Monday, October 31, 2011

Trick Received....Now Where's Our Treat?


Living in New England, we expect a cold Halloween. We're well versed in layering beneath costumes or having a good, heavy, warm winter coat to wear over your costume - opening it just enough so people can see what you are at each house in exchange for candy. This is when a mask or face paint can really come in handy. Stay warm and earn your loot. But, we don't usually have to prepare for snow. Temperatures that would be conducive to snow? Sure. But snow itself? Nah. The idea of Trick or Treat being postponed because of power outages thanks to snow? Slipping on snowy sidewalks? Getting your toddler's stroller stuck in icy snow? Are you teasing us? It's Maine, not Alaska.

But this year, that's just what happened. Tim had been watching the forecast for a few days during the middle of last week and was concerned about keeping the kids warm enough in their costumes. Legitimate concern and pretty typical for us. Then, as the weekend got closer Tim started worrying about rain and by Friday - he was worried about snow. It took me about five minutes to join him. Sure enough, Saturday afternoon snow started flying. We settled in with some Halloween cartoons and just as the last one was about to finish, the power went out.

Our power came back Sunday night just an hour shy of being out for 24 hours. But the damage had been done. Trick or Treat had been postponed, our children's dreams of bags full of candy were ruined, getting to show off the impressive costumes Tim had spent hours making for ALL of us was gone. But the thing is, none of us seemed too upset. The shear bliss of having heat again put us all over the moon and the promise of rescheduled Trick or Treat eased the boys' fears of a Halloween Without Candy! Really, when you're 8 and 5 that is a pretty terrifying thought.

So, tonight we ventured out in full costumes and got our Halloween Haul. Pics and a post of that to come. For now, a documentation of the first Halloween With Snow, that I can remember in our neck of the woods. Also, to our friends and neighbors who may still be without power, we hope it's back on very soon! This is such a January move, October! Not cool.


The front yard on Tuesday.



The front yard Sunday.



One of the best things about no power is the sight of book lights and lanterns glowing bright while the boys curl up in sleeping bags and take off to distant lands. Currently, Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix and When You Give A Pig A Pancake are very useful to distract from no power and no heat.



Also, we LOVE the Cloud b Constellation Night Lights! They help light up ceilings at bedtime, and are great during a power outage. We turned our living room into a Planetarium with thousands of stars and constellations to seek out. (Thank you Adventure Uncle & Awesome Auntie!)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say hello, from a fellow Maine Mom! I stumbled here from SouleMama.

We have the Twilight Turtle too, and it helped me a lot when my little one was still adjusting to a night time routine. I would rock him to sleep while we looked at the "stars".

Unknown said...

Hello fellow Mainer! So happy you stumbled over! :) Oh, I adore SouleMama! I'm actually waiting for my youngest to go to sleep now so I can pour through the Rhythm of Family without distraction.

The turtles are wonderful! It's so nice to find a soothing sleep toy.