Barely Controlled Chaos

Woodland Fairy in a Swing

Fairy Wore
Tennis Shoes

A 20 by 24 room full of third-graders seems somehow so much less full than a small farmhouse full of preschoolers. I'll add pictures later of Abby's party; I didn't have my camera so I'm depending on other parents. My mom went early to Lizzy's party, and I showed up there after Abby's - and there was definitely that aura of barely controlled chaos.

And this evening - hoo boy this evening. Eight children ranging in age from three (Woody from Toy Story, and the older kids taught him to say, "There's a snake in my boot!") to 11(our angel-in-disguise, in orange and black and wings and halo)  in age, over-excited, over-sugared, and over-tired. Wearing glow-stick jewelry over their costumes for visibility. That was a hoot but also - you guessed it - barely controlled chaos. Everyone but the Wicked Witch Queen my mom went out trick-or-treating; Mom manned (witch-queened?) the door.

Harry Potter, Wicked Queen, Dracula, Tinkerbell, Skull Bride, Woody,
Ghost, Angel (sans wings and halo), and Luigi (left to right)
aka Ash, Mom, Tristan, Lizzy, Abby, Connor, Kay, Leanna, Greg

The chaos was slightly less controlled outside, but there were some very funny moments. One of the kids had a meltdown because the world was apparently conspiring against getting him a Kit-Kat. Several people looked at the faces of the five grownups herding around these eight kids and offered us chocolate of our own. One lady offered me a margarita. "Just a small one," she said, "You can take it with you because the cup is plastic." I declined, as the dentist has recently told me no alcohol. But wow - what an offer! I wonder how many people take her up on that every year.