Frighteningly Fun Halloween Weekend

Four Puppies and a Transformer

We ventured out twice this weekend with our 5 kids under the age of three. If that isn't scary, I don't know what is?! Actually it went pretty smoothly both times, except for Mommy and Daddy being little overwhelmed by the chaos that is children on Halloween!

On Friday we took all 5 kiddos to the Ranching Heritage Center Halloween event (this is a museum with replicas of West Texas buildings and displays from the past such as barns, blacksmiths, etc all outdoors) with a friend and her two kids. So between the two families we were 3 adults with 5 infants, a three year old and a two year old. (My friend's husband couldn't come because he works nights and was still sleeping, though with one more adult we would have been set). We had an adult for each of 3 strollers, so the babies were easy, it was the toddlers that were hard to keep tabs on, but isn't that always the case! The boys were very excited to be dressed in their costumes and running around. They were especially excited by the big train that the got to see! Unfortunately, both boys have milk allergies, so there was very little candy that they could eat. I didn't manage to get any pictures of the babies at this event, but I did have them dressed up. Fortunately, we encountered very few gawkers or at least very few that created any kind of scene. Most people were pretty respectful of letting us have our space as a family and this was a pleasant surprise after the last outing. Some people did ask about the babies, but they didn't linger. I did overhear one woman telling her husband as she passed us,"They have four babies! Did you see that, honey, four babies! They have four babies!" It definitely could have been worse, so I am ruling the outing a success.

Bumblebee and Woody


By the train.

Saturday was fairly uneventful except for pumpkin carving. Uncle Jacob came over and helped Jackson with his pumpkin. Clint carved one too. I opted out this year just to decrease the chaos, plus I always have the ugliest jack 'o' lantern and it's embarassing! Somehow I still ended up cleaning out Clint's pumpkin. I'm pretty sure the rule is: You carve, you clean!! Jackson wouldn't have anything to do with the pumpkin guts. He was not happy if anyone got too close to him with a handful of the stuff either. The pumpkins turned out pretty good and Jackson was very excited to "fire them up."

Clint, serious about carving!
The Masterpiece

Uncle Jacob and Jackson with their finished product

Halloween was spent being lazy (or at least as lazy as you can be when you have four infants to care for) and then on to a Halloween party at a friend's house. There were so many kids and so much chaos that I got a little overwhelmed. I think it mostly had to do with not feeling "normal" in a group of people that I used to feel normal in, but that will pass with time (I hope). Everyone was very kind and helped me unload my bunch (as Clint had to run to work and was meeting us there). The babies slept through most of the party in a back room until it was time to eat (which fortunately was while the bigger kids were trick or treating, so it was quiet.) Two women helped me knock out the bottles before the chaos returned and all was well. Jackson had a great time with the other kids and Clint said he loved trick or treating until he got tired toward the end. Jackson came back and told me that he said,"Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat, Give me something good to eat." Where he learned this, I do not know, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time until he adds in the "Smell my feet" line (since his Granna taught it to him on the phone after trick or treating!) When I asked what he said at each door, he replied "Thank you" Clint confirmed that he did in fact say thank you. At least my little monster has good manners!

Frist Halloween outfits.
Brooklyn, Gage, Westin, Kynlee

Had to get a shot of the butt with the cat on it!
Gage and Kynlee

When we got home from the party, we had a few straggling trick or treaters come by the house. The first family made me laugh. We had just unloaded the babies and still had the carseats lined up in the living room (visible from the front door) and the mom asked, "Oh, are you guys babysitting tonight?" She was floored when Clint told her they were all ours! It never occurred to me to run a Halloween night babysitting service for infants, but maybe it could be profitable:) The other entertaining trick or treater was a boy that was maybe 8 or 9. I had Gage in my arms when I answered the door and then Westin started crying, which made him look around me into the house and then he said with shock on his face,"You have very much babies." I told him yes I do and he said," yes, you do" and then just stood there nodding his head for a second before he could make himself turn around a leave.

Bumblebee!

Puppy Close Up (the girls had bows on one ear)
Brooklyn, Gage, Kynlee, Westin

Now we are looking forward to the rest of the holiday season. I can't believe the first Halloween for my tiny foursome has come and gone and I'm sure that the rest of the season will fly by as well! It'll be interesting to see where we are at a year from now when we enter the holiday season again! :) HAPPY HALLOWEEN