My little pumpkins

Call it a 'Wordless Wednesday' piece. (Yes, I stole that concept from another blog, although I can't think which one right at the moment....) Enjoy.

Spooking the pants off the kids

Been spending the last few days whipping this bungalow in the woods into haunted house status for my nephew's surprise Halloween birthday party. You see, months ago, Big H came to my sister and said:

"Mommy, for my next birthday, I want to have a surprise party. And, I want you to film it, so I can see the surprise on my face."

Jax was left stumped by this request. How was she to throw Hunter a surprise party--if he was asking for it?

Besides, it has never been easy planning a party for him. His birthday is the week before Christmas, so it's always difficult to organize anything with his classmates and friends at such a busy time of year. Everyone is always visiting family, attending other parties or busy doing last-minute holiday planning.

Last year, because Jax doesn't really have the room for an indoor party (and since December means an indoor party!), she spent countless hours finding a venue for the party (everything was already booked up for Christmas parties and events!) only to have three or so of the dozen kids invited show up.

So, after we discussed the situation, we decided to throw him a party well in advance of his actual birthday. This way, it really would be a surprise! And, it wouldn't be at that crazy time of year, either. We also decided to have the party at my house to help keep it a surprise--and because I have more room, both inside and out. Yes, it means another party at our house (that makes four this month, I believe), but that's what October is all about!

The party plan began as a pirate-themed shindig since Hunter wanted to be a pirate for Halloween, but then slowly evolved into a general Halloween party. Jax wanted to make sure that all the kids could re-use their costumes for the event and would not feel obligated to show up in pirate attire. She decided to save the pirate theme for the twins' party this summer. Might work better as a pool party anyways.

Since Jax is handling party foods and cake, my only real job is decorating and coming up with the scavenger hunt. The idea is to not only surprise Hunter with the party decorations and activities, but to scare him a bit, too!

To that effect, Brooke and I have been busy bedazzling foam bats, stringing up gauze strips in our spooky tree and blowing up pumpkin balloons for the last couple of days now. We also made a mini "Grave Garden" (as Brooke calls it) under the tree with some skeleton garden stakes and foam tombstones we found at the dollar store. We even revived Ol' Brunhilda, my porch witch from Rockland. She is now frowning angrily at visitors by the door, her brewing pot overflowing with bones, spiders, snakes and eyeballs at her feet. The place has really morphed into a haunted house.

Was fun to do. Hadn't really decorated for Halloween since we moved, as we are really in the woodsy country here and won't likely get many trick-or-treaters. That, and we have decided to trick-or-treat in town with the cousins anyways, so I guess we will never really know how many kids show up.

Today, we'll tackle the pumpkins. We have about 20 or so in total, but only about 5 or 6 of 'em are worth carving. I found some great pumpkin stencils on the Internet and can't wait to see the girls' faces when we hollow out the jacks!

Things I'm thankful for....

Was just going through Rich's awesome Thanksgiving Day photos (My brother has a great eye for pics and is my go-to photog for photos I can't take.) and spotted this dandy of a pic. My eldest nephew Hunter, proudly holding up his Thanksgiving Day worksheet.

I printed off a bunch of these puzzles and wordsearch sheets in case the kids got bored or needed settling down pre-dinner. I knew Hunter, in particular, would like them as he enjoys puzzles and boardgames and anything that makes him think.

One of the activities on the worksheet asked the kids' to write down things they are thankful for. A good exercise on any given day, but especially fitting for this holiday.

Things that Big H is thankful for:

• turkey
• gravy
• my friends
• games
• my house
• my food
• the electricity
• the world

Electricity? Which without we could never play Wii. A basic need for sure. And gravy. We could all use more gravy.

Directly from the mouths of babes. (Or, rather, from the hand of a nearly-7-year-old.) As you can imagine, my sister (his mother) decided she had to keep this worksheet for the scrapbook.

Things I'm grateful for? These dang kids. All of them in their silly, serious ways. Love you, H.

Farewell to fall

*Wrote this post last week, pre-snow and post-party. Kept meaning to make a Picasa mosaic of some of the photos, but haven't got around to it yet. Figured I'd post up now before the party becomes too distant a memory. In the meantime, a group pic of just some of the kids in attendance that day.

Woke to a wickedly frosty October morning. The skies are grey, the trees are bare and an icy sheen has coated all of the brown grass on the front lawn. The chill in the air has made me crank up the furnace, yank out some stretched-out slippers from the old pile by my dresser, and think about turning the closet inside out in search of warm winter gear. I know I have a snowsuit that should fit Avie stashed somewhere deep within....

In spite of the sparkling frost, the pumpkins still sit defiantly orange atop the haybales, surrounded by buckets and barrels of apples and gourds, all of them demanding autumn attention. And, they'll get it. Right up until the end of the month.

I fall in love with this season every year, but the affair is fleeting. As soon as the greys start to settle in, I yearn for the white blankets of snow, the glow of Christmas lights (the big, energy-consuming old school bulbs from the 1980s, not the weird LED lights that we all now own), the sentimental crooning of Bing Crosby and the scents of gingerbread and pine boughs. You're probably thinking ''same shit, different pile'' when you compare those tawdry words to others I've previously posted. And, you'd be right.

I have an intense romantic fling with each season--and it's a cycle that never seems to end. We flirt, we dance, we dream up all kinds of moments to sneak away and be together. And, when we've finally celebrated the season, consummated our love for the holiday--when the big climactic moment that we've been planning for so long starts to fall away, leaving us either gasping excitedly for air or spooning in satisfying post-coital cuddles--then I'm done with the relationship.

For me, it turns into a ''it's not you, it's me'' kind of thing. The season, a little blindsided by the abrupt declaration, agrees. And as we say our final farewells, we both tell one another that the break-up is mutual, that we'll remain friends, that'll we call one another for coffee sometime. I don't know about the season, but me? I'm ready to move onto the next big romance.

And that's what happened this weekend. After months of planning, we finally hosted the Fall Family Photo Fete, our big harvest thank-you to family and friends.

And somehow, all the details came together. The sun shone, the wind eventually died down, the people came, they downed soup and chili and popcorn and homemade sugar cones, they drank hot apple cider and chilled beer, the kids jumped on the trampoline and threw leaves at one another.

Sure, I completely forgot to play all of the games I had planned (like pumpkin bowling and apple bobbing) or ink up the kids with the pumpkin tattoos I had painstakingly cut out the night before. And, I forgot to mention to some guests to take caramel apples and the kids' goodie bags as they left. I even forgot to gather together the girls for a family photo on the haybales. I also tried to chat a little bit with everyone and in the end, felt like I really spoke to no one. And, of course, we had WAY too much food left over (I told Hubby to stop peeling potatoes and making soups!) and yet I don't remember eating anything. (I guess we'll be eating chili for lunch for the next month. Not such a bad thing, in retrospect.)

In spite of all of this, the party seemed to go off without a hitch. I only had a moment to take it all in, to look around and marvel at being surrounded by such love, by such laughter and joy, by such beauty--and I may have missed it completely if it hadn't been for someone else.

My sister shook me out of my 'party hostess' state-of-mind and reminded me why we were having this party in the first place. As I mixed salad dressings in the kitchen, she told me that she had walked up to Brooke and given her a hug and had explained to my little munchkin that the reason everyone was here was because they loved her so much. That they all came because they wanted her to get healthy and wanted to celebrate her. She said Brooke's eyes went round and big and said ''Really? Everyone's here for me?'' Of course they were. Of course. I myself was as stunned by the turnout and the implication.

After that story, I immediately went outside and watched over the deck railing as my girl jumped like a fiend with a dozen other toddlers on the trampoline, their shrieks of joy piercing through the chatter and 'surprisingly decent' (as my brother called it) music in the air. I then looked over at Avie, bundled up against the chill, in Grandmaman's arms. She was smiling a gummy smile as she people-watched, causing all of the aunts to coo over her adorable little face. I am blessed. We all are.

Hubby's moment came the following day as we stacked chairs and folded tents. He had to take a quiet moment to himself. He sat on a haybale, drank a beer and smoked a cigar, while he just pondered about how special our little girl is. About how much everyone must love her to have come and celebrated her with us.

As evidenced by the laughter and smiles, it seems like our guests had fun and I hope so, because I know that we did. It's been a few days now, and still Brooke is talking about how great 'her party' was.

Even though Hubby and I had agreed pre-party against making a formal speech, I kind of wish we had taken the opportunity to thank the whole group for all that they had done this summer and continue to do. I hope every one of our guests knows that this party was not just for Brooke--but for them. It was our way of thanking each of them for the prayers, the good wishes, and the kind gestures they made us throughout Brooke's cancer treatment. We appreciate everything you guys did for us! We love all of you! Thanks so much! (I'm sure that sentiment goes without saying, but I still feel it needs to be said.)

Sure, B's treatments aren't over yet, but the end is in sight. We can see the flags and banners of the finish line in the distance--and with all of these people behind us and beside us, their love and friendship pushing us ever forward, our little family will get there.

As quickly as the party came, it was over. And, after a little decompressing to settle my mind, I was left satisfied. I'm ready for the next great big thing. I'm ready for Christmas, for winter, for ringing in the New Year with her last chemo treatment behind us and only good health and good spirits for 2011.

I'll wait the two more weeks before putting away the pumpkins and turning on Diana Krall, but know that, from across the room, I'll be winking suggestively at the next season.

Getting into the spirit of things

Thanksgiving = Breaking in new boot leather while jumping into leaf piles, cinnamon sticks poking out of steaming apple cider cups, sweater weather crisp and clean, leaf-coloured tea towels and tablecloths, spiced pumpkin seeds and candy corn snacks, broken crayons and Halloween colouring books, cranberries popping into sauce on the stove, getting up early to put the turkey on, combing the laneway for acorns and leaves to decorate the dinner table, curried pumpkin soup, photos on the front lawn, canned whipped cream on homemade pie, frenzied hopping on the trampoline, mini corn cobs in baskets on the coffee table, using the 'good' china, lumpy mashed potatoes and pan-dripping gravy and green beans almondine, drawing names for the Christmas gift exchange, construction paper handprint turkeys in the window, blowing out candles on a shared birthday cake, Jack Johnson and Bublé on the CD player, the crackle of a fire over a rousing game of dominos, kids making cozy beds in front of the latest Treehouse holiday movie offering, packing up the last turkey leg for a midnight shift snack....Enjoying every single moment with the ones you love.


Happy harvest blessings to all of you, readers. May you and yours experience a wonderful holiday weekend!



Bren: Enjoy NYC with the girls. Have a street chestnut for me....

Three years ago

Three years ago, on a sunny October day much like today, you joined our little family. Three years ago today you turned us into parents. Three years ago today you made our wish into reality and brought us such overwhelming joy that we thought our hearts would burst from sheer happiness.

And this year, well, you have grown up in such a short time. Just months ago, we were waiting for your little sister to arrive and you were such a toddler--bumbling and stumbling, giggling and jabbering. Now, it's hard to believe that our wise old owl, with all of her logical reasonings and thoughtful musings, is only turning three! You hardly seemed like a two-year-old Friday morning when you waved Daddy out the door with a reminder to ''go to work to make monies to buy my gas,'' and yet you still were.

Perhaps, it's that you have always had an imagination and a vocabulary more advanced than the average kid your age. Maybe it's that you've grown a good couple of inches and lost much of the chubby babyness about you this summer. Or that instead of shapeless blobs and scribbles, your drawings of people now actually include facial features and legs and arms. Or perhaps, it's simply that you have had to endure more in these last couple of months than most adults have to endure in their entire lifespan.

We are sooo proud of you and inspired by your courage and cheerful spirit. We wish you many, many more years of joy and sunshine! Happy birthday, Peanut! We love you forever.

An October afternoon

The first of October---and like a terrible McDonald's ad, I'm loving it! Yesterday kicked off the holiday season--just one more day until my big girl's third birthday (and I can't wait to see her face at the surprises we have in store for her!), a week till turkey time (I'm already dreaming of the cranberry sauce), 30 days until one of the most magical nights of childhood (and Ariel's public debut), and just shy of three months of glorious holiday goodness. I can't wait! I'm like a kid in a candy shop....my heart is near to bursting with excitement and joy!



My artsy pumpkin collection has been on the hall table for nearly a month now, apple-cinnamon and pumpkin spice candles have found their way into nooks and crannies throughout the house weeks ago, and each weekend since the summer, we've been adding to the wood pile in the basement. I hate to admit it, but the Christmas tunes have already been keyed up in my laptop, just waiting for me to hit 'PLAY.' I'll wait until November 1st--but it'll be hard to resist, lemme tell you.



But, first--back to October. What a lovely afternoon yesterday. The sun was shining in that warm, crisp, brisk way that is so quintessentially October. And, when the girls took a nap, I slipped on my billers, doused myself down with some Off bug spray and yanked the wheelbarrow out from the carport. I squelched my way through the swampy grass (23 days of rain in September will do that to a yard!) and headed for the garden.



I spent an hour up to my elbows in cool, wet mud, digging up potatoes with little regard for my wedding rings or nailbeds, both of which required intense cleaning when I returned to the house. The soil was so damp and wet that it was easy for my shovel to bite into the ground, loosening the dirt around each potato plant. So easy in fact, that I abandoned the shovel altogether. At one point, the mud nearly sucked my boot off my foot and I lost my balance, landing on my forearms in the mud, my hands full of taters. It was heavenly!

I hauled in at least another 10 lbs. of potatoes and 5 more pumpkins before I headed back to the house. The girls were still napping, so I took advantage of another 15 minutes of serenity and planted tulip and iris bulbs in the front garden. Then, I walked down the laneway to collect the garbage cans, marvelling at the reds and golds. Back to the house, I perched myself on the stoop and just soaked in the sunshine. A perfect afternoon. The baby monitor began to squawk so I went back in--reluctantly, I must admit.

October, my own personal ''soote season,'' is here and I don't want to miss a minute of it.....