Where (almost) no Trick-or-Treaters Go

Today I began what may be my fool's errand of trying to coordinate a casually organized neighborhood trick-or-treat. Most of the people I've talked to so far have seemed a little bemused, but willing to play along. I actually wrote up a mini-flyer about it. I printed it on orange paper and had Vincent jazz them up with his Halloween stamp pad, and have been giving it to our more receptive neighbors.

We did get a no today. Our Very Bavarian neighbors, the ones that a not entirely sober pack of DeWeeses, DeWeeses to Be and Kolbs joined at their snow bar on New Year's (before the pond incident), said no to Halloween. But they were friendly enough to offer to take my (poor over-Americanized) kids "klöpfeln" - this is the somber Bavarian take on Christmas carolling. So it was a little funny, the Halloween Evangelist of Geigelsteinstraße and the UrCatholic standing on the stone porch next to a basket of hardy mums in the waning light of the late autumn afternoon, one trying to convert the other to her cause.

This mindset is the reason behind my pre-trick-or-treat round. 

Vincent was along for the Halloween mission. When I told Peter and Kilian about our visits over dinner, Vincent didn't add much of anything, except for this: "But someone said no, right, Mom?"

So I'm trying to pass on a little culture here, since trick-or-treating was one of the best parts of my young life. We'll see how things go. But it is definitely in the works.

Lucky!

Today is our 38th anniversary! We are going out on a date. I just wanted to say how lucky we feel to have such an awesome family! We are excited that this year Meghann became an official family member and next year Seth will be joining us. We had some wonderful family times this year. Thanks for making our lives better! Love you all--Mom

We have a playoff team!

Okay, so I've only lived in St. Louis for two years. (Two years!) I am still pretty darned excited that the Cardinals beat the Phillies to make it into the NLCS. Considering that around the end of August they had about a 1% chance to make it into the playoffs period, it is pretty impressive that they won the series versus Philly. Especially beating them 1-0 in Game 5 in Philly! Seth and I watched it at the Trainwreck Saloon surrounded by real deal Cardinal baseball fans. It was a lot of fun. Here's hoping they can beat the Brewers!

Other than that we don't have a lot going on. I have a bum knee that is even more bum since I've been playing touch football on it. So I broke down and went to the doctor. I saw the doc at my local urgent care; he was great but referred me to an orthopedist. I have that appointment on Monday. For now I have some steroids, a knee brace, and some super-duper pain killers. But I have not been taking the pain killers because I don't want to get all loopy and whatnot.

I hope you all have a fun weekend!

Milestones, mishaps at the ripe old age of five

Finally, finally, I managed to convince Vincent that the reconfigured balance bike was much too small for him. So today, for the first time, ever, he set off on a cycling adventure with Kilian and me. After a minor fall, and a few practice circlings on a quiet cul-de-sac, we rode out to the tower in the nature preserve, really not very far from here. The kids collected sticks and such, and we had leftover birthday cupcakes at the tower while looking out over the preserve. Things were going pretty well.

Pretty well until on the way back, Vincent rode his new-to-him big kid bicycle right into a ditch.

It looked more dramatic than what it actually was, thankfully. The ditch wasn't too deep, and the embankment wasn't that steep, either. Still, poor Vincent was splayed on the opposite bank, with the bike's front tire wedged into the ditch. I tossed my bike onto the path and dashed over to fish him out. He was fine. In his words, he was wet, but he wasn't hurt.

Though he did laugh pretty hard once it was clear Vincent wasn't hurt, Kilian was actually a good brother and adventure companion through the whole thing. He even tried to get the bike out of the ditch for us. 

Amazingly, even Vincent laughed about it after a few minutes of crying. He got back onto the bike without coaxing or complaint, and rode the rest of the way home. He did not, however, let me take a picture of the bike tire stuck deep in the ditch.