Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Halloween + a Covid Scare

Happy November! 2 months left in what has been a full year! As the saying goes, the days are long but the years are short. This one is flying by! 


I know we've all moved on from Halloween but I can't let the holiday go by undocumented! The past weekend was a good one for us. I feel like Paul is hitting the peak age for holidays. He was SO excited to trick or treat and kept asking if it was time to go yet (he started to ask LAST Sunday!). On Saturday morning, I started off the weekend with a beautiful run with my neighbor. It was chilly out so there was fog coming off the lake which make it look spooktacularly beautiful!


Saturday was a nice day so we got outside as much as possible. It was chilly so mittens were necessary. These paw mittens were not cheap - around $40 - but they are the best mittens for little kids. They cinch around the wrist and you can also tighten them at the top to keep snow out. And bonus - they match Paul's fall coat. 


After nap/quiet time on Saturday, our friends came over for pumpkin carving. It was nice enough for us to do it outside. We had one other couple and their 2 kids over. Their youngest is in Paul's room at school so we consider them "in our bubble." The kids mostly played while the adults got to work.



I made a Lentil Soup in the Instant Pot, our friends bought a salad, and we had Halloween candy for dessert. Pretty easy peasy. 

The kids and our pumpkins (minus Will - he was tired and ready for bed at this point!)

On Sunday we did more scooting. We made sure to go around the neighborhood both days to take in the fall leaves and Halloween decorations! 


Finally, it was time to put on costumes and head out to the block photo! I was glad both boys' costumes were warm and snuggly. It was chilly out there - in the 40s probably? So Paul wore mittens and a hat. 


Can you tell how much Will adores Paul?


Will only went to the block costume photo. After that Will and Phil headed home to hand out candy and I took Paul trick or treating. I didn't think Paul would last very long as he is a very shy kid. But he totally surprised me and did great with trick or treating! I thought we'd go with other kids on our block but it was too tough to keep up with others so we did our own thing. We hit up all the houses on our block and some on the block perpendicular to our house. He did so great - said "Trick or Treat" and then "Thank you and Happy Halloween" after he got candy. We were out for about an hour and probably would have stayed out longer but I needed to get home to nurse Will and put him to bed. 

We counted his candy and he got 60 pieces! Some houses gave out full-sized candy bars! That never happened when I was a kid!

Now for the Covid scare. On Sunday I laid down at naptime feeling fine and an hour later I was super congested. I figured it was just another common cold. I didn't feel too bad on Sunday but on Monday I felt so tired and dizzy so I took the day off. I ended up napping for 3 hours total which seems excessive so I decided to get one of those at home rapid antigen covid tests. I was sure it would be negative so was shocked when it was positive. Cue the panic. It was 6pm at this point so I couldn't schedule our covid tests until the morning (when you get a positive rapid antigen test, the next step is a PCR test as false positives are possible w/ these at-home tests). So Phil and the kids stayed home. We were able to all get tested yesterday morning. I was so sure that my test would be positive since I wasn't feeling great. But around 9:30 our results came in and covid was not detected for any of us. Phew! I can't tell you how relieved I was. Yesterday was honestly rough. The first 4 business days of the month are the busiest for Phil, plus he's extra busy right now as he's covering some work for a coworker who is out on maternity leave. So he tried to help as much as he could, but I ended up managing the kids for quite a bit while not feeling great. I still don't feel "great" but it's good to know it's just a common cold! How many more covid scares will be have?? This is the 2nd one in about a month!!

How was your Halloween?

10 comments:

Elisabeth said...

Oh no! Somehow I have avoided any COVID scares yet, but this sounds awful - both the false positive (and related anxiety) AND feeling sick.

Rewinding a bit, though - those costumes are ADORABLE. And your family/friends pumpkin carving skills are first rate.

My kids have started to get some full-sized bars as well. I make both kids combine their candy at the end of the night and we pool it and then slowly dole things out over the course of several months - with the exception of full-sized bars. These they get to keep and eat without sharing! I have to say this year the caliber of candy was top-notch. Very few "filler" pieces in the bags, and mostly things the kids will enjoy/eat. That's not necessarily a great thing, as I usually end up throwing out a giant bag of things no one enjoys...so more sugar is staying in the house. But, since we ration if out over a long time, it just means I don't have to buy/make desserts for a while!

Abby said...

Sounds like such a fun Halloween!!! Your neighborhood sounds awesome. I’m excited to move to a real neighborhood for the holidays - where we live has no trick or treating bc everyone lives ok acreage and many have gates.

Smart call on the warm costumes!!! That’s so awesome that Paul did so great with going door to door!

Im so glad your tests all came back negative!!! What a Huge relief . Hoping your week gets bettter 💓

Jeanie said...

Well, first of all, I'm so grateful that your scare was just that -- and nothing worse. I'd be crawling the wall.

Halloween looks wonderful. Loved the hedgehog hat and the kids looked great. Your time with your friends looks like loads of fun, too. And nice you could do it outside -- it was way too cold here! That's a good one for the memory books!

Grateful Kae said...

I always love those cute, warm costumes! Ethan totally had a dino costume when he was around 3 I think. I believe that year the weather was extra crappy and we mostly did the indoor mall trick or treating event- not sure if they still have those...So cute at those ages!! The pumpkin carving party sounds fun! Lentil soup sounds really yummy too.

Glad your test came back negative! Eek! I would have been anxious, too. Hopefully you are feeling better...you really have had the full run of various illness, haven't you!! Haha. Such is life with little ones...I remember them getting sick a lot, but I feel like somehow I often got spared. Except I clearly remember a horrible case of bronchitis where I thought I was going to die, and I have distinct memories of both Asher and me coming down with a terrible stomach bug on an overnight to a waterpark in Wisconsin Dells. Came on literally an hour after we got there!! The worst!

San said...

Oh goodness, I am so glad that your first test was a false alarm. That must have been so scary. I just heard from a couple of people with breakthrough infections... and while I know that they can happen (in fact, are likely to happen), still nobody wants to get it. I hope you feel better soon.

Sounds like you had a great Halloween weekend with pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating. And the boys look so cute in their costumes!

Stephany said...

Ugh, that covid scare sounds awful! My mom did one of those at-home tests when she got sick in early October and it was negative, but I still wasn't convinced. Thankfully, she went and got a PCR test a few days later, which was also negative. But to see a positive result on that test must have been so scary for you! So relieved you are negative (<-- haha, sounds funny to say it like that, but you know what I mean!)

Halloween with Paul sounds like it was so much fun! I would have DIED if he had come to my house and said "thank you and happy halloween" OMG HOW CUTE!!!! I'm glad he had such a fun time.

Charbelle said...

So thankful it was just a scare! I need to get my booster! I’m out and about so much, I just need social interaction too much to stay home! I am just now where I’m booster eligible.

Sounds like such a fantastic weekend!!! The skies have been absolutely amazing this fall!!! I love that y’all had good weather over the weekend!!! 🧡🧡🧡

roughterrain crane said...

Good morning. Your choice of the costumes is great.

Anne said...

Love the costumes, and Paul's joy in Halloween!
Don't love the COVID scare. Eeps. That's the last thing you need. Here's hoping you get to your booster sooner rather than later...

katielookingforward said...

You should have that sunrise photo framed! I'm very behind on some blog posts, but I always seem to have extra computer time at the end of the year to catch up.