For Kent

As promised, here's the recipe. Please pass it along to your mom, I think I messsed up some of the amounts when I tried to give it to her from memory. I double or quadruple the recipe, so I had things mixed up in my head.

Grilled German Potato Salad

• 5 unpared medium potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 8 slices bacon, crisply fried and crumbled
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 3 green onions (with tops), finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water just until tender. Peel and cube (I slice mine). In a large bowl combine potatoes, bacon, celery and onions. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over potatoes; toss thoroughly. Place in mixture on 18X13 inch piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil; wrap securely. Place packet on grill and cook 20 minutes, turning once. 4 to 6 servings

In case you haven't already heard...

Baby #6 is due in mid-January. We are 12 weeks pregnant, and realized that we still hadn't told anybody. Time flies when you have a house full of kids, dogs and chickens!

Puppyhood

She's here. Last Thursday, I picked up the new puppy. Her registered name is Nuthatch's Abracadabra, but for now her call name is "Bella". Because of her Australian family tree, I was pushing for Bindi (plus I knew that name would go over well with her big cousin Boston), and to go along with her registered name, I thought Bunny would be cute. But I got no support from anybody on either name. No matter what her name, she is terribly cute!

Maybe I have forgotten how much work puppies can be. I don't have a great memory, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Puck just wasn't as much work as the average puppy. I don't remember dragging him out from behind the TV, or having him try to chew me so much. I'm pretty sure that Bella thinks that her new call name is "BellaNO". She seems to be very smart and very determined, she's already full of character.

I will admit that I am a little bit disappointed in Puck's reaction to the new puppy. Don't get me wrong, he is a perfect gentleman with her. But I had this romantic vision that he would take her under his wing, playing with her when she is playful and then falling asleep with her on his big bed. Or at least maybe he would be busy enough with her that he could end his obsession with the birds at the feeder. Instead he politely greets her, then runs off to stare at the birds through the window. (In the meantime, she bats at his head, and nips at his feet) At night, I tried putting her crate at the foot of my bed, next to his bed. But instead of each of them being comforted by each other's presence, Bella can cry for upwards of 2 hours, causing Puck to REFUSE to sleep in his bed, he'll pace the house until I order him to lie down and sleep, then he'll sleep on the cold hard floor before he'll go near that yelping cage. Finally we moved her out to the hallway so that we could all sleep a bit better. Subsequent nights were much better, but my visions of a pile of German Shorthaired Pointers at the foot of my bed doesn't is still a long way off. Here they are in the chicken yard before the chickens were there. Puck is chasing robins and barn swallows oblivious to Bella who is right behind him.

I know that I'm in serious need of some updates about the state of our garden, our chickens and our children. I promise to tend to that soon.

Nice and Broody on Mother's day

I had a lovely Mother's Day this year. My mother slept over last night and when we got up and Matt and the kids made us a breakfast of farm fresh eggs from a friend's flock, bacon, toast and homemade hashbrowns. Then we all got ready for church.

Today was Campbell's First Communion! It was a very special day at the church. Campbell took the sacrament very seriously, but was so nervous he lost his voice during the service. Afterwards we went to a really good italian restaurant to celebrate.

Then we came home and Matt, Kira, Bob and I went to pick up our new chicks! We brought home 12 Buff Catalana pullets, 5 Buff Chantecler pullets, 4 Barnevelder pullets, 5 Ameraucana mixed gender, 6 Buff-Laced Polish mixed gender and 1 Buff Brahma cockerel. Patrick is very excited about having the Polish, as he says that they will grow to look just like him. Damon has been sitting with the chicks for hours making sure they are doing okay. Campbell is very wisely waiting for the chickens to grow up before he decides which one is his favourite. He was also thrilled that now we could really call ourselves "Hobbit Farmers", when asked what that meant, he said, "Oh yeah, Hobby Farmers." Kira and Hanna love to watch them and occasionally pet a chick that Damon or I hold for them. The Buff Brahma cockerel was very quickly named "Rodney" by the boys, but Kira told my mom that he was called "Rotten-y" because he was a rotten boy. Here he poses for the camera in front of his "peeps".

I had the lovely chore of wiping sweet little Rodney's hind end with a dampened paper towel so that he doesn't "paste up". I never would have guessed that I would spend my Mother's Day willingly wiping a chicken's bum. But with all of the human bums I have wiped over the years, I was just the mom for the job. So far Rodney is very easy to handle, docile and gentle. With all of this special attention his toilet habits seem to be getting him, we hope that he will develop into a very friendly and docile rooster, not a "rotten-y" one.

Patrick is very excited about the Polish chickens. He wants to name them after himself (a hen named "Patrick Junior") . They are already amazingly calm and friendly with us. Here is one in Patrick's hands.

Damon has chosen one of the Buff Catalanas as his favourite. He calls her "Sissy" and holds her a lot. She seems to enjoy it.

The kids had a hard time falling asleep tonight. They couldn't stop talking about the chicks. Damon wanted to know if he could bring "his" chick to school, and if not school, could he show it at the fall fair. Then I kept getting questions about how many days until the fall fair. Campbell commented that it must be hard for the chicks to walk on their "backwards knees", but that they probably get used to it.

Blessed with new life!

I'm absolutely giddy with excitement. I couldn't hold back anymore, so I finally did it. I ordered chicks from my neighbour. WOOHOO! They should be ready by June 1st. I ordered 4 different breeds, 7 females of each. I ordered Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks because they are part of the pastoral scene I have in my head. I also ordered Ameraucanas because they lay green/blue eggs and Chantecler because they are Canadian and so am I. I can't tell you how hard it was for me to narrow it down to 4 breeds! I wasn't sure that I didn't want Buff Orpingtons, or maybe some Silver-laced Wyandottes. Or a handsome Brahma. I was doubting myself as I emailed my order and even told the hatchery that I'm a newbie, so feel free to change my order if they want! I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever they send me, and if not, I'll order different ones next spring.

"Hey, it smells like a grow-op in here!" Every southern facing window in our house has a shelving unit in it filled up with seedlings. We have hundreds of tomato plants 4 varieties), peppers (7 varieties), eggplant, squash (3 varieties), cucumber, watermelon, pumpkins, and several flowers. I've planted a perennial garden with perennial onions, garlic, rhubarb and some gladiolas. I will be adding some herbs to it once it gets warmer out. We have lots of seeds, potatoes, and strawberry plants to plant, but we are waiting for our garden to be dry enough to be ploughed. For now, as one of the kids once said, all of the seagulls in our field must mean that we are seagull farmers.

In other news, our family is growing in another way,...

...drumroll please...

...we are...

getting a PUPPY!!!!!! Hee hee. She will be coming home in mid-June! We had hoped to adopt an adult German Shorthaired Pointer, but because we have young children, there are not as many available that are suitable for a family like ours. So instead the kids have been collecting money to donate to the local shelter and we are doing a foster program where we get a puppy from the breeder that Puck came from. Let's take a moment to remember how adorable Puck was when we first brought him home.

The breeder will borrow her for a few weeks every year to show her to her championship and breed her once or twice. During this time, we are welcome to come to her shows and even handle her if we are interested. Once that is finished ownership will be signed over to us. I would love to show my dogs, but with 5 kids, that's not going to happen for a few years, so in the meantime, this can be my introduction. On her website, the breeder writes "It's an interesting way to become involved in dog shows and gives the family a chance to own a show dog and experience puppies without all the work involved. And it means that the dog gets all the benefits of being an only dog rather than one of many here."

Campbell turned 8. My sweet baby boy is not a baby boy anymore. He's a big, smart, hockey-playing boy! He's got a great sense of humour, but he also like order in his life.

He chose Boston Pizza for his birthday dinner after Kira's ballet and Patrick's track practice.

When asked what he wanted for his birthday, this quirky little man said, "Money, and food. Maybe a gift certificate for a grocery store so I can buy food." Despite what his slender build and constant requests for food might indicate, we do feed him, honestly! So food he got. He got money, candy, dried fruit, and boxes of cake mix and icing. He was thrilled! For his kid party next weekend, he's going to ask for food again, but this time he wants cans of Campbell's soup to donate to the food bank.

Damon turned 10! He is a beautiful boy, ready to develop into a handsome man, much too quickly.

I can't believe that he is already in the double digits. Damon is really starting to mature. The teachers have been telling me that he has made great improvements at school, and he even won most improved player on his hockey team this year. He is really enjoying our new location. His favourite place in the whole world is the frog pond behind us. We often have "guest frogs" who come and live in the aquarium that he has set up for them. He always wants to keep them, but he does understand that it wouldn't be fair to the frogs.

Damon is a fun big brother. He is really good at keeping the girls entertained, although he occasionally finds it entertaining to tease Kira and watch her throw a fit. But lots of us are guilty of that.

For his birthday, Damon wanted to try the new chinese buffet (not the one Kira went to). He wanted to have a football game in our backyard for his birthday, but when I explained that the 3 feet of snow in our backyard might not make that possible, he opted for the birthday buyout. (Where they get a more expensive gift instead of a party with their friends) He got a PSP.

Happy 4th Birthday Princess Kira!

Back in January, Kira Jane turned 4. What a beautiful and intelligent girl she is turning out to be.

For her birthday dinner she wanted to go to "the japanese restaurant where you get your own food" which is the CHINESE buffet. The boys rejoiced and piled their plates full.

I signed Kira up for ballet and bought her ballet uniform for her. She LOVES her ballet class. And we have received many compliments on her PERFECT ballet bun. I always let them know that I feel a lot of pressure to get it just right, because it is the only time all week that Kira will actually let me touch her hair with a brush. I don't think they will let me get away with that excuse for much longer.

Kira is registered to begin school in September. She is more than ready for junior kindergarten. She is already beginning to read and write. And more importantly she WANTS to do it, chooses to do it. After 3 reading resistant pre-school boys, I think it will be a nice feeling to finally send a kid off to school already reading!

She is trying to decide what she wants to be when she grows up. She has moved past her plans of being a ballerina, and now it's a toss up between being a "doctor for everything" and a kindergarten teacher. If she teacher kindergarten, she will ask the kids, "What is your name sweet little miss?" and all of the kids will respond, "My name is junior." My mom had a good suggestion for her though, she should wait until she has at least started kindergarten before she makes her final decision.

Here's another tale of woe

Hanna is a slight toddler. She is 75th percentile for height and only 3rd percentile for weight, so her proportions are much like those of a spider monkey. Add to that her adventuresome spirit and she learned very quickly how to break out of seatbelts. Her stroller had to be replaced by one with shoulder straps, which gave her a bit more of a challenge but even still did not keep her confined. At least it gave me a chance to grab her before she was tossed head first onto the shopping mall floor. Her high chair only has a lap belt, which worked just fine for it's previous 4 users. Hanna grinned at me as I tightened the belt around her hips. But on occasion, by the time I sat down to eat my own food, she would try to climb out and would strain her hips against the belt until she was able to slip out. This was an ongoing struggle.

So here is the scene. It is lunchtime. Damon has a hockey game, and so he, Matt and Patrick eat quickly and start getting ready to go to the hockey game. Campbell, Kira, Hanna and myself are left in the dining room. Kira spilled her bowl of hot soup down the front of her shirt, leading to lots of dramatic tears and requests (aka demands) for me to get her a shirt immediately. Hanna and Campbell were still busy eating their soup and so I left them in the dining room while I dashed to Kira's room to get a dry shirt. As I returned to the dining room, Campbell was lifting Hanna up off of the floor as she held her breath (she's a breath holder, often turning blue before she lets out that first scream). I held her and tried to calm her. I offered to nurse her and she refused! Then I knew that there was something wrong. First I was worried about the way she was breathing. And as I watched her breathing, I also noticed that she was favouring her hand. There was no bruising or swelling anywhere though.

Clearly something was wrong and she needed to go to the E.R.. Matt and Damon had to leave for the game, so Patrick stayed behind to watch Campbell and Kira until Grandpa arrived.

In triage, it became obvious that it was her arm that was hurt and she was only holding her breath from pain. But then we were sent back to the waiting room to wait. The doctor saw her and sent us to radiology, where we waited some more. Then we went back to E.R. and waited for another hour to be told that we needed to go back to radiology to get another view. *sigh* Hanna was not impressed with any of this. I'm not sure who she hated more, the E.R. doctor or the x-ray tech. Finally the E.R. doctor called me into the hallway to tell me that she did have a break in her wrist and possibly her elbow too. He had called the orthopedic surgeon on call and he would see us as soon as he got there. He didn't take very long.

He confirmed that the wrist had a "greenstick" fracture, and he doubted that there was a break in the elbow, but said that in a baby he didn't want to take a chance and casted her for both. She got some "happy drugs" and after a bit of fussing she was giggling while I held her down as the doctor and the nurse built her a cast. Some of the other nurses came to peek in on her as they passed the doorway. I took her home with the tiniest hot pink cast where she very quickly went to sleep.


Hanna adjusted for her cast very quickly. The first morning, she decided that if she couldn't eat with her right hand, then she would just have to starve. Or eat only cookies. She's no fool. She regained her balance quickly and learned that if she needed to she could wield her cast as a weapon too. One of our hockey mom friends signed her cast. And we got some teasing everywhere we went. Everybody said, "Oh they must have questioned you about it." But the hospital didn't. Perhaps because she was a tiny thing who was already running around, or maybe because she didn't have any bruises on her body. I'm not sure which it is, but I was thankful because I was already beating myself up about it.

Two weeks later the x-rays showed that she was completely healed. Her cast was cut off and it was as if it never happened. Except for the cute little pink cast that I kept to remind me of how fragile she is/was.

Christmas 2007

Christmas came and went much too fast for me. Even though I did make all of us (yes, Matt made it clear that he thought I was insane to ask him to wear resulting girly pants) matching flannel pajamas and we managed to stay in them almost the whole day, we never found a chance to take that group photo. We were too busy celebrating, which I guess is important too.

We awoke to a tortured whine,"Can we go down now? Please?"

After a satisfactory amount of suffering by the boys, I poked the girls.
As you can see, my poking was not entirely successful.

Campbell is thrilled with his new safe. He only had 2 things on his list. A safe and a survival kit (which my brother gave him).Damon opens his waist-high stocking, my kids have ridiculously large stockings.
Patrick loves his flannel pants!
Kira, delighted with her new baby.

Waiting for Christmas

Put down the camera or I'll put this glass ornament in my mouth. Hanna toys with me.


Waiting for Christmas cookies.

Ta-da the gingerbread house.

Waiting for things to heal.

Snowy view of the orchard, back when I was amused by my first "winter in the country".

Enjoying some winter sun.

Frosty.


Kira's Wishlist

Another baby doll (so I can have twins)
Some new maple syrup for Hanna
A dog bone for Puck

O Christmas Tree

We replaced our tradition of buying trees for $15 from the IKEA parking lot with driving to a local Christmas tree farm and cutting down our own tree. The decision was one part sentimentality, and one part economical prudence, we had no idea that Christmas trees outside of the city were so expensive! We were looking at $50-60 for a tree. If we drove a little bit down the road and it would cost half that at the Christmas tree farm. Matt told us that we would all hate cutting down the tree as much as he did when he was a kid. I told him that it may be true, but that we should give our kids the luxury of knowing what they are supposed to hate.

As luck had it, we went was the coldest day of the whole year. So after a few minutes, I was just begging Matt to cut down the closest tree so we could save our children's button noses from frostbite...

...but the man who wanted to teach us to hate this proposed Christmas tradition insisted that we needed just the right tree. Finally he settled on this one.


Immediately afterwards, I saw 3 more that were much fuller and closer to where the van was parked. ;-)

It was a lovely tree, and when we took it down after the Epiphany, the needles were still fresh and healthy. My one complaint was that it didn't smell very much, which is sort of the whole point of having a fresh tree in the house. When asked if they wanted to just buy a tree from a grocery store parking lot next year, they all sang out, "No way, we want to go back to the farm again!" Next year, if we don't cut one down from the front lawn, we'll just ask the farmer to point us in the direction of a stinkier tree.

So the story goes like this...

Damon had a tournament at home, and Patrick's team was at a tournament out of town. So at 5 am on a Friday morning I drove Patrick, Campbell, Kira and Hanna to a game in Guelph. Our plan was to stay at my mother's house for a few days. Despite being without their team captain (because of a suspension), the first game of the tournament, Patrick's team was pretty evenly matched by another team. Patrick's team was up by one goal by the middle of the second period. Patrick was hit by another player, and it appeared to be a perfectly normal clean hit. His shoulder went into the boards. But I could tell immediately that something was different this time. Patrick dropped his shoulder after he came out of the boards and winced. Play continued right in front of him, so he continued to play, but he wasn't using his left arm. Finally Patrick cleared the puck out of his end and Patrick's shift ended. When he got off, he was in pain. He walked to the end of the bench and started taking off his shirt and shoulder pads. Right there, the trainer suggested that his shoulder may be dislocated. Patrick started getting dizzy when he heard those words. I left the kids with another father and raced to the front desk to get a key for the dressing room. The trainer and a father who is an EMT helped him into the dressing room. The father said that it may not be dislocated, but likely it was separated. At this point Patrick felt like he was going to pass out. The pain and the thought of such an injury were too much for him. As the EMT put him into a temporary sling, we could hear the cheers of the other team scoring. By the time I had helped get Patrick dressed and rounded up the other kids, the game was over and his team had lost by a goal. I called the family doctor's office to see if I could bring him there, but my doctor was not in that day, and the other doctors were booked up. We dropped Campbell and Kira off at my sister's house and went to the Emergency Department. We were there for 5 hours. Patrick had to endure a series of x-rays where he had to lift weights while they x-rayed his shoulders. After more than 5 hours, the doctor told us that Patrick had "deep tissue bruising". He said that he probably shouldn't play in the game that evening, but that he could play as early as the following day, if he felt up to it. On the way home, I stopped at the grocery and bumped into one of the ladies with whom I had spoken to earlier at my family doctor's office. I told her about the visit at the E.R., and we talked for a while in the line for the cashier. So we got to my mom's, put ice on Patrick's shoulder, kept him on a steady supply of Advil and settled in for an evening of pizza and movies. The next morning, I was disappointed that Patrick didn't feel like he could play in the game. Campbell and Kira stayed with my mother while I took Hanna and Patrick to watch the team play. With the doctor's words ringing in my ears, I brought his equipment, just in case he felt "up to it". He didn't. We had a birthday party for all of the November birthdays in our family that night, and I was starting to get concerned that Patrick was still complaining about pain in his shoulder. I chalked it up to him having a low pain threshold. What a wimp.

Sunday afternoon we drove home, Patrick still wearing his sling.

Monday morning, Patrick went off to school, arm still in sling. I wrote him a note to ask that he be excused from gym class, just for the day. On Monday afternoon, my family doctor's office called. The secretary asked if Patrick had been to the hospital on the weekend. She asked what the doctor there had said. I told her about the "bruising" and that he had said he could play hockey whenever he wants. She asked if he had referred Patrick to an orthopedic surgeon. I told her no. "Hmm, Well I am sitting here looking at a radiologist's report that says that Patrick has a separated shoulder. Dr. S. says that he should not be using it for a minimum of 2 weeks, but most likely 6. He needs to see an orthopedic surgeon for it though. Is there one out there you want us to refer you to?" I told her I'd call her back, and quickly called Patrick's coach's house. His wife answered and she is an emergency doctor, and told me to who to get a referral to and what other information we needed. I called the secretary back, got the referral and asked for more details from the report. She told me that the radiologist had noted that the severity of the separation was type 1-2. I was overcome by what a horribly insensitive mother I was! My child had been telling me that he was in pain, but I had doubted him and listened instead to a doctor. A doctor who was absolutely WRONG!

On Wednesday, Matt took Patrick to see the specialist. He said that Patrick would need to take a break from hockey, and gym class for 5-6 weeks. By this point, the first aid kit slings that Patrick had been using were giving him a rash around his neck and I had to buy him a proper one with padded straps.

Watching Patrick sit out for so long was painful. His team suffered from his absence and the extended suspension of his team captain, and slid in the standings. When he finally came back, he was not the same player. He was timid in the corners and understandably afraid to hit with his shoulder (a regular part of the game). It took several more weeks before he got his confidence back.

It was inevitable. We can only take it as a reminder that any activity, especially a contact sport like hockey, involves some risk, but the risk is far outweighed by the self-confidence that performing as a skilled hockey player has given a shy boy like Patrick.

Don't turn around! Patrick turned 12!

Somewhere, in between hockey games, Patricio turned 12. We snuck in a lunch at an italian restaurant, which left him with an upset stomach. I feel badly that his birthday was such a non-event, but he didn't seem to want to do much. He is such an easy-going kid, thankful for anything he gets.

Sometimes I look at this "child" and I am blown away by how quickly he is growing up. It seems like just yesterday, he was my flaxen-haired little man. I am horrified that I am already shopping in the men's department for his clothes. He wears a size 12 shoe! And growing. I am almost 5'7" and he is a little more than an inch shorter than me as I type this. In a month, he'll probably be taller than me. I just want him to slow down. I am reminded of when he was 2 years old and for his birthday he received Sharon, Lois and Bram's Elephant Party album and we listened to the song "Turn Around". I had to choke back tears as the message of the song was overwhelming for a very pregnant woman. From then on it didn't take much to remind me of this bittersweet fact of life. Now I try to live in denial, or else I'd be a sobbing mess. But lately, it has been hard to live in denial.

Patrick is growing to be a wonderful young man. He makes us all very proud. I am continually surprised by and proud of his compassion for all living things. He is very easy to get along with, and he is an outstanding big brother to his siblings. He is a delight to his teachers, and fits in very well with his peers. He is very inquisitive and especially eager to learn all he can about history and geography. It is a joy to watch him perform in sports, he is always very focused and hard-working, and it is so nice to see him do well.

Hanna Banana's First Birthday

On November 9th, sweet little Hanna turned 1! Hanna is an absolute joy. She is a little bit clingy, but since she is sweet and tiny, I don't mind at all. She just silently hangs out on my hip all the time, occasionally giving me kisses or hugs. She looks a lot like Patrick now. She enjoys watching her siblings, and her sit-back-and-watch attitude seems to work for her. She seems to be learning things very quickly. She is slowly coming out of her shell and enjoys performing for her sibling audience.

Damon had a hockey game on her birthday, so we thought we would go out for an early dinner before the game. I tried to make reservations for Montana's, but they said that they don't take reservations, even for parties of 8. When we arrived and asked for a table for 8, they looked like us like we were insane and said it would be a 45 minute wait or more for a table that big. (Well, THAT is the reason why I pleaded with them to take a reservation) Every restaurant we tried to go to had a very long wait. Finally we gave up and went to Denny's. Hanna didn't mind at all.

Bob joined us for cake at the house after the game.

One of the things we bought for Hanna was a doll to replace one of Kira's that she has claimed as her own. Kira doesn't mind giving it up, since the doll is missing an eyelid, stained beyond washing, and has the word "love" tattooed in ball-point pen ink (in Damon's handwriting) on both arms and her knees. And of course any clothing I try to put on the doll to cover up her tats, gets ripped off. So Matt and I carefully selected a doll, being careful to find one with a soft body that is just the right size and not too creepy. Of course none of it matters to Hanna, she hugs the new doll, then throws it on the ground and goes looking for her favourite. I'm not going to be disappointed though, I take it as an indication that she is not fickle, but loyal and she can see past a pretty face. I am flawed and imperfect, but when she hugs me I know that she loves me with all of her heart.

Halloween 2007

Halloween wasn't the same this year. There is no way for the kids to walk around our neighbourhood, no sidewalks and huge distances from house to house. We were told that very few kids go out on our road, so we made up bags full of candy and other loot and set them out in a bowl on our front steps. We drove the kids into town to trick or treat. When we got home we found that NOBODY had taken any of the bags we put out.

This was the first year that Patrick was "too cool" to trick or treat. A sad milestone. I brought along a Zorro costume (mask, hat, cape, black pants, shoes and white dress shirt) JUST IN CASE. No pressure. He wouldn't budge on it, so we made him sit in the van while the other kids went out.

Anyway, here are the other kids.

Kira was a fairy princess. She had planned to be Cinderella again, so I bought her gloves and a wig to add to her costume from last year. At the last minute she decided to throw on her pink dress and some wings. Kira was hilarious this year. She didn't stop talking the whole time. She commented on people's houses ("Wow, your house is lovely."), their physical appearance ("You sure are tall/pretty/old/fat.") and thanked them for the candy ("Wow, how did you know I like those? Thank you so much."). In between houses, she declared her love of Halloween.

Hanna was the sweetest little bunny.

Campbell was a vampire again.

Damon was a hobo. He came up with the idea all on his own and he knew how to do it, he asked us to take him to Value Village so he could buy some old clothes. He had on ripped dirty jeans (his own, lol), hoodie and a lumberjacket and carried a piece of cardboard that he wrote "Will work for candy" on. He put on Matt's fisherman mask. He told Kira he was dressed as a bum. The first house they went to, she told the people, "I am a fairy princess, Campbell is a vampire, and Damon is a BUTT." I explained that he was not a BUTT, that we said "bum" but that we didn't mean a person's bottom, that it was another word for a person begging on the street. So the next house they went to, she bellowed out, "Trick or treat! I am a fairy princess, Campbell is a vampire and Damon used to be a BUTT, but now my mom says he isn't."