It’s November- weekend randoms!

[waverly]

Happy Halloween. We had a good day. DD has a last minute play date because her friend wasn’t doing anything else on Halloween so she decided to have us over to look for candy eggs and hit a piñata.

We did trick or treat. It normally isn’t crowded, and it wasn’t this year. Everyone but 1 guy opened the door in a mask and lots just had bowls out. A few candy chutes which was fun. It was nice seeing everyone focused on safety. Our neighbor family pod has us over for a bonfire afterwards.

I’ve basically done nothing today which was kind of my plan. I still need to caffeinate even. I hate time changes!

[mustardseed2007]

We had a great Halloween! Scavenger hunt and socially distanced and masked costume parade and contest at my sister's church with a small contingent of kids. Plus we got to play on a playground on our own
THen we went to DS' BFFs house for a small halloween get together with a couple other classmates. DS and DD both just had. a. ball.

In our neighborhood I was concerned that things wouldn't be distanced and people who have a bad attitude....there's so many trump signs around me and the neighborhood women's club canceled their parade so trumpers decided to have a protest parade...ugh.

Now today we're having a short playdate with another classmate so now I'm having to clean our house. I don't get it, we haven't been home and yet our house looks like we had a rave here! How are we so messy!?

[mommyatty]

I’ve had the kind of weekend that reminds me I have a lot to be grateful for. I took the kids to Barnes and Noble in their costumes. We bought books and I let them get squishamals to cuddle during movie night. Then school friends came by and dropped off candy. We gave them boxes of candy in return. A sweet neighbor brought homemade cookies by because she wasn’t going to be here for Halloween night. Then during movie night another neighbor brought candy because she didn’t see the kids earlier. We didn’t trick or treat. But the kids didn’t seem to miss it.

Today at the grocery store there was a man who I think didn’t have enough to pay for his groceries without using the store’s discount card, and he didn’t have one. While he went to get the discount card, I asked the clerk if I could just pay for him. She said she would have to ask him (I wanted to do it anonymously). He was so grateful. And it was so little. But I hope I paid forward some of the kindness people showed my kids yesterday.

[k3am]

We had a nice Halloween. We took the kids trick or treating - most places either had a self serve table or a candy chute, a few houses handed out adult libations, and I think I actually liked it more than prior year Halloweens. People definitely put more effort into the holiday this year.

The amount of effort makes me really excited for Christmas! We ordered our front yard tree and I’m once again forcing neighbors to order them for their own yards.

[waverly]

What is a front yard tree?

[k3am]

Nov 1, 2020 15:18:07 GMT -5 waverly said:

What is a front yard tree?

Christmas tree for the front yard. It’s a big deal in one of the neighborhoods near us and I want it to be a bigger thing in ours lol.


Tapa doesn’t want me to post a pic of it for some reason.

[traveltheworld]

We had a blast for Halloween. We did a scavenger hunt with our bubble families and the kids did about a dozen houses. There were a lot fewer houses giving out treats this year, but the ones that did went all out, so the kids got tons of treats. We put out almost 10 pumpkins to make sure people knew we were giving out teats and built a candy chute so that my parents could give out candy and they really enjoyed that.

DH said this was the best Halloween. We are so grateful for finally finding good friends.

[mae0111]

Halloween was fun this year. DD1 got in trouble early in the day, but we allowed her to have Halloween and serve her punishment on Sunday. This was the first year that she went out with friends without an adult. Most houses had a table or wore masks. I handed out candy and non-candy treats to the allergy kids wearing a mask.

Today has been quiet. I actually took a nap. I average about one nap per year, usually when I’m sick. But I was just so tired today that I just took a quick 15 min power nap and felt 100% better.

The next couple of weeks are crazy with lots of appointments for everyone. I was happy to have a quiet day at home.

[186momx]

Halloween was good here. Took my mom out to the farms annual stock up sale and it wasn't busy and usually it is packed. It is normally Nov 1st & 2nd but they added in the Oct 31st so we went early. Both DD and napped in the early afternoon and then we drove the 45 minutes to the beach. No wind, sunshine, and no one around so a perfect fall beach day at the Oregon coast.
DD and I went barefoot while DH worse his tall rubber boots. The dog got to run free and be a puppy and we watched an amazing sunset. Then we ate a picnic dinner in the truck and watched the moon rise.

Today we've taken advantage of a sunny day to clean out the garden, deal with leaves, mow the grass and fertilize the grass, spray weeds, and lots of laundry. DD didn't want to be outside so she has been in charge of cooking the beef roast for dinner and some household chores. We are now watching Harry Potter again.

[sdlaura]

I’m glad everyone seemed to have a good Halloween. We did, too. It was so nice to be out in the neighborhood and say hi to people and see kids having fun.

One of the pod moms put together a mapped route of families who made goodie bags for the kids. Then there were lots of other neighbors with tables out. We only went up and rang the doorbell at one house - our nextdoor neighbors who are close in age to my parents and super nice to our kids - and the guy handed out candy in a mask and gloves.

Today felt like the longest day ever with the time difference and it being our last day of the kids’ two-week fall break. I wish we could just stay on fall break and call this a gap year. The kids loved surf camp last week and we all loved doing the same thing everyday.

Tomorrow is my older kids’ first day of supervised distance learning at the YMCA. DD is always excited for new things and DS1 is always not excited about new things. Fingers crossed.

Also I decided to transition baby from Snoo to crib. He slept great last night - I think because he was really worn out from all the trick or treating festivities - but tonight he just woke up and screamed for 5 minutes already. He’s a generally good sleeper, so hopefully he’ll get used to the crib quickly.

[campermom]

Poof

[AdaraMarie]

Nov 2, 2020 5:41:18 GMT -5 campermom said:

I'm so sorry. You are still strong.
A week after my xh moved out I got the flu and could barely get out of bed for a week or more with a toddler and a preschooler. I don't know how we survived but we did.
Backpack to help carry things maybe?
And relying on your kids to help out is fine.

[mommyatty]

campermom- the best way to handle this, I think, is to think of your family unit as a team. You aren’t over-relying on your big kids. You’re relying on them just enough to get by. I bet it feels good for them to be able to help. Do the minimum right now and let that be good enough.

[twinmomma]

campermom, I would bet the big kids like helping. My girls and I are a team now and they love that feeling.

I had a good weekend. My house is officially ready for beau and his son to move in! Everything is cleaned out and reorganized to free up the spare room for them! It was a playroom, but the kids are at an age where they don't play with a ton of toys anymore, so I was able to purge and donate a ton, pack up the rest into organized bins, and fit it all in their bedroom closet which we don't use for clothes. I feel very accomplished!

Halloween was great. I spent the afternoon sewing with my sister and exMIL. We're making a quilt for a PTA raffle. I haven't sewn since the pandemic started because I had to pack up all my supplies into storage to create a home office/home school space. It was so relaxing and fun to be creative again. Then we did trick or treating with exH and one other family that we hang out with. It was perfect. Our neighborhood is usually packed but we were the only people out for the first twenty minutes or so. We walked around for about 45 minutes, no crowds, everyone had masks and bowls at the end of driveways. It was just enough time out since it was freezing cold. The kids loved it!

[mellym]

We went trick or treating and we all had a blast. It was so much fun seeing all the kids dressed up having fun. Our neighborhood was very generous this year and many were handing out treat bags and full size candy bars. Most left bowls outside their door or end of the driveway. This was the first year DD3 understood what was happening and she said, "I like trick or treat." So innocent and sweet! We cleaned out our garage and put away all of our outdoor stuff to winterize.

Sunday was really cold and windy so we laid around all day watching the Mandalorian and football. My neck and traps are irritated again and I couldn't move my head. I probably did too much on Saturday with the cleaning and lifting.

k3am, is it a fake tree that you put outside and decorate? I think we're going to put lights up outside this next weekend because it's going to be unseasonably warm.

[traveltheworld]

campermom, oh no, that sucks! I bet the big kids are happy to help though.

[k3am]

mellym it’s a cut tree. Usually not as nice as what you’d get for indoors.

[mustardseed2007]

k3am, that sounds awesome. I want to put christmas decorations up this weekend. This election has me so stressed and I think I'm going to need something to get me through no matter what.