We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder
This weeks treasures and random musings are dedicated to Halloween.
Some time ago, Avi had decided to be a black and white Kitty Cat for Halloween. Then, out of the blue, he announced he wanted to dress as a "Balloon Party" (we still are stumped where he even got this vocabulary). When he woke on Saturday, he wanted to be a Monkey and so dressed the part for our pal, Harrison's 1st birthday/halloween party. And between Saturday and Halloween, Avi juggled Kitty Cat, Trash Can (??), Balloon Party, and Monkey. Halloween morning he was back to the Kitty Cat. So, I finished my lecture, let my students out 15 minutes early, and raced home to get in front of the sewing machine before our nanny had to leave. I had about 30 minutes - and Voila - sometimes, it's all you need! Who cares if he is mistaken for a cow or skunk, he knew he was a Kitty Cat! (As I sit here and write this, Jenn is sweetly giving me some feedback about the round spots making it seem more cow and less cat... and if I had only... I cut her off, smile sweetly and remind her that I had less than a half hour. He looked great)! I also texted my mom to tell her thanks for making my 3rd grade nun halloween costume the night before because I now understand how she was sure I would change my mind. A new insight as a parent!
Now, if you remember from this post on the 1st of October, Avi's inspiration for his costume came from our neighbor's black and white cat named Boomer. Avi gets on his costume and a few minutes later who should appear? None other than Boomer.
...and into our home. Avi was in heaven! The boy and his inspiration!
It wasn't long before Boomer was bounding up the stairs and into our bathroom shower. Avi was quick to follow.
The two of them hung out for a bit in the shower and Boomer meowed up quite the conversation which Avi seemed to take in without hesitation. Maybe some pointers on being a feline?!
Avi showed off his tail to Boomer before we led him back downstairs to head outside.
Soon we noticed yet another friend outside. Avi joined Forrest in his kitty cat ways out on the deck. Who knew our son was the cat whisperer.
And finally an evening of trick-or-treating* with our neighbors, Carter, the monkey and his baby sister, Kate, dressed as a bear (who isn't in the picture because she was being worn by her mama). These boys had quite the night!
*A note on trick-or-treating: I struggle with the whole candy aspect of Halloween -- partially hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, and sugar. Avi still doesn't completely know what candy is. He knows about chocolate and knows he can have it when he is older. So in effort to keep Halloween from becoming this candy focused holiday, we brought along Lara Bars and other healthier snacks to sneak to the eager candy givers to give to Avi. This lasted for a few homes, but seeing his friend get to pick candy, Avi wanted to as well. In comes the wonderful story of the Sugar Sprite. I came across this idea from other bloggers (sorry, I don't remember who and where). Children collect candy on Halloween and leave it by their bed. The Sugar Sprite comes in the night and takes the candy leaving behind another small gift (stickers, for example) as a thank you. Then the Sugar Sprite uses all that sweetness to sprinkle into kiddos dreams - keeping their dreams sweet. I love this. The Sugar Sprite was mildly introduced to Avi this year... but we will definitely be continuing with this tradition!!
I wonder how you all handle Halloween.
avi is a sweetheart. i love all the photos with the cat in the shower. what is it with cats and showers? our cat loves the shower too.
ReplyDeletewe handle halloween like this... we take the kids to as many houses as the amount of candy we are willing to let them eat over a couple weeks time. halloween dinner is filling and nutritious and when they get home they can eat some candy. then over the next couple weeks they can have a couple pieces a day. (they are only those bite size pieces anyway). that being said, none of my children has sugar/diet issues. and if they did we would do something else.
Avi was an adorable kitty. Isn't it amazing the appreciation we gain for our own mothers when we have little ones of our own?
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute kitty :) We have not introduced trick or treating to Reece yet. It has not come up, he has no idea what it is, so we leave it at that. We don't have any kids come to the door we are too far out in the country. We celebrate by hitting the pumpkin patch, making festive crafts, we had a Halloween craft/play date on Tuesday and we carved pumpkins. It works for us..for now :)
ReplyDeleteAll S wanted was to try a lollipop, she had seen kids at story time with them. So i went to WF and bought her one made with rice syrup. We then allowed her to have a few pieces of dark chocolate and sent the rest to the pumpkin fairy who she was not entirely convinced about but she did want to receive a gift in return. The most fun we had was making her costume anyway and making decorations for the house in weeks leading up to Halloween.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic costume, and a fantastic story with Boomer!!! The Sugar Sprite is such a great idea...but too late for my kiddos....You know, we just use our touchstone terms "balance" and "moderation". We monitor how much and give them limits, and honestly they don't go crazy with it. Eventually, they forget about it. Yes it's crappy "food", but again, moderation, and it is only once a year. It seems to have worked so far. We also talk a lot about where Halloween came from and why it was originally celebrated. But, who am I kidding, I loved Halloween for the dress-up and the candy, too....
ReplyDeletebig hugs to you !!
xo
I LOVE his costume, and his interactions with the kitties. so sweet!! I wish I had known about the Sugar Sprite when my kids were younger and began trick-or-treating. Instead of giving them giant shopping bags or pillow cases for treat bags, I got them small fabric pumpkin baskets. It doesn't hold too much. The rule is once they're full, trick-or-treating is done. They get to dress up, have fun, get a few treats, but I don't feel too bad about them coming home with candy.
ReplyDeleteSo jules &jenn did u get a sugar high. Haha
ReplyDelete