Aiden was SO excited to see decorations. He was SO excited to go to the pumpkin patch. He was SO excited to make Halloween crafts at school. SO excited to carve pumpkins. SO excited to be given a worn out, missing accessories, almost too small hand-me-down Iron Man costume. So excited to Trunk-Or-Treat. So excited to light the candles in our jack-o-lanterns. SO excited to see children at our door dressed in costumes and hand out candy. Everything was just awe and wonder.
Nathan was quiet. He watched calmly from the background. He watched when the kids got their old costumes on. He watched while they played games at the trunk-or-treat activities. He watched as they went from car to car collecting candy. He finally accepted a pumpkin bag and the prodding of other adults to collect some candy. But then he quickly returned to watching as the little brothers ran from activity to activity. He watched as we carved pumpkins. He watched us light the candles in the jack-o-lanterns. He stayed in the background as we handed out candy to the kids at the door. Everything was silent observation.
Every holiday is a bit of a challenge for us. Each child's needs shift each year and it can be hard to stay on top of what everyone needs. For example: Jacob (home 5 years) still can't handle the continual celebration most holidays bring. By the time we make it through 2 trunk or treat activities, a field trip at school to the pumpkin patch, a class party and school parade, and the anticipation of Halloween Day, he melts down every year. When I picked him up from school yesterday he was literally trembling. Maybe it was just the sugar intake of his party. But more likely his little system was on overload.
There always seems to be a natural 'settle' after the first year home. First holidays are always overwhelming for our new kiddos. Even Aiden, who seems to greet everything in his life with joy and enthusiasm, was melting down a bit by the end of the day. Behavior starts to spiral. They always tend to find themselves on time out (or time in) more often around the holidays, especially first holidays. And even years after coming home, we still have to remember to approach the holidays a bit differently.
But even amidst the high needs of our giant brood, we are making amazing and wonderful memories:
So much excitement over old hand-me-down costumes.
The first trunk-or-treat with our deaf ward. (We attend this ward twice a month to learn ASL and interact with other deaf members).
I realized later I didn't take a picture that shows all the cars/trunks. There were plenty.
Trunk or Treat take two. We all had a great time learning and using new signs for Halloween like "Witch! Nana is a witch!" Aiden loved pointing out all of the costumes he could sign: dinosaur, bat, witch, scary, and all of the other things he could describe and pantomime. He loves to tell us about everything.
First cotton candy!
These guys were so cute guiding their new brothers around. They were rather proud to be the seasoned pros.
Last year we carved pumpkins and no one was really into it. So this year we only bought 4 pumpkins for everyone to share. Mistake. They were all so eager to have their 'own' pumpkin. But everyone got to participate. It worked out in the end.
So funny how things change every year. Last year no one wanted to do this part.
Love this man and his willingness to do anything for his kiddos.
They were so excited to light the little candles. Jacob kept saying, "Spooky" in his tiny, adorable little voice. He also kept checking on 'my punkins' to make sure they were still lit.
Such a fun year of memories.
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