I told many people that I thought Uncle Chris would have wanted the kids to be able to have Halloween at home. Or that I thought it was important for the sake of the kids to be home for Halloween. What I didn’t figure out until I made this entry was that while the above is certainly true, it was also ME that needed to see the kids at home for Halloween. I needed to know that life in general could still be fun, even if maybe I wasn’t ready to have fun yet.
We start the night before Halloween. After the plane landed we drove around a bit looking to see if anybody had any pumpkins left, but all the stores were out. When we pulled up in our driveway, our neighbor Rob talked to me about Chris a bit, and when he heard we hadn’t found a pumpkin in time, he gave us a great one right off of his porch, ready for carving. What a brilliant neighborhood we’ve found, I love these people!
Halloween pretty much started the moment the plane landed on the 30th. Ian got this cool Halloween shirt from Grandma Sue! See this image larger.
Halloween day, the 31st… Ian and I carved the pumpkin that our awesome neighbors gave us. It was huge, God knows how much it cost them. Mental note: Make cookies for those people. See this image larger.
Ian drew up something that looked a bit like this. I approved after altering the eye-size to something a bit larger, and reducing the number of nostrils from 3 to 2. See this image larger.
Brendon and Jake next door paused for a quick picture. These really are two of the greatest boys I’ve met, so it is fantastic to see them being good friends with Ian, and hopefully someday Nina. Brendon, the older of the two, converses with you like you’re a comrade. Very cool. See this image larger.
Nina was a real go getter… in this case she got a little ambitious and went right into the house. We’re still working on boundaries. See this image larger.
Ok that’s just creepy. But he liked it, and it was nothin’ some toothpaste couldn’t fix! See this image larger.
November 2nd, went up to find Ian’s bed empty, and discover Goldielocks in a different bed instead… ours. Apparently it was just right! (And he was having nightmares or something.) See this image larger.
Video, October 31st Click here to check out a very big, but very awesome music video of Nina on Halloween… this is a MUST SEE, sorry it is so big! 14MB
Video, October 31st Click here to see Ian running around on Halloween. 4MB
Video, October 31st Click here to check out a video of Ian squeezing a pumpkin seed. 758KB
Video, October 31st Click here to see Nina practicing blowing out candles. 1.7MB
Missed these things, will put them in the right place shortly… Hope these dates are right…
Dialogue, October 22nd Nina, while watching the spaceship land at the end of WALL•E: “Oh, NO!” Mommy: “They’re going home, Sweetie!” Nina, abruptly changes her mind and claps her hands: “Yaaaaaay!”
Dialogue, October 22nd Nina, with clearest pronunciation yet, to Grandma Sue: “I dove you.”
This is from our trip to the park on the 8th of October.
https://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svg00vrbfwhttps://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svgvrbfw2011-11-20 13:26:282011-11-20 13:26:28I Messed Up Again…
October 24th, the day started like any other, except that when I gave the kids a bowl of cheerios, they situated themselves at a table in the sun room, divvied up the cereal without being asked to, and had a quiet breakfast. Within an hour or so, their Uncle Chris, my brother, was taken from us, and our lives and all the lives he touched, changed forever. See this image larger.
October 25th, Melissa packed up everybody’s stuff, organized and purchased the tickets. Within a day we were in Florida. She was brilliantly strong through this entire week and helped me immeasurably. I cannot thank her enough. Here Nina sits and waits for an evening snack, dressed in a really cute “Boo” shirt. See this image larger.
October 27th, I awoke to this sunrise at Joan and Don Dwyer’s condo. Dolphins frolicked in the waterway right outside the balcony. My Aunt Leslie and Uncle Gordon arranged for us to stay there; I’ll get into more detail in a moment. It was beautiful there, and not having to worry about a hotel and extra traveling helped us focus on what we needed to do. Thank you both so much! (And thanks to Joan and Don, as well!) This day was Chris’s “viewing” I think they call it. It was very hard to say good-bye. The video linked below was of Nina coloring at a restaurant on the way home. A difficult day. See this image larger.
October 28th, and Uncle Gordon’s postman hat became a fashion statement! See this image larger.
Uncle Gordon took Ian and I down to the beach, he was brilliant with Ian in particular, who liked playing with him a lot. They played a lot of games and Ian was kept nicely distracted, which Melissa needed desperately, given that I wasn’t focusing too much on what was going on. Gordon also lent me some clothes which was a great help. See this image larger.
October 29th, in the morning Nina tried on my hat and shoes… didn’t fit! Go figure. Some great videos linked below show Nina babbling on the balcony about an owl, and playing peekaboo! See this image larger.
Aunt Leslie and Uncle Gordon came to the rescue for so many people in our family during this time… hosting us, comforting us, allowing us to rely on their strength. I don’t think I’d have made it through this time without their help. Unfortunately, Tara would end up in the hospital, making for a time when Les and Gordon could have used some of their strength back. Tara’s doing well now, but it was a very rough week for the Eaves family. Thank you all again for your help, I can’t say that enough. See this image larger.
My Aunt Millie read Ian a book on the iPad, keeping him entertained. See this image larger.
Sunset off of Les and Gordon’s front balcony. I saw a bird shape in the clouds, but it did not come out in a picture. See this image larger.
Honestly this is one of those moments that is too beautiful for words. I made a music video, linked below, of Nina playing patty-cake with my Uncle Ken… it’s a big video, but well worth a click. Uncle Kenny wrote “Thank you for letting me play with her, a moment that will not be forgotten.” While we’re on this subject, a day after we got home, Nina walked through our house doing the “roll it” part of patty-cake and said “Whargo?!?” (meaning “Where’d he go?”) She wanted to play again! See this image larger.
Nina snuggled up with Grandma Sue for a brief nap before we had to hop on a plane and head home. See this image larger.
Quietest, most peaceful flight ever on the way home… Ian and Nina both fell asleep within moments of take-off. See this image larger.
And they did not awaken until the plane started its decent in Michigan! There’s a brief video below that shows our four weary travelers, linked below. See this image larger.
Dialogue, October 26th Ian: “Uncle Chris is my friend, and now I’m sad because he’s gone.”
Video, October 27th Click here to watch a video of Nina doing a great job coloring. 2.7MB
Dialogue, October 27th Ian: “I’m guessing ice cream is made out of ice and cream.”
Dialogue, October 27th Ian, to my Uncle Gordon, who works as a mailman. The ellipses indicate where people started laughing so loud that he continued while ducking his face into his hands, embarrassed by the sudden attention : “Thank you, mailman… for the ice cream”
Video, October 29th Click here to see a long but MUST SEE video of Nina investigating a fake owl. 9.3MB
Video, October 29th Click here to check out a video of Nina peeking! This is a good one too! 5.2MB
Dialogue, October 30th Ian: “God didn’t give me a sock power to let me to put my socks on!”
Video, October 30th Click here to see a special music video of Nina and my Uncle Ken playing patty-cake! This is a big video, but it is really good, please watch! MUST SEE!!! 11.1MB
Video, October 30th Click here to check out a video of my family of travelers! Very short video. 1.4MB
Halloween 2011
I told many people that I thought Uncle Chris would have wanted the kids to be able to have Halloween at home. Or that I thought it was important for the sake of the kids to be home for Halloween. What I didn’t figure out until I made this entry was that while the above is certainly true, it was also ME that needed to see the kids at home for Halloween. I needed to know that life in general could still be fun, even if maybe I wasn’t ready to have fun yet.
We start the night before Halloween. After the plane landed we drove around a bit looking to see if anybody had any pumpkins left, but all the stores were out. When we pulled up in our driveway, our neighbor Rob talked to me about Chris a bit, and when he heard we hadn’t found a pumpkin in time, he gave us a great one right off of his porch, ready for carving. What a brilliant neighborhood we’ve found, I love these people!
I Messed Up Again…
Missed these things, will put them in the right place shortly… Hope these dates are right…
Summer Fades