A house full of kids

One of the great things about our life in Beaverton was having friends over.  We had space and people to fill it.  Finally yesterday we had a house full of kids.   3 girls, 5 boys (plus my own), 3 moms.   It was interesting finding places for everyone to play; we are still used to a lot more space.  The weather was good so the boys mostly played outside; eventually the girls joined them after they examined Eleanor’s room and dolls sufficiently.

Our property here is between 1/3 and 1/2 acre; paltry compared to what we had before: James does not let us forget that.  But, oh, seeing a different perspective can do a lot for a guy.  When he took the kids out back, he was surprised to hear them all marvel at our huge back yard.  “Wow, is that all yours?  Up to the fence?”  “It just goes on and on…”   “Look at all the trees!”    We have told him that his yard is bigger than most; maybe now he believes it.

………….

Last night was Halloween.  We had always just ignored the day; no trick or treaters braved our road and the friends who did trick or treat didn’t talk much about it.  Hard to ignore it here in the suburbs.  James was feeling a little odd when the kids from the homeschool group talked about their costumes.  It’s a pretty big deal around here.  But some neighbors had an event they call “Light the Night” which is basically nonscary Halloween with games and VeggieTales movies.  James helped them out at the inflatable obstacle course.  Eleanor and I handed out candy.  She was OK with it till the end of the night when the teens dressed like hoodlums (ie. in their regular clothes) came by.  After that she wanted the door locked and the night to be over.

James had hoped the ickiest of the neighborhood decorations would be down this morning, but they were still up when we drove Cris to school.   They’re happy that it’s all over.

They’re not unhappy about the leftover candy, though…