Halloween

So, Halloween is not our family's best holiday. We tend to have bad luck when we attempt to have a fun and festive time. Last year C.T. was very, very sick with a bad case of croup that really had me scared (if only I had had Ipacac like Anne Shirley did for Diana's little sister)and naturally we didn't go trick-or-treating or anything. This year sickness struck again - this time it was a stomach bug, and the victim was again CT. He did manage to do some trick-or-treating, but his heart wasn't in it, poor little guy. We would come up to a house and I would say "would you like to go ask for a piece of candy here?" and he would say "No, I just want a drink". Fortunately a fellow ward member gave him a Capri-Sun as his treat and we made it home all right. Lily liked trick-or-treating though. She didn't like people putting the candy in her bucket for her. Instead she would take it from their hand and put it in the bucket herself. If they let her pick her own candy from their bowl she was a happy girl. She would even reach in a second time and get more candy, all of her own accord, and put it in CT's bucket for him since he was being an anti-trick-or-treater. The disappointing part for me was that people would choose what candy to give to Lily and CT and they would always pick the lollipop over the snickers bar for children so little. Hello! Don't these people realize that even toddlers like chocolate? And what's more, there is no way my kids are going to be interested in eating 50 lollipops over the course of the next few weeks, and obviously neither am I, while the chocolate would have been quite a different story, with the whole family sharing and enjoying it. Oh well. I'll just have to do what my mom did and wait until they get old enough to get the really good stuff and just ask them for a percentage.

Another thing - I think generosity is good, and it is nice when people feel they want to give out handfuls of candy to each child, but there is a downside, which is that then certain children expect all households to have an unlimited supply of candy. One trick-or-treater actually said to me "Can have two of those, because I really like Skittles". I looked that spider man in the eye and said "Oh, I'm sure you'll be getting plenty more of them elsewhere" and sent him on his way.

My Big Kid

I can't think of anything interesting about myself, so I have to resort to that time honored tradition of talking about my children instead, in this case, CT. He is so verbal now and cracks me up everyday. I've started jotting down little anecdotes throughout the day that I find amusing. Here is a sampling...

We started a new motivational technique to get CT to clean up his toys at night. We told him that any toy he leaves on the ground will get placed in a box and no longer be available for his use. Last night Tyler embellished by adding that this box would then be given away to poor children. CT cleaned up all his toys and then said "I'd like to pick one train to give to the poor children. This little one." Learning to clean and learning to be thoughtful - what a bonus!

The other day we were walking from Hobby Lobby to our car and as we went down a short flight of steps on the sidewalk CT said he'd like to sit down for a few minutes and rest. He sat down on a step and Lily plopped down right next to him. CT said "Look at us Mom! You need to take a picture!" I said I would love to take a picture, but unfortunately, I didn't have the camera with me. CT replied "Well, that's OK. You can take one with your hands." So, I proceeded to pantomime taking a picture of them and making the required "click" sound effect. Then CT said "Now take another one of me with my race car!" So I did it again while he held up his hot wheel right next to his little face. If only I did have a real camera with me!

Last week at dinner Tyler asked CT, "Do you think I can eat until the cows come home?" and CT answered "No! Cows can't live here. There's no room for a big cow in our home!"

A couple of weeks ago (before we started the poor children toy pick up motivator) Tyler and CT were working on cleaning up the toys. That was the plan anyway, but when I walked through it was only Tyler putting toys away and CT was just standing there. I said "CT, I thought you were helping Dad put the toys in baskets." He looked at me and said "Well, I changed my mind."

I could go on and on, but I won't. Just suffice it to say that, like every mother, I think that my child is charming and hilarious and extremely intelligent and I love being around him and seeing him learn so much.

The Elusive Glow

So, in my experience, a certain amount of slack is given to pregnant women in the whole personal appearance department. Let's face it, you get to a certain point and that fleeting "glow" that is so often alluded to is long gone, and in it's place there is just a puffy face, swollen ankles, and huge clothes. Since I am now about 6 weeks from my due date (Okay, closer to seven, but I like to indulge in wishful thinking. CT was 11 days early, after all. Never mind that Lily was 6 days late.) I fit firmly in this pregnancy-has-lost-its-luster stage. I know this. I see it everyday as I hurriedly apply concealer to the dark circles under my eyes and put on a coat of mascara before I can really absorb my reflection and allow it to influence my mental state for the day. Because I do own a mirror, it really cuts down on the need for others to state aloud their observations about my appearance, but apparently some people can't resist. I went to a meeting of the Enrichment Board last week and when I walked in the first thing the RS President said to me was,"Every time I see you lately you just look so tired. Are you tired?" Hmmm....well, considering the fact that I have a two and half year old and a one and a half year old and a husband who has been working late hours and another baby due next month and am suffering from pregnancy induced insomnia, my answer would have to be yes. Yes, I am tired. Thanks for asking.