I had a really hard time finding Halloween costumes this year. Everything in the store was snow-suit style and considering it was still 80+ degrees outside, that wasn’t going to cut it. So I decided to make Raine a Super-Girl outfit.

But then that turned into making Carter a Super-Boy outfit (you can’t see his cape, but rest assured he has one).

Which, of course, turned into making DJ and I Super-Dad and Super-Mom shirts.

So by the time the Ward Halloween Party rolled around Friday night, I has some super-bags under my eyes from sewing instead of sleeping. But that’s okay, ’cause it was worth it.

Saturday we went to the “Boo at the Zoo” with the Staheli’s. It was a beautiful day and Raine had a blast.

They had a designated “toddler area” with easy games and (my favorite part) non-candy prizes!

Carter enjoyed it too. (See his cape, I told you he had one.)

That night, we attempted to go to a trunk-or-treat at the church, but since we had the wrong time, we missed it. But that was okay because everyone else from our ward had the same wrong time so we all just chatted and swapped candy with each other.

I find myself constantly asking two questions:
1. Is it really hurting anything?
2. Am I willing to follow through with the consequences?

Here are some of the battles that I have chosen not to fight.

Raine always wants to “do it myself.” She is so proud of herself when she does something all by herself that I can’t bring myself to tell her that she did it wrong. As a result, she regularly goes places with her shoes on the wrong foot.

Nap time is a big enough battle by itself, so I really try not to create any extra problems. As a result, Raine has slept with all sorts of things in her bed. She has also worn some rather unusual things to bed — like her “princess” shoes.

I normally don’t let Raine watch TV, but when she started asking to “sing with the prophet” after we watched General Conference, I happily consented. Thank heavens for the on-demand links to every song the choir sang. And yes, she always conducts the choir with a hymnal on a chair in front of her.

This one really wasn’t much of a “consent.” I’m not a big fan of traditional gender roles, so letting Carter play with dolls is perfectly fine with me. I just included these photos so he would be adequately represented on the blog.