October 31, Halloween

Liam dressed as a bat this year, not the lion we had planned for months. Momma learned a valuable lesson about not buying costumes for children too early. Connor was an adorable triceratops, although more people guessed dragon than dinosaur.

Liam was able to go door to door this year and caught on to the "rules" pretty quickly. Only go to the houses with the lights on, check. Hold Momma or Daddy's hand when crossing the street, check. Say "Trick or treat" before receiving candy and "Thank you" afterwards, check. Shout "Happy Halloween!" when person is handing out candy and you get twice as much, check and double check :).

Toward the end of the night our little bat boy was getting tired and dragging his little ghost bucket along (Thanks Grandma, btw!) He finished up at one house and gave me a sly smile and said with a gleam in his eye: "I didn't even have to say trick or treat at that one, Momma!"

October 30

We were playing in the yard as usual this afternoon. Liam and Connor are both big fans of the garage. They love to come in and out of the door at the back. Today Liam called for me to come in to the garage.
Liam: "Come see my house, Momma. Come in."
Once I step in the door he gestures for me to step in further.
Liam: "Don't I have a nice house. Look at it. Okay, I've got to do homework now. You have to go."
Me: "Do you even know what home work is?"
Liam: "No. But I have to do it. See ya later."
As the door closes behind me, "Thank you for visiting. We'll see you next time."
Apparently the what part of polite is sinking in, we just have to work on the why and we'll be all set.

We took a walk around the neighborhood this evening after dinner to check out all the Halloween decorations. Liam is obsessed with pumpkins; squealing as we see them in passing, in the grocery store, on television. I figured he'd have fun with all the houses decorated. Boy, did he.
"Look, Momma! Two pumpkins!" "What's that? A scarecrow? Look, another scarecrow at that house" "Skeletons. Why are they coming out of the ground, Momma?" All the decorations made for a very exciting walk. Even Connor started squealing for pumpkins after a little while. Soon we passed a house with a saint in the front yard, one of those Mary in a bathtub deals. It had a lit candle to the side. Liam looked at it, a bit confused and asked, "What kind of scarecrow is that, Momma?"