Halloween Joy

What a stretch of Halloween Celebration we've had this week, from a surprise Trunk or Treat at our wonderful next door neighbor's church last Sunday afternoon through last night.

I really liked the Trunk or Treat as a way for Calli to get her feet wet so to speak. She wore her ballerina costume, and Acer wore the China Outfit he'd worn to church that day. They have a really active church with a lot of good diversity, they even have an outreach for the deaf, with interpretation of the service. Our church is nowhere near as diverse, if we weren't sure we were where God wanted us, probably to help shake things up, we'd go to this church. There were trunks to treat out of and then crafts and games .

Acer wore his China costume to school on Th. His afternoon school was having their Halloween Party so he wore the outfit all day. The parade through the classrooms was a little too hectic for him, he likes to take his time and explore not just march through areas. His one on one aide ended up carrying him through much of the school. He was a little disappointed to find out, when they went to third grade, that Calli was NOT there. Yes, I think Acer thinks, that if he's at a school, Calli should be at the same school.

Just a note on the afternoon program, Acer is loving it. He's learning their rules, learning their songs, and the teacher has not just accepted having him in her classroom, she has gone above and beyond and is learning more than she'd need to to just have him survive in her class. She is always asking the visiting VI teacher about things, and the VI teacher is always coming up with ideas too. It's really been a great experience to have these two collaborating so well to get the best for Acer.

Acer wore his monkey costume to morning school on Friday, I love this costume, I got it the first Halloween he was home, and I got it in a size 4 so it would last. Well, it has, it is just so cute and soft and squishy I'll hate to see it go. He didn't have PM school, so we ran a few errands. The ladies at the Library for the Blind were all over him in his squishy fuzzy cuteness. Calli was a ballerina. I'd figured out that she had a dress she could wear right over her costume, so we didn't have to worry about changing. She was slightly disappointed in not being able to wear her favorite long dangly earrings with it, but survived. She really enjoyed the school party and games and being part of the parade. All new eperiences and she soaked them up.

Saturday Calli went to a Bowling Birthday party that Acer had to miss because he's fighting a cold. From Friday at 4 until Saturday at 5:30 Acer was only awake for a total of 8 hours. He just slept and slept and slept, it was incredible. I'm sure it has helped but, he's still sick. Calli came home from the party after she and Bill went grocery shopping, and then was just aquiver with anticipation until she could dress up. We'd been given two outfits, the ballerina one and a princess one. The Princess one had long sleeves, so with a downturn of the temperature, she switched from Ballerina to Princess. We put her hair up in a bun on top of her head, and then used a tiara she'd brought with her from Bethel. A tiny bit of make up, and Voila! Princess Calliandra made her debut.

We started out after Uncle James arrived to pass out candy; the kids had passed it out before then. Calli started out pulling Acer in the wagon, faster than we were walking, she was psyched up! Acer went longer than he ever had, but he still conked out pretty early. Bill and he headed back while Calli forged ahead. She was out until the sirens signaled the end of trick-or treating, I think she could have kept going for a lot longer if not for that. She did really well with navigating her way to doors. I'd simply tell her where the sidewalk to the house was from the driveway and where she needed to go and off she went, while I stood on the sidewalk. She came home triumphant with a very heavy bag!