10.31.21 - Joy status: Halloween on FB

Halloween is one of the best days on Facebook. I love all your costume and decor pics!

10.17.21 - Joy status: leisurely Sunday morning

Leisurely Sunday morning. With Jack and I both working full-time now, I'm normally running around trying to get done as much as possible even on the weekends. But today Jack is working, my in-laws are out of town, Clara is at my mom's house because she spent the night last night, and so the only people in the house are Jane, Calvin, and me. It's giving me the opportunity to pay a little bit more focused attention on them than I usually can.

We made chocolate chip pancakes. Jane helped a lot with pouring milk and cracking eggs and even putting some of the chocolate chips in. We ate them as we made them. It made the whole house smell wonderful and feel very cozy especially since it's nice and chilly outside (woooooo fall!) We listened to the entire Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack followed by the soundtrack to Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.

Then Jane and I played a Thomas the tank engine memory game. We started with just 4 pairs of cards but slowly expanded until we were using 12. She's getting pretty good at it. After 5 or 6 rounds of that, she wanted to play Connect Four. I tried to teach her the real way but eventually let her and Calvin play their own version that involves racing to put as many pieces in as possible. They really enjoyed it.

Now I'm reclining on the couch brainstorming Christmas wish list ideas for the kids (at my mom's request because she gets started ridiculously early) and the kids are each doing their own thing in the living room peacefully. So nice to take a morning off and just hang out with them.

10.2.21 - Joy status: begin the last quarter of the year

The last and best quarter of the year is off to a good start. I put up a few Halloween decorations in the kids' room before they came home yesterday, and they were so excited! They decided to wear their Halloween t-shirts for pajamas and fell asleep to twinkling pumpkin lights. Also this morning there is rain on the ground and it smells like pancakes in the house. So cozy!

9.21.21 - Joy status: overcast and chilly, and Once Upon a Child

 It's overcast and chilly today.

This evening I went to Once upon a Child and got one new Halloween shirt for each kid. They were really excited when I showed them at home and wanted to try them on immediately. Calvin was so pumped when I put his on that he ran around the living room a couple times. Then we put on songs from Nightmare Before Christmas so they could dance.

In general I really love the last quarter of the year with all of the best holidays, and in particular I have enjoyed it more since having children and getting them excited with themed clothes and books and making decorations together and all of the anticipation of each event. It is so much fun!

10.31.20 - Joy status: delightful Halloween newsfeed

I love seeing all of your pictures of how you did Halloween for 2020. Love the adorable little kids costumes, the family themed costumes, the candy shoots and other clever ways to leave candy for people with minimal interaction, and just the creativity and cheerfulness in general. My newsfeed was a delight tonight. So thanks!

10.23.20 - Joy status: a long list

Joy Inventory:

TikTok put Calvin back to sleep.

• This morning Calvin woke up before everyone else and cuddled on the couch with me for a good 45 minutes--watching TikTok, lol.
• My long work commute gives me time I wouldn't otherwise have to stay in touch with a lot of people I care about.
• Last weekend I got to spend time with Neil and Ellen in person, and it was great. In fact I barely slept (relatively speaking) because I kept staying up late to talk.
• Sarah also got to join us for lots of the weekend. I love how long she's known my family (17 years now!) and how comfortable she is around all of us even though we are so yelly.
• Henry also joined and we played uninterrupted tichu and it was a really close game! 1005-1095 I think. I love close tichu games.
• I felt particularly useful at work yesterday. Good feeling.
• My office area faces a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and this week when it was breezy leaves would flutter all around me.
• Clara and Jane play pretend together frequently, and I'm so grateful they have each other for company.
• Earlier this week we received some awesome kids Halloween books from Beth and several Halloween shirts, toys, and treats from my beloved in-laws.
• We're going to the pumpkin patch tomorrow with the one family with kids who has been spending time with us these last several months. Really glad we have them to join. Apparently they are also psyched about it.
• Next weekend we are going to "Erin's Halloween Candy Hunt," the event we've been counting down to in this house (literally, with a paper chain) since it was 45 days out. It's basically an easter egg hunt, but Halloween themed. It's going to be great, and it's entirely private so it cannot be cancelled unexpectedly.
• Jack often calorie counts the dinners he makes just for me, so I can better track what I'm eating. Such a sweet gesture.
• Our Director of Operations at work has decided to just...redo the office kitchen? And it's adorable. Lots of new colors and storage, backsplash, etc., feels halfway to a home kitchen. I really like it.
• A few of my friends who have left FB over the years have created a Discord channel for a group of us to keep in better touch, and it's been a great connection and outlet the last few weeks. So glad they thought of it.
• Last night when I pulled into my parking spot, Clara was standing in the nursery window and saw me. She started grinning hugely and as soon as I got out of the car she started shouting hello to me. Very sweet.
• Most nights when I get home from work, I walk in the front door and there is a moment when each of the kids realizes I got home and starts beaming. Calvin usually starts bouncing up and down on his butt reaching up for me to pick him up. Also very sweet.

10.7.20 - Joy status: cosplayers

Cosplayers. So creative and elaborate.

10.3.20 - Joy status: kids Halloween books

All of the little kids Halloween books we have to read at bedtime right now. The girls love them. Some of them Jane can almost "read" from memory.

10.2.20 - Kid snippets: decorations are the cure

After work yesterday I told the girls that today we would put up more Halloween decorations. Just now Jane told me that her tummy hurts. I asked her why and she said it's because we just really need to put up decorations.

All ready for Halloween.

11.1.19 - Hobby Lobby with the girls

Took the girls with me to look for Halloween/fall decor discounts and they had a wonderful time. They were so excited about all the beautiful crafts and decorations that we ended up walking slowly through the entire store just so they could look. Jane's favorite part was all the fake pumpkins and pumpkin-based decor. Clara's favorite parts were the large artificial Christmas trees and an oversized Rudolph doll.

And while the three of us got out of the house and took our time exploring, Jack got to enjoy some peaceful one-on-one time with Calvin, who basically watched Jack clean and offered emotional support in the form of smiles and coos. And that in turn means *I* got to return to a much cleaner-than-usual apartment.

Oh, plus I bought one new Halloween decoration and a couple things for a Thanksgiving craft I'm making, all for less than $10. So yeah, win for everyone involved. :)

Those red flowers? Hobby Lobby sale.

11.1.19 - Kid snippets: is it Halloween yet?

Last night I was taking down Halloween decorations and putting up Thanksgiving/fall decorations. Clara asked why and I explained that Halloween is over until next year. Just now Clara got home from school and asked "Is it Halloween yet??" Guess she enjoyed it this year.

10.31.19 - joy statuses

 

10.27.19 - Witches Tea and Trunk or Treat

real time notes I took about Sunday (10/27):
Jane didn't wake until 730am, cuddled awhile, I felt nice and awake
pancake breakfast with jack Johnson
Calvin was easy going, happy while we worked in kitchen
Clara used the potty, got ice cream
Girls ate pancakes
Girls got along playing together well
Jack didn't have to get up until 845

Enjoyed making Erin laugh at witches tea
happy to win bingo (twice) and get a cute fall decoration
talked to Neil to and from on the drive

Girls both wanted to be witches for trunk or treat and looked adorable
Clara played several games, Jane even tried a few, but the bouncy house was the big hit
Kept saying 'Get you!' at my girls plus a couple others including little girl with dragon face paint, really fun, laughed a lot
Both girls ate enough pizza dinner to get a piece of candy each for dessert and they were psyched
After they went to bed Jack and I stayed up and sorted gluten-free candy from the rest, Jack googled a lot of candy to make sure and he and I hate most of the gluten candy together

10.26.19 - Pumpkin Patch Day!

This weekend was full of Halloween festivities: Saturday was the Pumpkin Farm followed by painting/carving pumpkins and eating pumpkin seeds. Today I went to the Witches' Tea with Erin and then Jack and I took the kids to Trunk or Treat at Arden Church of Nazarene. I tried to take a lot of pictures and videos, but here are the points I want to remember (some of which we didn't capture):

Pumpkin patch (10/26):
Saturday morning Clara woke up grumpy (possibly because she woke up alone--Calvin and Jane were already in the living room wit me). She joined us with a scrunched up face and when I said "Today is the day we go to the pumpkin patch!" she responded "NO! I don't WANT to go to the pumpkin patch!" Of course later she warmed to the idea. Just a rough start for a little girl.

Jane chose three other previous Halloween-based shirts before we settled on the Nightmare Before Christmas one. I was pretty happy she wanted to wear the "princess skirt" (the gray tulle skirt that had come with Clara's elephant costume) all day. It was adorable. I originally was going to wear my Jack-o-Lantern shirt, but it was a bit too small and definitely too warm. However for the brief time I had it on, it inspired Clara and she too wanted a pumpkin shirt. I tried the black Jack-o-Lantern shirt (which is only 3T) and it just barely fit her. She's had it since 2016.

Henry arrived right on time, of course, but we still had to get the kids ready. We got to the pumpkin patch maybe 10 minutes late, which I am pretty sure is less late than years past so progress.

Unfortunately I'm too tired to write out all the details, but the kids loved basically everything. Clara saw the bouncy castle from the entrance and couldn't wait to get there, but we had arrived just after the place opened and there were literally no other kiddos using the bouncy castle yet. Clara got inside but sat very still and said she couldn't do it. Jane wouldn't even go inside in the first place, but just wanted to watch Clara closely from the safety of the outside. Fortunately the kid who had punched their tickets said they could just come back later when there were more kids to model the behavior for them. In fact staff told us more than once that because we were there so early when it's not busy, we can try some of the attractions more than once or longer than is typical.

I was worried we'd wasted our money buying kids passes for each of the girls (events are $3/person piecemeal but you can save a little money if you get the passes to cover a bunch of events--assuming your kids actually participate in each event). However once Beth, Jake, and Hunter arrived, Hunter also couldn't wait to go in the bouncy castle and he got Clara to join too. At this point there were only 2-3 other kids so it was not at all crowded or too intimidating. Clara watched Hunter closely and soon was bouncing around herself, and he even got her to go down the bouncy castle slide. One of my favorite things about this entire day was watching what good buds Hunter and Clara are. <3

Jane saw Clara enjoying herself and eventually decided it was probably safe for her too. She went inside and even though she never actually stood up or tried to bounce at all, she seemed to love the feeling of everyone bouncing around her because she was not a quiet girl: loud squeals of sheer delight over and over.

Normally one ticket is supposed to be 6 minutes in the bouncy castle, but because there were so few people around he let us stay indefinitely, so the girls enjoyed it at least 15 maybe 20 or more minutes.

When we took both the train ride and the hay ride, Henry ran ahead to get a bunch of pictures of us approaching. The kids would get excited to see him and wave at him. We joked that he's even faster than a train because he could easily run alongside it. When the train circled back and we were disembarking, Clara darted off back toward the bouncy castle and Henry was quick enough to catch her before she got too far away from the group. So helpful having him around.

--This is as far as I got recording everything when it actually happened, and now it's a month later so I'll write what I can remember.--

Erin, Jake, and I took the kids (except Calvin) on a hay ride and they loved it. It was slightly longer and a slightly different route than the train ride, and it included an intercom recording explaining a lot of the weird and creepy statues around the pumpkin patch and what they were supposed to be.

When we finished we went over to the actual collections of pumpkins. Henry grabbed a wagon and I told the girls we could pick one large pumpkin (to carve) and two small ones (to paint). But they basically just kept choosing pumpkins and adding them to the wagon as I kept removing the extra ones. That lasted a while, then I let them actually get in the wagon (with the pumpkins we settled on) and I pulled the wagon while Jack pushed the stroller and we all caravanned to the corn maze. I pulled them through that for awhile. I think around there is when Jake, Hunter, and Beth joined us. Hunter also got in the wagon to be pulled around the corn maze.

After not too long we emerged in a playground made largely of haystacks but also with a few slides and tunnels and things. The kids loved it. There was even a small house made of hay stacks and corn stalks that they kept running through - it was just right for their height. There were also some fenced in chickens they were checking out.

By now we had actually been at the patch for over two hours, a record, and I was getting tired and figured Jane would need a nap soon.  So we went and bought our pumpkins (plus a mini pumpkin for baby Calvin) and got our now traditional family photos in front of the Pumpkin Farm sign. Then we drove home and, amazingly, the girls didn't fall asleep.

When we got home I tried to get Jane to take a nap but she was genuinely too wound up. She didn't throw a fit or anything, she just hung out in her room awake and after 20 minutes I let her come back out. Jack scooped the large pumpkin and then found a pumpkin seed recipe involving olive oil and Parmesan that was excellent. Meanwhile we set the girls up to paint their pumpkins but Jane actually only wanted to color hers with crayons. It really didn't work at all but she seemed happy with it and it was a lot less messy than paint, so okay. Clara did paint her pumpkin a bunch of different colors and it turned out really well, like a tye dye pumpkin.

I carved the larger pumpkin Jack had scooped, and the girls were pretty interested in watching me. When I was done we went ahead and lit a real candle so they could check it out, and Henry helped teach Clara how to blow the candle out. She was very excited.

We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out. Henry went to get Costco pizza for us and frozen gluten free pizza for the girls, but Costco was so packed we had already put the girls to bed before he returned. (After we kissed them good night, they told us "Happy Halloween!" So adorable.) We still enjoyed pizza and visits with him before he had to leave.

10.23.19 - Kid Snippets: my blister

Jane refers to all Jack-o-lanterns (and all pumpkins) as "punkee pie." She also insists it's not "mummy," it's "mama."

I got a (tiny) blister at work today and put a band aid on it. Tonight Jane was sitting in my lap and noticed the band aid. She peeled it off and was very upset by the tiny blister underneath. She kept pointing it out and saying "Ow!!' I asked if she wanted me to put another band aid on it and she said yes, and once I did she seemed to feel better.

10.8.19 - Kid Snippets: axe to fix bunk bed

I took out all our Halloween stuff today, which included a toy axe. Clara just came home from school and found it.

Clara: What is this??
Me: It's an axe.
C: Oh, an accident?
M: No, an *axe*. You use it to chop wood. [imitating chopping wood]
C: OH! To fix the bunk bed!
M: Uh sure.

10.31.18 - October joy statuses

10.31.18 - Trunk or Treat

Tonight was great.

Clara went to school all in black with a witches hat with silver stars. Before leaving our apartment she was singing the Halloween version of "Baby Shark," which includes Princess Shark, Cowboy Shark, Mummy Shark, etc. It does not actually include Witches Shark, but she added those lyrics, I guess because she was a witch. Jane wore an orange frilly top with three little ghosts on it.

Most of the day went as usual. The only exceptions were that Beth made us some adorable Halloween crafts using the girls' hand prints and she also sent a great pic of Jane wearing one of the many $1 witches hats I'd bought for all the kids.

We had originally planned to take the girls trick-or-treating with Hunter at the end of the day before heading home, but halfway through the day Beth learned from a neighbor that trick-or-treating doesn't really start until like 6:45 pm, far too late since we pick the girls up at 5 pm. Jack tried to look up other trick-or-treat options, like maybe going store to store at the mall, but he couldn't find much. I know Clara wouldn't have known the difference but I was a little disappointed because this is the first year she has seemed aware of Halloween (vaguely - she understands pumpkins, witches, pirates, and now Jack-o-lanterns) and I thought she'd be pretty excited to see what her kids' videos mean when they talk about trick-or-treating.

But then Jack saved the day. Or rather Generations Church did. He found an ad for Trunk or Treat at this church all the way from 6 to 9 pm. Most Trunk or Treat events had already happened on Sunday, but this was on actual Halloween night.

So I put on my witches outfit and we picked up the girls and headed over there. We arrived a bit early and they were still setting up the trunks, but it was kind of fun waiting in the parking lot as more and more families arrived and everyone anticipated the moment when they would let us all in. Clara spent most of that time "flying" on her broom back and forth along the sidewalk and even cackling to herself, which was great. Jane also toddled all over happily. I don't think they even realized we were waiting for anything.

Once they did open up we decided to go to the very opposite end of the parking lot rather than along with the crowd. We wanted to check out this massive pirate ship but it wasn't actually done being set up yet, so instead we went first to the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown trunk, and that was Clara's first experience (with prompting) of saying "Trick or treat" and then being given candy. She was confused but excited.

Next we went to the Nightmare Before Christmas trunk. Most of the trunks included games to play before getting candy, and in this case "Sally" showed us a bean bag toss into jack-o-lantern buckets. Clara missed the first time but once she stood directly over a bucket she got 2-3 more bean bags in it on her first tries. :-P Then she got another piece of candy. She was literally jumping all over the place with excitement.

(Meanwhile Jane watched stoically from Jack's shoulders. Not unhappy but not super impressed either. Or perhaps she was just confused and taking it all in.)

The Robin Hood trunk included some kiddo archery. The Toy Story trunk had no game I can recall, just nice decor. Clara tried to take one of the stuffed animals in it and had to be redirected to the candy.

Then we came across a guy with a helium tank blowing up the tye-dye style balloons that had very tiny lights inside them. It was still dusk at this point so we couldn't tell yet but it wasn't long at all before you could see them glowing in the dark. That balloon was by far Jane's favorite part of the night.

We went on to an Alice and Wonderland trunk (with pin the tail on the Cheshire cat), Little Mermaid trunk (can't recall the game as we skipped it and just got the candy), and Wizard of Oz trunk (bean bag toss again). Every trunk was pretty beautifully decorated (Alice and Wonderland had an entire table with tea set) and everyone was very friendly and easy going.

The Little Mermaid

Alice and Wonderland

Wizard of Oz

The last trunk we went to was the most elaborate: Candyland. There were colored squares on the ground like the game. There were big stand up lollipops and a gingerbread house and a table covered in glass bowls all with different candies in them. The game was a ring toss onto some cones painted like candy corn. Clara basically placed all of her rings at once on the first cone. Then she got a bunch of candy--they were giving out like 6-10 pieces per kid.

So we were basically done with the trunks and hadn't been there super long yet, so we headed over to the play area where there was a giant bouncy slide and a giant bouncy platform, separately. The platform had a column in the center with two harnesses tied to one another, and the bigger kids (all boys) would harness up and each try to get a ball into a basketball hoop while the other tugged in the other direction. It was actually pretty hilarious. Clara was very curious about it and eventually climbed onto the platform and sat at the very edge watching for quite a while. There were a few times when I thought she'd get scared and want to get down, including when bigger kids basically climbed right over her to get on or off the platform, but I'd offer to help her down and she wanted to stay.

Meanwhile Jane was carrying the glowing balloon everywhere and toddling around the glass with Jack by her side, quite content.

After a while we headed back to the pirate ship, which was almost but still not quite done. We revisited and retried the Nightmare Before Christmas trunk. Then Jack and I decided it had been enough and it was time to go. When Clara realized we were leaving she did start to fuss a lot, but once we got her buckled in and offered her some candy she was content. (We had brought gluten free candy with us to use just in case we weren't sure about the kind she'd gotten. I gave her a full sized Reese's.)

Jane held the glowing balloon nearly the entire way home. Jack and I talked about how much easier, safer, and more fun Trunk or Treat is for little kids compared to neighborhood trick or treating. I need to send that church a thank you note for putting it all on.

After we got home we gave the girls dinner and then let the girls have a bit more candy. While we were all sitting at the table I lit our Jack-o-lantern. Clara kept asking me to blow it out because she likes watching the smoke swirl from the candle. Instead I just kept relighting the used matches and blowing them out, and she was pretty happy about that. Jane still played with the balloon all evening until it was time for bed.

Even though this is technically Clara's 4th Halloween, it felt to me like her first because we actually celebrated and she seemed aware of what was going on. I really love reliving the holidays vicariously through her. That's something I've looked forward to since before even having kids and certainly since Clara was a newborn, and now that season is starting!

10.31.18 - Kid snippets: I'm not scary!

Clara is wearing all black today because later we're probably going to give her a black witch hat and go trick or treating for a bit. Anyway this morning I walked into our completely dark living room and she was standing there, silently, the only thing you could really see is a tiny pale face. Apparently she was waiting for me to light our jack-o-lantern. She said "Mama? Pumpkin? Candle?" As I lit the candle she went to sit on the couch and observe. I moved out of the way so she could see the Jack-o-lantern in all its glowing glory, and she laughed and squirmed happily and then announced "I'm not scary! [She means 'scared'] It's just a *pumpkin*!" Lol.

10.28.18 - The Pumpkin Farm

Halloween is on a Wednesday this year and it's also going to be Clara's third day at her new preschool. We might take her and Jane trick-or-treating briefly in Beth's neighborhood if they and Hunter all feel up to it, but I expect at least Clara will be too tired so we'll see. That said, today may serve as our Halloween celebration of the year and, if so, that works just fine, because today was great.

Even though they could have slept in, the girls woke up around 7:30 am. That gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast and get dressed in Halloween-related outfits before Henry arrived--he drove up from the bay area just to do pumpkin patch day with us, which was great. We packed the girls into their car seats and gave them each Halloween books to read: Halloween ABCs for Clara and Five Little Pumpkins for Jane. Then we caravaned over to The Pumpkin Farm in Carmichael and parked just in time to see Beth, Jake, and Hunter taking their pumpkins to the car (they weren't leaving yet, they just didn't want to carry the pumpkins around). Clara was really excited when she saw Beth and Hunter from her window! She and Hunter sort of ran up to each other and Hunter showed her his miniature pumpkin. Such good buds. <3

We all went back in and Beth bought some popcorn and suckers for the big kids (I googled quickly and Charm Blow Pops are gluten free!) Clara was excited about but also didn't really understand her sucker and just kind of held it and reveled in its existence, so for the time being I took it back lest she drop it in the dirt.

We went and checked out the goats and pigs and sheep. Clara made all their correct noises. We walked past an empty chicken coup only to see the chickens leaving through a hole in the fence, which was kind of funny. No one seemed too concerned about it. At that point we saw the "train" coming round the bend and Clara was psyched. She waved to everyone as they went by and of course many of them waved back. Then we walked over to the big field of medium pumpkins and she and Jane examined many but touched very few. We also saw a hay ride go by and more waving ensued. Clara was just very excited about everything, it was great.

Waving at the hay ride.

Beth et al had to get going at that point but we stayed. I got train ride tickets for everyone except Henry, who opted out, and MAN Clara was excited about the train. Last year she had been a little unsure about boarding it but this year she was ready to go. In fact I'm almost positive we sat in the same cart. When the conductor came by to shut our door Clara giggled excitedly and he clearly got a kick out of that. And when the train actually started she couldn't stop laughing and stimming, it was so sweet. We rode past Henry and she waved enthusiastically. Later she started singing her own rendition of Wheels On The Bus that was instead about trains. And then we past Henry again! Haha.

Jane, on the other hand, was very stoic. Not fussy but clearly zone-y and tired and unsure. To be fair if Jane were the oldest we wouldn't have bothered with any of this because she's not old enough to really get it or enjoy it. She just gets dragged along because Clara's old enough to be excited. So it goes.

Once the train ride was over Clara didn't want to leave, and I thought she might start throwing a fit, but actually she handled it very well. She fussed slightly but was soon ready to look at other things. We went over to the much larger pumpkins and picked one out to actually carve. Jack got a wagon for the pumpkin and Jane, and soon we added Clara to the mix and she seemed happy to ride in it.

We also got them two $1 miniature pumpkins to hold onto. Again Clara was excited and Jane was nonplussed. After buying our pumpkins we stopped by the big "Pumpkin Farm" sign and Henry took some great family pics of us (with his significantly superior phone camera).

Of course Jane fell asleep on the ride home but Clara was awake and cheerful. I had put the big pumpkin between their car seats and she kept touching it and asking for help, so instead I put it in her lap. She kept calling it the "momma pumpkin" to her "baby pumpkin" and played with both a lot (although she kept dropping the baby pumpkin). She was really interested in the bigger pumpkin and held it the whole way home.

Once we were back, Jane went down for a real nap and Clara played with the three pumpkins. She was just strong enough to carry the larger pumpkin around the apartment, and she kept moving it to different spots (desk, coffee table, kitchen table) and then examining it. Eventually she brought out the blanket from my room and "tucked in" the three pumpkins and said they were sleeping. Then she put them all under the desk and stuffed the blanket over them. Etc. She was very busy for a long time.

Meanwhile Henry and I visited and I made some bacon spinach pasta for lunch. The adults all enjoyed it but Clara wasn't interested. I eventually got her to eat 6-8 bites in exchange for that sucker she hadn't had earlier, and once she got the sucker, no joke, it took her about an hour to eat that whole thing. she was busy with it for a long time and her lips and around her lips got all red, it was pretty cute. Eventually Jane woke up from her nap and sat disgruntedly in my lap while she ate the rest of Clara's pasta. So that worked out.

When lunch was over Jack stood at the dining room table and scooped out the big pumpkin; Clara was very interested in the whole process and basically narrated what was happening and kept trying to fit the lid (I think at one point she called it the "head") back on properly. Once Jack finished scooping I carved the most classic Jack-o-lantern face, and she watched most of that too. Then we put a candle in and she was amazed, just as I hoped she'd be. At that point Jane was also pretty interested, although she seemed more fascinated by the match I used to light the candle. Still, definitely got her attention.

Jack went through all the goop and got the pumpkin seeds, washed and dried them, added some seasoning, and baked them. The apartment smelled wonderful. When the seeds were done Jane was actually a bit suspicious but Clara really liked them, which is great because apparently they are nutrient dense and high fat.

The rest of the afternoon Henry and I visited while he half played with the kids. Eventually he ran to Costco to get rotisserie chicken and potatoes and grapes, and while he was gone I let the kids watch a bunch of Super Simple Songs Halloween renditions. When he returned I made mashed potatoes and we had those with the chicken, and even Clara ate most of her share. Incidentally by now Jane was fully awake and not fussy or perhaps the first time all day, so that was pretty nice.

Jack left to get Clara's lunch box for her first day of preschool tomorrow, and Henry did most of the post-dinner cleaning while I just hung out with the girls, which was really nice. When Jack came back we visited some more but Henry headed out around 6:30pm so we could give the girls a bath before bed. While Jack bathed them I made Clara's lunch for tomorrow: tortillas, grapes, and more pumpkin seeds. And I somewhat marveled at how I'm already making one of my children lunch for school (of sorts). Jane finished her bath first, which I figured out when she wandered into the kitchen buck naked. I got her dressed and then read to her while she rested against my chest for a long time. Clara dawdled in the bath tub (supervised by Jack).

When they were done we got them ready for bed but before actually turning in for the night, we turned off all the lights and lit up the Jack-o-lantern again. Clara just sat at the table and stared at it.

Not long after that we put them to bed and I decided to memorialize such a sweet day.

Pumpkin Farm 2017 & 2018