Friday, October 31, 2008

halloween kind of busy

Here at our house there is no school today.
OUr school district opted to have a teacher prep day on Halloween (cowards.) That's just fine with me, because that means the Halloween celebrations last a little longer. Yesterday was the annual Halloween parade, then I was in charge of treats in Trent's class. After school we carved Trent's gigantic pumpkin-- then forgot to go to the city's pumpkin carving contest!
The scariest part of Halloween... I'm losing my mind, as usual.On Tuesday Hailey had her first Madrigal performance- WOO HOO!! My ninth year in a row going to the Jr. High Fall concert- not that I'm counting. Unfortunately only half of the dresses had been delivered before the day of the performance- dang- so they had to wear black & white. While Brett & I were at the concert, Jack took Trent to the local grocery store with a coupon for a free pumpkin. They came out of the store with the absolute biggest pumpkin they could find. Oh MY-Trent picked out the face design- but carving it yesterday afternoon was a family affair.It's a good thing Chloe's not squeamish.Hailey collected the oh so delicious pumpkin seeds for roasting.Earlier in the day....
Things were a little more scary. I LOVE the Halloween parade- LOVE IT. But, for a little guy with asperger's it's not as much fun. MOst of the time in our everyday life- we just know Trent as Trent & forget about his differences - days like today make it very apparent- and it's hard.Because we couldn't find an Optimus Prime Transformer costume in his size, even online, & I wasn't willing to put 100 hours into making one from scratch- loser mom here- he had to finally choose from a list of 4- cowboy, pirate, superman, & construction worker. Brett was trying to make it easier (which he did) by making the list short & more manageable to choose from. Still- imagination- and asperger's don't always go together. Having a completely different day where the schedule is all messed up & everyone is looking at you is definitely not comfortable. Then, having mom volunteer in the class & ultimately have to leave you there, even after her big pep talk on how strong, smart & brave you are & how much she believes in you- still brings loads of tears from -ya-both participants...
to keep things positive-
some of the highlights
Jake the crazy U fan- aren't all U fans crazy?

Lily the cutest Jack -o-lantern.

And the spook alley with a friend & mom. This is the first year Trent has gone through the sixth grade spook alley with the lights off. (progress)
We both commented on how silly it was.

Here we are inside- he was warning me of a bat, not a real bat, near my head.
Thanks buddy.

Just a little more nervous, mom is leaving... here we are in front of his class- next to him are some words he wrote to describe Halloween- next to the class poems.
He felt a little warm to me- but no matter what- at this point I couldn't bring him home. I was strong & left with a huge smile & thumbs up. Hmmm- the walk home- tough. Thanks Kristy for checking on him & calling to let me know he was just fine.

Now this is funny -
Jack & friends went to a party later that night as bathroom fixtures.
Shower jack- faucet zach- and toilet paper roll cory.
These guys are hilarious! they came up with this all on their own too!
well- I love Halloween.
MOre to come tomorrow!

8 comments:

Jill said...

Halloween parades are a stimulus overload for the best of us, so I can only imagine how rough it must be on Trent.

That pumpkin is ginormous! It looks like Chloe could fit in there.

Holly said...

Ok, that is one HUGE pumpkin! I love your pictures from the parade. It was good to see you. Did you get your hair highlighted/cut? I liked it even if you didn't! :)
Happy Halloween!

Unknown said...

happy halloween! i think we'll be doing our pumpkin tonight...AFTER trunk-or-treating. ah, well.

Kristy said...

Oh gosh what a huge pumpkin!!! Halloween no matter what I do is crazy!!! Great pictures! Good for Trent for being so brave and going into the haunted house. We have drama every year over costumes since I won't spend the money or time on there either.

Johnna said...

What fun! I hope you have a spooktacular halloween......

michelle said...

I can only imagine how difficult things like the parade must be for Trent, because, like Jill said, they can be rough for anyone!

I think it's so cute that the sixth graders do a spook alley.

Janae said...

Loving the bathroom fixture costumes...very creative:)
I can't even believe how HUGE that pumpkin was!
I don't blame Trent for not loving the parade. Ok it's fun but, the kids are only parading for one little walk down the isle...
I love roasted pumpkin seeds. We didn't do ours this year. I don't even know why. Maybe next year:)

Karolynn said...

Love the bathroom guys! The kids look great in costume! Trent is really adorable. I know what you are talking about with Trent, I go through the same type of things with Carter. Some days I get really emotional about it all. That is one huge pumpkin!