Happy Halloween?

This Halloween did not go exactly as planned. We had lots of big plans and lots of excitement

because we were looking forward to Aunt Pammie's visit! We knew that Daddy wouldn't be around as much as usual because of the Axis Halloween Bash, but we thought we had everything timed out so he could enjoy the neighborhood fall festival and trunk-or-treats, see the kiddos in their costumes, and maybe go trick-or-treating to a house or two. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with our well-laid plans.

The much-anticipated fall festival (so fun last year) and neighborhood trunk-or-treats were both cancelled due to weather, and though Daddy got to see the kids in their costumes, we were dealing with a precocious princess, a defiant dragon, and rotten weather when he had to leave for the bash! Sophie was going crazy due to the cancelled afternoon activities, so as soon as Will woke up from his nap, I began dressing him in his costume. Big mistake! While Will was wanting to enjoying a cuddle and a cup of milk, I was stuffing him into a dragon suit. And we began with the total defiance that only a 35 pound 20 month old can bring. The princess was beginning to act more like a wicked stepsister, and I was quickly morphing into the evil stepmother. For the first time, maybe ever, Matt was actually wanting to take pictures before he left (probably because he is not accustomed to nor was he happy about missing trick-or-treating with the kids). So, we were facing cool, persistent rain, two grumpy kids falling apart, a hormonal mom headed south in a hurry, a disappointed dad running late for a big night, and a aunt dressed as Dorothy thinking, "there's no place like home" and why am I not there...

The highlight came when I was teetering on the edge of sanity, disciplining Sophie (also known as unleashing total wrath) inside the house, knowing Will was still breathing fire with Aunt Pammie outside the house. All of I sudden, I hear Pam knocking, telling Matt and me, "Uh, guys, Will just threw up..." Great. I now I had a tear-soaked princess and a throw-up soaked dragon. Happy Halloween!

After a little calm down and a little more clean up (verifying that Will was just angry, not actually sick), we snapped a few pics and sent Matt on his way, but we were still dealing with rain, so we took our beyond-ready-trick-or-treaters to the local grocery's stores much-advertised Monster Bash to try to pass the time and curb their sweet tooth until the weather blew over. I think the use

of the word bash was a little inappropriate unless you consider fewer than a dozen grocery store employees, (about half of which were in costume) and Hawaiian punch in a cup the size of a medicine dispenser, a "bash." (Oh, another fun fact: I picked up some batteries for the dying camera, since I was at the store anyway, only to discover neither Pam nor I had a wallet with us!) Somehow, Soph and Will still enjoyed themselves and Pammie and I began laughing, in order to avoid crying, so the night

actually began to turn around.

We did wind up getting to trick-or-treat, and it was actually quite the busy night in our rather large neighborhood. After a couple of hours, Sophie finally tired and Will was actually content the entire time, going up to only five or six houses, otherwise riding in his stroller, chain-eating suckers. The number of sticks found in the seat of the stroller was a little concerning! Soph's big victory was accepting candy from two adults in scary masks, though she still flatly refused to go in any of the neighborhood "haunted garages!" When we made it home after 8, I realized how little sugar my children are accustomed to eating, as I watched them running around, looking like members of some primitive tribe engaging in dances of war. The fun continued as Sophie and Aunt Pammie opened the door for lots of later trick-or-treaters while I sat in a stupor in the recliner.

I must say that the "happy" parts of the night were made possible by Aunt Pammie (aka Dorothy). The entire weekend she cooked our food, did our laundry, helped with my school stuff, did Halloween crafts with Sophie, rearranged furniture, helped in redoing kids' rooms, and best of all, allowed me to sleep in the mornings! (Really, the sleeping in alone made my Halloween "happy!") She also entertained Will for a long while after he tired of going to doors, but Sophie was still going strong. Hers was better than a visit from the Great Pumpkin!

All in all, in typical Roden Family fashion, we had a rocky start, ups and downs, but in the end, a great time was had by all! It was indeed a crazy, but very happy Halloween!

Sidenote: My camera died after we left Publix, so I am waiting to get better pictures from Aunt Pammie's camera! :)