Halloween...Hatch Style

I have these visions of how I would like life to be. Especially during the holidays. I would love to have a family outing where we go to a pumpkin patch, have a hayride, pick out the perfect pumpkin, then go home and carve with smiles and pictures galore. I would love to plan my kids' costumes months in advance and have them made to fit perfectly and set out the night before. I would love to go trick or treating as a family, hand in hand with Aaron at my side with the kids skipping along. So not so when it comes to Hatch reality! Life is crazy right now, so Halloween was last minute-lets see what we can throw together. It started with Aaron and Christopher carving a pumpkin last minute on a Monday night right before Pack Meeting. I forgot to unpack the carving tools when I got out the Fall decorations, so Aaron had to be inventive with finding new carving tools. Somehow we screwed up on the date and carved the pumpkin a week early. It rotted and we had to throw it out. Next Monday night, Aaron got a new pumpkin on the way home from work and they last minute started again. This time Preston got involved. I think they turned out great! Jaycee got a pumpkin too, but she had so much homework she didn't have time to carve it. I have never really been a fan of this holiday. Even as a kid. I would always dress up as a fat coach. I just wore big sweats, filled with pillows and wore my dads hat and whistle. It kept me warm and I was dressed up enough to at least get some treats from the neighbors. Now that I am older, I have to really force myself to be excited for my kids on this holiday. I get the candy part, but the dress up and scare people is just not my thing. Ironically enough, that is exactly what Christopher wanted to do this year. Just scare people. I'm not sure what he is, but he came up with his own costume. I found it scary. Preston decided to go as Harry Potter, and I talked Jaycee into wearing a poodle skirt I made years ago for Jenessa. This all came about 2 days before Halloween. Phew, just in time! The day was somewhat crazy, keeping with true Hatch form. Jenessa had a swim meet tonight at Rogers High School. It was district prelims. She was not thrilled this was taking place on Halloween. Aaron took her and she did AMAZING! Out of 4 events, she got personal bests on 3. Way to go Ness! YOU ROCK! She qualified for district finals in two events that will take place today. If she swims well, she will go to State in two weeks. It's looking pretty positive right now. So, while Aaron was at this swim meet, I took Jaycee to a Halloween Party, dropped Christopher off at the Fullers, took Preston around the block with my neighbor and tried to be home enough to hand out all the candy we bought. Right when Ness got home, she headed to the football game and off to a friends until Midnight. Poor Aaron had to wait up until then to go pick up both girls. We both are going to be exhausted today. Jaycee has a soccer game in Sammamish and Ness has District finals. It will be a long day, but yet rewarding at the same time. I love to watch my kids compete and share in their excitement.

So...my fantasy about Halloween didn't come to pass. Thank goodness. How cheesey was that?! Life is what it is and we will roll with it!

****Update*****
Jaycee won her soccer game 2-0. She even had a shot on goal. That is not an easy task at her level of play. Way to go Jaycee! Her team is undefeated this year and are in 1st place in their league. She plays left midfielder.

Ness had another personal best on the 200 Free Relay by dropping another second. What an amazing two day meet for her. She was dropping time right and left. Sadly, only the top 7 teams can go to state and that particular relay took 9th even though she dropped a second. On the 400 Free Relay, she swam up to par, but the relay team took 10th. We couldn't be more thrilled with her performance though. She kicked butt and went further this season than last.