Halloween in the blink of an eye

This year: Batman & a ninja

It was Halloween yesterday, a holiday that is usually a high point of our year. Jake starts talking about it over the summer. By September it comes up nearly every day. Jake loves pumpkins and Jack O' Lanterns and all things Halloween in that passionate and obsessive way that autistic kids can love things.

For Ethan it's about the costume and the candy (the CANDY!!!!!) and the fun with friends. But for Jake it's so much more. It's something really recognizable that helps him figure out the passage of time. Halloween time comes around every year, and every year it is more or less the same.

He loves seeing his superhero friends come to life and walk all around town. He loves ghosts and witches and black cats. "Oooooh scary!" he'll say, not the least bit scared.

Jacob IS Batman

Jake loves the decorated buildings, the Halloween pop-ups that sprout in empty storefronts; is disappointed when they disappear in a sudden poof come November 1st.

But this year? I must admit that Halloween 2012 was a bit of a wash. Between the tragedy last week and then the storm, with the fear and preparations; and then the destruction all around us, I admit I was in a bit of a daze, hardly entering the holiday spirit at all.

Jake & me, in my annual "throw on a hat & call myself a witch" costume

For years now I have been obsessively making Ethan's costumes by hand (I would have done so for Jake too, but he dearly loves the store-bought ones) but this year I just knew I didn't have it in me.

Between the pressures of caring for my mother in Long Island, being in the thick of the intense middle school application process for Ethan, it having taken a month to get Jake's schoolbus straightened out and being in the midst of our legal process to get his school paid for, plus about a dozen other things I'm not even going to go into, I am worn quite thin right now, stretched to near breaking point.

Something had to give, and that was the handmade costume. So be it.

And then there was Sandy.

We live in uptown Manhattan in New York City, which means on high, high ground, well above the surge and North of the dark zone, the blackout line. We live in the land of heat and light and screens and open stores and restaurants. But all around us are those in cold and darkness.

 

So our building held its annual Halloween party, for who could deny our children their fun, their pizza and candy, their rides in the spookily decorated elevators run by the Hulk and Blackbeard.

 

But it felt strange to be celebrating amidst so much destruction and tragedy.

 

And now it's over. Jake was so sad to come to the lobby today and find the decorations all taken down. "Where did Halloween go?" he asked. Where, indeed?

Hope your Halloweens were full of less mitigated fun and joy. (And now I'm going to steel another mini Heath Bar from Ethan's stash and call it a night)

Wordless Wednesday: HALLOWEEN!

2011: Jake as Iron Man (again) and Ethan as Link (from legend of Zelda)

Was there ever any doubt what I was going to throw up on the old blog today? Really? So, without further ado, may I present this year's Halloween in pictures:

Ethan was Link from Legend of Zelda (classic Nintendo game)

He is NOT Peter Pan or Robin Hood. Link is an ELF (hence the ears).

Not the best picture, but the only one where you can really see the boots. The Boots!

Link, defending our apartment!

"Not one step further, evil villain!"

Would you finish taking pictures so I can trick or treat already?

While Ethan is all about the candy, Jake loves the lobby party & the decorations best

Jakey REALLY gets excited about Halloween

Iron Man hanging with some friendly ghosts

Jake loves the spooky elevators!

Jake chatting with the neighbors and his favorite ghost

Jake's favorite ghost

Iron man: beneath the mask = one handsome boy

And if you want to see last year's costumes and a round-up of all our family's previous costumes (including two kick-ass obscure Pokemon I created from scratch) check out this post from last year:

Halloween Now & Then

And? I am SO linking this up to Sellabit Mum and  Four Plus an Angel's BOO! In the Blogosphere Halloween Costume Link-Up:

Also, as usual, I’m linking up to Wordless / Wordful Wednesdays... at Angry Julie Monday... at 5 Minutes for Mom... at live and love...out loud... at Dagmar*s momsense... at Parenting by Dummies.


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Slogging Towards Grateful

If asked what words come first to mind about my state these days?

Grateful would not be at the top of the list. Probably not even on the first page.

I'm feeling mostly cranky and overwhelmed again; stress-eating everything in sight and barely sleeping. In a word: swamped. In the muck, stuck.

But also, the tedium of hashing and rehashing that all out again here, serving up a steaming plate of my refried misery for you? Done. Overdone.

I want to be moving on.

Aren't I always yammering on to Ethan about how happiness hangs upon the scales of gratitude not possession?

Time to practice what I preach.

So I will count my blessings instead of listing off my grievances today. (Even though they are many -- chief among them the story of how the hospital tried hard to kill off my mother, the full tale of which will be told when I can do so without being overcome by blind rage.)

Things I am Grateful for:

This week a number of my sons' friends have had step throat -- I am so glad we don't have that here (yet).

@@@

Last week a dear friend's father died quite suddenly, out of the clear blue, while she was traveling with him in India. He was young, vibrant, vital still - 70 - and it was quite a shock to her.

I am so glad that I got to say goodbye to my father, that I got to see him live out the full spate of his years. Even though those last months were so dreadful, we had completed our leave-taking with each other. We had no unfinished business. I am deeply grateful for this.

@@@

For the past two and a half weeks my mother has been in hospital and rehab unit beds, not her own. Unmoored and unhappy, isolated, alone and often confused when I could not be there (and I could not be there every minute, my children needed me, too.)

I am overwhelmingly grateful that she is finally back home, reconnecting with her life.

The whole staff of her assisted living community sought me out to tell me how glad they were to have her back, how much they had missed her. Her friends have brought her flowers, come to visit. 

The three musketeers will ride again!

I am so grateful that her home is a HOME - full of love and comfort.

@@@

I spent most of the day at my mother's trying to sort out the support services for her continued recovery and reintegration and the tangle of medications added & adjusted during her hospital stay.

But tonight? Thanks to a friend for lending a babysitter, my husband and I got to go out on a much needed date, the first in a long time (family and work events don't count).

I am grateful for the simple joys of sharing a movie and some sushi with the man I love.

@@@

Finally: in the past two years Ethan has chosen to be an obscure Pokemon for Halloween. This required MAJOR costume creation efforts from me with MUCH sewing involved. We're talking ears and tails here, people.

This year's costume, while equally elaborate has mostly involved acquisition and ASSEMBLY and not much in the way of sewing.

So I am very, very grateful for the lack of a TAIL in this year's Halloween costume. (And that elf ears can be BOUGHT ready-made on the internet.)

2009 - Lucario - TAIL

2010 - Electabuzz - TAIL

2011 - Link - NO TAIL!

Feeling righteously full of my Grateful now, it's off to bed... busy weekend coming up, so g'night all! (I still have a shield to paint before Monday.)

I'm linking this post up to Maxabella's I'm grateful for... FINALLY.


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Pictureful Wednesday: Boys and Swords

It's that time of year again, Halloween is almost here and costume drama is in the air. This year? Ethan MUST be Link, the legendary warrior from Legend of Zelda.

What the hell is that you ask? You must be old. Like me ;-) (He's a classic Nintendo game character.)

To get in the mood - and shop for weaponry and other medieval claptrap - we attended the Cloister's annual Medieval Festival. 

A castle? Awesome backdrop for swordplay with brothers and found friends. (And yes, in conversation with this family it came out that one of their boys in on the spectrum, too. We are everywhere.)

 

I have been assembling bits of this and that, here and there, for Ethan's Link costume since mid-September. And the almost-done costume got a preview run at NY ComiCon earlier this month, where Cosplay costumers are encouraged.

What the hell is Cosplay you ask?  You must be old. Like me. ;-) (It's fan based Costume Play - very big in Japanese Manga/Anime circles.)

Link arrives at ComiCon

Hanging out with Dad at his booth? Highlight of the show.

Jake? Wanted to spend the whole day talking with R2D2.

The WHOLE day.

Although the AMNH mini-planetarium show was pretty awesome, too.

And if there is a screen, Jake will watch.

No, there was not a single shot in which the boys were not making weird faces. At least I look human.

Ethan's costume was a big hit at the con, and yes, there were actually some folks who wanted to have their picture taken with "Link." And yes, some of them were GIRLS who pretended to swoon in his presence. Ethan had no idea what to do about that. Yet. (Whew!)

Ethan taking this "warrior" thing a tad seriously

When it was all over, walking back toward the center of the city from the western fringes of the Javits Center? We were a roving band of odd characters.  It was lots of fun watching the double takes from ordinary folks who had no idea ComiCon had been in town.

And below, you will find the referent Link character pic from the video game. Not bad so far, if I may say so myself. Yes, I have a shield to build this week.

Jake, on the other hand is content to be Iron Man again! (Yay!)

Except his last year's costume got completely trashed from playing in it all year, so I have to buy ANOTHER one. (Boo!)

And so it goes....

(And as to why I called this "Pictureful" instead of "Wordless" Wednesday? I'm guessing you've figured that out by now.)

As usual, I’m linking up to Wordless / Wordful Wednesdays... at Angry Julie Monday... at 5 Minutes for Mom... at live and love...out loud... at Dagmar*s momsense... at Parenting by Dummies.


Looking for comments? To read or leave a comment, click on THIS post's title, or HERE, to bring you to the post's page view. Comments should appear below.

Wordless Wednesday: Halloween Now & Then

Halloween 2010 - My tough guys

I know I promised more scan-madness, and hate to disappoint, but could not for the life of me find those Halloween pictures from my childhood that I KNOW exist somewhere.  Damn, I know you were dying to see me as a 6 year-old fairy with saran wrap over bent coat-hanger wings. (Did I mention that my childhood costumes were always lovingly handmade by my parents?) Next year for sure.

So for now the "then" is going to have to be a more recent then... my kids' Halloweens through time:

For their first Halloween, the boys were three months old and I was a wee bit tired.

Jake the Carrot & Ethan the Pea-pod, Halloween 2002

Poor Ethan is horrified that he was once a GREEN VEGETABLE for Halloween.  Very scary.

When they were one, we did our first (and only) whole family matching costume thing. May I present THE WIGGLES:

A very Wiggly family, Halloween, 2003

Boy, was that cheap and easy, and once I peeled the stickers off the shirts, we could all just keep wearing them as regular shirts. SCORE.

Then at two we discovered Teletubbies. And really cheap Teletubby costumes on deep sale on October 30th. They were size 4-7, but I figured, we'll have them for years.

Ethan as Po and Jake as Dipsy, Halloween 2004

Ethan is now mortified that he was Po, a GIRL Teletubby.  But at the time red was his favorite color.  In fact from age 2 to 3, it was the ONLY color he would wear.  But that's another long story for another time.

When the boys were three, Jacob decided he didn't want a costume, was unhappy with the idea, so we just put him in his orange and black striped PJs, drew on his face a little bit and called him a tiger. Worked for him.

Jake tolerating a hug from his brother, Halloween 2005

And Ethan went with a different Teletubby - Lala. Yes, I had bought all four Teletubbies the year before. They were on sale. And we wore them as dress-up for years. And now our friends kids wear them.

Ethan as Lala, Halloween 2005

Shhh don't tell Ethan that Lala is a girl, too.

At four Ethan discovered superheros in general and Spider-Man in particular.  Naturally.  No more Teletubbies for him.  Jacob was happy to stay in Teletubby-land.  This time it was HIS turn to be Lala.

That's Ethan in there, Halloween 2006

Jake rocks Lala, Halloween 2006

At five: Ethan, much to my relief, was happy to be Spider-Man again. (YES!) and for Jacob... James the Red Engine.  But you'll have to take my word for it, because I cannot find any photos from Halloween 2007.  Major mom fail. I'm sure they will turn up someday. Besides, the kids will need something to talk about in therapy.

At six it was all Power Rangers all the time in our house, so naturally, may I present:

Jacob the Red Tiger Jungle Fury Ranger & Ethan the White Rhino Jungle Fury Ranger, 2008

That was the easiest year by far, two store-bought costumes, easily obtained. Sigh.

Last year, at seven, Jacob was easy again... his store-bought Batman costume made him deliriously happy. (I know he doesn't look it in this picture, but trust me, he was, it was just not my most stellar year for photos)

Jacob as Batman, Halloween, 2009

Ethan, on the other hand, had entered the world of Pokemon-madness and could not be talked out of wanting to be Lucario, an obscure Pokemon that there was no ready-made costume available for on this earth. (Believe me, I looked.) So I made it myself:

Ethan is the Pokemon Lucario, Halloween 2009

I didn't know if I could pull it off, but I gamely tried. 

The "real" Lucario

Ethan Showing off his tail

Ethan showing off his 'tude

Not too shabby, if I may say so myself.

This year, the price of my success in creating Lucario so well last year was not Ethan getting a second year's wear out of it as promised last October, but my being talked into making yet another Pokemon from scratch.  So meet Electabuzz, an electric Pokemon from the Kanto region (if you care to know):

Ethan as Electabuzz, Halloween 2010

The secret to these things is finding the right colored hoodie sweatshirt & sweatpants for the "base", by the way.  And then, of course it helps to be a crazy person, and be willing to cut, sew and glue for hours on end.  A black sharpie comes in handy, too.

Ethan and his tail

Jacob, once again was sublimely content with a cheap, shoddy, nylon, store-bought, already disintegrating costume, thank GOD. This year's superhero: Iron Man!

That's my sweet Jake in there, somewhere

And this year for the first time since 2003, I dressed up, too. A witch you see, to match my mood these days:

Me and Jake, Halloween 2010

And at the end of the day, we were tired.

Big hugs for the big Daddy

One very tired Iron Man

That's all folks!  Hope your Halloween was happy.  Now, where's that last Almond Joy stashed?


I’m linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Angry Julie Monday.
I'm also linked to Special Exposure Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.

Linkety link link, whoohoooo. (Sorry, got a little carried away with myself there. It's OK, I've got it under control now. Really. You can go home, you don't have to worry about me. I'm going to step away from the computer now. Promise.)