Trick or Treat

Halloween was a very fun and thrilling event for our household this year. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. From eating too many sweets to trick or treating at too many houses, we loved Halloween.

Elle—the costume queen—loves this holiday. What’s not to love? She gets to dress up in a new costume and get free candy for doing nothing but asking for it. A definite win win in her book. So Elle—the octopus—did just that. She dressed in her new costume, and went around the neighborhood getting quite the loot of candy. All was wonderful, except when she tripped on her father’s shoes and skinned her knee. That was the only low of the entire holiday. The whole time she was trick or treating, she kept exclaiming, “Everyone is so nice to me.”

Hudson also got quite into the festivities of the holiday. He was not particularly fond of dressing up—he despises things on his head—but once his air tanks were in place, he forgot about them altogether. At first he was a little confused as to what we were doing, but once he discovered the candy, his confusion turned into fascination. He got quite into grabbing the candy out of the bowl and stuffing it into his bag. And as the night progressed, he would not let his bag out of his sight. And if anyone was holding his bag, he whined until it was once again in his possession. He loved to take the candy in and out of the bag. And he tried awfully hard to carry his bag around, but I think it weighed more than him. In fact, he toppled over a couple of times from the weight of the candy. Silly boy.

Once we arrived back at home, we dumped all the candy out and let Elle and Hudson admire their hard, trick or treating work. They were both quite pleased with the results of their labor. Halloween was a success.

Trunk or Treat

We topped off our Halloween infested day by attending our Ward’s Trunk or Treat. Hudson had to sit this one out—with grandma—on account of the event occurring during his bedtime. So the octopus went solo, and thoroughly enjoyed getting candy and showing off her costume. She especially liked having a date with just Mom and Dad—no brother. Although she loves her brother dearly, sometimes she likes pretending she is the only child again—especially when the night involves trick or treating and getting ice cream.



My favorite Elle saying of the night was:

“Everyone keeps stepping on my tentacles!”

Boo at the Zoo

We took our annual trip to Boo at the Zoo this year, and it was definitely worth our annual effort. Elle loves this event, and counts down the days until she can attend. She even marked the days off on her My Little Pony calendar—something she thought took far too long. However, she made it through each x, and the day of the event finally arrived.

So dressed in our Halloween attire—an octopus and a scuba diver costume—we attended Boo at the Zoo. Both Elle and Hudson enjoyed themselves immensely. Elle entered the costume contest—she loved walking on stage; she went trick-or-treating—a definite hit; she rode the carousel—made doubly fun by being able to ride while dressed as a sea creature; she fed the sheep and goats—also made doubly fun because she was feeding them while dressed as an octopus; and she ran and played to her hearts content. Hudson enjoyed eating the food—he eats more now that his ears feel better; and he enjoyed running around—he loves to chase his sister.

The octopus and the scuba diver greatly enjoyed their trip to the zoo. It is an annual event that always finds itself marked on our calendar. Though an x a day is painfully slow, it is definitely worth the effort.


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Poor Hudson Part 4

Hudson’s ears have stayed clean and clear, but the other day caught him in a new upsetting—mostly sad—situation. The other day, Hudson locked himself in the bathroom. He cannot reach the locks, nor does he know how to turn them, but he managed to lock himself in the bathroom nonetheless.

How did he do this? Good question. In our bathroom, the drawers are located right next to the bathroom door. When one of the drawers is pulled out, the bathroom door can no longer open—it will only open a crack. This doesn’t pose a problem to anyone who understands to simply shut a drawer, but to a baby like Hudson, this is a major problem. Hudson managed to lock himself in that bathroom for a good 15-20 minutes until we finally found a way to get him out. Johnny and I tried everything. We pleaded and begged him to shut the drawer, but he didn’t understand. He just cried and cried on the other side. We repeatedly saw his little fingers reach through the small crack in the door as he tried to get to us. It was so sad. I wanted to get him out and hold him quite terribly, but I could not get to him. There was no way to shut the drawer, and so there was no way to open the door.

I was just starting to wonder if we would ever get him out, when I finally had the idea to use a metal sign off our wall. With this sign, I was able to slowly shut the drawer. The only problem was that as the drawer shut, so did the door. Johnny took over at that point, and was able to somehow use the sign to shut the drawer completely. Thank goodness.

I was so happy to have Hudson out at last, and he was equally glad to see me. His poor face was completely red from crying so hard and long; but he was out, and everyone was happy. And now the bathroom door stays shut whenever Hudson is around. No more open drawers and stuck doors for us.

Poor Hudson Part 3

Hudson has had yet another round of the ear infection. Both of his ears cannot seem to heal completely nor properly. I am about as miserable and frustrated as he is. I may not be in pain, but I get no sleep. One night I was up until 5:00 AM—not fun. But, the only thing the doctor suggests is antibiotics. I do not want to try them anymore—they do not work. Plus, Hudson cannot take them. He pukes the medicine up repeatedly. We have to crush pills in his food and try to get them down in that way. Basically, we are miserable.

But there is a light at the end of this misery. Our neighbor—who likes the idea of natural healing like me—suggested that maybe her mother-in-law and her friend could help Hudson. Thankfully they happened to be in town, and we were able to go over the day we found out about Hudson’s ears. They were very kind, and helped Hudson immeasurably. They did a number of things, but the remarkable thing they did was when they popped Hudson’s ears. It was a rather simple and painless procedure that took immediate effect. Hudson was not fond of having his ears popped, but once they did it, his ears started to drain. Within a half an hour of them popping his ears, Hudson was smiling, walking around and feeling more like himself. I could not believe it. It was amazing.

And I am now happy to report that Hudson is doing wonderful. His ears are healed; and we did not have to use any antibiotics. And I have decided that I need to learn how to pop ears. I think it can be a very useful skill to know. It very well could be my means of survival—my means of getting sleep.

Blow Your Nose Hudson

This is how Hudson blows his nose.

An Octopus and a Scuba Diver Attend a Party

What happens when an octopus and a scuba diver attend a party?



The octopus listens to stories, it colors, it eats and it politely takes a goody bag. The scuba diver knocks down books, it runs away, it bothers the octopus and it tries to break anything it can get its hands on.

Which one do you want at your next party?



Elle, the octopus, and Hudson, the scuba diver, attended a Halloween party at Barns and Noble. The two of them had a lot of fun listening to stories (Elle listened; Hudson knocked books of the shelves), coloring (Elle colored; Hudson again knocked books off the shelves), eating a snack (Elle ate; Hudson tried to run away), and getting a goody bag (Elle got a bag; Hudson tried to break the train table). Even though my mom, my sister and I spent the entire time trying to keep Hudson out of trouble, it was still a lot of fun. Elle, of course, loved dressing up, and enjoyed all the festivities. Hudson enjoyed a new area in which he tried to ruin and destroy everything in his path. I am glad we attended this Halloween party, but I think of the two, the octopus is the one you want to attend your party.