Halloween in an Already Scary Year

The neighborhood decorations had been up since August. Pumpkin imagery was everywhere. In a year when families were craving an excuse to celebrate *anything,* Halloween - one of my least favorite occasions - came together in an unexpected and truly joyful way.

showing off their painted pumpkin products to be displayed in front of our house

We enjoyed walking around the neighborhood in the weeks leading up to the festivities, admiring folks' yards with more time, money, care, and energy than I had:

Sheriff Joe Biden

Spencer's favorite oak tree this season

As the days got closer, we got in the spirit with our food choices.

creatively decorated tortillas

pumpkin muffins in the shape of a pumpkin

On October 30, we packed up in the car in our pajamas to go watch a themed light and music show in the neighborhood.


At last, October 31st arrived. We didn't know what to really expect in the evening, but the children were excited for a fun day nonetheless. First thing was first, though. The newest costume in the family needed to make an appearance.

The time had come to carve our jack-o-lantern! We decided to call him, "Coco." First, we had to give our guy a good, wet wipe.

Next, we had to open and gut him.



While we designed the face and Daddy continued the carving, Mommy roasted the seeds for another yummy Halloween treat.

goofballs thinking they're pumpkins

They were all proud of their finished product.

We continued our Halloween morning outside on a gorgeous day, and we were surprised by our favorite Austin cousins on their morning costume walk. Obviously, we introduced them to our new unicorn friend.

Assuming Micah ever has any idea what's going on, this was not one of those moments.

I cautioned my children that we could go on a masked "costume walk," assuming few folks would have distanced ways for my children to get free candy.

Into the night to save the day: The PJ Masks and their protector unicorn were ready to take on the night.

With low expectations, we were blown away with the neighborhood's solution to Halloween in a pandemic. In addition to candy tables while neighbors looked on from a distance, there were candy bundles clipped to "spider webs," candy trees, candy chutes, and so much more. Neighbors were masked, distanced, social, and finding ways to come together responsibly and joyfully.



The highlight of this unicorn's night DEFINITELY came when my unicorn cousin came sprinting down the street, panting and out of breath, just to rejoice in our reunion.

a successful night!

October 2020 - Timeout

By the end of October 2020, this was the COVID stage we found ourselves in:

sock puppet entertainment

uniform shirts on top of pajamas

I think we can all agree that it's time for a TIMEOUT. Wouldn't we (adults) all love to be sent to our rooms for an extended, quiet period of time to calm down by ourselves?! Deep breaths, all.  

 
Timeout for reality check - this is how we do flu shots in 2020:

This is how we do haircuts in 2020:

Timeout for VERY important civic duties! (Fingers crossed the country doesn't combust next month...)

Timeout for kitten updates. First, we've had some exciting tolerance development (even though you can still see the ladies' preferences for each other). We finally had 3 comfy kitties snoozing on the same bed in close quarters:

More kittens getting alonglylike:

Next, we present that time Ethan read Dewey the book all about his namesake, and Gabi tucked him so cozily that he fell asleep:


Now that you've lost respect for a cat who lets the children wrap him up like that, we present the following:

Dewey is definitely full of character and personality, fitting right into this circus.


Timeout for Super Ethan:

Superman shows pride and patriotism!

Even superheroes wear masks!

tracking Nana/Zayde's road trip across the southwest

newest perler bead masterpiece

Timeout for a very 3.5-year-old Spencer:

cutie with a popsicle for breakfast

serious worker

madman with rage

definitely not out of the ordinary these days

that sweet little voice

Timeout for Spencer/Debbie time:

Timeout for bromance:

the PJ MASKS show!

when you tell them to go put everyone's laundry in a basket...

Timeout for some attention for the Gabster:

This girl's creativity never ceases to impress me.

sneaking in some ice cream sandwiches in the garage

When TCDC had timeout for a day, substitute instructors from the upper grades took charge of the preschool curriculum:

Parenting is not easy. Parenting 3 young children is not easy. Parenting 3 young children during a pandemic is not easy. Parenting 3 young children during a pandemic while both parents work some of the time and you're taking on extra children to care for and you volunteer a lot for your Jewish community and you are solely responsible for making sure the school-aged children are completing their virtual instruction online and you almost never get the children out of your house and there is always someone needing your attention at almost any given time and you're supposed to keep feeding them all the food (SO MUCH FOOD) - is not easy. But we're doing fine. And we make it look pretty good.


(Sometimes, we all just need a little time out. Deep breaths, all.)