The Obligatory Halloween Post

Halloween has come and gone and with it, the usual amount of scrambling for just the right costume, changing of minds at the last minute, carving of pumpkins, and eating more candy than any human should consume in a one week period. This year had the normal showing of recycled Lord of the Rings capes and Jedi cloaks, but we also added a homemade black widow and two super heroes that don't normally go together.

Superman and Robin are the dynamic duo at our house. Don't you dare tell the three year-old that Robin isn't really all that super! Gid was originally supposed to be a pirate, but when he saw Eli's cape he wanted to be a super hero too. His super power is having SUPER tantrums...so I put a black cape on him and told him he was Super Pirate! That didn't fly (no pun intended.) So for his birthday we gave him a Robin costume. We tried to get him Batman, but if you wait until October 30th, Batman is no longer available at Party City, so Robin it was. Gid actually loves being Robin and he believes he can fly, so we're all going with that.

As you can see, Eli perfected his Superman pose over the course of the night -- he could even do it on his bike. Tragically, he discovered that superman boots and bike pedals do not mix well. He got his "boot" stuck on the pedal and performed a spectacular crash on the front porch! I guess somebody forgot to tell him that super heroes don't cry...

Zach was a stick figure (the paint is glow-in-the-dark), Cody was Codo Baggins and Jonah was an undisclosed Jedi. (These costumes might look familiar as they showed up in the post on Gid's birthday -- at least we're getting a lot of use out of the costumes!) The boys were nice enough to humor me while I took pictures before it got dark.

Curtis asked me last year to make him a spider costume. I thought about it...and then procrastinated as usual. So this year he started asking me in September and after much reminding, stuffing of large gym socks and researching the shape of the red spot on a black widow's abdomen, we actually put it together! It was the first of several Halloween miracles!

We also came perilously close to having no pumpkins. In the wake of Gideon's birthday the day before, I totally forgot about purchasing or carving jack-o-lanterns. Eli had been asking me for at least a month if we could buy pumpkins every time we went to the store. But in Arizona, if you buy them or carve them too early, they ROT! So I kept putting him off and putting him off, then I realized at 2:00 p.m. on Halloween that WE HAD NO PUMPKINS! None of the big boys seemed to care because they were busy having their holiday nintendo time (video games have been banned except on Holidays at our house), but I just knew that Eli would ask me about it. So, Ren and I hit a pumpkin stand on the way home from shopping and bought the last two pumpkins they had. As we were paying for them, 5 other cars drove up looking for pumpkins -- but WE had them! Yes! Another Halloween miracle! Hannah helped me gut them and then I ended up carving them both. That is NOT the vision I have of Halloween pumpkin carving, but at least we had pumpkins to put candles in.

Cody commissioned a "barfing" pumpkin, so I did my best to portray it in the most artistic way possible.

The big kids enjoyed helping pass out candy. Cody decided he wanted to hide in the dark and then scare the kids. Here he is under his hood.

And here he is in the light. I don't think he succeeded in scaring anyone. (I love how Codo Baggins wears an Aeropostale t-shirt and Hurley shorts. Also notice the bare feet, it is ALWAYS bare foot weather in Arizona -- well almost always.)

And finally, here are some other random pictures from the rest of the night. Glow sticks are always a big hit!

Here's Eli entering the candy stupor.

Another Halloween tale...the morning after Halloween the boys ran out to see the pumpkins and the CANDLES WERE STILL BURNING! The next morning, I went out to get the paper and happened to look and one of the candles WAS STILL BURNING! We never blew them out and one of them burned for two days. How does that happen? I ran inside to tell the family about the miracle of the Halloween candle! I'm not sure what it means, but I know this story will be told for generations to come. :D

And finally, we had a Halloween mystery...why are there no pictures of Hannah? She was running around in a Superman cape along with Eli, the original superman and I KNOW I took pictures of her, but they have disappeared. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha...I know, lame. But it's the best I can do at providing a Halloween ghost story. I guess I'll just stick to miracles (or is that really sacreligious?)

I know there are lots of parents out there who don't like Halloween at all and I don't love the ghoulish, bloody, skeletal aspects of it, but we try to emphasize the autumn season and the occasional cute bat or spider. For some reason, I have always looked forward to Halloween. It probably stems from my love of dressing up and free sugary treats. How can you go wrong with that?

Climb in the Station Wagon Kids, We're Going to the Canyon!

Ever since watching the episode of The Brady Bunch where they drive to the Grand Canyon in their 70's station wagon and Bobby and Cindy get lost and spend the night with the Indian tribe and get Indian names, I have wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. That was when I was eight years old. Well, thirty-two years later, we finally took the family to see it. With such a momentous occasion, it seems I must document the trip for posterity and the grandparents serving a mission in England. They have requested some pictures and an update on our Grand Canyon trip, and although I wasn't thrilled with the pics of the actual canyon, I aim to please, so here are a few(not!) pics and a brief synopsis of the trip...

We drove up to Williams, AZ (an hour and a half from the canyon) and stayed overnight there at the hotel that is part of the Grand Canyon Railways package -- so we could ride the train into the canyon. The hotel was pretty quaint and had an old west feel to it. The kids had fun exploring the gift shops (a major theme) and the railroad tracks. The next morning we were up early and had our bags packed and down in the lobby by 8 a.m. (that's pretty darn early for all of us to be up and ready!) We got to watch a "Wild West Show" and then we got on the train to the canyon.

They attempted to be entertaining on the train -- we had some old guy from Tennessee who told lame jokes and pointed out ant hills on the side of the tracks. Nevertheless, the little guys LOVED the ride. They looked out the big windows, used the bathroom many more times than needed, talked to the other people and had a great time. The big kids soon discovered it was pretty much a glorified car ride and fell asleep.

We got to the canyon around noon-ish and boarded a bus to do a little tour of the south rim (two spots with overlooks). Somehow Eli made friends with this old cowboy named Morris from Missouri. He was on the bus with us and Eli started holding his hand and calling him his "best buddy". They were both pretty pleased with the arrangement.

The tour of the rim was beautiful but stressful. Those railings are far from adequate to keep 2 and 4 year-olds from diving into the canyon. We had to keep a hand on them at all times, which isn't the easiest to do. It turns out Jonah and Gid were pretty nervous about the heights, while Zach and I have no healthy fears of things like that.

After the bus tour, they dropped us back at the main touristy place on the south rim. They've built a rock wall and a long walking path that connects most of the gift shops, restaurants and hotels. We discovered that all of it is owned by the same company -- so all the food was overpriced, tasted the same and was nasty! It was hard to get away from that tourist feel. I definitely want to go back sometime when we can hike in and spend time in a more natural setting. Here's a picture of one of the cool buildings, that turned out to be a gift shop! (like all the other cool buildings)

At 4 p.m. we checked into a hotel there at the canyon and discovered the amazing setting outside our back door (see this post for those pictures.) After spending time taking pictures of Hannah and the boys, Ren and I walked back to the rim to try to catch the sunset and take some shots there. A few of them kind of turned out, but we had missed most of it.

We also got up the next morning and tried to catch the sunrise, but it never quite materialized either. By the time the sun clears all those peaks, it's no longer sunrise. Still, here's a few taken then.

The next day we had all day until 3 p.m. to spend at the canyon. We weren't sure what we would do, since we pretty much saw most of what we could see the day before. There was a trail where you could hike down in, so we took the kids down it for 10 minutes or so then hiked back up.

Jonah was anxious about it, so we left him at the top and headed down without him. Zach and I were very tempted to climb out on a very inviting outcropping of rock, but were deterred by this sign (and Ren's glare when I suggested we ignore it):

After the hike, we explored the art gallery at this old photography studio built in the 1920's by two brothers whose names I should remember, but I don't.

We did our best to be artsy fartsy and discuss, line, texture, perspective, style and the different media used by the artists. The kids actually kind of got into it and picked out their favorite paintings. Oh yeah, there was also a gift shop there (surprise, surprise). Jonah was pretty thrilled that he had the most money to spend and he bought lots of cheap junk that he will treasure for at least a week or so! He did manage to procure six different smashed pennies for his smashed penny collection -- they are now proudly displayed in a wallet designed for that purpose. (I should have a picture of him showing it here, but I don't). So here's a picture of Ren and Gid looking out the telescope-y thing instead.

After wandering the rim again, eating more nasty food, exploring more gift shops and taking more pictures, we boarded the train at 3 p.m. and headed back to Williams. On the way home, some "outlaws" rode up on horses and boarded the train. They "robbed" us (a shameless ploy to get tips) but wouldn't accept the coins the kids had. Pretty lame -- they only wanted dollars!

We got to Williams at 5:30 p.m. and then had to eat dinner and drive home. Kind of a long day for Ren (the only driver who won't fall asleep at the wheel at night.)

All in all, I'm glad we made the trip. The canyon is indescribably huge and impressive and makes me want to ride a mule down in and get to know it better.

What Kind of Skin Do You Have?

Our last two children require vastly different parenting than our first five. It's somewhat ironic that in our "older" parenting years, Gid and Eli are the craziest and most physical of our seven children. They absolutely require lots of rough and tumble action from their caregivers -- something that is very difficult for me. Even when I'm not tired (ha ha!) I have always had very sensitive skin. Ren will lightly pat me and be surprised when I say, "Ow!" So, I have to leave the wrestling to Ren or Hannah, who is an amazing wrestler it turns out.

A few weeks ago, Ren started the "punching" game with the boys. He would pretend to punch them and they thoroughly enjoyed punching him, of course, and everyone had a great time. Until...Eli punched me. He was somewhat offended when I looked at him in dismay and crankily said, "Ouch!"

"Dad let's me punch him, Mom." he told me matter-of-factly.

"Well Eli, it hurts my skin when you punch me."

"Oh," he said in a crestfallen tone, clearly indicating that I was NOT as fun as Dad, at least when it came to the punching game.

Fast forward a few days and Eli asks me out of the blue (or so I thought), "Mom, what kind of skin do you have?" Huh?

I responded, "What kinds of skin are there?"

"Well, Dad and I have punching skin, what kind of skin do you have?"

Aaah. As understanding dawns on me I tell him, "I have sensitive skin."

"Hmmm. Sensitive skin," he says as he turns the idea over in his mind. "Why do you have sensitive skin mom?" Now that is the question, isn't it.

I don't know why I have the wrong kind of skin, but it is an interesting realization to make in our family. It helps me understand Zach a little better anyway. After wrestling with Gid for a while, he came to me a few days after this conversation and said, "Mom, I just can't handle Gid, he is too physical!"

"Aha!" I said, "You don't have punching skin!"

"What?!" he asked, clearly looking at me like I was losing it.

I explained it all to him, pointing out that Gid and Eli and Dad and even Hannah have punching skin, but we have sensitive skin that doesn't like to be touched. Amazing how many other things that explains! It turns out he and I are the only ones who don't have punching skin. And while that's unfortunate for him, it's nice to have someone who understands me. Even more important, it's a good thing to have plenty of other people around to wrestle with those crazy littles, because those of us who are more sensitive just can't handle it for very long.

So I ask the question: What kind of skin do you have?

Baby No More!

A month ago, we were at Target and Gideon wanted me to buy him a transformer. I told him that he would get one for his birthday...in a month. So what do you think I've heard several times a week for the last month? "Is it my birfday mom?" "Mom, is it my birfday yet?" "Mooooom! I want my transformer, is it my birfday now?" You can imagine that when we told Gid on Thursday night that his birthday was "tomorrow" he was more than a little excited! He told Ren, "You surprise me!" Ren said, "Now?" And Gid said, a little exasperated, "No! Tomorrow, on my birfday!"

So, Friday morning, we heard him stirring and we snuck around the corner to "surprise" him...when we saw that he had hobbled down the hall to the bathroom, with his jammies around his ankles and a pull-up oozing with diarrhea hanging off his bum. Poor Gid. He must have gone in the night and it was crusted all over his legs and bum. He HATES showering, so it was sad that the first thing he got to do on his birthday was stand in the shower, sobbing, while Ren cleaned him up.

When he was dressed, we had Gid's "surprise" take two: we gathered a few of the kids together, snuck up on him and yelled, "Surprise! It's your birthday!" He loved it! We let him open a few presents in the morning from Jonah and Curtis (a panda puppet and a small transformer) and he was very happy to finally get to experience the joy of his birthday! Then when the Big kids came home from school we had a family party with cake and presents and a treasure hunt for his new train table. He was thrilled to sit in front of his cake and go through the birthday rituals of listening to us sing and blowing out the candles. He kept saying, "It's my birfday!" and his eyes would shine as he looked at me. With all the times that I forget to follow through on things that I promise, having his birthday actually come, after I promised him it would for a month, seemed to give him confidence that Mom wasn't just making things up!

The treasure hunt, designed by Jonah, Cody and Curtis and complete with map (created by Jonah) led him through three levels where he had to fight "bosses" with his light saber. (Kind of Dora the Explorer meets SuperMario) First he had to go past the spider web on the front porch, where he had to fight Curty the Black Widow.

After vanquishing Curtis, it was on to the bouncy trampoline where he met Jonah the Jedi. He hopped on and beat Jonah as well, then followed the map around the corner and through Bucket Valley (the boys had thoughtfully taken out a pile of 20 or so sand buckets and spread them across the back walk).

There he met Codo Baggins and his sword, which was easily bested by Gid's lightning fast light saber. Finally, he headed down to the creepy basement, where he confronted all three level bosses and downing them all, he got to unveil his train table. He loved it!

Now it hits me that after 17 years, I no longer have a baby. I'm really pretty happy about that. I love this crazy, three year-old and his zest for life. He's loud, physical, comical, sweet and adored by eight people older than he is who are happy that he brings out the little kid in us all. Happy Birthday Gideon!