Halloween Week

We had a pretty full week of activities, parties, and other festivities in celebration of Halloween last week. Matthew was so excited. He had been looking forward to Halloween all month. Each night after prayers, he would ask: "Tomorrow is Halloween, right?" I am so glad that it has finally passed so we can move on to a different nightly question. I have a funny feeling I will be answering this question for two months straight: "Tomorrow is Christmas, right?"

Matthew resurrected his costume from last year and dressed as a T-Rex again. At least he claims he is a T-Rex. The actual costume is that of a dragon because I couldn't find a dinosaur costume on sale last year. He causes confusion wherever he goes because almost nobody can guess what he actually is. While trick-or-treating this year, he was called a crocodile, lizard, iguana and "strange winged reptile" by one particularly confused older gentleman. On occasion, someone would say "dragon" but unfortunately Matthew pretty much always had to correct: "No! I a T-Rex! ROAR!!!"  The "roar" apparently seals the deal.

And Emma was a duck. Or "duckie" as she called it. She really loved her costume.

We started out the week by going to the ZooBoo. We go to this every year, but it was particularly tricky picking out a day to attend this year when we weren't going to be rained on or turning into ice cubes after we paid fifteen bucks to stand in line next to a bunch of empty animal cages for a couple pieces of candy and a toothbrush. The kids always enjoy it even though they seem to have fewer and fewer actual animals out to look at each year. This majorly disappoints our kids because they actually would like to see the animals. Still, they enjoy the decorations and being able to walk around the zoo while it's pitch black out. And of course, there is always the annual train ride that Paul loves going on. We waited in line about an hour for that ride this year - but the smile on Matthew's face meant he certainly thought it was worth the wait!

Somewhere behind that dirty, dirty window is a giraffe.

They hate taking pictures with their mother. Seriously, they can't wait to get away
from my loving arms. Yet, when I'm trying to make dinner or do something productive, 
they are glued to my legs. What gives?!?!

Matthew has been looking forward to this train ride all year.

The next day, we attended a storytime featuring some Halloween-themed tales for the little ones along with a snack and a craft. For the craft, the kids glued eyes and faces on tiny pumpkins. The kids were pretty excited to make them - Emma actually did a really good job decorating hers and Matthew made a cat face on his pumpkin. They both looked really awesome and I had planned to take a picture of them except on the way home the kids decided to rip a single eye off their respective pumpkins - so now we have two cyclops pumpkins. Not quite as cute.

Later in the week, we carved a very large pumpkin with Paul. Well, rather, Matthew and Emma munched on cookies while Paul carved the pumpkin. They were no help this year. Then we watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and the kids loved it.

Matthew's preschool held a Halloween parade and a party on the same day. Emma and I got to come to his school to watch all the children parade around in their costumes. It was really cute, but for some reason I couldn't find my Matthew. He told me he was there and didn't see me either. I must have missed him! Later in the day, he came home with a ton of treats from his party. I was a little overwhelmed by the bounty of sugar especially because we were scheduled to go trick-or-treating a little later that night. More sugar! Emma was very jealous of all Matthew's treats, but he generously bequeathed her a Musketeer Bar (he hates them). That made her happy and sticky. I couldn't wait to collect more candy for her to smear in her hair.

After Paul got home, we got the kids back into their costumes (they had been wearing them pretty much all day - except when eating) and dressed in warm clothes ourselves. The weather predicted very cold temperatures and rain, so we were prepared for the worst! We took a couple pictures with our trick-or-treaters before heading out. They were less than cooperative.

Seriously. Never happy when taking a picture with their mother.

Thankfully, the weather held and we had a blast trick-or-treating. I was especially proud of my happy little duckling for carrying her own bucket up to each doorstep and clearly saying "thank you" after receiving her treat. One older lady even gave her a special treat: a stuffed bear dressed as a pumpkin. She told Paul that she gets one special gift to give out to her favorite trick-or-treater each year and this year she chose our Emma. Emma felt pretty special but definitely lost interest in collecting more treats after that. She just wanted to hug her "pumpkin bear".

By the end of the night, Matthew had collected a ridiculous amount of treats. After surveying his loot, I have to note that both M&Ms and Snickers were by far the most popular candy of the night. We ate some chili for dinner, watched Matthew patronizingly hand out candy to the last couple trick-or-treaters, and then tucked the little ones into bed. Paul and I then settled down to watch Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (you know, because we're 90) by the spooky glow of our carved pumpkin. That classic film was almost a bit too scary for Paul. I wish I was joking but I have a sad history of watching mildly scary films with him. Last year, I tried to show him the not-all-that-spooky Vincent Price classic The Haunting but had to turn it off part way through because he couldn't bear to watch any more!

And with that, we've wrapped up October and now have all the festivities that November and December bring us to look forward to! And stay tuned for a recipe that uses up some leftover Halloween candy. Because, as I'm sure you're aware, it is much healthier to chop it up and throw it into a batter full of butter and sugar than to eat it straight! I'm all about health.

Okay this one's not so bad.