This past weekend kicked off with Halloween. I didn’t grow up celebrating Halloween (it was too creepy for me) and Jacques didn’t celebrate Halloween in South Africa so instead of being the grumpy neighbors who turn off the lights and don’t pass out candy, we opt to participate in the church’s alternative to the night. It is laid back and really fun – the church provides hot dogs and drinks and people sign up to bring soup, chili and dessert. The tables and chairs are in the middle of the room and the games are along the walls. The kids dress up, run around and play games to get candy (everyone gets something just for trying regardless of how they do) while the adults hang out with friends and keep an eye on the kids - it is a safe place and everyone has a good time. I was going to get Jadon a costume but in the end he went as himself. I costume hunting a few days before Halloween so all that was left were costumes from Star Wars, the Hulk or Superman. None of these were costumes I would buy. Jadon loves animals and I ended up finding some cute animal costumes at a Halloween store but they were $40, and call me cheap if you want, but I cannot possibly justify spending $40 on an outfit he will only wear once for a few hours. And I really don’t think Jadon noticed that he wasn’t wearing a costume so no tears were shed over it. He didn’t care too much for the games but he was all about the candy! He spent most of the night hanging around the ‘duck pond’. It is a small plastic pool filled with water and rubber ducks (the ducks had stars on their bottoms). The kids were supposed to take a fish net, scoop up a fish and would get candy based on the number of stars on the duck. Jadon could have cared less about the catching ducks with the net but he had a grand time playing with the ducks in the water. The lady in charge of the game didn’t mind him hanging around so he played until you could wring water out of his sleeves.
Playing the duck pond game
This is the best part - the candy!
Saturday was another gorgeous day and I started the day out by cleaning the house (really exciting stuff, I know). Around noon I decided to ditch the cleaning and took Jadon to the park instead. Jacques was working so he couldn’t come but it was nice just to get out of the house (sometimes I feel like a prisoner working at home). Jadon ran all over the place and I ran after him – he sure is quick for someone so small! Afterwards I took him to Baskin Robbins for a clown cone. It’s an upside down ice cream cone with frosting for the face and an Oreo cookie for the neck. It was a mess but it was fun watching him eat it. That evening we went a birthday party for a little girl down the street who turned 2. A few of the neighbors get together for play dates so we had a play date birthday party with pizza and cake and of course, lots of play time.
I had a bunch of crocus, daffodil and tulip bulbs that I had been meaning to plant and time was getting away from me. I really needed to get those bulbs in the ground soon or it would be too late. So Sunday after church Jacques dug hold using this neat bulb digging device – he got 150 holes dug in a little over 30 minutes. I tried planting the bulbs with Jadon running around I admit it, I lost my temper. He trampled through the plants, threw rocks, tried to spread fertilizer all over place, switched the bulbs around and in general tried to destroy everything. I ended up putting him in his room for a time out while I finished everything up. That night I pulled my bread machine out and made cinnamon rolls. Jadon was fascinated watching the dough spin around!
Watching the dough spin around and around...
