Trick-or-Treat

Last year was full of tricks, and this year was full of treats. Halloween night was almost balmy here (really!), so even Clare enjoyed trick-or-treating. It could have been 40 below and Jamie would still have been raring to go. He totally understood the whole concept this year and was running ahead to the houses ready to get his candy. When Shawn asked him if he was done, he said, "Oh no, Dad, I love trick-or-treating!" It was a treat for us to go with him because last year, he went with his grandparents and cousins since we were in the hospital with Clare for her third cath. Clare may not have understood trick-or-treating, but she understands about mini M&M's, her new favorite candy.

Jamie and Clare dressed up for the All Saints Day parade at church this past weekend. Jamie went as St. Michael the Archangel (which he was super-excited about because that meant he got to wear wings AND carry a sword) and Clare went as (of course) St. Clare of Assisi. With the help of my friend Michelle and her sewing machine (thank you!), their costumes were so cute. Jamie loved every minute of it. We had previously talked about St. Michael with him and who he was. We basically told Jamie that St. Michael is an angel who fights the bad guys for God. (I think Jamie's still a bit young to get into the whole Satan thing with him!) He wanted to know if he was allowed to fight bad guys in church. It's a real example of nature v. nurture. We do not do anything to promote fighting, violence, weapons, etc. (obviously) and yet Jamie loves fighting. All the toys in the house fight each other, even Clare's sweet, girly pink and purple stuffed animals. It really goes to show that boys will be boys no matter what you do.

Poor Clare had to get two shots today. (The tricks came the day after Halloween!) It was the first round of the Synagis shots. And she has hit the magic number weight-wise where the dose cannot be put into one shot, but has to be in two. Let's just say, she was very unhappy. I was disappointed that her GI appointment was cancelled because the doctor was sick. As Jamie put it, "The doctor is sick? He can't be sick - he's the doctor!" We could have rescheduled for next week, but Clare has seen enough doctors in the last couple weeks (and she has her sedated echo in two weeks). I decided to wait until the beginning of next month when she has her next Synagis shots scheduled. Get it all done in one trip is my philosophy.

We had a couple beautiful days lately, but this morning, there was frost on the ground and ice on the car. We all had to get out of the house early to help out some friends, so it was the first morning I got to scrape the windows. Brrrrr. Now it's time to rake leaves before the snow comes!