The kids love Halloween. They talk about costume choices months in advance. This year, Sadee picked a mermaid and did not waiver. She also picked Morgan’s costume, ballerina princess. Josh picked Thomas, again. When we asked if their was a 2nd choice, he picked Percy (another train friend of Thomas.) Well, I didn’t know where to get a Percy costume, and he did pick Thomas first, so you may recognize his repeat costume.
They could barely stand the wait. It could not get dark soon enough. “Can we go now? Can we go NOW?!” We were one of the first families on the street to ring doorbells because the time change did not come until that evening. Most kids waited until it got fully dark and we heard some families say they got trick-or-treaters until 10pm. (We made it in by 8:15.)
We walked a couple blocks up and back around the next street over. The houses with the most decorations drew the biggest crowds. A few were very cute and young kids friendly. A couple others were very scary. The home owners go all out with music, smoke machines, lighting, and “cast members” in creepy costumes ready to scream or sneak up on you. Mommy had three trembling kids attached to my arms and legs. Wow, what they will do for candy!
The kids love Hallow
Our kids love Halloween! Josh was, and still is, Thomas the Tank Engine. Sadee was, and still is, a butterfly princess. I say “still is” because they continue to put on the costumes to play trick or treat. I bet that will last until Christmas. And we finally chose a costume for Morgan, the traditional pumpkin. She makes the cutest one ever harvested! Check out the photos for yourselves.
We started the day with lunch and Sadee’s dance/gym class. They all put on their costumes there. Sadee forgoes the wings to make sure they are not “squooshed” when she tumbles. Then we visit Great Grandma Virgie at Eden Brook, her retirement home. That place is really nice. They have a great selection of toys for visiting grandkids, all in working and clean condition, and holiday parties for the residences and their families.
Then, the highlight of the evening. What all little kids, and big kids, can barely wait for all year… Trick or Treat?! This is Josh and Sadee’s 2nd go round. Morgan makes her maiden voyage of the neighborhood. I can say with confidence that she will be back for more next year. At first, Mommy carries her to the door with her Bubba and BeeBee. She stares at our neighbors as they had out candy and is happy to get back in the wagon. By the next block she is ready to walk up to the door on her own. She sees what is going on with the other kids and catches on fast. If you knock and say “Peeees”, then the candy will flow into your little hands. She smiles and runs back to drop it in the wagon. Josh and Sadee are a house ahead. We are trying to convince Morgan that you can not go back to the same house for more. Why not? It worked the first time! She gets upset again when we pass the dark houses. We tell her they don’t have candy and she is OK to move on.
We have some of those neighbors that really get into the holiday spirit (pun intended) by adding great decorations, costumes and lights to their front yards. I wish you could see the kids’ faces when they get close to the troll characters. Shock and flee. Josh is a little less intimidated, or really motivated by the sugar, so he is willing to walk back up to these houses with Mommy close by.
Of course Daddy is behind the camera all evening, so please enjoy the photos and add a comment to let us know what you did this year for Halloween.
The Cantu Family knows how to stay busy. Since it’s been a while since the last post, here is an update.
Little league football is in full swing. Ike delayed a couple of games so now we’ll end the season in December. Not too bad weather wise. Sonny stands out in the full sun all day to photograph the games so it helps to be cooling off a bit. I’m sure for Sharon a high of 80 and low of 55 is not too cool, but the first snow already fell in Casper, WY so it’s hard to compare.
Josh and Sadee are still enjoying gymnastics and dance. Sadee’s class just started learning the steps to their end of season recital. I’m sure she will be perfect and adorable. We thought she was losing interest a few weeks back, but she was just sleepy during the 1:30 class time and she didn’t like being critiqued. She would put herself in time out. But she bounced back and has received excellent reports from both of her instructors the past two sessions. Her favorite part of the class, though… the clothes. She loves putting on the leotards and changing shoes during class for tap and ballet.
I think Josh will also have an end of season exhibit for gymnastics. His class is a bit larger and has more kids younger than him. We’ll see how organized that evening goes. He is more athletic than we first gave him credit for. He walks across the beam forward, backward and turns around in place without much wobble. We are quite impressed and admittedly surprised.
Then the Halloween countdown. “How many more days?” “It’s taking forever.” “Can I wear my costume for a little while?” Sadee will be a butterfly princess, Josh will be Thomas the Tank Engine, and Miss Morgan will be Miss Morgan if we don’t start looking for a costume soon. Either way, that girl is too cute to cover up! She is learning new words every day and throws full sentences around. Recently, her favorite game became diaper ditch. Pull the thing off, pooped or not, and run. She tries to sit on the potty, but nothing comes out. After the climb on and off game goes into round 52, she wins by walking just out of reach and tinkling on the floor. She points down and says, “Mommy, ut-oh.”
I’m feeling a bit relieved because our master bathroom floor is now in mid “re-remodel.” If you didn’t hear the nightmare story that came from the first remodel, just check out the photos in past posts. I can’t wait to have our bathroom back. The countertops and sinks will be reinstalled by Thursday and then we can start using the full space. I’ll ask Sonny to post new photos after this step. The sad part is that we will have to save up a bit more to get the shower redone, but that is a must now that we saw just how poorly the floors were installed a few months back.
On Sunday, our church group Mothers of Young Children had their Fall Family Event at Matt Family Orchard in Tomball. This is one of the few times we get to see all of the dads and older siblings that are in school during the week. We had a camp fire to roast hotdogs and make smores. The picnic area has playground equipment and toys for the kids. They would probably all vote for the hayride as their favorite part of the day. Check out the fun slideshow.
We will try to keep up with this blog more often and hopefully hear from more of you guys in the comments section. (Hint. Hint.) Thanks for checking in on us!
