The Halloween That Wouldn't End...Thanks To The Winter That Couldn't Wait.

What a wacky few weeks we've had in New England. About three weeks ago, when Gigi and I ran The Tufts 10K it was a very unseasonable 80 degrees.  Just two weeks later we had our first snow in New England, followed by our first serious nor'easter just a few days after that!  Hearty New Englanders we are, but it still messes with us a bit when we are shoveling before we even get out to trick o treat...and not only that, but to have Halloween postponed due to snow and no power is, frankly, unheard of in this area until this year.  Here's what happened.

Halloween should have been on Monday, the 31st.  However, on Saturday afternoon a huge nor'easter came our way dumping as much as two feet of heavy snow in some areas near by (but luckily only a few inches over North Andover).  We prepared for the storm in a way that we never have before...by carving pumpkins?  Not a bad indoor activity when you can't go outside due to pelting sleet...which ultimately turned to heavy, wet snow.

Lexi and Zach watch in anticipation as Ahren cuts open our pumpkin!

Zach really enjoyed pumpkin carving!

Lexi and Zach worked together to scoop out the seeds and pulp.

It was very exciting!!

While we carved and then slept, it snowed and snowed.  The weight of the snow on trees, combined with the leaves that were still firmly in place, caused many trees to lose branches, or fall over completely.  This knocked out power almost everywhere, caused a lot of damage, and made a huge mess. I was terrified the night of the storm, seriously concerned about trees falling on the cars, or worse...the house! Ahren and I were so lucky because since we only got a couple of inches of snow, we only lost a few limbs of the many trees that surround our house...however knowing that 2 inches knocked those limbs down gives you an idea of the weight of the snow!  Amy and Scott, in CT, got 11 inches and lost several trees and were without power for an entire week.  So, needless to say, it was a mess.

Lexi and Zach snuggle on the couch the morning after the storm.

Amazingly, we did not lose our power, but Great Gram did, so she came to stay with us for a couple of days, while Lexi gave up her bed to sleep on the floor of Zachary's room.  On Sunday everyone spent the day cleaning up the mess (what they could) but by Sunday evening it was clear that power would not be back anytime soon, and school and trick o treating were canceled. 

Luckily, the clean up continued and throughout the week power was restored to the rest of the town.  Trick o treating, as well as Lexi's Kindergarten Halloween Party were all rescheduled to Friday and Saturday.  So, on Friday Zachary and I got to visit Lexi's classroom to help out with her Halloween craft party.  We were in charge of the hand print bats table, and while sitting there with me, Zach got to make several.

Lexi and Zach decorating their hand print bats.

The final product

The following day, Saturday, was a very strange day indeed.  We started our day by going to Turkey Hill Farm to tag our Christmas Tree.  This is something we typically do in early November - opening tag day - so that we can pick up our tree when it has been freshly chopped the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  This was a great year, and the kids had a blast running through the trees looking for the best one.  Finally we found him, and named him Harold Lippman Zachy (there was some compromising).  We wrapped a scarf around him to keep him warm, and then headed home for...trick o treating??  We were very confused about which holiday we were celebrating!

Daddy leads the hunt.

If you don't hurry, all the good trees are gone!

Officially tagged.

Mom, Zach and Lexi posing with Harold.

It was a cold night for trick o treat, but we were able to bundle the kids up enough that no one was cold.  Marcie and Vann came along with us, and we had a blast.  Zachy really enjoyed saying "TRICK OR TREAT!!"  at every house for about 30 minutes, when he declared that he was done, and would ride the wagon the rest of the night.  Ultimately we had a fantastic night that we finished off with pizza and Winnie the Pooh.

Queen Lexi and Buzz Vann

Arriving at Great Gram's in style.

Lexi with Great Gram

 

Miss Annie, Miss Julie and Perri all very excited to see the kids!

Our happy, but tired trick o treaters.

So, it's been a wacky couple of weeks, but ultimately Halloween is *finally* over, everyone we know has their power back, and we can now focus on the important November holidays...Zachary's and my birthdays.  :)

Two Lips

One morning while walking home from dropping Lexi off at school, Zachary picked something up off the ground and asked me what it was.  I recognized it immediately because it is the very sharp part of a tulip plant from a tulip tree.  They fall to the ground when the flower dries out, and when you step on them with bare feet, they hurt - something I did a lot growing up as we had these trees growing in our yard.  I said, "Zachary, that is a little piece of the flower of a tulip tree."  He looked up at the tree directly above us, thought about it for a second and said, "Mama, that is not a two lip tree, that is a one lip tree."

Winky

Last week Lexi asked me for a piece of candy out of her Halloween Bag (that we got at Davin's Party).  She'd had a lot of sweets that weekend so I said no.  Of course, every child has to beg when they get a "no" from the mom or dad...usually it comes in the form of "pretty please with sugar on top?".  Not Lexi though.  That's too boring.  She responded with, "Please??  I'll wink at you for a really long time!"  It made me laugh, but she did not get the candy.  ;)

As Heard Through The Monitor

At bedtime, each kid is allowed to pick one book and either Ahren or I read both books to both kids each night.  It has essentially eliminated arguing about which book we are going to read, which is great.  What's not great is that Lexi is not as patient with Zach being in the "picking the same book every night" stage as we are.  For at least a month he has chosen "I Spy" as his book of choice.  Overtime Lexi has become so bored with this book that she started getting a little fussy about it.  So, rather than giving them the pre-chosen object to pick out, I started finding little things in the picture for Lexi to find, as a way to make it more challenging.  She thinks it's awesome, and Zach is happy no one is complaining the entire way through his book choice.

The other night Ahren was putting the kids to bed, and I could hear through the monitor that he was following my lead and picking out smaller, more hidden objects for Lexi.  After a few stumpers, I heard her say to him, "Wow, Daddy!  You're even better at this than Mommy!"

Traitor!! 

Shopping Buddy

Upon entering Macy's Department Store with me on Friday, Zachary looked up and saw some mannequins that had no heads.  In a very matter of fact tone he remarked, "Oh, I didn't know they had those people with broken heads in this store!"  

Davin's Birthday Party

Every year, our neighbors throw the best neighborhood/Halloween/Birthday Party of the year.  It's a birthday party for their son, Davin, who is almost a year older than Lexi and this year there were over 50 kids, plus all of their parents at the event.  Each year they set up a haunted maze in their garage, they have a haunted cemetery, Curious Creatures comes with all of their crazy animals, and then after pizza and cake they have a candy toss and then the kids trick o' treat around the neighborhood to collect the contents of their goody bags.  It's a crazy party, and an absolute blast every year.  This year Lexi and Zach were excited about the party for weeks.  Since they are both still a bit timid about "scary stuff" we never did get a look inside the haunted maze, and they both took a pass on the haunted hay ride around the neighborhood.  But aside from that there were non-stop smiles.  Here are some of the pictures of the evening, as well as a video of the kids patiently (ha!) waiting for the candy toss.

Apple Picking

We had beautiful weather on the weekend of the 10th Anniversary of September 11th.  It seemed early, but we decided to head to the apple orchards while the sun was shining.  We had a wonderful day picking apples, raspberries, and pumpkins.  The kids pick so fast that we have to buy the biggest bag just to have enough time in the orchards.  By the end of the day we had a carload of fresh farm fruit, and big smiles on our faces.  Of course, we can never let the fall go by without getting cider donuts at the farm.  It's a yearly treat that the kids really enjoy.  Here are some of the pictures of our day.