Happy Halloween!

We had a fantastic Halloween.

Even though we went to a community Halloween party 2 weeks ago and a church party last week (both of which gave the kids candy), Eleanor started begging early this week to go trick-or-treating. She said we NEVER let her go trick-or-treating. That was partially true. We usually just did the church trunk-or-treat and called it good. One year, we did go to a few neighbor’s houses, but mostly to stop by and show off the kids on our way to trunk-or-treat. Grant would be out of town for his doctorate class this year, so it would just be me and the kids in our neighborhood where I’ve only met a few people. I told her I’d think about it.

But on Wednesday, it started raining cats and dogs and wasn’t showing signs of stopping. There was a pause early in the day on Thursday that had me wondering, but by the afternoon, it was pouring again. I sat down with the kids to talk about our evening. I told them I was going to take them trick-or-treating, but it was just raining too hard. So as an alternative, we were going to have a movie night. They could dress up in their costumes if they wanted to, and they could help me give candy to trick-or-treaters. I would give them candy, and we could have waffles for dinner (they love when we have breakfast for dinner because I don’t like breakfast for dinner—so it’s rare).

They were happy with that as an alternative, so they ran off to put on their costumes. I couldn’t find Curtis’s costume, so I went out to the car to see if we left it there after the church party. When I was outside, I realized the rain was letting up, barely even sprinkling, and it wasn’t that cold. I thought about taking the kids, but I really didn’t trust that it would stay raining that softly. And I really didn’t want us all getting wet. Once I was back inside and all the kids had their costumes on, we had some trick-or-treaters come to the door. After they left, I looked outside and realized it wasn’t raining anymore at all. I looked at the sky and could even see some hints of the setting sun behind the clouds.

Of all the holidays to have a miracle!

I decided it was our only chance. I asked the kids if they wanted to go, even if it would just be a few houses, and we had to come back if it started to rain again. They were ecstatic! Phaedra was so hyper she could barely get her shoes on. She didn’t want to wear a jacket, and I didn’t even make her. I put Curtis in the stroller, and my little mermaid, Rapunzel, and monster and I were on our way.

We basically just went around the block. The kids had a great time. We got to meet a few of our neighbors. People thought Curtis was adorable. He would sit in the stroller, and if he got worried they wouldn’t notice his bag, he’d start saying, “Trick or treat! Peease!” over and over. So many houses had stairs to get to the door that I just unbuckled him so he could get in and out of the stroller once we reached any stairs. A family who had just given us candy said, “Have fun,” as we were leaving. They all thought it was the cutest thing when Curtis echoed it back to them. His little voice really is adorable, and I love to hear all the words he says. I need to try to get a video of him saying “trick-or-treat” and “Happy Halloween.”

The girls were happy and cooperative. They were singing my praises the whole night through, especially Eleanor. “Thank you, Mommy, SO much for letting us go trick-or-treating!” And by the time I started talking to them about heading back home to eat dinner, they were ready to head back too. I didn’t get any arguments. It never did rain until we were headed home, and even then it barely sprinkled. The most wet we got was when the wind blew the water off the trees.

I let the kids watch some of the movie while I made dinner, and then we ate waffles and sausage patties. It cracks me up when I make a simple, easy dinner like that, and the kids say stuff like, “This is the best dinner I’ve ever tasted!” I tried not to take it as an insult to my more laborious meals at which they turn up their noses. Mostly I just sat back and enjoyed my kids being so happy all at the same time.

It was such a wonderful night. I know we made some good memories together, and that makes me so happy. Plus, all the trick-or-treaters had gone home by the time we got home, so I ended up with a bunch of twizzlers and jolly ranchers leftover that I’ve been trading the kids for all of their chocolate!!

The other good thing about the night was that it eased some of my fears to go out around the neighborhood. Having Grant leave right before Halloween in a new town made me really nervous. I had all sorts of fears playing out in my mind about things that could happen. But when I got out and saw the people who live around me, I felt much more comfortable. I even saw a police car drive by our house once. And all activity pretty much stopped as soon as it got dark. By the time we headed home a little after dark, I realized we were pretty much the only people still out. No hooligans would be staying out trouble-making in our neighborhood.

It might sound silly, but I really think we were blessed to have a good Halloween while Grant was gone. I don’t think it was coincidence that the rain stopped right at the time my kids went and got their costumes on. And I don’t think I was lucky to have kids begging me to trick-or-treat so I could feel more comfortable in my neighborhood. I think I was blessed. I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and is watching out for me, and I really believe the night we had was a wonderful answer to my prayers.