Halloween

We wanted to wait until we returned from Nebraska to carve pumpkins, but we obviously waited until the very last second. Since today is Halloween I suppose it is time! It's always interesting getting the kids to participate. Dalan has done it enough, he doesn't take much convincing, Brilyn will do anything she can draw a princess on, but Jayen wanted nothing to do with it. Jayen's sensory issues stopped him from enjoying the activity like the other two. Mom, however, was not giving up that easily. My job/goal in life is to get Jayen to do everything he hates and make it tolerable. He doesn't have to love it, but just attempt it. So what's a mom to do? Get out the power tools! I grabbed the drill and the biggest drill bit I could find and convinced Jayen to drill holes in the pumpkin. Oh boy, was this a game changer! His distain turned to curiosity then to excitement and within minutes there were more holes in his pumpkin that the stop signs on the back roads in my hometown.

But once there was no room left to squeeze even a single hole, it was time to get the insides out. Yeah, I'm sure you can assume this isn't going to go over well either. Dalan was such a big, as always, and tried convincing Jayen that he needed to grab the seeds to we could bake them and eat them like sunflower seeds. Mean mom again demanded that he scoop out 4 scoops of guts before he could go trick or treating. I helped him count 1...2...2...2...3...3...3...3 before he yelled at me, "no, four" and I had to agree since he actually scooped far more than I originally bargained.

Princess Ariel had no problems cutting or touching her pumpkin. Isn't her dinglehopper cute?

Dalan was struggling with the itty bitty tools and the intricate design he was working on and was disappointed he couldn't use the drill like Jayen did, so we improvised and let him use the carving knife (with a lot of adult supervision).

 

The pumpkins all looked amazing! But it took quite some time and now it was time to head out for trick or treating. As soon as we walked out the door, Jayen ran into two friends from school. These boys have been great friends to Jayen and I can't thank them enough for seeing him for the amazing boy he is!  

Dalan also saw some friends and begged to be big enough to hang out with them instead of his parents! I was not so fond of the idea, but know the boys he was going with and trusted they would look out for him and encourage him to do the right thing. I wish I would have known our last Halloween would have been our last Halloween together. Good thing I had a mask on, it could hide the tears rolling down my face. Maybe next year he can take his siblings out and I can sit in the driveway with Eva and drink! Tears gone!!!

Matt and I took the Jayen and Brilyn around the neighborhood. Jayen was very hesitant to visit houses that we even a wee bit scary. If he didn't think it was safe, he kept his distance and bunkered down in the wagon. Since we didn't have Dalan with us, we didn't need the loot we were required to collect before heading home. These two had a reasonable amount of candy so we convinced them to hang with the neighbors in their driveway and help pass out candy. Too bad a group of kids decided to empty our bucket in one visit.

Dalan eventually made it back to the house and we eventually passed out every piece of candy and toys we could find. Even having to dig through the kids' bags to find more to pass out; our neighborhood was crowded. I think we all had a great Halloween. Hope you did too!

Street Party

I have been talking about getting our street together since we moved here. Since Matt made the rolling bars, we've been talking with the Mayberrys about actually doing it. I made flyers and distributed them before we left for Nebraska. As soon as we returned, Eva and I went around again to remind everyone to come out and join us. We grilled hot dogs and invited everyone to bring a dish to share. We even had sterno cans lit for a little smores station. A Halloween themed movie was playing in garage.

My favorite parts of the night was the very beginning and the very end. Before the party started, Jayen saw our neighbor Michael outside playing basketball and begged his dad to let him play too. Jayen ran in the house, grabbed his ball, and headed across the street. It was so amazing to watch! Michael also suffers from seizures and has had brain surgery. It was so fun seeing them instantly connect and enjoy something together.

The party was great. We had a fair amount of people show up. But one of my favorite parts was the kids all playing together. They kind of took over Yve's house, but were all playing together. I loved how Jayen was included and part of the action. He kept up with all the kids. What a fun night of laughing and getting to know our neighbors.

Making a vacation a vacation; HUSKER GAME

There is No Place Like Nebraska; especially on GAME DAY! The last thing on my wish list was to go to a game. I had managed to get tickets for Matt and I to go a long time ago, then my Uncle Bob called and asked if we wanted to take the whole family. My Uncle Bob loves taking his nieces and nephews to the game. It really has become a family tradition to get to go to a game with Uncle Bob. Since much of the nieces and nephews are grown, Bob has moved down the chain and started taking his great nieces and nephews. A couple weeks ago he took my niece and nephew to the game. I was so glad they had a chance to experience a game day, but part of me was sad that my kids wouldn't get that chance with Uncle Bob. So the minute he asked, I was elated. Bob was going to check to see if he could get the tickets, so we waited to tell the kids. Well, we waited to tell them they were going. We however, did not hold back in telling them Matt and I were going! Dalan was so upset that we dad and mom got to go but they didn't. We may have let them believe they were going to stay at my cousin Amanda's house with Uncle Bob during the game!

We stayed out pretty late at the pumpkin patch last night, so waking up early this morning to meet Bob was a little hard. We don't know why he wanted us to meet him at 9AM when the game didn't start until 2:30PM, but we went along with it. We met up in Gretna and followed Bob to the stadium to park. Bob convinced the kids we would walk around until it was time to go in then they would head to Amanda's house. Dalan was still so pouty! On our way towards the stadium from the parking garage we passed the practice field. The kids' eyes (and mine) grew quite large. They were hesitant to walk on it, but Bob quickly pretended to head for the goal and my sports crazed kids knew just what to do to stop him from scoring!

Oh, but of course, we couldn't get by any cheerleader without my little miss demanding we stop for pictures! Since we were early enough, we were able to watch the players arrive at the stadium. YEP, we even beat the players to the game! Jayen was having a hard time with all the excitement and noise. He really didn't want to be up in the action. Grandpa came to the rescue and put Jayen on his shoulders. Jayen was able to see what was going on, but be far enough away from comfort. Of course, it didn't take Brilyn long to convince Bob to do this for her too.

I could see how much Uncle Bob really wanted Brilyn to have the whole experience of the day. He would take her up to every cheerleader, push her in line towards Herbie Husker, take her near strange men in tutus to tell them she liked their skirts so he would share his beads, bring her near the baton twirlers and pose for photos... I think he may have loved toting her around as much as she loved it!

Jayen, however, had a much harder time. He wanted ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with any mascot or cheerleader. He has always had an incredible fear of any masked character. So when we posed for this picture, his shrill echoed throughout the mezzanine. This was the best we could get! 

When the players were all inside we headed toward the student center to do some quick shopping at the bookstore and get a bite to eat. And we figured it was about time to tell the kids they were going to the game too. Dalan was still pretty mopey and crabby. We ate our lunch then told the kids we had a surprise for them but first they needed to yell, "Go Big Red" in the middle of the student center. Brilyn had no fear and was immediately yelling. She was enthralled with the response of nearly 100 people answering her back with a quick Go Big Red. We waited for Dalan to also hold up his end of the bargain. He was a little hesitant but finally succumb and not nearly as loud as his sister gave out a "Go Big Red". And once again a Husker crowd could not avoid the answer! We then told the kids that mom, dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Bob, and they would all be going to the game. The attitudes quickly changed and the excitement started to grow!

We still had more than enough time before the game so we headed toward the track field. There were some inflatable games set up for the kids. Jayen was in his element and could not by pried away from the basketball and football games. Not to be outdone, Dalan had to show off his skills as well. And who couldn't be left out; even though the ball was bigger than her head, she wasn't letting the boys have all the fun!

With still more than enough time before the game, Bob took us to see the band play. On the way there we caught up with people passing out balloons. I was looking everywhere for these. I wanted the kids to have them so they could let them go after the first score. The guys with the balloons were trying to go by quickly so we grabbed a handful and kept walking. When we got to the grassy area where the band plays, most of us stayed to save spots but Uncle Bob took Brilyn down to meet the baton twirlers. She couldn't resist posing for more pictures. Jayen was having a really hard time being near the balloons we just grabbed. I don't know why he hated them nearly as much as the costumed mascot. We were all doing our best to keep them away from him, but the wind would send them near him every so often and he would again let out a shrill cry for help. Since we had so many balloons, people were coming up to us constantly asking if they could have some or if we were selling them. It was kind of comical. One kid beside us popped his balloon in the grass and was visibly upset. I convince him to trade me his popped balloon for a new one. He thought I was silly for wanting the popped one, but it was a win win in my book. I really wanted Jayen to play with the popped balloon and see that there was nothing scary about it.  

  

With still enough time to spare, we headed toward the gate to find our seats. Grandma and Grandpa's seats were near the 40 yard line only 8 rows up, pretty nice seats, but not by ours. We told them bye and the rest of us when in our gate. I have actually sat in these seats with Uncle Bob more than a handful of times. I was flipping through pictures earlier today and laughed because there was the same man sitting behind me in all of my pictures. When we sat down and I took my first picture, he was in the background and I couldn't stop laughing. I had to tell him! Bob saw me talking to him and decided to ask him if he and his grandson would like to switch seats with my mom and dad. He would even pay them $20. They were ok with the idea and walked with Bob to the seats to see if they were ok. UMMMM heck yeah did they get the better deal. They got amazing seats and $20! Thank you Bob for not only finding us seats together, but getting my mom and dad with us too! What an amazing, perfect day. Seriously, no place I'd rather be!

Most importantly Jayen, but we were all ready for the first score to get rid of the balloons. Thankfully it didn't take long and the Huskers scored! Jayen was more than willing to tell the balloons bye!

The kids were more than spoiled with food, drinks, hugs, and snuggles. He is famous for it, so I shouldn't have expected anything less, but Uncle Bob loved sharing his pop and snacks with some little hands!

The kids quickly picked up on some Husker traditions. Jayen kept throwing the bones and Dalan would take off his shoe on kick offs.

The biggest thank you to Uncle Bob, Grandma and Grandpa for making this the most magical day! Nebraska has been everything I ever wanted. I will miss everything we have done, but most importantly I will miss the people we have shared it with. I love you all and can't wait to come back again. We aren't ready to leave, but if we don't start driving now, the kids will be late for school on Monday. 24 hours in the car after a long day of fun in the sun. We will see how this goes!