No good deed goes unpunished!

Last night we were doing some "ding dong ditches" Halloween style. We targeted our neighborhood predominantly. The boys and I made some sugar cookies and frosted them - they looked very homemade but also were very tasty despite the extra ingredients. Cooking with my boys can be somewhat challenging because they are so excited to be a chef, they struggle not taking the lead. Every time I turned my back to rinse my hands they would take handfuls of flour, an extra egg, more vanilla ect - to the batter.

"Deep breath Quinae, we can fix this. Just because it seems like they want to destroy everything you do with them, doesn't mean they actually want to. They are just excited. Yeah, that's it."

When we were rolling out the cookies Soren was basically rolling in the flour too. I really should have taken a picture of him. It was quite impressive. No matter, we survived the cookie making activity with only one banishment per kid - that is pretty good since this was a several step process.

The boys were pretty excited to give the cookies out. We walked around the neighborhood in the dark which was enchanting in of itself. And then to knock at someones door and run as fast as you can and hide sealed the deal of awesomeness in my kids eyes. We have done this activity a few other times as a family but this time was so much more fun because they were excited about giving away the cookies instead of concerned that they weren't going to have enough for themselves. Yes! Service point #1. We have arrived! As we were walking back to our car holding hands in the dark talking about how fun it was to do something nice f0r people, I thought, "It is all worth it. This is the moment of joy to remember. I love my little family."

Now fast forward about 15 minutes later as we are hitting up another house that we chose to drive to. I try to quiet the excited giggles, we ring the door bell and we are off. Xander gets ahead start and I hear a "smack"! Oh crud he tripped on the single step that is pretty much invisible in the dark. I run and scoop him up before the breath is fully drawn to let out the scream of pain. 3 steps down the driveway I hear another "smack!" Soren has gone down right behind us on the same step. Ahhhh! Staying anonymous seem imposible as I rush two screaming boys down the drive way and around the corner where our car is, all the while trying to hold in my laughter. I mean really? Their knees are bloody and their hands are red and they cry in pain feeling betrayed by service. I try to console them best I can but it is all so funny and I can't quite rein in the laughter.

Silver lining - we had one more house we had planned to do, and despite the pain and blood they insisted on finishing the job. "Mom, we need to give out those cookies." Yes! Service point #2!

I love my little bloody family.