For Halloween J is...

Sickie-boy.

Sucks. Sucks. Sucks. But what can you do?

He had his costume all picked out- one for trick-or-treating, and a separate one for his school party. Obviously, he missed out on the school party. And it looks like he'll be missing out on the treating, too. I'll probably bundle him up and take him to the next door neighbor's house, just so he can at least say he got to. How can you deny a child their rights to things like trick-or-treating? It's just cruel.

But it hasn't been a total loss. The other night it was record-breaking cold down here, and so we lit a little campfire, and J and the nephew and the sister and I had a little campout in the yard. I can hear the grandmotherly types out there telling me that's the reason he's sick today, but it was worth it.




Hot dogs, marshmallows, foraging for leaves and twigs for the fire, and of course, the pumpkins. It was all a blast for them... and for us.

And overheard, as they sipped their hot chocolate together...

"Wow, Stee-mon, that was the best campout ever, wasn't it?"

Moments I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

BTW, you'll notice that the gazebo is missing it's top. We're really not that ghetto, it's just that we took it down for TS Fay, and decided we might as well wait until hurricane season is over before putting it back up. We're probably safe to do so now. :)