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Oh, it's the Halloween Post and then some

It's as though we didn't even celebrate Halloween. Well, we didn't. It takes a lot to get us to celebrate around here, but we DID go trunk-or-treating and trick-or-treating. I had the delightful pleasure of "following" behind a lady who "crashed" the church trunk-or-treat she-bang, let's see if I can get anymore hyphenated words in-here. There. Anyway, she kept saying "Trink-or-treat!" and I laughed every single time. Mature? No, I'm not.

Any post within a week of Halloween would not be complete without pictures of Fpido-man and the Petite Lion. The temperature dropped dramatically here in Texas on All Hallow's Eve and well, the 3 year old resident Petoh Pawkoh ended up looking like he was recovering from a bad lap-band surgery. But boy did he have fun. I don't think the wonder EVER ceased for him--to open his bag and get candy dropped in every time. I wish there was some kind of magical holiday like that for grownups. He gets limited on his sugar intake, and sure as heck doesn't get to go knock on people's doors and ask for it, or get recognized as Spiderman every time and then be gladly given a handful of candy. Perhaps the adult version would be something like, "What, your water pump is defective? Well here, how about a new car altogether. One that was made in the same decade in which you are driving it. By the way, that v-neck you are wearing is adorable---could you be any cuter, here, have some Rolos while you wait..." Yeah, I could go for that.

So, Avee spent that night getting cheetos caught in her lion's mane, screeching at anyone who didn't open her tootsie pop fast enough, and plopping down on the nearest slab of concrete to unwrap her most recent acquisition. (This was on our way home when the mane of Avee's costume climbed off her head and tried to eat her face---I have no fear that anyone will ever be able to take advantage of this girl in any way for any reason at any time. Her objectionary screams rivaled the weekly tornado drill sirens)

In other news, I feel that a great big family thank you is overdue to our friend No Cool Story.
A while ago she posted about Abuelita and she's mentioned it a couple of times in her very cool blog. It's Mexican hot chocolate. I like Mexican. I like chocolate. We bought some. It was so good.

I had it for the first time when J was out of town. So when he was home, I said, "Yo J, want me to make you some hot chocolate?" He dismissed me with a wave of his hand. I tried again, "It's Mexican hot chocolate..." His eyebrows raised. "It has cinnamon in it too..."
"Okay," he says, "I'll try anything once." So I made him some. That was two and a half weeks ago. We have two packages of Abuelita in our cupboard (for the lean times) and we've gone through two packages already. Jay's exact quote was, "I can't believe I've lived 29 years without this in my life." I think he said something similar to that when he met me. Just change the age and the word "this".

So, we love it. It is muy bien. I have proof of Avee's love of it, and Benja has nursed two pints of it in a sports bottle, all morning. It goes well with his funsize candy bars and fruity blowpops. We have a really cool hot chocolate maker, which is especially cool for Benja because he can dispense the liquid heaven himself. And he has. So, gracias NCS, and the Mexican culture as a whole.

Oh yeah, and since my life is consumed by talk of Spiderman and Peter Parker, I can't help but include such obsession on the blog.

It took Benja some time to figure out that Spiderman was a superhero and that Peter Parker was his alter ego. I mean "alter ego" in and of itself is a difficult term for a 3 year old. Okay, we didn't teach him that phrase, but we had countless conversations about who Spidey was and who PP was, etc, etc. Well, now he's got it. He knows what things Spidey says, and what things Peter says, and that Spidey can't kiss with his mask on and that Peter can't fly off of the tops of buildings without his suit---or his mojo, for that matter. He knows that Peter is "a man and if you punch him, he'll bleed."

Recently we've been discussing a lot about when I was a little girl. J and I often will say things we loved or did when we were little and Benja has really become interested in that. Conversations often go "Did you like that when you were a little boy like me?" and I'll explain that I was never a boy and won't ever be a boy. Other times he'll ask if when he's grown up and is a girl, etc, etc. And the same discussion ensues. I think he gets it now. However, I've been telling him how Grandma was my mom when I was little. He has just started distinguishing between the grandmas by calling them "The one with golden hair" and "Uncle Sam's mom". He can't be bothered by surnames.

It's amazing how complex things can get the older and older you get. Just a year ago he had no idea that Grandma wasn't everyone's Grandma, particularly not mine. And that the name didn't apply to all nice older women who like to hug and kiss you and read you books. And of course life was always as it was right in the moment. Benja was never a baby and certainly didn't have aspirations of growing up to be a daddy. And the crazy talk of mom never being a boy? Unheard of in aught-five!

So, given all this new information and the things he's processing and assimilating, do you think it's bad that I want to tell him that Peter Parker is actually Tobey McQuire who was also Red from Seabiscuit? I mean, it's my job to keep the boy informed, right?

The best part of Ave's costume was the conversation you had to have with her at each doorstep (in leiu of the kid being able to pronounce "trick or treat")...

Avee, what does a lion say? And from that tiny face within the most enormous lion mane comes the itty-bittyest voice saying simply:

"Rawr!"

When you have a minute, will you explain the Clark Kent-Superman thing for me?

The Halloween costumes and the kids in them are VERY CUTE!

OK, Carter had the same Spidey costume. But he looked slightly taller and slimmer in his (it was probably the same size as Ben's).

That post was full of deep thoughts. I might have to blend up some Abuelita while I ruminate...

"I can't believe I've lived 29 years without this in my life." I think he said something similar to that when he met me. Just change the age and the word "this".
Ok I could have just STOPPED right there. It is NOT NICE to do that to a nine mth prego.(I would like sum peaz) Please RDS the three year old does not need to know what an expansion joint is on a sidewalk! AH heck tell him all. Say just play the movie see if he catches on:)

OK I hate it when I HAVE to correct my own comment BUT I was trying to say send me some hot chocolate not the other:) and RDS is the ex

I have to take some umbrage here, as a former missionary to the motherland; in spite of the fact that the chocolate did come by way of the Aztecs, I think it is truly the Spanish that have made it into the stellar drink that goes so nicely with churros. OK, maybe you are right to give the Mexican culture some credit. In Spain we used to get churros in the morning with a big mug full of the hot chocolate. But don't be fooled; this was no ordinary hot chocolate. It was gooey and thick and rich and so very yummy in a belly and made us think of our cute little abuelitas at home...

I love (LOVE) Fpido-man and the cute untamed lion (Avee is just so darn cute).

"Trink-or-treat!" OMGosh, I'd would have been right there with you, laughing every single time.

No, gracias to you my amiga for all the kind words. I was just doing what comes naturally to my people: sharing our vast chocolaty knowledge, changing the minds and tastes of watery-fake-chocolate drinkers one cup at a time.

Abuelita people should get Avee to do a few commercial spots for them, look at that girl, she's loving it.

Nathan is totally right: churros + Abuelita=chocolaty infused coma.

That first picture of Avee is beautiful.

And I love your adult-halloween analogy. I laughed out loud, and will make DH read it too.

I'm up late and visiting your blog (it's very quiet at night). And now I'm wishing I had the nerve to walk to the store at 3 in the morning and get some Abuelita.

And churros - do they sell frozen churros? Like TV dinners?

That mane!! It kills me, around that little tiny face...so adorable.

oh - and about hot cocoa-ish stuff. When I was in Ukraine (nose-hair freezing winters) there was no hot cocoa mix to be found, so my comp and I concocted a fabulous mixture of baking cocoa, sweetened condensed milk, hot water and cinnamon. I still dream of it...Maybe it is a little like Abuelita's?

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