her.) Tihun wanted to be a flower girl, but I convinced her to be a flower girl-turned-witch by slipping some black on top of her frilly dress. Solomon had to ride on Dad, and we used lollipops to keep him happy. He had several before the night was over. Our friend Ben carried Solomon later and used him to get more candy. One of the benefits of having 4 kids--4 times the candy!
Speaking of candy, we have trained our kids for years to always pick chocolate when given a choice. Before we leave, we drill them. "Laffy Taffy vs. Mr. Goodbar, which do you choose? Quick!" It was easier this year because the older kids can read. So we told them our personal favorites to look out for--mine: Snickers, Jamison: Reese's. And our training worked! They were happy to report when they found the last Reese's in the big bowl of Jaw Breakers and Jolly Ranchers. Arthur actually told one woman "no, thank you, I would prefer not to have Laffy Taffy..." and she gave him something else (ouch! maybe we took it a little too far?)

The only problem with this plan is that the kids didn't realize that WE were going to eat all of that sought-after chocolate. Arthur tried to find a Reese's THE NEXT DAY and couldn't find one because Jamison had eaten all of them (and I ate all of the other good stuff). He was so upset that he went to all of that trouble to get yummy candy and his parents ate everything but the gross stuff that we drilled them to leave behind. Oops. That's the problem with them getting older and smarter. We can't fool them like we used to. So now I've promised Arthur that I will buy him a Reese's because he's never tasted one and he'd like to know what the fuss is all about. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of going trick-or-treating? Now I have to buy my own candy because I am such a selfish sugar-craving mom? Oh well...I do receive some payback for my wrongdoing. Every evening (including this one) I feel lousy because I've overdosed on sugar and high fructose corn syrup. My kids are limited to one candy per day, but their mother has a different system for consuming the loot. Eat until sick.

And while we're on the topic of sicknesses...the most difficult part of having 4 kids so far has been the vast number of illnesses. At any given time, there is at least one child with a fever or a cough or vomiting or wheezing (Tihun and Solomon have pretty severe asthma). It's hard to take care of one sick child when you have 3 healthy ones bouncing off the walls. I feel like a nurse--giving nebulizer treatments to 2 kids, staying 48 hours in the hospital with Tihun...and a sanitation employee--cleaning up diarrhea, vomit, accidents...it almost feels weird when they are all healthy, but it never lasts for more than a day or two. But I am thankful that the worst of this transition is just a physical one. I can imagine much more difficult problems with going from 2 to 4. We are alive and well...but coming off of a sugar high at the moment :)