The Gift That Just Keeps on Giving

Last year, in the first week of December, Kaelen and I were at a local drug store picking up medicine and your basic household toiletries. As we were waiting for our prescription medicine, Kaelen began playing with some of the Christmas toys that were on sale. You know, those toys that you press a button and it sings a little Christmas song while dancing. So, there Kaelen is dancing away with the toy of his choice, as Paul has fondly named: Doug the Penguin.

Doug the Penguin

Doug the Penguin provided Kaelen at least 10 minutes worth of entertainment while we waited, but Kaelen also provided other customers who were waiting immense entertainment as well. I mean, who could not chuckle when seeing a 15 month old toddler laughing and dancing away to a singing penguin?

Our prescription was done and it was time to go. Kaelen of course was a little sad that Doug couldn't come with us, but Mommy promised that we could come back and visit him again. You see, Mommy wasn't into the Christmas spirit quite yet. Kaelen was recovering from serious trauma to his mouth where he knocked out his four front teeth and I was dealing with a pregnancy that wasn't looking hopeful. I wasn't ready to be happy and celebrate all that I am blessed and thankful for.

As we got our coats, hats and gloves on we headed outside to our car. Just when we were about to open the car door, this friendly elderly man approached us and the conversation went a little like this:

Elderly Man: "Excuse me Mam"
I look around only to realize he is speaking to me. "Yes?"
Elderly Man: "I couldn't help but notice your son inside at the prescription area and how much fun he was having dancing to all of those toys"
Me (now smiling): "Yes. Kaelen loves to dance. He was certainly having fun wasn't he"
Elderly Man: "Yes he was. Your son was just the medicine that this old man needed today. Of late I haven't had much to smile about and just watching your son today filled me with so much joy. I hope that you don't mind, but I would like to give your son this gift to enjoy. If he could bring such joy into my life, then I would hope that this gift will continue to bring smiles and laughter to others as well."
Me (standing there stunned): "Why thank you. I don't know what to say. Thank you so very much. Would you like to meet Kaelen?"
Elderly Man (with such a fond smile on his face): "Oh I have. Your little boy's pure joy will ensure that I wear this smile on my face throughout the holiday season. He is a beautiful little boy"
Me (now with tears in my eyes): "Thank you so very much. Your thoughtfulness is very touching. Merry Christmas"
Now holding Kaelen in my arms, we say thank you again and wave good bye to this generous and thoughtful elderly man.

That Christmas, Kaelen played with Doug the Penguin non stop. And every time the penguin danced and sang I thought of this elderly man and wished that I knew more about him.

As we pulled out our Christmas decorations on Saturday afternoon, Doug the Penguin was at the top of the pile and Kaelen of course squealed in delight at seeing his dancing partner. Doug has been played over and over and over. So much so over the past two days that one would tend to get completely annoyed with the repetition of the song. I can't however seem to find myself getting annoyed though. Every time I see Kaelen dancing with this penguin, I think of this elderly man and wonder about him. We regularly go to this drug store and I have not seen him once since that day a year ago.

Perhaps he was an angel who came to brighten my day and remind me of all the good that I have in my life, or perhaps he was just an amazing man who I will have missed an opportunity to get to know.

This gentle elderly man's thoughtfulness is still bringing a smile to our faces over a year later.

'Tis the Start of the Season

With the cold weather and snow that we are experiencing here in Calgary, it is kind of hard not to get into the festive holiday season. Especially when one is looking for something to do inside of the house as it is -25 C outside. So, what better opportunity is there than to put up Christmas decorations!

Here is the finished result of our Christmas tree. Kaelen was a perfect little helper! And wait .... are those presents under the tree already? Wow! The Whittingham household must have been VERY good so far this year!!

Fate

Some people believe in fate; some don't. Some people believe in love at first sight; others don't. How many people can claim that they met their husband in a bar? Okay, lets qualify that a little better: How many people can claim that they met their husband drunk as a skunk in a bar? Both of us had had our fair share of drinks that night and despite living in a small little town, our paths had never crossed. Paul had only been living in Nelson for 3 weeks before he sealed his fate: me. I often tell him that it is his fault that he met me because he was the one that swore to all of his buddies back in Quesnel that girls were off limits and that he was just going to concentrate on school, get it done and then out again. Little did Paul know that his life would forever be changed on Friday, November 24, 1993 .......

Yes. I am one of those corny women that have this amazing ability to remember dates without really needing to. It is not like I write them down, but they stick in my mind. It is not like Paul and I met in this incredibly romantic setting either. We were in a nightclub, he asked me to dance and continued to dance for the remaining 3 songs of the night. That is it. But what struck me that night, which is still so clear in my mind, is how polite and respectful he was. We laughed and had fun for three songs. That's it. We barely got to exchange names in a greeting before the bar was closed and it was time to go home. I managed to pass on enough information that Paul would know where to find me the next night. I wanted to meet this boy again. He was the first boy in many years that I instantly felt comfortable around. Comfortable in the sense that I would not have to hold my constant guard up against him nor be on the look out for sleezy sex attempting moves or even physical harm. I instantaneously felt secure around Paul which was something so out of the ordinary for me.

The next night, I was working a part time job in a busy bar and Paul showed up. I didn't have much of a chance to talk with him as the bar was packed, the patrons demanding and Doug and the Slugs were rocking it out hard in the corner. But just seeing Paul with his smiling eyes and telling me to smile was enough to ensure that I was sailing on cloud nine for the remainder of my shift. Once my shift was done, I quickly hurried back to the nightclub from the night before just to get a dance or two in with Paul. I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about this boy.

Again, after two dances, the night was done and this polite boy asked me if I would be interested in going to a movie with him the next night. Without hesitation I said yes and gave him my phone number to call me. That was it. He went his way and I went mine. Again, I was shocked. I was jaded. Like seriously jaded against men; all of the men in my life up until 21 years of age I had felt let me down. But, there was something about Paul that completely intrigued me.

So we went on our movie date on that Sunday, November 26th: our first official date or should I say chance for conversation. You know it must be true love when your date takes to to the blockbuster hit: The Beverly Hillbillies. Paul even fell asleep at one point during the movie, which he still denies it to this day. After the movie, we started to talk. We had so much in common: our love of sports such as playing volleyball, we were both hockey and football fanattics and even loving the same teams (Vancouver Canucks and Miami Dolphins). I remember thinking to myself: Is this love at first sight? Like how can this get any better?

After two years of dating casually, we decided to take it to the next level: living in sin. It was one of those things that we never really discussed; we just did. I don't think his parents were overly impressed at the time or for even a couple years later, but we did it anyways. We lived in sin for almost 10 years, focusing on paying off our student loans and getting our careers established. We were committed and knew that we would be spending the rest of our lives together despite the everyday questioning from people about our committment. Why weren't we married and what was wrong with Paul? On April 3, 2003, we boarded a plane with 24 of our friends and family to the Dominican Republic and on April 8, 2003 we officially tied the knot; legally becoming husband and wife. It was our grand plan in life. We were getting to the age where we wanted to start having children, but it was very important to us that we were married before doing so.

Life for the two of us keeps getting better and better. We have so much fun together, despite being borderline polar opposites. Paul likes to be social, have social drinks and be the life of a party; I would much prefer intimate settings and deep talks. He likes to watch TV; I am an avid reader. I am a communicator; he is SO not. I am all about making sure that everyone around me knows that I love them in case something happens; Paul thinks that it is morbid and naively takes it for granted that everyone will be there tomorrow. But despite these differences, we make it work. We love participating in activities together like golfing, curling, volleyball, badminton or running. And now, I think the most important activity is parenting together. We love it and love planning our family outings. I fall in love with Paul more and more each day when I see him with our son. He is a fantastic dad and it is going to be so much fun watching him parent our children as they grow. He will be the fun Daddy. The Daddy that gets involved with everything and isn't scared to look stupid doing so in the process.

I firmly believe that Paul was meant to come into my life. He is my soul mate. And yes, I do believe firmly in fate .... now. After all of these years, we are still going strong and will remain so.

Thank heavens for Friday, November 24, 1993 .... it will be a day that forever changed my life for the better.

To My American Friends

Happy Thanksgiving! May your day be filled with joy, laughter, love and reflection.

Wordless Wednesday

Afternoon Cat Nap

Appreciate Your Life

I often wonder how many people truly take the time to reflect on all that is good in their lives. With the stress of everyday life, do you find that people more often than not tend to voice their frustrations, their disappointments or their jealousies of others? It is natural of course. To vent your frustrations as it needs to get out. But, how often do people actually take the time to reflect on the good?

This thought hit home for me today as I watched a fellow coworker attempt to come back for her first day of work after losing her husband suddenly to a heart attack over a week ago. She thought that she was doing well, but just trying to get back into a routine of her normal life, brought back a flood of memories and glaringly obvious absences. Absences like no one to tell her how much they loved her as she left for work, to arriving at work and seeing a picture of the love of her life starring at her as she turned on her computer. As I stood there in her work space holding her as she was overcome with a fresh wave of grief, I couldn't help but cry too. Cry for her losses, the changes that she must face to move on and of all of the losses that I had experienced in life. The thing is, you never really get over death. Death will always affect you in your life and it is natural to grieve even when perhaps years have passed.

I grieve still. I grieve for the teenage girl who lost her daddy at the age of 13. I grieve for the woman who never got to know her daddy as an adult. I grieve that my children will never meet this man that I have placed so high on a pedestal that no superhero could ever measure up to him. I grieve that I lost my belief in romance and love to a greedy man that struggled with his own demons and felt that he must punish me for his sins. I grieve for a boyfriend who thought that his life was so bleak, that he took his own life thinking that he was sparing the loved ones in his life from his pain and misery. I grieve for the three angels that Paul and I lost due to miscarriages and always wonder what gender they would have been. I grieve about a lot.

Having said that, I also have an incredible appreciation for life. I appreciate that I have a family and a wealth of friends who love me and accept me for the person I am. I appreciate that I am married to an amazing man that I will share the rest of my life with and the best part is that he loves me unconditionally. Just when I didn't believe in relationships, here I get hit smack dab in the forehead with love and it is still going strong after 14 years. I more than appreciate this privilege of being a mother. Being a mom alone, makes the journey of my life up to this point worth every single heartache, tear and laughter that came out of this body.

A woman by the name of Stephanie Klein posted on her blog the question: Are you really happy?

http://stephanieklein.blogs.com
greek_tragedy/2006/11/are_you_happy

She was going to ask random people in her life this question; whether it were a nurse or grocery store clerk, whomever crossed her path, she was going to ask. It was interesting to read the feedback from people who made a point of commenting. There were many who felt that they would be offended if posed this question by a stranger.

So ask me. Am I happy? Like truly happy? ABSOLUTELY! I would not trade one moment or experience in my life as it has shaped me to be the person that I am today. My life has brought me to this point of pure bliss and contentment. I am a rich woman. Rich in a wonderful husband, a gorgeous son, and a baby on the way. Rich with family and friends who love me, a house over my head, food on my table and clothes on my back.

Sure I can covet things that I would like, but that doesn't change the fact that I am happy. Truly happy with my life.

Conversations with Kaelen

Just a few conversations that Kaelen had over the weekend. As you can see, he is certainly a very astute little boy. More than I give him credit for anyways .....

Auntie Christie: "Kaelen: Where is your baby?"
Kaelen: "Over there ... in Mommy's tummy. One baby in Mommy's tummy (along with one chubby little finger held high in the air to emphasize his point)"
Auntie Christie: "Are you going to be a good big brother?"
Kaelen: "Yes. Kiss Mommy. Kiss baby in tummy."

Kaelen runs over to Mommy and rips up Mommy's shirt to plant soft, wet kisses all over his sibling.


Kaelen: "Mommy - feel baby kick."
Mommy: "Pardon Kaelen? (as he hasn't asked this yet)"
Kaelen: "Feel baby kick"

Kaelen proceeds to pull up Mommy's shirt to place his perfect little hands on each side of my tummy.

Kaelen: "Baby kicked!"
Mommy: "Really .... you felt the baby kick?"
Kaelen: "Yes! Baby kicked me!!" (followed by immense squealing and a little foot stomp dance).
Mommy: "I guess that must be because the baby loves you so much and knows what a good brother you are"

Note: The baby did not kick Kaelen, but has since ........


Kaelen: "Mommy?"
Mommy: "Yes Kaelen"
Kaelen: "Feel baby kick?"
Mommy: "Sure. Come on over here"

The baby begins to kick as if this is rehearsed.

Kaelen: "Doctor fix when baby ready?"
Mommy: "Pardon Kaelen?"
Kaelen: "Doctor fix?"
Mommy: "Sorry Kaelen, Mommy doesn't understand what you mean by doctor fix"
Kaelen: "Doctor fix? Baby come out of tummy? Doctor fix?"

Sitting in stunned silence, again I marvelled at how astute Kaelen is. It just goes to show you that those little ears are always listening to what is being said and that these little precious people are truly like sponges absorbing everything that is going on around them.

Thirteen Thursday

In following a post from a fellow blogger who had linked my blogsite to her Thirteen Thursdays last week, she listed websites that she visits.

Here are the websites that I visit on a daily basis (in random order) and why:

1. http://goofballsworld.blogspot.com - My good friend Ellen from Belgium who came to Canada on a student exchange.
2. http://meganpratt.blogspot.com - A beautiful young lady that I used to work with and now consider as a younger sister.
3. http://totalmomhaircut.blogspot.com - A blogging mom whose blog I stumbled upon and now love. I hope to meet Beth one day as I so very much enjoy our communications back and forth as well as her stories about motherhood.
4. http://crazybloggincanuck.blogspot.com - A former Canadian, now mom of 2 who has this amazing ability to share her mothering experiences with immense humor.
5. http://adventuresinbabywearing.blogspot.com - Yet another blogging mom. Stephanie's posts always seem to remind me what to be thankful for.
6. http://peepingmoms.blogspot.com - Just have to visit Kate's site on a daily basis especially now knowing that she is a true lover of Duran Duran.
7. http://stephanieklein.blogs.com - Love this woman and her ability to express herself so freely. Check out the comments that she receives as well. I envy the talent that Stephanie has to be able to get so many people talking and at times debating.
8. http://jennandlucas.blogspot.com - Jenn is my Thirteen Thursday inspiration. Thanks for linking me last week as a website of interest to you!!
9. http://laplantefamily.blogspot.com - The Laplante Family is the newest Mommy to join the blogger community. I look forward to Karen sharing many more stories with us - especially when those twins arrive! Welcome!!
10. http://stephiecee22.blogspot.com - Another beautiful young woman that I used to work with. Reading her posts make me so reminicent of my days of young adulthood and the struggles that came with it. Keep your chin up Steph - it will get easier!
11. http://uselessmen.blogspot.com - Discovered this site via a comment that was left on my blogsite. If you are looking for good sarcastic fun, you just have to check this out.
12. http://protein.org.uk - This site has been a tremendous source of information to me since being diagnosed with Protein S and Antithrombin deficiencies. It has given me comfort of going through pregnancy and knowing that it is possible to have another child with these blood clotting disorders.
13. http://babycenter.com - Another site that I am sure almost every woman at one point has visited when trying to conceive or being pregnant. Again, I participate in a forum called Lovely Lovenox Ladies - a message board for women who have a blood clotting disorder and how they are dealing with this during pregnancy.
14. http://infantrefluxdisease.com - Last but not least, even though this is #14 and I don't visit it on a daily basis anymore, this site was a savings grace for me when Kaelen suffered from Infant Reflux Disease due to his prematurity. It is a tremendous source of information but not necessarily one that all doctors will agree with or believe. This sickness for babies is difficult to get diagnosed but so very easily to treat. Again, the message boards was a huge support system to me at a time that we were completely frustrated. Kaelen has since outgrown this sickness.

Daddy is an Old Man

Happy Birthday to an amazing Daddy and an almost ripe husband at the tender age of 35.

May you be spoiled rotten and survive the cake that Kaelen and I made.

Photo Credit to be given to Kaelen; his first attempt with the digital camera.

Daddy's Christmas Craft Project

This is Paul's idea of Christmas crafts ........

How do Babies Grow?

Growing up and being the older sister, I took this as also meaning that I knew much more than my younger sister Christie. She would ask a question, not really meaning for me to answer, but I would take that as her asking the wise old owl for sage advice.

I remember when the two of us were sent to do the dreaded chore of cleaning up our toy closet. We were lucky kids as we had a whole closet with shelves dedicated to the mass amount of Barbies, dolls, dress up clothes, games and books. What we didn't know, was that we were expected to utilize those shelves to present a semblance of order to the closet. Seeing as this was rarely ever executed, we would on a weekly basis be assigned the painful task of cleaning our mess up. Now that I look back on it, it was more painful for my mom as it would take Christie and I literally an entire day to get the job done.

I have this one particular memory that took place while we were procrastinating like crazy in cleaning up our toys. We were sitting in the closet playing with our dollies who were our babies. Christie asked me where babies came from. Our conversation went something like this:

Christie: "Allie, where do babies come from?"
Allie: "They just grow in you."
Christie: "Really?"
Allie: "Yes. Right now because you are so young, you probably only have a hand in your tummy. Me? Well, because I am so much older, probably have an arm and a hand, maybe even a foot."

Now flash forward to Saturday night. Kaelen, Paul and I went out for dinner with a friend. Just before dinner was served, the baby in Mommy's tummy gave me a rather uncomfortable boot delivered into my poor abused bladder. Out of habit, I rubbed my tummy to comfort the little one who was obviously displeased about something. Kaelen, being the ever perceptive child, looked to me and we had to following conversation:

Kaelen: "Mommy? Tummy hurt?"
Mommy: "No Kaelen. The baby was just tickling Mommy's tummy"
Kaelen: "Baby in Mommy's tummy?"
Mommy: "Yes Kaelen"
Kaelen: "Hand in my tummy too"
Mommy: "What is that Kaelen? You have a hand in your tummy?"
Kaelen: "Yes. Baby hand"
Mommy: "You have a baby' hand in your tummy too?"
Kaelen: "Yes Mommy. Baby in my tummy" (this was followed by Kaelen sticking his tummy straight out and rubbing it vigorously)

So, I guess the point of my story is that being an older child most definitely makes you knowledgeable about everything. Kaelen is already exercising his intelligence that he will no doubt share with his sibling.

Mommy versus The Monsters

Kaelen has learned the concept of monsters somewhere over the past week. Likely daycare. On Thursday however the obsession of monsters lurking everywhere became extremely prevalent. I was concerned about this and hoping that it didn't lead to total night time hysteria and that it was just an indication of Kaelen's imagination developing. After about an hour of monsters popping out left, right and center while Mommy was lying in Kaelen's bed with him, Mommy decided it was high time to come up with a few rules.

They are as follows:

1. Monsters can only come out during the day when the sun is out. This is especially so for the big purple ones that seem to stalk Kaelen at every turn of his shoulder.
2. Purple monsters are scared of closets and the space under couches and beds.
3. Blue flying monsters are like birds - they sleep at night and look for worms to eat during the day.
4. The tiny yellow monsters are like spiders. Harmless and very scared of Kaelen because he is such a very big boy.
5. If you tell the monsters that you want to hug them, they will just want to cuddle and play with you (or on Thursday night's case, sleep beside Kaelen).
6. If monsters want to play hockey in our basement, they too need to wear imaginary helmets.

So far these rules have been working. The monsters even went so far as to play a game of hockey with Kaelen and his shadow, Peter Pan who had made a return after a long sabbatical. After a long, tough hitting game full of injuries and penalties, Kaelen and Peter Pan eventually won the game in a shoot out.

Now while watching Kaelen and interacting with his vivid imagination is certainly entertaining, there is also that small part of Mommy that is concerned that one day, this will develop into true fear. The only savings grace is that this Mommy has a very active imagination (or so she has been told throughout her years of growing up) so it is very much doubtful as to whether any monster will be able to scare Kaelen for long.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Boy

Things that I Have Learned as a Mommy

1. That puke really can give you that warm, fuzzy feeling .... As it is running down your arm and front of your shirt that is .....
2. Watching your husband struggle to change a 4 month old's diaper can be probably one of the most entertaining things to witness. Especially so if your 4 month old has a lethal butt and your husband has the weakest stomach known to man. Note: Ensure that husband changes diaper on an empty stomach or else Mommy will end up scrubbing the remains of dinner off of the floor.
3. Like babies, husbands will outgrow their vomitting tendancies. This is because they develop the technique to change the diapers by holding their breath and closing their eyes upon opening the diaper.
4. Nothing hits home more that you are a milking machine as when you are pumping your tender engorged breasts and your husband meanwhile is "mooing" like a cow to get his point across. For supreme engorgement and entertainment, try double pumping to see which boob can fill the bottle up faster. That really keeps a husband entertained and amazed.
5. Children will produce more snot than poop.
6. Enemas don't equate to geriatric patients only.
7. When administering an enema to your child, the directions actually hold true that action will be produced within two minutes. What the directions don't warn you is that the cannon like explosion produces the sound of a gunshot along with very strong earthquake like aftershocks. Note: Ensure that husband is prepared for this. Especially so if he is holding and comforting the child. It is recommended that husband is sitting down for this explosion or else he could be startled into dropping the child thinking that he has been shot.
8. If air travelling with a toddler, it is guaranteed that they will have a nasty bout of diarrhea upon boarding call.
9. There is no such thing as the 30 second rule when perishable, edible foods hit the floor. It is more like the 5 minute rule; if it still looks clean, then eat it.
10. Spiders can truly provide not only entertainment for toddlers, but nutritional value as well. After all, theory has it that the average person will consume (unknowingly) 7 spiders in their lifetime.

Does my Hubby read my blog?

I am hopeless. Really. After spending the past 14 years with my husband, I am still truly and utterly in love with him. My husband is certainly not a man of many words nor actions. He has no concept of what romance is and I have to practically beg him to get affection in the form of hugs or the daily "I love you". Oh how I wish there would be a day that he would just surprise me and do something out of the blue: like send me flowers just because, to just grab me and tell me how he could never live his life without me. You know - all of that fantasy stuff that most of us married women dream about, read about in novels or see in budding relationships with others that you may work with.

Despite these little things, we have a rock solid marriage. A marriage that will withstand the test of time. One that will make it through the times of uncertainty and the rough patches that all relationships and people in general go through in life. Some may say it is naive, but I will be spending the rest of my life with hubby. Giving up on our marriage just isn't an option for us. From the moment that we knew that we would be spending the rest of our lives together, we both said that when we got married that it would be forever; that divorce would never be an option for us.

Things have been rather difficult in our household of late. With hubby working extreme hours, to the emotional start and continuation of this pregnancy to our worries about Kaelen. Our home hasn't been that soft place to fall, but rather that tense place to continue to run around in and play catch up on life. The laughter and love are still there, but the two of us are acting like a team; all business. We just get home, get things done and then fall into bed exhausted. There has been no room for the two of us to take care of one another. Kaelen and this baby is our primary focus, then comes the finances followed by the house. It has felt lonely and even though we have talked about it, we just haven't attempted to bridge that gap of intimacy. Intimacy not in the form of sex, but in the form of comfort. Of providing those warm fuzzies, that feeling of unconditional security of knowing that everything will work out for the best. That no matter what, we will be okay.

After a weekend of quality family time, things are changing. The sunshine seems to be out again sending us rays of positive hope. And, you know what? The most amazing random act of kindness happened to me already this morning. A beautiful message was left on my voice mail at work from my hubby. You know - my hubby who is a man of many words (not). What did it say? Well, that we have a beautiful son who woke up like a new little man this morning (that is a whole other story to follow) and how much fun he was and ...... that I looked beautiful this morning. That the outfit that I am wearing shows how beautiful I am. Man - let me tell you .... THAT is better than any amount of flowers that I could EVER receive! Especially of late. How did he know that it would appeal to my pregnancy vanity? He must have read my blog .........

Random Acts of Kindness

As a society, we often do not have the time to stop, sit down and soak in the world around us. It is a constant go, go, go. Dictated to us by our jobs, by our partner's jobs, by family, by debt and the need to have things. Along with this hectic paced life we all live, communication tends to break down, emotions run high and one may feel that their life is completely out of control.

That is where Random Acts of Kindness kick in. Why not take a moment out of your day to make someone else's day? Not only are you benefitting from this, but you have put a smile on another's face; made them feel loved and appreciated. You gave them the gift of forgetting about their worries for a moment and allowed them to focus on themselves.

I have to admit that I have rather slacked off of late with my little acts of kindness. It used to be a goal of mine to secretly target someone once a week to make their day; whether it was by a small gift, a note about a quality that I admire in them or giving them a huge hug and telling them how much I appreciated them. Sadly, I have gotten wrapped up in my own life and haven't thought about others.

So, thank you to my dear friend Jodi for reminding me what is important in life. Jodi made my day yesterday with a random act of kindness. For the rest of the day, I had a smile on my face that lasted through the night. The irritants of the norm that usually get me all riled up seemed so petty that I just didn't bother wasting my energy on getting upset. All because someone thought of me and did something thoughtful.

My Little Halloween Goblin

As initially predicted, Kaelen showed no interest to go out on Halloween to Trick or Treat. However, that all changed as soon as the first little goblin came a knocking at our door. Once he saw that they received a handful of candy upon yelling "Trick or Treat", his tune was much different. He quickly ran upstairs to get into his costume, to get outside amongst the competitive action.

Daddy took our little fireman to about 8 houses in our neighborhood and Kaelen would quietly say Trick or Treat at every single house. Due to the chill, 8 houses was plenty for him. Besides, the suspense of checking out the goodies in his bag was killing him.

Home my chilled boys came (it was -17 C out with the windchill) and filled their gullets with sugar. And, that sugar high fueled Kaelen's desire to help give the candy out to all of the kids that haunted our doorstep for the rest of the night.

On our front porch steps.

Checking out the fruits of his labor.