Halloween has come and gone, thank goodness. I know the kids love dressing up and they have fun dressing up for their school parties and going trick or treating at night, but I really don't like Halloween. I do try to put an effort and we always do the whole pumpkin thing and all that stuff. I don't know if it's the creepy decorations and costumes or all the junk food, but it just stresses me out and I don't like it. I'm glad when November first rolls around and we can start looking forward to the Christmas season, which is my favorite holiday :).
We usually wait until a day or two before Halloween to carve our pumpkins, so they don't get too smushy. Here we are digging out all the inside goo ...

Dominic didn't like the feel of the pumpkin seeds, etc so he just used a spoon to get it all out :).

This year Riley went Trick or Treating without us for the first time. My boy is growing up :( ! He was invited to go with two of his friends instead .... he was pretty excited about that. He dressed up as a hunter with a wierd mask that had a huge squished nose and big, gross teeth. It was pretty funny :).

Dominic was a brown bear ... isn't he cute?

Carson was a ninja ... and as I look at this picture, I notice how serious he is in this, hehe. He honestly was excited to go to collect some treats ... just having a serious moment, I guess :).

On another note ... people in our area are starting to get very nervous about the H1N1 flu. Last Friday was the first official Public Health vaccination clinic and by the end of the day the province was saying they were already, unexpectedly, short of vaccinations. Ugh.
Calvin had taken the boys to the clinic(I was at home babysitting, so I was planning on going to another clinic the following week) and did not even go in because of the hundreds of people waiting in line. We didn't know it at the time, but I guess they had 2 lines and if you had a child under age 5 they were allowing you and your family to go to the front of the line and get taken almost right away. So, Calvin, not realizing this, turned around and came home, thinking we'd try another day this week.
Well, by the end of the day they made that announcement and we were kicking ourselves for not sticking it out and getting the shots. Now, they will only give the H1N1 vaccine to certain people ... children under age 5 (so, fortunately, Dominic can still get it) being one of them. I'm really glad Dominic will be getting it, seeing he is under age 5 and is also a higher risk because of his heart. The rest of us will have to wait until more vaccinations are available, I guess.
It is in the area, though. I know of a couple of kids from their school who have had it, plus a boy on Riley's hockey team. With a bit of luck and lots of prayers we will hopefully all stay healthy and none of us will get this horrible flu or any other major sickness.