Yay, NaBloPoMo is here! I already laid out my plan, but in case you missed it, it’s:
- post every day in November
- my posts must be <500 words (*I might make an exception for the quinceanera recap which I still haven’t gotten around to)
- no daily themes. I’m not a “theme blogger” and I generally don’t follow specific prompts, etc. Probably a lot of randomness coming your way!! 😅
- definitely no guarantees that I’ll be able to comment on everyone else’s posts every single day, but I will read along and probably do my usual and just comment when I can! I often do a bigger catchup on the weekend if my fav bloggers’ posts get away from me.
Halloween 2024!
Sigh, this was a bittersweet year! This was the first year that neither of the boys went trick or treating.
We definitely had a handful of high schoolers knock on our door, so it’s not like they “couldn’t have”, but neither E or A wanted to go. Which I get. They’re getting older! sniff sniff.
Our Halloween was still nice enough, albeit low key.
I worked from 6 am- 2 pm yesterday so I could duck out and make it to Ethan’s Varsity soccer Sectionals game at 3 pm. It was COLD and insanely windy….annoying, after a stretch of gorgeous weather, for big game day to be so yucky.
To top it off, they (#2 seed) lost to the #9 seed and ended their playoff run!! 😭 HUGE bummer. They have a big group of seniors and Ethan said some of them were just sobbing in disappointment (and, likely just the realization that their beloved high school soccer career had now come to a close).
Ethan’s only a sophomore, but it’s still weird to me to think- he is now officially HALF done with his high school soccer career, too! Only 2 seasons left already. Everyone warned me how fast high school goes, but man. It’s true!
He is sad that soccer’s over, especially as he doesn’t play a winter sport. He already commented that it’s going to be “boring” to just come home now after school with no practice anymore.
The rest of the evening involved finishing up the chili and frosting the cupcakes (family Halloween tradition = chili + cupcakes).
Asher had swim practice from 6:15-7:30.
I handed out candy to the maybe ~10 groups that braved the gusty cold winds and came to our door.
I am happy that trick or treating still exists in what seems to be mostly unchanged form from the “olden days”. Something about that just kind of gives me the warm fuzzies. 🙂
When Asher got home we ate by candlelight, per tradition:
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for Ethan’s high school soccer experiences.
GRATEFUL KAE 
Aww, it does seem to go so fast. T is just 7 but we’ve been away for 3 days, he had a Halloween party last night, and is at a Scouts sleepover at the weekend, and I just want some hang out time with my kid? How did he get so busy all of a sudden? We got 1 intrepid group of guisers (Scottish) which was surprising as we hadn’t put the pumpkin out as we weren’t home for most of the evening (I was, but on a call from 5-7pm so had turned the lights out).
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That’s so cute! His busy little social calendar! Love it. 7-8 does suddenly sound a little older to me than 5-6!
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Oof, I feel bad for Ethan’s teammates! That is disappointing. And yes- how is it even possible that Ethan’s high school soccer career is halfway done?
We get fewer trick or treaters every year, which makes me sad. Our street used to me much more festive, but now most of the houses stay dark on Halloween, and I think people just don’t want to walk halfway down the dark block to get to our house. My daughter and her friend went to a different (more fun) neighborhood to trick or treat. And I have a TON of candy left over! Sigh.
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I can relate on the trick or treating! We live on a cul-de-sac, and some years we had over half the people with the lights off. Kids definitely I think would be like, “eh, pass” about walking all the way down there to just a couple houses. We, on the other hand, are a house with a bunch of outdoor Halloween decorations and orange lights, etc., so I feel like otherwise we are sort of a draw! At least when my kids were little, we used to always target the houses that had fun decorations. I was actually surprised that we got 10-12 groups of kids probably, just because our weather was so bad.
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I missed Halloween, but both my kids still went out (and got a crap ton of candy, some of which I will be raiding when I get home).
I love eating by candlelight. After the time changes, my favourite candlesticks are coming out for the season!!! Love the supper tradition, which can be carried on for a long time, regardless of whether the boys have “outgrown” trick-or-treating.
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Our boys used to go out with pillowcases…. and then oddly, they’d eat a bunch for a few days, and then it would just SIT on their closet shelf for months after. It was kind of weird! Like, they love candy, but I think they’d eventually just kind of forget about it?
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I love your family’s chili and cupcakes tradition for Halloween!
The boys both went out to trick or treat for a bit, but they mainly hung out with their friends. Doggo was a little freaked out by all of the people outside when we went on our walk and did not like all of the strangers who came up to our door, but she did well overall with all of the shenanigans.
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Charlie goes all nuts when people come to the door and gets SO overexcited… we ended up putting him on a leash and then someone would just hold onto him so he didn’t try to “greet” everyone and get out the door…
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I cannot speak for having kids, but I do remember being in high school and I feel like it went fast for me too! I mean, first you are the runt and all of the seniors seem so big and before you know it, you are the senior! I loved those days and am sure that both boys have their struggles, but really that was the time of our lives (although I probably don’t need to go back; we will let it forever be a good memory instead)!
I did not trick or treat 🙂 nor did ANYONE come to the door of where I am! I am on a bit busier street though, so maybe that is why. I wouldn’t want little kids wandering around on this street, that is for sure. However, I did not even get a high schooler!
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See, I actually kind of feel like time went way slower back then for me! Like I felt like I was a kid/adolescent for soooo long! Yet, Ethan said recently that he feels like time is going really fast, which kind of concerned me actually! I was wondering if all the time youth now spend on electronics/phones/ games etc is somehow almost blurring out time, if that makes sense. When we were kids maybe we actually paid attention more to what was going on, so we were more “in the moment” which made it pass more slowly for me?
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We are in the peak years for Halloween so the boys had a blast last night and now we have entirely TOO MUCH CANDY because Phil overbought. I suggested he should bring some in to work and he shrugged his shoulders. But he can eat his weight in candy and not gain a pound so I guess having lots of chocolate around is not a problem for a moderator like him. I’m not bitter at all about this if you can’t tell. 🙂
Our weather was not great either – it snowed during the day so the boys had to wear boots, hats, winter jackets and mittens. It was hard to tell what they were dressed up as but they didn’t seem to care all that much luckily. They went out for about 1.5 hours – 1 hour with me, 30 min with dad.
That is a bummer about his soccer team being upset during the playoffs!
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I feel like it’s ALWAYS crappy on Halloween!! I have distinct memories of being out with the boys in rain, snow, freezing temps….. oh well. I guess that’s part of the holiday in the midwest. lol! I’m glad your boys had fun and that both you and Phil were able to get in on the action! 🙂 We used to go out with them together and just leave a bowl on the front step, but we don’t get that many trick or treaters, so it usually worked ok. Of course then you have to worry about someone making off with your whole candy bowl….
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Chili and cupcakes sound like the perfect Halloween tradition! There’s something so comforting about a warm bowl of chili followed by a sweet treat. My husband works in auto repair, and after a busy day, traditions like these really make the holiday special. Thanks for sharing—I’m inspired to start something similar with our family!
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I’m not really sure where exactly we came up with that combo, but we’ve been doing it for years and years now, and it’s really nice! Low key, easy, cozy vibes. 🙂
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I love the last pic of Charlie looking out the window, so chill and comfy.
You did a wonderful job making cupcakes?!!! You obviously have high standards for holidays, hehehe… I’m sure the family enjoyed it.
We don’t have trick and treat here, what a relief, because I don’t like to buy candies, I don’t know what to do with the candies girls get, so that saved us all a lot of headache. 🙂
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Ha, don’t be too impressed- I always just buy a box of the cupcake mix at Target and the pre-made frosting. VERY simple and not at all “made from scratch”! haha. But the boys love them and they are festive and cute. Good enough!
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Chili and cupcakes! I love that tradition. And those cupcakes look YUM!
That’s heartbreaking for those seniors to lose to the #9 seed. There’s something really sad about the end of an era like HS soccer. Poor guys.
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I know!!! It was such a bummer. They had a really big group of seniors this year, too, so I feel like it’s more likely that these next couple years are going to be more like “rebuilding years” for the school team once all those guys are gone…. I think everyone thought this year was their big chance to make it to State. 😦
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So happy you’re joining for NaBloPoMo… I’ll also be aiming for shorter posts to everyone’s benefit and because I have another busy month ahead of me, but I am looking forward to reading – and commenting more this month!
We had chili again (for the first time this fall) this week and it was so good 🙂
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Yay! Thanks for hosting/ organizing the lists again this year, San! I am not super optimistic about staying 100% on everyone’s stuff during the week, but am hopeful I can play catch up on the weekends! For my own sake too I want to keep my posts shorter this month…. I’ve been so busy with work that it just fits in better for me right now that way.
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Tripple C – Chilli and cupcakes and candle for halloween. How fun.
Your dog peeking out the window is kinda cute and I am not a dog person.
Happy NaBloPoMo. Glad to be back after not coming much around during the year.
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Haha, well, I’m glad Charlie could convince a “non-dog person” that he’s cute! LOL! 😉 Nice to hear from you again! I’ve been a little out of touch with other blogs too and I think I need to stop reading them on my phone, because I’m always much worse about commenting or saying hi when I read on my phone….
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