October 22, 2011

Halloween Fun

I know that as a child I had always loved Halloween. I mean what child wouldn't love a chance to spend the day pretending to be an imaginary character or person, to live out their dream to be someone else for a day without people telling them that it isn't right for them to pretend to be someone they aren't. Of course getting free candy for just saying "Trick or Treat" is another thing that children love most about Halloween.

I was so upset when mom told Dallas, me and finally Maddie when we became teenagers that we were "too old" to continue to go trick or treating, I mean I have seen teenagers come to the house in either complete costumes, most of them with the goal of scaring the little children, or with half done costumes, to get candy but those kind of kids don't get alot of candy just a bag of chips. The candy that Sterling and I give out is only for the young children, like Sonny and Kayleigh's age.

Even though I was upset aobut not being able to still dress up and go out trick or treating, I throughly enjoyed watching the little children's glee, amazement and how their adorable little faces light up with joy when their shy and quiet "trick or treats" give them a "how adorable are you?" and a handful of free candy in their plastic pumpkins. It made my Halloween even special, to see the children's expressions melt with joy as they discover a holiday that lets their dreams and imagination soar.

Sterling and I are thrilled that Sonny and Kayleigh are finally old enough to be able to appreciate and enjoy Halloween the way Sterling, Spence, Sammy,Maddie, Dallas and I as well as any other child growing up did. I can't wait for us as a family to go out to the neighbours and show Kay and Sonny how fun Halloween can be. Months before Halloween I already had the perfect costumes in my mind of what I think Kay and Sonny would look absoluetely adorable in and the girls didn't disappoint me.

Sonny wa going as a bumblebee, she went around the house with her antenna and stinger trying to sting Kay, Sterling and me by chasing us around the house :). Kayleigh was a kitty cat, she would come up to Sterling and me and rub against us purring and if we were sitting down, she would climb on our laps and cuddle up to us, not that she does already do that any other time.

Since Halloween is on a Monday, Sterling, unfortuantley had a busy day of daytime talk show interviews about his new drama "Exhibit A", one of those edge of your seat-white knuckled-eyes locked on screen for the entire kind of movies from the commercials,from what I read from Sterling's script, and from what Sterling told me during our nightly talk of our day.

I know that whatever my sweet guy does in his life, whether writing an anyone-can-do-it cookbook or star in any kind of movie he is wonderful in. Like his ever important role as Kayleigh and Sonny's daddy, Sterling can be a total goofball and isn't afraid to get in touch with his inner child, sometimes when he is playing with the girls I forget that we have two kids not three so he does a wonderful job at making an audience crack a gut laughing in a comedy movie and TV show.

Sterling can make people feel his character's pain, suffering, laughter, joy and happiness, what can I say my love is a very talented man who puts his heart and soul into every role he does until it is like he becomes his characters and goes through what the character is going through. So Sterling would also be a good choice for a drama movie and TV show.

But thank God Sterling will be done by suppertime so he will be able to have dinner with me and the girls and will be able to take the girls out trick or treating which will make the girls smile cause they can spend time with daddy and mommy before sleepytime. During the day I will be taking Kay and Sonny to the local library for some Halloween fun with their fellow cutie puties. The activiites featured are beaded spiders and intertwined webs, Winnie the Poo story and singing sings and I know the girls will have a blast.

People don't know it but Sterling is a pretty good sewer, he admitted to me when we were dating that when he was younger he liked sitting by his mom watching her turn his,Sammy and Spence's torn and ragged pieces of clothing from playing outside all day long with each other and their friends into whole "new" clothes with neat patches so when he moved out he asked his mom to teach him how to sew his own clothes.

It is just another reason why I fell in love with Sterling, he isn't afraid to do jobs around the house that others deem as "woman's" work, he feels that woman and man should have equal duties when it comes to the housework, childcare and work in general and the work is shared equally. There has been times when i have come home dog tired from recording my newest CD to find a yummy, hot dinner waiting for me and Sterling chasing a very energetic, soaking wet and naked Sonny around the house cause she doesn't want to get clean with an equal naked Kayleigh who is trying to help her daddy catch her mischvious younger sister in time for bedtime stories and cuddles so Sterling and I can have some alone time.

It warms my heart and makes it fill with even more love for the three people who I love more then life itself, I always say that I don't think I could love Sterling, Kay and Sonny anymore then they do something totally sweet so that everytime I see Sterling being the bestest and sweetest daddy I could ever have thought of for my future children, my heart fills with more love for Sterling.

He and I are sewing the girls' costumes and so far, I know our little sweeties will look adorable come Halloween night. Sonny's bumblebee costume is black long johh shirt and pants and the rest of it is a yellow vest with black construction paper stripes that reaches to her little knees and is filled with one of Sterling's thickest sweater to make the vest look puffy and to keep my little bumblebee warm. Complete with her bouncy antena, she looks so adorable, then again Sonny is adorable in whatever she wears, even when she is decked out in mud and dirt and hair a complete mess.

Kayleigh's costume is a lot simplier. She is wearing the same black long john ensemble as her sister but she is going to wear at least two undershirts and leggings underneath to keep her warm. Kay also wore black mittens, black painted nose and whiskers on her little button nose and plump-pinchable cheecks and of course a headband with construction ears on it and a black sock filled with paper stuck to her little tushy. Like her sister, I am confident that Kayleigh will look equally adorable in her costume. My little kittycat.

Sterling's costume is a secret, I have tried to convorce him to tell me; batting my eyes, cozying up to him and cooing to please tell me what he is wearing while twirling his hair and saying that I want to know what he is wearing so I can match him but nothing I did or said would get him to tell me. He just smiles at me,kisses my nose or lips, tells me that I will find out what his costume is at Halloween and nothing will get him to spill his guts. Darn, Sterling has always told me that his heart melts and he becomes a puddle when I batt my big brown eyes so that he is helpless and has to do what i say but this time it doesn't work. How did he resist the puppy dog eyes?

Kayleigh and Sonny enjoyed shopping for the candy, they choose the most yummiest candy in the store they could find and of course they had to try out each piece of candy like they were choosing the food for a royal banquet so Sterling and I had to buy a small candy bar for each kind of candy that was in the bix box of assorted candies before we were told that we could buy the big box, thanks Princess Kayleigh and Sonny.

Halloween day was finally here. Poor Sterling had to get up really early, like 6 am to get to the studio and get himself ready for his interview at 8am. And I might not have been fully awake when the alarm rang, I was still half asleep when I hit the snozze button cause there was no way that i would get up even if it means getting some extra snuggly and warm hugs and kisses from Sterling, which of course I adore and treausre everytime i recieve them.

Good thing Sterling loves giving kisses and hugs out to the people he loves just as much as he loves recieving them from Kay, Sonny and me cause it lead to me getting a rain of kisses on my neck and checks and a whispered "Bye sweetheart. I love you. Have fun with the munchkins today" in my ear, his warm minty breath teasing my sensitive skin. That almost made me fully wake up but I was too warm and cozy tucked away in my down duvet to fully wake up.

I must have fallen asleep after Sterling left cause the next thing I remember is two warm little bodies clamoring all over me and telling me that it was time to wakey wakey. Kayleigh came under the blankets and snuggled up to me telling me in quiet tones how excited she was for the day's activities but not Sonny, she kept bouncing on the bed saying it that Halloween and tonight she is going to get a lot of candy.

I told the girls that we weren't going anywhere until two little sweeties get clothes on which got Kayleigh and Sonny to look at each other then get their little butts off the bed and hurry out of the room. I guess they are more excited for the activities at the library then I thought cause I don't think i have ever seen them rush out of a room like that before. I just hope that Kay and Sonny put on weather appropriate clothes and on the right way cause I love how independant my two little angels have become but I don't want them to get cold, the weather is still on the chilly side.

After a nice, hearty breakfast of hot oatmeal with brown sugar sprinkled on top and a glass of nice cold milk, it was time to dress Kayleigh and Sonny in their warmest, thickest sweaters complete with little mittens to keep their little hands warm, get them into their carseats which was kind of hard cause both of them were wiggling with anticpation at the day's planned events and drove to the library.

Earlier that week Sonny, Kayleigh and me had gone to the orchard to pick up the best pumpkin we could find so that as a family we can scoop out its gooey and yucky insides to make our jack-o-lantern and two small pumpkins for today cause one of the library's activities is to decorate pumpkins. They were now on each girl's laps being held tight so they don't get spilt by falling on the floor.

The library was packed full of kids and their mommies and daddies, all anxious to start the activiites. First it was time for decoration of the small pumpkins so I cut open the top then demonstrated how to use the spoon to scoop out the guts of the pumpkin which Sonny gleefully loved, she is my love-to-get-dirty- kind of girl, so with lots of giggles she scopped out as many guts as her shaking-not-completely-strong hand would allow.

Then it was time for some pretty coloring and decorations to be put on the gutless pumpkins, the staff had brought out the works, paint, markers, feathers, sequins and googly eyes. Judging from the giggles and shouts of joys that both Kayleigh and Sonny were emitting, I say that they were enjoying this craft. I guess our porch railings will be decked out with not only the white fake cobwebs, and the witch flying into the tree decoration on our front yard tree.

Next was time for a Halloween story, Winnie the Pooh and the Heplumps. The children looked on with complete interest with wide eyes and clutching either their mommies or daddies' hands or their blankets close to the them as the story continued and got a little scarier. Kayleigh was sitting on my lap, clutching my arm as tight as she could and burrowing her little face into my arm as she shivered in fright, aww my poor little sweetheart.

I, of course, comforted her by cuddling her closer and whispering in her ear that it was ok, it was just a story that someone made up that wasn't suppose to scare little boys and girls and that she was safe with mommy and Sonny here to protect her. Sonny was alternating between rubbing her sister's back and telling her that she was ok, mommy won't let anything hurt Kay or her and listening with rapture at the story. She was probably imagining herself in the story, trying to fight the Heplumps to save the people she loves aka Sterling, me and her older sister. I think someone is going to have a little visitor in their lilac colored bed tonight who will need some comfort that only her younger sister can give her.

Then it was time for another craft, this time one where mommies and daddies had to help their babies with each step cause it was one where you wound some colored string around two knitting spokes to make a web for a beaded spider; pipecleaners wound together with beads on them. I have no idea why this craft was choosen since most the kids there didn't have the dexterity to put tiny beads onto a thin pipcleaner and tightly wind string onto spokes so obviously adults were needed for this craft which makes the children not have the satisfaction of doing the job themselves.

Next was the sing-along, my favorite part of the afternoon. what can I say but I am always in the mood for sing a longs. We learned "The 5 Little Pumpkins", "Must be Halloween", "Witch Stew" and other holiday themed songs. Kay and Sonny really got into it, they didn't always know all the words but that didn't stop them from belting out any words that came to their minds at the top of their lungs along with the other kids. I think that Sterling and I have passed on the love of music gene to our girls.

Kay and Sonny love to sing on the top of their lungs any chance they can get, whether in the car, when they are visiting me in the recording studio or while they are helping their daddy or me making dinner to the radio. Whenever we are watching any kind of musical, like Annie or Enchanted, they sing to all the songs so loud that Sterling and I can't hear the movie so as loving and understanding as we can we put our hands over their little mouths and tell them that as much as mommy and daddy are enjoying their singing, we would like to hear the rest of the movie.

Finally the festivites were over so Sonny, Kay and I visited the children books section to see if we could find some Halloween stories for bedtime. After we had found some, it was time to go home for lunch then maybe a nature walk on the neareast trail. Lunch was grilled cheese sandwichs with glops of ketchup then after clean-up, it was walking time. So with Gracie in tow, it was time for a walk where the girls picked up as many colorful leaves as they could find cause apparantly they were too pretty to pass up. The leaves they didn't pick up were crunched underneath their shoes numerous times before they moved on to another pile of leaves.

When we arrived at the playground Sonny and Kay couldn't resist pleading for me to play there. Of course I said "yes", I wanted to relive my childhood for awhile. For about 20 minutes,give or take, we climbed the stairs and went down the slide, with Kay and Sonny sitting on my lap with the other girl hanging on tight to my waist as we all went down as a group. Then it was time for swings, either on the big swings with one of the girls sitting on my lap as I gently swung or on the kid swings with me alternately pushing them both, Sonny chanting "higher mommy, i wanna touch the sky!" and Kayleigh clutching as tight as she could to the chains cause she didn't like to go high.

After a game of mommy running around in circles pushing Kay and Sonny around and around on the merry-go-around, Sonny, being the little thrillseeker, was hanging on to the rails and leaning back as far as she could and squealing at the top of her lungs about how much fun she was having and Kayleigh, hanging onto the rails and probably praying for the spinning to stop. It was time to go home to wait for Sterling to come home so the girls could gush about how much fun they had today.

Sterling came home to two rambunctious toddlers and while the girls were hanging onto his legs they told their daddy all about their adventures today with mommy. After a kiss on the lips for me, it was time for the Knight family to make some yummy tacos for dinner so while I was responsible for the meat, Sterling cut up the peppers and lettuce then helped the girls grate the cheese, with Sonny holding the chedder cheese and Kayleigh holding the grater with Sterling lovingly and gently guiding both little angel's hands so no one gets hurt.

After the dishes got a bath, it was time to get into the costumes. I helped Sonny and Sterling helped Kayleigh get into their characters for the night, the girls were too eager to get their candy that they didn't fight our efforts to help them get dressed like usual. Sterling made himself into the best monster ever; the tickle monster. He wore a shaggy suit that had big floppy feet and claw mittens and a head with pointy ears.

He looked amazing though at first he scared the girls when they saw their beloved daddy dressed up as a scary monster. But after Sterling gently told them that he wasn't a scary monster but a lovable one. I was his first victim, he grabbed me and proceeded to torture me to a round of immense tickling that no matter how hard I struggled to get out of his vice like arms and begged between laughter to stop tickling me. Then the girls, knowing that daddy monster wasn't scary, got into the game by tickling Sterling as much as they could to get him to let go of me.

I, of course, needed a costume so the whole Knight family was dressed up so I got out an old witch's costume, dress, pointy dress shoes, hat and fake long blood red fingernails and of course the warty long nose. I didn't have time to paint my face green but I was ready in like 5 minutes, a personal best for yours truly especially when i have two very impatient little girls waiting for me. I guess I made for a good witch cause the Tickle Monster instantly got down on his knees and begged me not to turn him into a frog for tickling the Minstress of All Evil. Oh don't worry Mr Tickle Monster I wouldn't think of hurting such a handsome monster like yourself.

We started off at the neighbours who, of course, cooed and awed over our little kittycat and bumblebee which, although Sonny and Kayleigh interacted with on a regular day since most of them have kids the same age or a little older then them that the girls play with daily, made the girls shy away and hide their faces into Sterling and mine's sides.

With some encouraging words and gentle reminders, both Sonny and Kay were able to say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" in small little voices while hugging as tightly as their little arms could to both daddy and me. After a few houses on one side of the street, both girls got over their embarassment and actually would do a little twirl when they were told how adorable and precious they looked in their costumes and didn't need any encouragements on what to say from Sterling or me.

Kay and Sonny were getting tired; you could tell by the way they were dragging their feet and their "trick or treats" didn't have the same energy and enthusiam as they did at the beginning. So by 7:30, Sterling and I told the girls that it was time to head home and get ready for bedtime which the girls didn't even fight us, unlike most nights where Sonny always fights us cause she never wants to stop the fun by going to sleep. So when we got home, it was pjs time complete with a small bedtime story about Casper the friendly ghost, kisses, hugs and "sleep tights". Soon the girls were dreaming of their Halloween fun. I can't wait for next Halloween.

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