The Halloween Party

This past week at school, Jonathan's class had a Harvest Party.  They decorated cookies, played games, made crafty things...lots of fun.  But Jonathan wasn't fooled.  He knew it was a Halloween party with a different name.

When he came home from school, he was inspired to throw a Halloween party for his siblings.  He drew pictures that would become decorations, he planned games, and he drew a treasure map to lead them to the "treasure" which was his stash of decorations.

When he broke the news of the surprise Halloween party to Benjamin and Grace yesterday evening, he told them (mostly Grace) that she needed to search for a rolled-up sheet of paper.  He gave her major hints about where to find it, and when she found it, he read it to her and explained to her that was a treasure map and that they needed to look for the treasure.  She was ecstatic.  They searched together for the "treasure" and found his party decorations in the playroom, which were drawings of bats, pumpkins, etc.  (Those of you who are familiar with Jonathan know that he doesn't draw very often, so drawings made this even more fun.)

Jonathan decorated for the party, which really meant taping up his drawings wherever Grace wanted them, and then he played the pre-planned Halloween party games with Benjamin and Grace.  The first one was really a game of chase - played around the circle in our downstairs.  (If you've ever lived in a house which has a loop where kids can play chase nonstop, or drive vehicles around and around, you get the idea.)  It was called "come get the pumpkin" and each kid had to chase Jonathan for awhile until they caught him and got to hold a pumpkin.  Benjamin got to hold the small one that Jonathan had decorated with stickers at school, and Grace got to hold an old artificial foam one that I let them play with.

After this, they played pumpkin bowling, pumpkin rolling, pumpkin soccer...Benjamin didn't really participate, but Jonathan and Grace had a GREAT time, and it was so much fun to watch them actually playing together, and to see how carefully he had planned out a fun time for his siblings.  I knew that the fake pumpkin would not likely survive the "party," but I was more than happy to sacrifice it for something like this.

It was hilarious and precious to watch.  I knew that if I didn't write it down, I would forget it once we get back to the normal busy of making sure everyone is wearing clothes, brushing teeth, combing hair, taking turns, etc.  I'm really thankful to see a glimpse into Jonathan's tender heart toward his siblings and see how responsive and grateful Grace was.