Halloween Spunk

October's been a tough month for us all here. James has progressively resisted going to school, practically breaking down in tears and begging me not to go. Routine has flown out the window in chunks at home and at school almost daily. Second grade is ramping up challenges for learning and behaviours.

Witch and splatty witch, on our way to school
on Halloween morning.

To James, October was a magic month. It meant Halloween. He was very firm about what he wanted to be: a witch. Not a warlock. Not Harry Potter. A witch. He asked every day to go looking at the Halloween decorations. Splatty witches are still a big thing for him, and luckily I found a version of one at the Dollar Store and brought it home is September, because they were gone like *that* and James took immense pleasure in helping to set it up on our very own garage door. It kind of made up for our van disappearing and not coming back (that's a story for another time). He also liked spiders, webs, and bats. Skeletons fascinated him.

A trip to the Party Store a few weeks back put a big grin on his face. We got him his very own witch's hat and an Angry Bird trick-or-treat bag. K-Mart had a dynamite 50% off sale on costumes the day before Halloween and I picked up capes for his sister and him. A good friend sent us scads of cool glow-in-the-dark necklaces, which we all wore around our necks so the motorists could see us.  James' Halloween witch's cup was full.

It was very hot until the day of Halloween; then it rained that afternoon and evening. James didn't care. He helped put up decorations and kept talking about Halloween while we ate pizza. Then he pulled on his boots, held a ladybug umbrella in one hand, high above his pointy hat, and his Angry Birds bag in the other before sailing out into the dark and stormy night. We went three blocks in the rain, braving puddles, Evil Dead-type houses, and barking dogs. At each door, James sang out "Trick-or-Treat!!" and "thank you!" with an occasional "Happy Halloween!" thrown in for luck.

We arrived back home, soaking. James was happy to change into his jammies and curl up with blankets and watch me hand out treats at our door. Right now I am looking at an Angry Birds bag that is 1/3 full of candy. He hasn't touched it. It's not the important part for him.

It's Patriotic Day (So Shoot Me)

It's Patriotic Day at James' school this morning. And I saluted it with a 4am rising. Gah.

My fault, I've known it was coming for 2 weeks and spent the last 2 days in a funk. Luckily this morning I was able to kick it into gear and accomplish the following:

• 1 complete load of laundry for James, so he'd have fresh undies, red shirt, and blue pants to wear to the assembly.
• A bath for James, who woke up after 5, spend 10 minutes in the bathroom and ....well, you don't want to know the details, suffice to say:
• (1) he had a bath after that trip to the potty
• (2) I cleaned the bathroom & made him breakfast while he took his bath & got clean all over
• (3) his fingernails are now *really clean*
• Gave my husband a wake-up call.
• Made breakfast, lunch & dinner for my husband, who took off at 6:45 AM -- we'll see him again sometime around 8PM, after a full day of work & 4+ hours of commuting.
• Made breakfast for daughter & got her up to eat it; reminded her several times to *finish* eating.
• Moved James out to the living room to watch Baby Einstein's Baby Neptune. It helps.
• Made lunch & snacks for James and snack for his sister.
• Made & baked 2 batches of scones for daughter's end-of-year school lunch party, because all the food needs to have a locally grown component and that's the quickest thing I can make -- love ya, Clover Dairy!
• Took a shower; can't remember the last time I did that and I did squeeze in a gym workout last night, so it was part hygiene, part community service.
• Brushed daughter's long tresses (all 3 layers of thick, long honey hair) & pulled it back from her face in a partial pony tail.
• Got James dressed patriotically and gave him a haircut so his overgrown rooster locks would not be impudently saluting anyone with a camera. I had to follow him, squirming and yelling, scissors and brush in hand, from a chair, to the floor, to my lap, and back to the chair. There were 2 successful pins in there but as his shoulders remained firmly in place above his ears, covering the offending locks, the jury is out on how effective the whole attempt was.
• Delivered offspring to school early -- bonus points!

But now I need to post and run -- I am running a little late, because I just got responses to 2 of the 3 school-related emails I sent out to  James' teachers (summer school and teacher preferences for next year) and my daughter's school (programs for next year). Oh yeah, I sent those out this morning too.

Saluting as I trot down the street to the school (because I know there's no parking anyway for these events), red-in-the-face, Caucasian mom in blue jeans.

(ETA: I made it! Photos from the assembly are here.)

Magic Marker Monday: Irish Card

James' grandparents have a dog that was born on St. Patrick's Day five years ago. This makes for a great excuse to get together and celebrate St. Patrick's Day for my family, which is all Irish on my mother's side and almost always up for a party.

Even though James is afraid of dogs, he likes visiting Nana and Apu's house. Big Sister, however, is a Dog Whisperer, and loves all animals. She made a wonderful birthday / Irish card for the celebrated hound:

Materials:
Copy paper, ball point pen, origami and scrapbook papers. Glue stick and scissors. Imagination!

She made him a cake too, out of dog biscuits, cheese, and carrot slices. What a lucky dog!


For more magical pieces or to share some of your own, visit
5 Minutes for Special Needs for more Magic Marker Monday.