Halloween

Can't say enough how happy I was to have the hospital stays work out so that Ruby was home for Halloween. Can't say enough how much God made that happen, between Ruby's numbers being a little stubborn to come up, only to shoot up in enough time for us to be home for just the right window to capture Trick-or-Treating.

 

Lehr and the kids went to Eli's soccer game on Halloween morning. Maddux did a great job watching her sister while Lehr coached the team; she is the best babysitter/big sister! After that, we all met up at the house for lunch and final costume prep. Eli found his Lincoln beard just in time, but Ruby's bat ears went missing randomly. We let Ruby sleep until the last minute before we had to get her into her costume, and the nap paid off for a later night!

Eli dressed up as Abraham Lincoln again, and Maddux ended up some type of witch. (She wanted to be a bird and I was going to make the costume out of felt, but when we went to a costume shop to buy Eli's beard about a month ago, she saw a witch/sorceress type dress and changed her mind.) Ruby was, of course, the bat fairy, using the costume she got at the hospital.

Friends came over to join us, and our neighborhood does a big to-do, so there were friends all along the path. We pulled Ruby in her wagon to minimize the fatigue (both of Ruby and of Lehr and my arms). Ruby's eyes were SO wide when she saw all of the neighbors in their costumes...I can only imagine what she thought of it all!

Once we paraded down to the pool, we grabbed some pizza and then started our candy hunting. The crowd was a little smaller than usual this year, but that worked out in our favor because we were able to trick-or-treat up a hill that usually makes mommies nervous in the dark before the sun went down. Maddux and Eli bounced around between their friends, hitting as many houses as possible, but staying close enough that they could keep checking in with us and Ruby. Lehr and I each walked Ruby up to a few houses. The first one was my favorite: she walked up and the homeowner put a candy in her bucket. Ruby just stood there (maybe signed 'thank you'), so he put another candy in. And then another...it was like a standoff! She alternated the wagon and Daddy's shoulders the rest of the night.

We did offer Ruby candy a few times, but she wanted nothing to do with it until the very end of the night when she had a root beer lollipop. No rain, no melt-downs,  and we trick-or-treated more houses than we usually do, thanks to the early start we got on the evening. Maddux and Eli had so much fun with all of their friends, and I would say Ruby's first walking Halloween was a success!