The McMahon Family

Last year, Kristen, Rachel and I came up with a plan to have a seasonal-holiday-arts and crafts-get together with all the kids.  We started with Halloween due to my desire to avoid trick or treaters.  From there we did Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter/Spring (I think…).

Year 2, Fun Night #1 – Fall: We painted pumpkins, had a picture scavenger hunt, created seed pumpkins and played with friends.

Mac boycotting the idea of gluing seeds on his paper...even if they were yellow!

Getting our next clue.

See the rest of our pictures (the few I took!) here.  Thank you, Aunt Kristen, for planning a great evening!

Playing outside at the Pritts’ house tonight, Mac found a wild berry.  Maggie warned him not to eat it as they’re not sure what kind the berries are and they are dirty.  He looked very serious and told us that it came from this tree and that it was God’s tree that he warned Adam and Eve not to eat from.  So, don’t eat the fruit and disobey God!

Anticipation:  I have been super excited about this weekend all month.  I know, hard to believe considering it’s Halloween weekend, my most hated holiday.  But we had great plans on Friday for the Family Fall Festival at church, fall crafts with friends Sunday and Mac’s birthday on Monday.  I eagerly picked up the boys from school and we headed home completely excited about starting the fun in just a few short hours.  Mac was ready for the ‘joumpy house’!  Then we got home and it all fell apart.  Mac had one melt down after another, being extremely rude.  He was given multiple chances to turn it around, but to make a long story short, he didn’t and therefore lost his privilege to go to the Fall Festival.  We couldn’t punish Patrick, so he was allowed to go.  Daddy stayed with Mac, Mommy took Patrick.

Disappointment #1:  Can’t go as a family. I LOVE family outings.  I love to be in public with Shannon.  I love to watch him interact with our friends and think He’s mine! I love to be out with our kids.  I love to watch them with their friends and see the joy on their faces as they have fun.  And now we wouldn’t be going all together.  Okay, I can handle this.  My friends will still be there, Patrick will still have fun.

Disappointment #2:  Mac won’t get his candy.  Mac finally asked this year about Trick or Treating.  I explained what it is, and he asked, “Can we do that??  I want candy!”  After we had the discussion of Halloween, I explained about the Fall Festival and that he would receive candy then.  He was sooo excited to get candy!

Disappointment #3:  Patrick wouldn’t play any of the games.  He literally clung to my legs refusing to even try anything.  How hard or scary is it to throw a ball into a can?  Or a bean bag into a hole?  Really?  I forced him to fish.  I held the pole next to his clinched fist…I threw the balls into the cans, well attempted to.  So, he got a package of popcorn and a Swiss roll.  Despite his friends encouraging him to join them, I still just heard, “I want to go home.”  Before we left, we did find one thing he would do…a craft.  He made a pumpkin and loved coloring it (along with his hands while I was busy emailing Daddy) with markers.

The Nut with his two treats from the whole evening...

Despite my disappointments, it still ended up okay.  We got to leave early (it was mostly waiting in lines anyway and several kids there had dressed up, much to my chagrin) and head home to Daddy a little early.  I’m learning that even if things don’t turn out the way I had anticipated, all might not be lost! 🙂  And hey, we still have two more big things this weekend!!

**Update:  Mac was upset the night of, but his behavior was much improved the next two days.  He’s accepted the facts and is now excited to go next year…

With Aunt Diane and Uncle Tim in town for a couple of days, we had a fun family lunch at Uncle Denny and Aunt Nancy’s house.  After hours of playing outside and with cousins, they were exhausted.

Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa Rapp’s house.  Daddy needed to finish helping them get their new computer set up.  So Mommy and the boys had a little outside time in the leaves! 🙂

[qt:/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Fall.m4v 480 272]

Although movie nights are fun, they’re a lot of work.  Pop the popcorn, get covers for the couches, get drinks, get napkins, serve it up and get the boys seated and settled.
This week, it was already done…by Mac. 🙂

He even set it up. This is exactly what I found when I walked into the room.