Halloween during a Pandemic

I agonized over Halloween this year! I wanted so badly for the world to be normal for my kids, for them to get to do everything they normally do. Alas, it just isn't. But after discussing and planning, we ended up with a great Halloween that everyone felt good about!

The kids got to wear their costumes to school a few days beforehand, and they had little parties with their classes. Trying to find a costume for these boys that 1. didn't include a mask (a normal mask was required, a costume mask was prohibited) and 2. didn't need a weapon attached. Most of their ideas really needed one or both of those to look like the costume and without it, mostly looked like nothing. Then I came up with the brilliant idea to use old sheets to make them Jedi costumes! They loved their Jedi costumes and they cost me nothing but 2 hours of my time!

Lila had two costumes- during the earlier part of the day she wore the little Jack o'Lantern costume that all my babies have worn their first Halloween. And later in the day she was a ballerina. She looked adorable in both!

And Davis just really wanted to wear his spiderman costume again from last year. He loves spiderman and was thrilled to wear it. And so I outfitted everyone for Halloween in costumes they loved and didn't spend a single dollar!

On actual Halloween we had a fun lunch and party over at Ray and Diane's with their cousins. We made mummy dogs for lunch and Diane had a bunch of cute games for the kids to play. They had so much fun and I didn't pause to take a single picture.

Later we stopped by Nana and Papa's for a rootbeer float. We timed it to be there with their cousins so we could get a picture of them all together and so they could show off their costumes to each other!

When we got home, Davis was trying to convince me to give him more candy. This is how he asked (and he does this frequently). He knows I'll probably say no, so he just doesn't make eye contact. He smiles super cute and just holds it out towards me. It was so cute that I probably caved and gave him the sucker.

For the evening we closed our blinds (so the kids couldn't see all the trick or treaters around) and had the Bacciocco's over for a little Halloween party. This ended up being the perfect solution for us this year. Bacciocco's kids line up perfectly with mine and they all get along so well. We had pizza, decorated cupcakes, played games and watched a movie. It was such a fun night! The kids all had a blast (so did the parents) and since all our kids play together all the time anyway, it didn't increase our exposure at all.

 So that's how we did Halloween during a pandemic. It ended up being a  good balance of activity and safety for us. Most importantly, the kids had a great time! 

October

October- it ended up being a really beautiful, and also a really emotionally intense month for us! We started the month off with Lila getting an ear infection. Do you know how many hoops one must go through to get a baby's ears checked during a pandemic!!!! It was nuts. I had to do a telehealth appointment with her pediatrician (which I knew would do nothing since I needed him to look in her ears), so he could order a COVID test for her, I drove her to the clinic and we waited in the car for an hour while they did the test and got the negative result. Then we could go in the clinic (she wasn't allowed before because she'd had a runny nose and fever) and he confirmed that her ears were infected. Then to the pharmacy for a prescription they couldn't find. Oh, and you aren't allowed to bring any extra kids to the clinic either. Luckily Ben was working from home this particular day, so I just turned on the TV for Davis and Oliver and left them home! It was so much work for something so simple. The good news is that she was feeling a lot better after just 24 hours.

These babies are so cute together! On this night, Rosie kept going in for hugs and Lila got really wide eyed and nervous about them. And we all just sat and watched them and laughed. 

We watched General Conference! I can't say that Ben or I got much out of it. Four little kids is a lot of chaos to have around. But we tried. And since it's been over and I've been listening to the talks slowly it's been amazing to really dig into them. Davis was cute snuggling with Ben while we watched though!

We had a pumpkin picking party! Papa's farmer friend let us come pick pumpkins in his fields and we came home with 14 pumpkins for our tiny porch! The kids had a great time! We ended the night with a yummy dinner and smores around a campfire in Nana and Papa's backyard. It was such a fun fall evening- one where the weather is perfect and the kids are all happy and we all made a fun, happy memory!

Lila is just so beautiful I can't believe it. I know I am so biased, but she's just the best. Also, we just love these leopard spotted pants.

Davis gave us quite a run for our money during October. 

Exhibit A: One Sunday afternoon we were all outside, our kids and the Joseph boys were riding bikes and scooters. As I gathered the kids up to go inside we realized Davis was missing. We started looking for him- he couldn't have been gone very long- and quickly realized he was no where to be found. We started frantically searching everywhere we could think of- and even though I tried to stay really calm, every minute that passed without finding him my heart beat faster. I was so scared (so was Ben, Chase and Hudson). We mobilized a few neighbors and started out on cars, bikes and scooters frantically looking anywhere we could think of. After what seemed like forever (but was really about 20 minutes) I heard Megan call out to me- "Courtney, I think Taylor found him!" and sure enough, there was Davis riding his little scooter up the street with our friend Taylor Jones jogging along side him! Taylor had spotted him in a random backyard of a family we don't even know! He'd just stopped to play- completely clueless to the panic he caused! We were all hugging him so tightly- which he was annoyed by. Poor Hudson was sobbing hysterically right before we found him- it broke my heart. I am still so thankful he's okay- it was a terrible feeling to have him missing and one I'm hoping to never repeat. 

Exhibit B: Several times this month he opened up our chest freezer in our storage room and threw in a bunch of glass jars! The jars mostly shattered, filling up the freezer with broken glass! He did this like three times. We now have a lock on the freezer.

Exhibit C: He cut his own hair! Just took a big chunk right out of the front of it. He was pretty proud of himself, and even got the scissors he used to show me how he did it. Ben was out of town and when I FaceTimed him to show him, he could not stop laughing. Oh Davis! Good thing he's cute no matter what.

So when a neighbor at church stopped me to say "I heard about what Davis did this week" I honestly had to answer "I'm not even sure which thing you are talking about!" (It was the haircut).

Once Ben got back in town, he buzzed Davis's head. Davis's comment was "My hair is broken!" Mostly he really seemed unphazed by the whole thing. He learned nothing from this experience and I'd bet money he'll try it again.

Fall weather meant a whole bunch of new outfits to try on Lila! Getting her dressed every day brings me so much joy!

We bought a Utah Taste-Off box the week they did pumpkin desserts. It was so fun! This fell on the kids fall break- and we didn't do much else that was too exciting. This was the main highlight. The boys loved sampling all the treats with us and rating them on taste, appearance and texture. The pumpkin cheesecakes were our clear winner!

We had a little Halloween Harry Potter party with Nate (Hagrid) and Halie (a nice witch). We made Harry Potter food and watched the 7th movie Part II. It was such a fun evening!

This fall we've started going back to church and it's weird. We have to sit far away from everyone else. We all have to wear masks. It's just sacrament meeting. While partly it's nice to be back, it really makes me miss the way it used to be. Every now and then, COVID life feels heavy and I miss normalcy. Mostly, I miss being able to spend time and connect with people (without the guilt that we should be more distant).

We love fall weather so much! We spent a lot of time outside this month enjoying it!

This view is amazing! I took this from my bedroom window. It takes my breath away every day. I'm so lucky to live where I do.

We played a lot of basketball this month. Chase is really into basketball these days. We signed him up for a little clinic at the local high school, so he goes once a week which is so fun for him. Hudson and Davis have shown some interest (Davis more so than Hudson) and it's fun to play with them. Davis is kind of a ball hog!

I made the boys Halloween costumes! My goal this year was to be creative for Halloween and make costumes with stuff we already had around the house. They decided to be Jedi and I made their costumes from old sheets. They cost me nothing (except a few hours of my time) and the boys loved them!

My dad came by one night for a haircut and Davis was very insistent on helping. He started with combing my dad's hair, and then just gestured to me that he wanted the scissors- expectantly holding his little hand out like I would just hand them over! Then he tried to forcibly take them from me. Obviously we didn't let Davis cut my dad's hair, but I thought it was hilarious that he was so sure I would let him! This was about a week after his own haircut.

We went on a little nature walk one evening with Will and his girls. It was such a lovely evening! The trail we chose was pretty flat and wide- making it perfect for a whole gaggle of kids. The kids all played and explored, the weather was crisp, the leaves were turning and we ended with the most spectacular sunset. 

 

I love this photo because it shows was an important part of our lives Bei Bei fills. Davis loves that panda so much, we all do. 

I snapped a photo while I was putting Lila to bed because this is one of my very favorite parts of the day. I have just savored every minute of her babyhood. Every night before I put her down I just soak her up for a minute and say a little thank you prayer that she's here.

I thought these two looked way to cute one day as we headed out to run errands. Having just the little two at home all day makes me nostalgic for back when I just had tiny Chase and Hudson at home. Our life is so much busier, faster paced, and crazy than it was back then! 

We went to Hobby Lobby in our errands, and although they didn't have the items we were looking for, Davis fell in love with this little red truck Christmas tree ornament so I bought it for him to be ornament for the year.

We carved our pumpkins! This is always such a crazy activity. All the boys want to use the sharp knives and do the carving all themselves. It's stressful! We did stick Lila in a pumpkin for a quick minute and she wasn't amused.

Davis is always so excited to see his daddy when he comes home at the end of the day! I love their sweet little bond.

We were outside playing on a Friday morning. I had the Joseph boys that day, plus the Hickman boys were out playing. So there were 8 little boys all running around, riding scooters and being crazy (which is very usual for our street). Fred, who is 10, just loves babies and sat and doted on Lila for like 45 minutes! She was so thrilled with all the attention.

We got in a little car accident trying to drop off our ballots to vote at the library. The other driver tried to pass me on the right hand side, on the shoulder, as I was trying to turn into the library. Insurance has been super annoying about all this, so I haven't been able to get my car fixed yet. I was talking to a body shop on the phone and Davis picked right up on it. He grabbed his little toy tools and said "I fix the car mom!" And he did.