Halloween!

Beautiful home and presentation at Tom and Liz's house.

Saya was pounding the pumpkin away!

Halloween shaped sugar cookies are must have items for Halloween.

Noah at his school.  He looked pretty cute in his Buzz costume.

Staff at Foundation.  The owner/director, Paul, is the only guy in there on the right.

Pathway leading up to our house.  There are giant spiders placed on the bushes on each side.

Saya being terrified.  She lost the sight of me and was screaming for Mommy a moment later.

The scary house.  There is always a crowd forming in front of their house.

Nana the witch, aka candy giver.

Sean trick or treating at Parker's house.

Visiting one last house before we end the night.

 

Every year, the Halloween gets more exciting.  Sean has been obsessed with our Halloween decorations outside and asked all visitors who come to our house if they were scared to pass the skeletons and spiders.  Sean and Daddy went nuts on decoration this year while I was spending peaceful time in Japan.  We had three ghosts hanging in a row at the front door, for example.  We were the second scariest house in the neighborhood, he said, the first being the "scary house" on the cop corner of our street.

We had another busy one this year.  Liz and Tom invited us to their annual Halloween play date and they'd outdone themselves again this year.  The treats, the table settings and decorations were so pretty, I could not help snapping away.  Sean was an Ironman this year again, Noah was Buzz, and Saya was a princess cat.  Alyson in Japan was Tiana from Princess and a Frog.  The kids had a good time playing at Tom's house and even Noah did well, playing with toys and stayed in the area he was supposed to.  It's always nice to hang out with the Mereckis family because they are so put together.  They inspire me to be on top of things and believe me, I really do need that kind of boost!

Noah had a Halloween party at his preschool, so Saya and I went to see him.  Saya dressed up in her costume and went trick or treating in the school with them.  Noah didn't want to put the hood on to complete the Buzz look, so he sort of looked like a race car driver.  We decorated Halloween themed cookies and Noah licked all the icing off and was wanting to lick the entire package of icing.  He has a sweet tooth, that boy. 

I took Sean and Saya to Foundation's (Noah's ABA therapy school) Halloween party as well on Wednesday.  Noah had therapies that day at Lakeside in Issaquah, so he could not attend.  The staff at Foundations are the sweetest and one of the most dedicated team I have ever worked with.  Kudos to them for being hands on and solution oriented with children who otherwise are thought to be incapable.  They give me hope and us parents need that light to be able to push ourselves further.  The party was great!  We met some new friends and the kids had a very good time.  They didn't want to leave but they agreed to since they wanted to be home for trick or treating.

Nana volunteered to hand out candies to little princesses and Spidermen at home so that we can go on to collect goodies.  Sean and Mike went first and I took Saya later.  Noah had to stay home because he is obsessed with going to people's yard and I knew that he would scream and cry if we don't let him go into the area where he badly wants to.  Saya was scared of going to many houses since it was dark out and was afraid of some decorations by the doors. 

There is a funny episode of Sean and Saya trick or treating at the "scary house".  The family there every year attempts and succeed in scaring the crap out of young and old with their theatrical approach to handling trick or treaters.  They have the dry ice machine spewing the mysterious fog and their house dark with only flickering light.  They have fake butchered body parts lying around on their porch and there sits a man with Jason mask.  Any adults would know the man is going to jump out, but little kids like Sean had no idea.  So, a group of little children including Sean went to their door, already a little terrified but decided to be brave.  They carefully approached the door and suddenly the man with chainsaw jumped up and chased them.  There were cries for Mommy, high-pitched screams and children scattering in all directions.  One of Sean's little friends were crying, but Sean would proudly tell you that he didn't.  In fact, he was brave enough to knock on the door again to get the treat.  He even agreed to shake the hand of the guy at the door with a zombie mask only to be startled again when his hand fell.  He was a good sport though and laughed.  He told us his brave story over and over again when he got home.   Saya had no chance surviving the "scary house".  She was frozen with fear and poor baby who still cannot tell what is fiction and what's not was terrified.  However, a candy is far more important to her than a moment of fear.  So, she decided she wanted to go to the door to get the candy.  She was very cautious and studied the man's mask and when the guy asked if she wanted a candy or not, she nodded and carefully picked a candy bar.  It's so fun to watch a little child weighing her options and problem solving!

So, we had a pretty cool Halloween.  What a fun event!  I love America!