Before and After

So, this past weekend we headed to Maryland for Jacob's last lacrosse tournament of the year.  I didn't get to go to this one last year because of a long-planned concert that my friend Mary was coming into town for.  This year I was determined to do more than spend 7+ hours in a van to only watch a handful of lacrosse games before spending 7+ hours in a van again to come home, so I hatched a plan. I decided to take the day off Thursday, pick up the kids early, and then we could drive part of the way that night, which would give us an entire day in Baltimore on Friday.  Once I got a super cheap but very nice room in Harrisburg on Hotwire for $60 total, we made a list of to-dos for the day.  And because Friday turned out so full, it's getting a post of its own...so today you'll get the "before Friday" and "after Friday" sections of our long weekend!

Because of the trip, most of last week was spent planning ahead and packing up as much as possible so I could maybe get some "me time" on Thursday.  In the end it was more like errand running with one quick stop for me, but I was packed and ready on time, which was a feat.  Wednesday night, Craig was in Canada for work, so it was me trying to do what I could while alone with two crazy boys.  While I was trying to make dinner, apparently our house turned into a tattoo parlor, because this the end result:

Yes, Jacob "tattooed" both of them with markers.  Normally I'd have freaked out a bit, but they were happy and getting along, so I let it go.  Those moments are rare enough, and if a washcloth and some soap could fix it, then why not?  Once the boys were in bed, I packed up as much as I could.

Everyone went off to their respective places on Thursday morning, and I got busy with some work from home and pre-trip errands.  I wasn't feeling great by that point--a little nauseated or just generally off--but I had a quick lunch, finished packing, and went to get the kids.  When we got home, ideally we would have hopped right in the car, but ever since Halloween the kids had been dying to do something that we just hadn't had the daylight or enough decent weather to do: destroy our pumpkins.  The pumpkins were starting to get a little funky and it was still light out, so we set the pumpkins up to be attacked with a lacrosse ball.

Both boys gave it a go, and after a few direct hits, we had this:

Note the little one in the background, completely away from the other two. 

Eventually we had pumpkin pieces all over our lawn and driveway, and then it was time to go.  We didn't get on the road until around 4pm, which meant we only had about an hour of daylight.  Trust me when I say that daylight car trips are far more enjoyable than night ones.  We did so much night driving on this trip, and I was so sad to miss all of the scenery.  Fall leaves are mostly done, but I bet there would have been some pretty areas...or at least something besides blackness.

I was still not feeling too great, but after a small dinner, some Pepto Bismol and some Dramamine, just to take the edge off whatever it was (I think it could have been the remnants of my Z-pak, or maybe a precursor to the cold that showed up by Sunday), I was feeling a little better.  We ended up needing to stop for dinner a lot earlier than I'd have liked, a little over an hour in. But Jacob really liked the comfy chairs in the Dansville Burger King...

The trip to Harrisburg was only about 4-1/2 hours, but because of the dark it seemed to take forever.  Both boys conked out sometime before we got there.  Of course, they woke up as we were getting into the hotel, and while Jacob went right back to sleep, Carter had a lot of trouble.  He was sleeping next to Craig that night and drove him absolutely nuts.  We had to be up early to go into Baltimore for the day, so the extra late night was not appreciated.  Fortunately, the hotel was nice and we were able to get a good breakfast before we took off the next morning.  It was actually a bit of a bummer that we had so little time there, because it was a really nice hotel!  We were back on the road by about 7:45....but what came after has to wait until my next post!

So...fast-forward to Saturday...

Jacob's schedule for this tournament had changed a number of times, and it appeared they were having trouble getting teams for Saturday.  In the end we only had two games, but the good news is that we didn't have to be at the field until around 10am.  That was good, because Carter spent the night flopping all over the bed and I barely slept.  When the alarm went off to get us up for our original start time, I cringed, but then I saw the message that the first game was moved later, so we got an extra hour or so of sleep!  The bad news is that our hotel was still about a half hour away, and it was supposed to be a really cold day, pretty firmly in the 30s to low 40s.  Fortunately, it was sunny, which took the edge off a bit, but we were all layered up.  Heavy coats, gloves, hats, boots, and blankets were all must-haves.

The first game was close but the boys played well and won 9-7. 

And yes, it does look like they're playing on hay, but the grass was just really brown.

The second game was...rough.  As we approached the field for the game, we saw that the FCA team a year older than Jacob was losing badly to a team from Annapolis, apparently the same organization of the team we'd be playing.  The FCA 2025s had done well otherwise that day but lost to this Annapolis team 18-2.  In the meantime, we noticed about four players with similar uniforms that looked to be about Jacob's age warming up off to the side.  We found it odd that the rest of the younger team was otherwise nowhere to be found.  And basically we ended up figuring out that the team we were going to play may have been cobbled together just to give us someone else to play that day.  Most of it was the same 2025 team that decimated our 2025 team, and those four kids were probably the only 2026s that could make it.  There was even a rumor of a 2024 player somewhere in the mix.  We have a very good team, but clearly they're not as good as 2025-level kids, and as a result we lost 9-2.  It was better than the 2025s did, clearly, but it was ugly.  They had us totally off our game.  It was definitely a character builder for a team that doesn't lose very often.

After the game, Carter--who spent most of the weekend holding a phone or my iPod (you do what you have to do)--finally got to go play!

Craig captured this shot of them while I was packing up.

After the game we had a late lunch at Chick-Fil-A, which wasn't particularly close (nothing was!) but was our best option (and others', as well, as we ran into some other FCA people there).  It was actually our second Chick-Fil-A day in a row, but it was fine because most of us had something different and it's all so good.  We can't wait to get our location in the next few months!  We headed back to the hotel without any plans, which was good because we were tired but bad because two boys in a hotel room is usually bad news.  Craig and Jacob ended up going out to play with one of Jacob's teammates and his dad, and Carter and I just laid low for a bit.  Eventually Jacob was running around the hotel with two teammates playing hide-and-seek between the rooms.  Carter really wanted to join in, and did for a little bit, but eventually the game came to an end and we all settled in.  Jacob ate leftover pizza we brought with us, and Craig ran out to get us Arby's (the only nearby place that wasn't burgers or pizza).  We watched Lego Batman on HBO and just relaxed, but we were all in bed by 9:30 or so because we had to be up very early for an 8am game.

We were supposed to be at the field by 7am, but a few technical difficulties got us there a bit later.  It was still below 30 degrees, and everything was covered in thick frost. 

 



Team huddle early on Sunday, courtesy of another parent...one of the reasons FCA is awesome.



We were once again bundled up, even though we knew the colder morning was supposed to get slightly warmer than the previous day ever did (mid-40s...woohoo!).  We were just willing the sun to come out and feel warmish!  This is how Carter spent part of the weekend, trying to keep warm and have his hands glove-free to play on the phone!

Yes, he's under there.

During the first game on Sunday, Jacob got a goal, and it was a beauty!  His team won that game 9-0.  The next game was against the same team from Annapolis, though this time it was clearer it was the correct age group of players.  Even still, we had a hard time against them and lost 9-4.  Apparently they beat everyone around there, so it wasn't really a reflection on us.  Most other teams only scored one goal or none, so we actually almost gave them some competition.  After a bit of a break, the next two games were both wins, 7-2 and 6-2, and after a very long day in the cold, we were done.  

The colors were pretty muted down there, but it was still pretty.

At the end of the last game

Team photo, courtesy of one of the other parents; Jacob is second from the right in the top row

We got in the car somewhere around 3:30 or 3:45, with a very long drive ahead of us.  We snacked, we ate cold pizza, we stopped a few times to go to the bathroom, we changed drivers twice, and after many long hours in the dark through Philadelphia, Allentown, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Binghamton, and Syracuse, we finally made it home just before midnight.  Carter fell asleep around 9:30 despite having napped for a while earlier in the trip, and Jacob was asleep shortly after 10.  Both went right to bed when we got home.  We did minimal unpacking and tried to get ourselves to bed ASAP, too.  It's been a sleepy couple days since, but hopefully we can catch up soon.  However, I realized this morning that Christmas season is just over a week away and I never get enough sleep then, so I probably should start now...and I'm failing again tonight.  Sigh.  The cold that showed up Sunday (probably from Carter) is still hanging in there, but it's been manageable.  Still, it's a busy enough week even if I was healthy, and it's hard to believe things are going to get even crazier in a week! 

But first...Baltimore!

News and Notes, Lower Respiratory Edition

I finally went to the doctor on Friday.  I'd had enough of the coughing and when I woke up on Thursday I was exhausted, so I figured that might be symptom of things getting worse.  The doctor mentioned walking pneumonia, and while I don't think mine was quite at that level, it did get diagnosed as an unspecified acute lower respiratory infection.  I was prescribed a Z-pak, so we'll see if it works.  I felt pretty good early on Saturday and made it through Carter's first friend birthday party just fine, but when we got home I crashed on the couch for a couple hours.  I felt like my chest was hurting more when I coughed, and I got a dull headache, which I've had a few of in the past week or so.  I'm just ready for this to be done, particularly before I'm stuck in the van for many hours next weekend.

Jacob and Craig were in Canada for a couple days (Jacob had off school) so it was just Carter and me on Friday night.  We went for a haircut for him (so handsome!) and he picked Taco Bell for dinner, of all places.  He was such a good little dinner buddy (who has a newfound love of nacho cheese), and other than the bedtime antics that have been bugging him lately--he isn't tired, is afraid of the dark, and just generally won't go to sleep until 10:30--we had such a nice time.  He let me rest while he watched some shows Saturday morning, and then it was off to the party!

Carter's friend's birthday party had been eagerly anticipated, and Saturday was finally the day!  Carter had been asking for weeks, and literally counting down the days this week.  It was at Adventure Landing, our mini golf place, but clearly with temperatures in the 40s, indoor activities were on tap for the day.  Carter was so excited to see his daycare buddies, most or all of whom have moved up to Kindergarten, including the birthday boy, Elias.  They get to see each other at church sometimes, usually as we're checking into Sunday School, but then they go their separate ways.  But he had such a fun time seeing his buddies again!  We had a bag full of tokens to play games, and it was a lot of fun to let him play every game he wanted--all of the four-token driving games and every random ticket-generating game--since we usually try to avoid a lot of those when we're paying for the tokens.  He's not very good at most of them, but he's so cute trying!  With our teamwork, we ended up with 185 tickets before we even broke for lunch!

We had to do a group picture, and for some reason Carter was completely refusing to get in on it.  I don't know what his deal was--maybe he was just intent on doing something else, or maybe he's just painfully shy--but he would not sit down with everyone else.  And then when all seemed lost, Elias got up and asked him to come sit with him, and Carter went right over.  It was simultaneously the cutest and most frustrating moment! 


It's not as clear as I'd like it to be, but Carter is in the lower middle.

He ate lunch well and then it was time for cake.

And yes, all the boys are helping the birthday boy blow out candles.  They already got blown out once by another kid when they were trying to light them!

The highlight for Carter was getting into the Wow Factory, which is a basically ball pit gone mad.  It's a netted, three-level play area full of small nerf-style balls and a bunch of air features--air guns, vacuums that suck balls up into guns, or areas where you can play with air to make the balls float.  There's also a giant spiral tube slide and canvas strap mesh climbing/crawling areas.  Carter had so much fun running, climbing, and shooting. 

Trying out one of the shooters

Like he looked half the time he was in there, carrying as many balls as possible to load into a gun.  Silly boy!

By the end of the party, we had over 400 tickets to spend!  He got a pack of army guys, a slap bracelet, a silicone shark ring, an alien parachuter, and one of those propellers on a stick that you have to spin through your hands and it takes off like a helicopter.  We had to grab a picture of Carter and Elias before we took off.  They are so stinkin' cute.  They do this every time they see each other.

While I was having this pleasant little 27 hours with Carter, my parents were in Kentucky for my cousin's son's funeral.  There was a huge part of me that wished I was able to be there.  But between being sick, Craig being gone, busyness at work, and the logistics of getting myself down there and back (my parents are tacking on a couple extra days to visit friends and check out some extra stuff, so going with them wasn't really an option), it just wasn't meant to be.  But my heart was there and is still so sad for all of them.  My brain is still battling me hardcore to not let me think about it too deeply, but it is still sticking with me.  I am really trying hard to use the perspective of this tragedy to balance out my parenting a bit.  I can't say it works all the time, but I'm trying to maintain a little more patience--not only picking my battles a little better, but also just remembering that our problems are nothing compared to what some people have to deal with.  Ours are tough, no doubt--but it can always be worse.  There may be a time (God forbid) where this seems like the easy stuff, and I'm trying to remember that.  We just never know what is ahead for us, and this tragedy was a sobering, close-to-home reminder of that.  I'm still struggling a bit, faith-wise, with how all of this fits into God's plan.  I mean, surely God can't like watching his people suffer so greatly, but He allows these things to happen, somehow.  How can a great, godly kid like Ryan be of better use in heaven than here on earth?  He clearly touched so many hearts in life, and is still doing so in death, but I feel like his potential was enormous and can't quite wrap my brain around why he's no longer with us.  It sounds like the celebration of life at their church was phenomenal, and I know the family has great support there, but at the most basic level of human emotions, no matter how strong their faith, they are going to miss their son and brother so desperately.  They can be completely content knowing that he's in heaven, but the void on earth has to be completely overwhelming.  I was talking about it with moms at church this morning and we agreed it would be seemingly impossible to come back from.  Prayers will continue, especially now that family is leaving and life will have to get back to a new normal rather quickly.

So, another week begins for us.  It's a terribly dreary, thundery, rainy evening tonight, but the good news is we only have to get through a few days this week before we leave for Jacob's tournament.  I have Thursday and Friday off, and we'll be heading out after school on Thursday.  We have a lot of packing to do before then--fall tournaments seem so much more complicated, for some reason--and now I'm totally out of the groove so it will be that much more challenging.  I'm going to have to do a little each night, and if I'm really good, maybe I can get some "me time" on Thursday morning instead of last-minute packing!  I just need to hope my medicine kicks in by then and we manage to have a wonderful time despite predicted cold and rain.  We'll see... 

Not My Favorite...But...

This was a tough Halloween.  As I alluded to in my last post, we got some very bad news on Monday night.  My cousin Lisa, who is the daughter of my uncle who passed away a little over a year ago, lost her 13-year-old son to an ATV accident.  He was a very sweet boy, and while we never got to spend much time with him since they live in Kentucky, it is clear what a terrible tragedy this is.  I can't even fathom what they're going through.  He leaves behind two sisters, one very close in age.  The family has strong faith and a good support network, but this is still unthinkable.  They've been on my mind constantly and it made for a rather rough Halloween day.  I didn't sleep well overnight, and I'm in the middle of a very tough stretch at work.  So, between my sadness and my workload, it made enjoying the Wizard of Oz wonderland inside our office suite (courtesy of the other departments--ours is too swamped right now) pretty difficult.  Carter decided to stay at his daycare party instead of coming to my office this year, and without a costume myself, it just wasn't a very remarkable day.  I just felt so terrible that someone (actually multiple someones, but specifically my cousin who I've known forever) was living a nightmare at that moment, and I'm just sitting there at my desk doing my normal thing like nothing's wrong.  It felt indulgent to even be able to do a manageable job of that, but inside it was killing me. I had a couple teary moments (like when their Facebook posts announcing things went up), but I tried very hard to focus.

On a side note, it's funny how the brain processes these things.  From the moment I heard, my brain went into overdrive, and every single thought about it was so deeply heartbreaking.  It kept me up a good chunk of the night.  Over the course of the day, I could tell that my brain was processing it further, but I sort of feel like it throws up some coping mechanisms (almost like rationalizing some stuff or subconsciously assuming things) to make it hit me less dramatically.  Clearly the situation hasn't changed and it's still gutting to think about, but I truly think my brain is rewiring itself a bit to force me to not think as deeply right now.  I have to function normally right now, even though a part of me wants to spend every second crying and mourning with them.

Anyway, once I got home it was time to get in trick-or-treat mode.  I had to get the pumpkins ready to go on the porch...

Here's the white one, now carved!

And after dinner I rushed around getting myself and the kids changed and ready to go out.  I had to figure out how to layer Carter for the low-40 degree weather, find gloves and hats, and finally a second candy receptacle since we only have one pumpkin.  Perhaps I will have to check Target for clearance this week, as you just can't beat the pumpkin bucket.  Bags are too hard to open with gloves on, FYI.

Finally the boys were ready.  I opened up Carter's accessory, his dollar store glow stick sword that Jacob and I saw when we stopped there last week.  Of course we had to take a couple pictures...

Goof balls!  Jacob's gun is a wooden one he got at Old Fort Niagara.  Not exactly period appropriate, but he was good with it.

And a nice smiley picture...yay!

Once the pumpkins were lit, it was time to head out!

I would consider this our best year of trick-or-treating yet!  Both boys were into it, they were relatively well-mannered, and they actually didn't do anything stupid to each other while we were out.  Jacob could have been a little more courteous and concerned for his brother instead of running ahead, and maybe Carter could have rung a few more doorbells if he wasn't lagging behind, but for the most part they were great!  I even took this picture because it's so rare to see them acting like real brothers who love each other.  It all felt so...functional.

Our route took us around to the next street over, on which I had noticed a super decorated house.  But we hit a good chunk of eligible houses along the way, so the boys did rather well in the process of getting there.  And sure enough, when we finally got there, it did not disappoint

I can't even begin to count how many things they had, from a dragon to ghosts to a pirate ship to a minion...and lots of stuff in between.  And there were lots of lights projecting on the house.  People were even taking pictures in front of stuff!

By the time we got there, Carter's feet were starting to tire out, so we headed back home.  Jacob emptied his bag and he and I went back out, this time hitting up our street on both sides.  By the time we got back to our house, Jacob needed a bathroom break, but then we went back out one more time to try to hit up the one house around the corner I remember having full-size candy.  We hit up about five houses on that leg, and while that house didn't do full-size, they did do a bag of multiple pieces, so Jacob deemed it worthwhile.  By then it was 8:30 and we headed home.

And this is Jacob's haul...

Of course, then we had the task of clearing out the gluten and trading him our leftovers, and it was a pretty significant pile between the Twizzlers, Twix, Nestle Crunch, Whoppers, Kit Kats, and Milky Ways (darn you, malt).  Luckily we had a lot of leftovers and I had overbought with his favorite stuff just in case, so he made out pretty well.  So did Carter, even with a shorter walk. 

All in all it was a nice evening and it really picked up the slack from the rest of my rough day.  I'll admit I felt guilty for having fun while my family is suffering, but I know they'd never begrudge us that fun and would probably tell us to soak up every possible moment.  So we did.  My heart is so sad and I'm not going to be able to make the funeral for multiple reasons, so all I can do is pray and hug my kids a little tighter.

Pumpkin Pressure

It's been a weird month of October and I totally feel like I'm failing Halloween (shocker!).  I'm just not into it this year, and I'm not sure why.  I mean, yes, I've had this nagging cough crap (same as Carter has/had, from what I can tell), and even though it hasn't really impacted my day-to-day energy in any meaningful way, I'm starting to think the ongoing annoyance of it is starting to weigh on me.  The periodic coughing spells seem to be decreasing in number, but the congestion is still there at times and I'm just tired of it.  Maybe that's my problem.  Or perhaps some random house issues over the past week have me epically distracted.  Or maybe it's just been tiring keeping our schedule straight this month.  We've had some sort of weekend plans each week, and just enough other stuff during the week that I feel like it's been a constant struggle to ensure we don't miss anything.  I haven't been going to bed early enough, and for whatever reason I'm just a little more overwhelmed by little things right now.  We barely figured out costumes, and the thought of trying to prepare food for Jacob to take with him on Tuesday for his Halloween party feels like a gargantuan task.  Thank goodness we ran into Carter's friend's mom at Sunday School so I could ask for gift ideas for his party next weekend.  I think taking that on might have put me over the edge this week.  On the bright side, it's my last full week of work for a while, between time off for Jacob's tournament in two weeks and Thanksgiving less than two weeks after that.

Long story short, we'd had a busy month that hadn't yet allowed for pumpkin patching or anything of the sort.  This weekend we had to rectify that.  We needed memories and we needed pumpkins, stat! 
The weather wasn't looking good, but it appeared we could cram in some Saturday morning time before the rain came, so off to Stokoe Farms we went at 10am.  When we arrived I was pleasantly surprised with how few cars were there.  I figured between it being the end of the season and the crappy weather that most people would get weeded out, but it was nice to know we wouldn't have any crazy lines to deal with.

The boys wanted to start with the jumping pillows, which Jacob loved but Carter said it was "too bouncy." 

Jacob in mid-air!

Carter's short-lived bouncing

We moved on to the first round of slides, which are always fun and usually the longest line besides my favorite, the zip lines.  Both boys enjoyed rides...

...and so did I!  Then, instead of waiting for the hayride, we walked down the path to the next set of activities.  The fall colors have been weird this year, but here's proof there was some to enjoy...

Carter and I went on the pedal go-karts, and Jacob and Craig camped out at the sports ball section that is Jacob's favorite--football, basketball, and baseball with targets.  He spent a ton of time there.  Instead of doing the apple shooter that Jacob also loves, we got a family bucket for the slingshots.  Usually it's little pumpkins but apparently they were out and using apples instead.  We all took turns on the slingshots, and both Jacob and I had great, explosive hits on the targets!

There was a pen of goats nearby, and this little girl and her fellow tiny friend (not Carter--another goat, maybe her brother?) kept sneaking through the holes in the fence.  So cute!

Then it was off to another slide, this one accessible up a cargo net.  Carter loved climbing up as high as he could go in the structure!

I did the zip line (couldn't convince Jacob to join me), and then met up with the boys at our favorite set of slides.  We did some family races, and I took a break to catch this one on video...


We generally used the back way to get back up the hill (instead of going all the way back around to the stairs).  Carter was a trooper, though Jacob at one point could not keep himself upright!  Hard to tell what was legit and what was for attention, but no injuries so we'll just let it go!

My favorite slide is the long tube slide.  This is my video from my perspective...


While the big boys went back to the sports thing for a few more minutes, Carter and I fed the goats...

...then checked out this turkey.  Carter said, "I can see his brains!"  I gently explained that it's not brains, just funny-looking skin.  I had never noticed, however, that this breed has a funny black tuft of coarse-looking "hair" sticking out from its lower chest.  You can just see it at the bottom of the picture.  I don't know if those are some odd looking feathers, or if this turkey actually has some sort of hair.  So strange!

As we went to find the boys, we noticed the two baby goats were play fighting.  They liked to butt heads, but I imagine the girl was getting the raw end of that deal since the boy had little horns!

We wandered to another area with animals, and there was this giant mama pig.  Her four babies were sleeping, unfortunately, but she was clearly hungry, as she was pulling and shaking the feeding pipe violently as we stood there.  I think she was trying to tell us something!

Look close and you'll see some teeth!

My other favorite part of that section was when Carter pointed to the cow and said, "I see the milk!" and I had to gently explain to him that the cow was a boy and had balls just like him.  And yes, I used that term.  I didn't need to use the word "testicle" during our fun day...sue me.  But the comparison did make him giggle.

It started to sprinkle a bit as we headed back toward the front of the farm.  We took a ride on the train...

...and then looked around at pumpkins to see if any jumped out at us.  Not many left, so we settled for some kettle corn and donuts and headed out.   

And, of course, to be fair to Jacob, we went to Livingston County Pizza Co. to see if they had any donuts left, but he had to settle for some cookies instead.  The rest of Saturday was just wet.  Tropical storm remnants, I think, but no tropical warmth.  Yuck.  We stayed pretty low-key the rest of the day.  Just seemed right for dinner to be waffles, scrambled eggs, and milkshakes!

Craig had to work Sunday morning but the kids and I braved the rain to go to church, then came home for lunch before heading out all together to The Garden Factory to finally pick up some pumpkins.  Jacob had lacrosse practice mid-afternoon, so they could only stay for a bit.  Jacob spent most of the day complaining about having to go to lacrosse practice, and while I couldn't blame him, we felt it was important for him to be there since there's only one more practice before his tournament, and because he had already missed last week because he was wiped out coming home from Canada.  It was a very wet, very cold practice.  He almost made it through, but his hands were just too cold.  Guess we should start praying now for warmer weather in Maryland?

Anyway, prior to leaving for practice, Craig and Jacob walked around with us for a bit as we scoped out pumpkins and did the usual photo ops...

 

We couldn't pass up this one...

And yes, the pumpkin is wearing a hat and was affectionately referred to as the "third brother".

 

Close-up courtesy of Craig

Once the boys left, Carter and I checked out the rides...

Making friends on train...as usual!

And after the previous day, of course he had to do the slide.  This was his second ride down, and yes, he thought he was racing the other kid!


So much for a cute photo op...Carter was too busy being spooky!

But he did pose nicely by the white pumpkins, of which we bought our first one!

Then we checked out the snowmobiles!

It took a while to decide on pumpkins--and I even had to run out into the rain to get one the right size!  They were all either giant or small, and I really wanted an in-between one!  It was still pretty big, but it was fine!  Carter picked out a little one, and we decided on a small white one, too, just to be different.  Once the boys came home and Jacob thawed out, we had dinner then got carving.  Jacob was a little more into it this year, wanting to help clean out a bit more and really wanting to carve.  He still had a hard time with it, though, so I mostly handled those duties.  He did, however, order up the design of the big pumpkin.  He requested sunglasses like they had in the Captain Underpants Movie, which turned out to be 80s vented sunglasses.  It took a lot of work (and one stabilizing toothpick to fix an engineering flaw), but I did it.  Carter requested hair on his, and I picked the eyes, but Jacob helped suggest the rest.  And here's the final result...

The white pumpkin had to wait until tonight...pictures of that coming soon!  Jacob designed that one and attempted to carve it.  It wasn't the easiest process (for either of us), but hopefully he got a good lesson that will help him next year. 

I'm glad we got the pumpkins done in the knick of time, but I still don't feel ready for Halloween and can barely wrap my brain around all the stuff I need to remember in the morning (which still feels like a lot even without a costume for me or food for my office).  What's more, the thought of figuring out how to properly bundle up the kids for 40 degree trick-or-treating tomorrow is boggling my mind a bit.  But...I got a sobering dose of reality tonight in some very tragic news, so if these are my problems, I'll take them.  This is the easy stuff. 

Please pray...I can't promise more details, but just know, they're needed.