Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for Halloween
November? Are you kidding me?
It seems that every year November is one of those months that sneaks up on you. It may be that October is typically an awesome month; we’ve settled into a routine at school, the weather is often beautiful, the harvest is in full swing (which just takes me back to childhood immediately) and the fall colors make even the plain old Illinois landscape come alive. I love October. But then, before we know it, we turn around and it’s November. This year, especially, October was barely here and with a blink of an eye it was gone. When I think about the fact that we closed on the house Sept. 30th I can hardly believe how quickly the time has gone. Then again, I look around me and see what we’ve accomplished in the house, and I think we’ve done pretty well in a month’s time, too.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a pretty big fan of November, too. But I always hate that time moves so quickly this time of year. I just know that we’ll blink again and 2012 will be breathing down our necks. Slow down for a couple of months, will ya, time???
Tricks or treats
It is no secret that Halloween is not my favorite holiday. Not by a long shot. But I try to put on a happy face when it comes time to go trick-or-treating because, let’s face it, this night is pretty much a highlight of the year for the kids. The weather has been very iffy this week, too, but it shaped up tonight, which was a relief.
We had Grandma & Grandpa Kerber, Aunt Theresa, Uncle Dan & Auntie Em, Chris, Salina, Bella & Danny here for dinner. It was chaotic, but nice to have our first family ‘event’ in the new house. As soon as we could quickly get some sandwiches in our bellies the kids were itching to get out on the streets. We got the costumes on and headed out.
It was weird to head out into a new neighborhood, but it was nice to see that almost every house had its lights on. There is a real mix in our neighborhood; there are a lot of young families who were out with their kids, but there are also a lot of families with older kids and even many empty nesters who just enjoy seeing the little ones in their costumes.
I have to admit that it was an enjoyable evening. If I just think about the fact that we’re out walking around the neighborhood as a family instead of thinking about my kids begging for candy from complete strangers I can even say I liked it. It is so nice that Aunt Theresa is always willing to answer our door so we can all go out together. But I will say that I’m happy another Halloween is over. Is it wrong that I’m counting the years until my kids won’t want me to go trick-or-treating with them anymore? In Ben’s words as we were heading for home after about an hour on the street, “There is nothing I don’t like about Halloween.” I think my sentiment would be the exact opposite.
Bring on Thanksgiving!
Taking a break at Rader’s
We’ve been working night and day in the new house, so we thought that today would be a good time for a break. We still hadn’t gotten any pumpkins yet, so Rader’s Pumpkin Farm was our destination. We quickly changed our clothes after church, grabbed some snacks and headed to Rader’s. Great idea and good quick action…except that we got there around 11:30 and the place opened at noon. Oops…guess we should have checked that, eh? Luckily I had thrown a bunch of stuff (apples, string cheese, granola bars, crackers, etc) into a bag and we were able to kill that half hour pretty easily.
Once it finally opened, we had a blast at Rader’s. The place has gotten so much bigger and there is lot more to do there now.
The hay bale tower was a huge hit, but Ben had to help his sister quite a bit.
There was a giant pile of loose hay for the kids to jump in. Emma was hesitant at first, but finally she went full force. I love this picture.
They drove the train, which was decidedly less impressive than the one at Tanner’s, but still pretty fun.
Then we had a game of checkers.
I’m sad that I didn’t get a good picture of what was the kids’ favorite attraction at Rader’s…the big inflatable hump that you climb and jump on. I know a hump doesn’t describe it very well, but that’s what it is. It’s tall and curved and you just jump and fall and jump and fall some more. They absolutely loved it. After one more round on that thing we finally picked out all of our pumpkins, gourds and corn and headed for home. It was a fun day, and I’m really glad that we were able to take a break from all of our work and have some fun together as a family.
Trick or treat!
Well, the inevitable happened…Halloween came again. Even though I am no fan of the holiday, I do look forward to taking the kids out trick or treating. It’s nice to get out with everyone in the neighborhood, and it just kind of gives me the official closure to the warm weather and playing outside.
Tonight started with pizza for us, Grandma & Grandpa Kerber and Aunt Theresa. The kids were so wound up that I wasn’t sure we’d make it to the big event. 
But finally 5:00 came, so we got into our costumes and headed out. Ben was literally more excited and antsy than I’ve ever seen him, I think, but they both sure looked cute.
Our first customers here were our old neighbors the Swinglers. It was so great to see them, and we had to get a group shot for old times sake. Our kids (and we) miss having them next door so much.
Once we actually started making the rounds, the kids were great. Ben was so patient even though he was always the first one up and back from the doors. Emma was tired after the first few houses, but she plugged along. Now that they fully understand how great candy really is, it was totally worth any difficulty they had to face.
One thing that Ben (and I think Dave) was looking forward to the most was revisiting “the spooky house” that is just up the street from us. I hadn’t seen it last year, because I had taken Emma home before Dave and Ben stopped there, 
but it had become legendary already just from their descriptions. They didn’t exaggerate…that place was awesome. But, I have to admit that I was happy we were hitting that place before dark. I’m just sayin’…it really was spooky.
Overall, we had a really great time. Emma still had to call it a night earlier than her big brother, but what can you expect…she is only 3. I think walking (and running) around for an hour and a half is pretty impressive. And the reward? Well, take a look for yourself.
Halloween has got to be 4 out of 5 dentist’s favorite holiday.
Carvin’
We had all eagerly anticipated tonight…our first free night to carve our pumpkin. Each family member had something different about the event that he or she was looking forward to. Ben was adamant that he would be drawing the face on it for Daddy to carve. Emma couldn’t wait to dig out the guts inside the pumpkin. Dave was excited for the actual cutting action. I think it takes him back to his sculpture class days. Me? Well, to be honest, I was just looking for a peaceful night full of as little mess as possible. I know, I know, but you have to give me some credit. I really don’t like Halloween much.
After dinner we pulled out the plastic tablecloth and got started. We had convinced Ben to draw the face he wanted on paper first, and then I would transfer it to the pumpkin. He liked the idea, and it was a go. 
Once the face was on, Dave started cutting the top off. There was a monumental event that took place once the top was popped off. Ben actually dug out some guts with his bare hands! 
I know this may not seem like much to many of you, but to Dave, Ben and me it was a pretty big deal. He didn’t have the courage to even try in past years. Emma, as usual, was totally into it. She loves getting messy.
Once the pumpkin was cleaned out, both kids were content to work on some art of their own while Dave carved out the face. They both love to color, and it was kind of nice to have everyone working on something of their own instead of all trying to help Daddy.
The calm was a bit disconcerting, to be honest. You know that calm before the storm worry? But my fear was unfounded. They were happy to color away and watch the jack o’lantern take shape.
Once Dave was finished, we put a candle in Jack and put him out on the porch. It was another successful Halloween tradition in the books.
Trunk or treat
Another first for the Kerber family tonight…trunk or treat. This is an event at our church at which the high school youth group parks in every other spot in the parking lot, open their trunks, decorates them, and the kids go around to each car playing games and gathering treats from them. As I’m sure is no surprise to anyone, Ben didn’t want to go. It was something he was unfamiliar with so he kept saying that he, “Just wanted to do the regular Trick-or-Treating by our house.” We told him that he was at least coming with us, but he didn’t have to trick or treat if he didn’t want to. He asked if he could wear his costume but NOT trick or treat. Dave and I looked at each other with the typical eye roll. Sure, we said, that would be fine. We’ll just take your bucket in case you change your mind. We got the kids into their costumes, and we were off. On a side note, I have to say that I was very happy with Emma’s costume. It had been a rocky road, but we got to a place where she was a super cute panda bear!
Pretty much as soon as we got there and the first piece of candy hit Emma’s bucket Ben was in. Although it was pretty chilly out, we went around from car trunk to car trunk playing games and collecting candy. The high school kids were all really great with the little ones, and our kids really had fun.
We tried to emphasize how much fun we all had for Ben when we were home. Dave reminded him how he hadn’t wanted to go and reassured him that when Mom and Dad push him to do something, it’s usually going to be really fun. He kind of just ignored that and moved on to his candy. So much for teaching some big lesson!
Pumpkins!
I’m pretty sure that just yesterday I posted that I was trying to relish this time I have with the kids. That all seemed to disappear this afternoon when we went to pick out some pumpkins to carve later this week. They were making me crazy, and I’m pretty sure that to everyone else at the nursery I was that white trash parent freaking out on her kids in public. It was really fun, as the pictures show.
But…we all survived and somehow I got out of there as quickly as possible with some great pumpkins. I so hope the carving goes better for us.
Costume woes
Why oh why do I take on these projects that are too much for me?? Several weeks ago, I went to the fabric store and picked out a pattern and fabric for Emma’s Halloween costume. She wanted to be a panda bear and Ben wanted to be a tiger. I found a pattern that had both a cat and a bear on it. Perfect, I thought! I got black and white furry fabric, but couldn’t find any tiger strip fabric. To make a long story short, Ben is now being a dragon and he’s wearing a costume we bought online. But I was convinced I could make Emma’s.
Of course the supplies sat in the bag until two nights ago. I finally dragged it out and started looking through the pattern. Holy crap those things are complicated!! And they’re all folded up in some cryptic manner and printed on the thinnest paper known to man. I knew instantly that I would never have the patience to get this project finished. Luckily, I was able to get the hood done. So today, I took back all the black furry fabric and Emma the panda bear is now going to wear black pants and a black fleece with a white strip of fur sewn around the tummy section. It’s a much simplified version of the original idea, but hopefully it will look ok. Oh, she will have a custom white furry hood with black ears, of course.
I just wanted to make her something cute, because I always hated my Halloween costumes. I should have known better than to only leave myself a month. The fall is just too nuts. Next year, I”m starting this process as soon as school starts!!
Halloween fun
The weather made us nervous all week, but luckily it pretty much cooperated in order for us to have a very fun Halloween night. It was a tad bit chilly, but thankfully the rain finally stopped.
We started the night with pizza, and Grandma & Grandpa Kerber joined us first. Then Aunt Theresa came, and finally Auntie M, Salina, and Bella rounded out our group. It didn’t take anyone long to finish eating…the anticipation of trick-or-treating was on the forefront of everyone’s mind. 
So after we ate we changed into our costumes (which luckily were big enough to leave room for a couple of extra layers underneath) and headed out. Ben the panther, Emma the lion and Bella as Magenta the dog made up our costumed group. 
Since Auntie M and Salina both came with us, the adults outnumbered the kids for once, which is never a bad thing!
We started down the street and the kids were into it right away. Emma had not napped this afternoon, so after only a couple of houses, she was getting droopy and was pretty far behind.
But Ben was very patient with both of the little girls. He would wait out on the sidewalk and I can’t remember him complaining once. After about 40 minutes of trick-or-treating both of the girls were ready to head in. Neither of them really knew what any of the candy was in the first place, and they were pooped from walking. Plus, Bella had other stops to make, so Auntie M and Salina were off.
Ben, however, was still ready to go. So Dave took him around one more block. Needless to say, his pumpkin was very heavy by the time they got home a half hour later. He was so excited about some of the things in there. It was too funny. By this time Grandma & Grandpa had gone home, but Aunt Theresa still had a bag of goodies for the kids. They both loved opening these, and we had to have just one more treat before bed.
Both kids had so much fun trick-or-treating. 
We ran into almost all of our neighborhood friends and saw some pretty cool Halloween houses. While Halloween is certainly not my favorite holiday, I have to admit that a smile came to my face on more than one occasion tonight. There’s not much more you can ask than that.
Oh wait, icing on the cake…the Illini football team beat Michigan tonight, too! Woo HOO!!
We just can’t wait!
Today when I picked Ben up from preschool, the first thing he said to me was, “Mommy, next time we come to preschool it’s our pumpkin party!” There was so much excitement in his voice, and he had one o f the biggest smiles I had ever seen. So I decided that we should try on our costumes tonight to make sure that everything was all set. As soon as I got the coats on each kid, they were crawling all over the floor roaring (that would be Emma the lion) and rawring (from Ben the panther) all over the place. It was hilarious.
While I’m not the biggest fan of Halloween, it is definitely fun to anticipate something with the kids. While Ems is still not really sure what’s going to happen Saturday night, Ben remembers it well and is just so psyched for the big event. Let’s hope that Mother Nature cooperates with us so we can have all the fun we think we will!
