Trick or Treat

A light meal before we go out.

Ready to go! (They are supposed to be the Three Blind Mice. Batman is hiding)
Everyone together - the neighbor was mowing the lawn, so Nathanial was checking that out, Noah was checking on Hannah. At least Ethan, Aidan, and Austin looked at me. 50/50, not bad.

Halloween in Iowa is unpredictable at best. Every other year, it is freezing cold and we need winter coats. This year, I bought Aidan's costume large enough to put several layers under. The triplets got long johns and thick costumes. Then this happens:

We finish at the hospital and nursing home and we have three sweaty, hot babies:

(Nathanial is not happy - and I did buckle them the rest of the way, in case you were wondering)
Aidan is so hot:So we went home and stripped down to nothing for a few hours...and ate tons of sugar. Then we headed back out. The boys had so much fun. They got a little confused at first. At the hospital, you go through inside the building. At the nursing home, you even get to go into some of the residents rooms. So, of course, you are supposed to go into everyone's homes, right? After the first several houses, they finally got the hang of it. Around the third block, the sugar high turned into a sugar coma and they were good to go. Austin was very helpful to me the entire night - he got as much of a workout as I did. People felt sorry for him, so he got quite a haul of candy, too. We got home at 6:45 and the triplets were not hungry, just exhausted, so straight to bed they went. Thank goodness I gave them a light supper before we left!

[I must thank Austin for the use of his camera while we are still awaiting the arrival of my new one!]

Pumpkin Fun

Austin and Aidan got to carve pumpkins, while Nathanial, Ethan, and Noah got to paint theirs. We wanted them to be a part of the activities in some way and this seemed like a good idea - until Noah began painting himself more than his pumpkin! Oh, well. Fun was had by all.
We can't wait to start! (Noah, Nathanial, Ethan)Daddy's in the thick of things (Nathanial, Ethan, Noah)Austin's working on getting all his seeds outAidan's waiting to get startedWorking hard on the seedsNathanial can't wait to start with his pumpkinNathanial gets only a little messyEthan is so excitedWorking hard (Ethan)Ethan got a little messy, tooNoah has BIG plansWorking hard on his creationWonder what he worked harder to paint - his pumpkin or himself?Hannah is a little boredFinished pumpkins! (Aidan, Nathanial, Ethan, Austin, Noah, and Hannah's pumpkin)

Kindness of Strangers

Austin had an appointment with his doctor this morning, and then we had some errands to run. We were in the costume department in Target and this lady came up and was gushing over Hannah, while I was talking to Steve about costumes. Austin was looking at costumes and came back in the middle of this lady and he informed her that we also have triplets and a five year old at home. She was in even more awe and then asked questions about them, to which Austin (and I) answered. She was a very nice lady.

Austin wants a costume, but he isn't going trick-or-treating and let's face it, buying four costumes breaks the bank enough (do the math - four costumes at roughly $25 a piece - it's insane for two hours of fun). We decided that Hannah doesn't need to go as anything and Austin didn't need to. There is a 4H Fun and Frolic for middle-schoolers, though, so he really wants to go and go dressed up.

Grandma was generous and gave each of the kids some money, so Steve said he could use that money and get his own costume. I told Austin OK and kept talking to Steve. Austin came back with a costume that is 1 1/2 times the agreed-upon price and wants it. He puts it in the cart. I see that and tell him, no he cannot get that particular costume. He forlornly goes to put it back. Hello? Where did he think the money was coming from?

Suddenly he is back with the same costume and a $20 bill. I looked at him and he quickly said that the lady gave him $20 for his costume. What?? She then comes around the corner and said, she told him to enjoy that costume. Same lady who was gushing over Hannah. I could tell by her posture and tone that she was not going to take the $20 back. Seriously...I can't accept help from people I know well and love, how am I to just graciously accept a $20 bill from someone I don't even know??? I knew I had to find a way.

The only thing that I can think of is that this lady understands how exhorbant prices of costumes are (she was in the costume aisle, after all) and understood my quandary with six little people at home. She probably didn't understand that he isn't going trick-or-treating anyway, but that's OK. I am just amazed that some woman would just hand my child $20 for a costume and so humbled that there are still people out there like that. Yes, Austin was dismayed, but he (for the first time ever) wasn't pitching a fit about it and was actually very gracious about putting the costume back. So it isn't like she was horrified by how he was acting.

There are still people who care about others and who want to spread some kindness. I wish that I could send this woman a thank-you, but I can't. That is why I chose to share my story here. If you have ever helped a person out in any way and have not been thanked, know that they greatly appreciated it. I was humbled that she was helping us out and did it through Austin. I knew she didn't want to embarrass me and I greatly appreciated it, even though it was difficult for me. I also remembered something that we had talked about in Bible Study a while back. When you don't allow people to help you, then you are not allowing them to bless you. And maybe in the process of blessing me, she was blessing herself. I certainly hope so!

Halloween is finally here!

Aidan was so excited for Halloween that when it is actually upon us, he isn't quite sure how to be. He had a great day!

Right after school, we picked up Austin and headed over to the hospital to go trick or treating there. Each department and the nurses station had someone handing out candy, and one was handing out toothpaste...that was brilliant! Nathanial, Ethan, and Noah were getting a little ornery, but overall doing well.

Austin wanted to go to the nursing home as soon as we finished at the hospital because he wanted to see the lady he read to last year. So, we went there next and boy did they have fun there. All the residents were thrilled to see all the kids coming through. Everyone was commenting on the babies and I felt bad for Aidan because he was kind of left out of things. But, thankfully he didn't mind too much because he was getting candy. Austin finally got to see Grandma Mae and talk to her a few minutes. He asks to go see her a lot and thankfully he does see her at church, but I have to just set aside time for him to go see her some afternoon. He really misses his visits with her.

We went home then and fed the babies, then headed out again. Nathanial, Ethan, and Noah didn't last real long at all this time, so we only went a few blocks. We went home then to get them to bed and Austin took Aidan to a few houses right on our block. Aidan loved that Austin took him and Austin loved going along with him alone. I got the babies to bed and Austin resumed passing out candy while Aidan and I went a few more blocks. He was so funny as he was walking. He would go to people's houses who he knew and would say to me "I didn't know she had a BROTHER!!!" (And it was her son!) Then we went to another one and he said "I dind't know she had a DAD!!!" (It was her husband!!) Thankfully, he waited until we were away from the house to say it to me! By the time we got home from our alone time, Daddy had just gotten home, so Aidan got to "scare" him. He was thrilled and I do believe this is the first year Steve has gotten home early enough to see Aidan in his costume and awake. That was very nice!

Austin loved passing out candy...he thought that was a lot of fun. We got way more kids than we normally do, but this year more houses on our block had people home to actually give out candy, too. It was nice to see a steady stream of kids. I hope it goes this well again next year!

Wagon rides!

Ever since I discovered I was having triplets, I have known that for their first Halloween, they would be three peas in a pod. I have invisioned Aidan's wagon decked out with a green blanket and the three of them in green sweats with little pea pod hats. This is proving to be a little more difficult than I anticipated. Seems simple, but maybe not.

The hats were easy...I don't sew, but my mom does. So I found an adorable little hat to a pumpkin costume and gave it to her and asked if she could do the exact same thing, only all in green. She was able to (haven't gotten to see them yet, but I get to next weekend!).

So, then came the green sweats. I thought this would be simple. I really thought that green was a staple color in the sweatshirt and sweat pants industry. Apparently not. Combat green is very easy to find, but I had in my brain invisioned them in a bright green. Or maybe forest green...but definitely not army green. So now my second option, which might end up being better anyway, is to find green blanket sleepers. We are in Iowa and we can almost gaurentee that we will need snowsuits under those costumes. So now I am on the hunt for green sleepers.

Third, the wagon. We have this awesome Radio Flyer fancy wagon. I seemed to have blocked out of my memory that for the past year and a half Steve has been using it as his wheelbarrow. (Wheelbarrows are expensive, you know, and why buy one when you have a perfectly good wagon that isn't being used??) So I pulled it out and it was filthy. So I spent a good two hours cleaning out up on Monday afternoon. I got it near-perfect by the way. I was very happy with myself. I first washed it off with the hose, then used soap and a washcloth, then a scrubber, finally SOS pads, and then washed it all down again and did a final bleach rinse to be sure. Does Steve notice all the work I've put into this little "project" I didn't intend to have?? Of course not. He thought it wasn't "that bad" to begin with. I wish I had taken before and after photos! So at least that hurdle was no longer in our way.

Today I did the final test. I put all the babies into the wagon and we went for a walk down to church and back. They LOVED it. However, they really are not meant for babies, so I had Aidan sit in the front of them and stacked them Noah, Ethan, Nathanial, Aidan. Nathanial decided that every time we stopped was the perfect oppurtunity to stand up, so I had to watch him carefully. Going down to church wasn't so bad. I was able to turn and check on them every couple of seconds and they were happy as a lark in there with no seatbelts or anything. Coming home was quite another matter...for me. We live on the tiniest of inclines...and I do mean tiny. But when you are hoofing it while pulling approximately 90 pounds...WOW! Do you get a workout! So we may have to do a few more runs just so my arms get a little more toned before trick or treating. But they did love it! So much, in fact, that Ethan fell asleep on Noah on the way home and the other two were looking mighty close to it, also.

So, now, if I can just find some green sleepers....