Unexpected Halloween Twist

Every once in a while my kids will do something that just amazes me. That happened last night on Halloween.

I took the day off so I could be with the kids yesterday. However, I wound up going to work for a few hours. I need to bank a few extra hours for upcoming stuff. My daughter decided that she wanted to come to work with me. She was welcomed by a big box of donuts in the break room!

After I sorted through things to get my coworkers ready for the night, we drove home. We had about an hour before it was time to trick or treat, so we all enjoyed dinner together.

The temperatures were not too cold, unlike the last couple years. It was windy, which made it feel chillier than it was. As you know, the kids have been on the mend, so we made sure to dress them warm.

My wife is all about matching. This year, we “coupled” based on their costumes. Andrew was a fireman. Naturally, the fireman had to have a Dalmatian dog. Mommy was happy to help.

Ella was Wonder Woman, and needed someone to help her fight off the candy stealing criminals. I was happy to step in as “Bat-Dad!”

This year we opted not to take the wagon with us, so that meant we were all walking. We got one half of our street done and made our way to the next one over. About halfway down, Ella decided that she wanted to go home. We completely understood, and it was decided that Andrew and I would keep going.

A few minutes later, my phone rang. I had told the folks at work to call if they had any questions about the night. It wasn’t work. It was Sam.

“You locked the door.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“You have the key!”

“Uh, yeah, I do.”

So Andrew and I walked back home to let them in the house. When we got back home, he said he wanted to stay home. I was surprised. I thought for sure he’d want to go back out, but he didn’t.

We had a big bowl of candy from past trunk or treats. Sam thought it would be a good idea to pass it out to the kids walking. So we went on the porch and passed out candy. They kids LOVED being able to give candy to the kids. Now here is the unexpected twist…

As we were getting to the bottom of the candy bowl, we said we’d have to go inside. The kids both grabbed their candy buckets and dumped them into the bowl. We asked if they were sure they wanted to do that, and they said they were.

Every time someone walked up to our house, they’d run over to them and hand them sweets. The joy and excitement on their faces and those who were receiving the candy was worth it. When we finally ran out of candy and went inside, we asked they why they gave away their candy. Ella said, “I like sharing.”

Sam and I couldn’t be more proud of them!

Life’s Little Moments

Last Saturday, my wife left for work and called me just a minute or two after she left. She reminded me that the city was doing their “Trunk or Treat” event that night. I asked the kids if they wanted to go and all they had to hear was “candy,” and they were in!

It was a bit chilly that night, but we walked over and got in line. There was a big turn out. If I had to guess, I’d say at least 600 kids were there. They had two of the pavilions wrapped up in black tarps and they had mini haunted houses there. It was fun to listen to the screams from people in there.

They also had cider and doughnuts from one of the local orchards and the kids loved that. They had the parking lot lined up with cars that were decorated for the event. It took us about 40 minutes in line before it was our turn to actually “trunk or treat.” The first vehicle was one of the local fire trucks. Boy, did Andrew and Ella luck out!

Andrew was dressed as a firefighter. When he walked up to one of our local guys, he placed a handful of candy in his bucket. Then he reached in and put another handful in because they were now “brothers!” Ella got two handfuls, too because she was with him.

As a bonus, they made sure to let him sit in the truck, too!

Along the way, they had lemonade or hot chocolate for the kids, and coffee for parents. This made me very happy!

Some of the cars were really done up nice. There was one that was done up in a Star Wars Theme. They had a mechanical Yoda, R2-D2, and some folks dressed up. Andrew was a bit scared of the Stormtroopers, but Ella had to have a picture with “the man with the green light sword!”

I have to wonder if that night led to the kids getting sick. They both had runny noses Sunday night. Ella had a fever on Monday, so she missed school. On Tuesday, she had a cough and it was obvious that she didn’t feel well. She missed school again. We took her to the doctor and she has an ear infection, a sinus infection, and (because she sniffles instead of blowing her nose) she has the start of pneumonia.

Andrew still has the runny nose, but has not had a fever. That doesn’t mean he isn’t feeling sick. I can always tell when they are sick because the little things make them cry. It has been a cryfest all week! We’ve been heading to bed early every night in hopes that they will get some rest. On Monday night, Andrew was holding on to Bitsy and they both fell asleep while he was listening to music on his tablet.

October Baseball

I’m happy to see my Detroit Tigers playing October baseball. Yesterday, they shut out Cleveland 3-0 and now lead the ALDS 2-1. It’s a best of 5 series and it would be sweet for them to eliminate the Guardians at home tonight. Game time is 6:08pm ET. Go get ’em Tigers!!!

Florida

I have family and friends in Florida. I cannot even imagine having to go through yet another hurricane so soon. Milton is a monster and I pray that those who opted to stay make it through safely. The hurricanes are bad enough, but to hear that almost 20 tornadoes touched down before Milton even hit land.

I also have many friends in the Carolinas, Kentucky and Tennessee. The flooding and devastation left behind by it is heart wrenching. The loss of homes, animals, human life and entire cities is unbelievable. Tears flowed from my eyes as I watched the reports and the many videos.

I continue to pray for all the people who were affected by these natural disasters. I pray for the safety of those who remain in their homes and those who have lost everything. I pray they find comfort and strength to get through all of this.