Happy Halloween

Someone made a higher offer on the house we wanted so last week we hunted some more houses.  We found a builder that we really liked and were leaning towards building.  When we called our realtor to find out more about building she told us that the people who had out offered us hadn't been able to get their financing so the house we liked was still available.  We didn't really like the offer they wanted though so we called the builder to find out what they would do for us.  They came back with a great deal and we decided to take it.  We filled out the contract on Monday and if they accept it (which they should because it was their offer) then we will have a house at the end of February!  We're very excited and of course will share lots of pictures when they start building.  Right now there is nothing to take a picture of but dirt.

Because of all the house stuff we had a really busy week last week.  We went to the store Monday night to get a pumpkin and they were sold out!  We tried another store on our way home that night and found one lone little pumpkin sitting in an aisle.  It was kind of on the smaller side but we grabbed it because it was that or none at all.  We carved it Tuesday night.  

This year we decided to do a Picasso pumpkin.

 

On Halloween we went to a party at a friends house.  I brought the camera and then forgot all about it while making dinner.  We had a lot of fun at the party and then went to the trunk-or-treat.  We dressed up and had stuff to decorate our trunk with but when we got out of the car we realized we forgot the tape.  We had 10 minutes so we ran home, grabbed the tape, and came back.  When we pulled up they were ready for the trunk-or-treating to begin so we only had enough time to pull out the candy and dump it in a bowl.  Then we realized that we left our camera at our friends house so we came away from our fun evening with no pictures.  It was a lot of fun though.  I like to make people do tricks for their candy and it was a lot of fun to see what the children could come up with off the top of their heads.  There were a few who came prepared and one of them did a magic trick for us, it was pretty good too!  We also saw some cartwheels, round-offs, princess twirls, and one little girl turned me into a toad!  Clever.

We went to an adoption conference on Saturday.  It was in Phoenix so we had to leave at 5am to get there on time.  One day I'm going to go to one of these things with my hair done and not have to do my make-up in the car.  At least I didn't poke my eye out trying to put on mascara.  

We took a class about race in adoption that gave us a lot to think about.  Some things the instructor pointed out that I really appreciated  was: to make sure you celebrate your child's heritage and to make sure they are around other people who look like them.  I can see how it would help a child to know they aren't the only one's that look the way they do - especially when their family all looks different from them.

Another class we took was about talking to your children about adoption.  One thing that the instructors said that we really liked was "The way you talk about adoption and their birth families is the way they will feel about it."  So, if it's a big secret that is sort of taboo to talk about then they will be ashamed of it, but if you talk about it in a positive way and it's something your family can bring up at any time and be comfortable with it then they will know that it is a wonderful thing, something to be proud of.  I think this will also make them more comfortable with themselves which is always very important.

We went to another birth mother panel and it was wonderful, as always.  We are so grateful for the selfless sacrifice they make for their children.  What wonderful, brave, and loving women they are.