Here are our Halloween-themed activities in October.
Tunk-or-Treat at the church was a very rainy affair, but they couldn't move it inside because...Corona.
Jack decided early on that he wanted to be a Greaser. The book, "The Outsiders" had a big impact on him. And by impact, I mean he was sobbing. And then promptly read it again. He had me order him a faux leather jacket and a white shirt to complete the costume. As for the hair, he practiced a couple of weeks early with pomade. That stuff would NOT come out. He had the greasiest hair for almost a week before I busted out the Dawn dish soap. So, for the actual days of dressing up, I went old-school and introduced him to L.A. Looks gel and AquaNet hairspray.
Of course, we painted pumpkins. Ellie was not interested this year (the joys of teens) so we gave her pumpkin to cousin Naomi.
Ellie didn't join us for Trick-or-Treating (beause she old), but she did have 3 friends over to watch "The Witches." Tom and I took the boys around the neighborhood. I*t was fun to see the many creative ways people had of delivering candy during a pandemic.
This year Jack had a birthday that I will never be able to top. It came about rather last minute. Like I normally do for my kids' birthdays, I had already taken the day off and arranged for my friend, a retired teacher, to sub. About 2 weeks before Jack's birthday, I was talking to my sister and she mentioned wanting to take her youngest son on a trip to Disney World for fall break...just the two of them. She then disregarded it because of cost, but it put the idea in my mind that maybe Jack and I could meet them there on his birthday. This was so uncharacteristic of me. I never do anything spur of the moment without months of planning. But Dianna said she was on board if I was. I booked the tickets using my vouchers from our cancelled Vegas trip, arranged for my mom to keep Sam, asked my friend to sub for one more day, and then went about trying to pull off the biggest surprise of Jack's life.
I was so determined to keep this a secret that I didn't even tell Sam or Ellie. I had Rosie make Disney shirts for us and I ordered Disney masks.
On Sunday, I told Jack that since Tom couldn't take Monday off for his birthday, were were going to go somewhere to celebrate together. Because we were all wearing A&M shirts, he assumed we were going to an A&M game. Even when we pulled up to the airport, he still had no clue where we were. To be fair, he has only flown once before in his life so he isn't all that familiar with airports. To say he was surprised when I said we were going on a plane trip would be an understatement. He kept saying, "I can't believe you are taking me out of state for my birthday!"
When we landed in Orlando, I told him an Uber was picking us up. Instead, it was my sister and Krew.
We grabbed dinner at Panera and then checked into our hotel. He still had no idea what we were doing so I gave him his birthday present that night...inside was his Disney shirt, his magic band, and his Disney mask.
Monday morning, his actual birthday, we woke up early and were at Magic Kingdom before opening. We spent the entire day there unntil it closed. Throughout the day, Jack kept thanking me over and over again. He said it was his best birthday ever and one he would never forget.
We had to leave for the airport Tuesday morning by 5:00am (4:00am Texas time). I was tired, my feet had blisters, and I had the worst chafing of my life, but that trip was definitely worth it. I loved spending quality time with Jack. And it also reminded me to loosen up, have some fun, and be a little spontaneous.
Your 11th birthday was a week ago. This is the first time I have been late writing a birthday letter, but I had a good excuse...we were at DisneyWorld! I surprised you with a trip for your birthday and it was the most fun day ever! I loved spending some one-on-one time with you. You are good company.
A snapshot of you at 11...you enjoy playing soccer, you still make excellent grades in school, you still love to read, you enjoy sketching, and you absolutely hate to be bored.
You still love costumes and dressing up. You also have a great sense of style. Just this morning, I asked you advice on the clothes I am wearing.
You continue to be the most empathetic, compassionate kid I have ever met. I love that so much about you. Being such a sensitive person sometimes leads to a wide range of emotions...anger, joy, sadness, etc. You tend to feel things more deeply than your siblings. I hope you always are as empathetic towards others as you are now.
Jack, words cannot express what an amazing person I think you are. I hope you know what an integral part of our family you are. We love you big, Jack-Jack. Happy birthday.
September brought with it the true end of summer. For our annual Back-toSchool/End-of-Summer family day, Tom and I took the kids to Every-Bellies. We ate so much that Sam literally got sick at the restaurant.
Afterwards, we went home and watched the "We Bare Bears" movie together while I did my best to ignore the pile of clean laundry on the couch next to us.
The first say of school arrived and I made my kids pose for early morning (6:00am) pictures.
Picking the boys up on their 1st day of school
September also brought the end of home-church as our building re-opened for modified services.
Ellie started high school this year! I love that she and Tom are at the same school. She chose to joing the swim team this year.
September for me was spent either planning lessons or sitting on the sidelines at the soccer fields. I know which one I preferred!
