All Hallows' Eve

Halloween is seriously one of my favorite holidays.  It's for a variety of reasons, the chief two being that 1) it takes place during Autumn, my absolute favorite season, and 2) it encourages intense chocolate and candy consumption, something I'm pretty good at.

This year, we didn't have a Halloween party at church.  I'm not sure why, but I am hoping the nasty rumors that some psychos were complaining about it being "inappropriate" and "evil-spirit"-ish are false.  I'm sure they're false, because surely no one would be such a stink pot to ruin the fun for everyone else, when they could just opt not to participate if an activity where kids are dressed in darling costumes and collecting candy in plastic pumpkins somehow offends them.  But . . . just in case they aren't false, let's just get something out in the open:  LIGHTEN UP, PEOPLE!

So.  We were pretty sad about no Trunk or Treat at church this year, but then my friend Kim saved the day by organizing one herself!  Everyone from church was invited and it was also opened up to friends and folks who lived in the community where she hosted it.  It was a fantastic success!

Here are my cute kiddos, the chef and his main course, right before we headed to trunk or treat Wednesday night:

 Wanting to cram as much Halloween cuteness into a few day span as possible, we joined the other Joy School folks for Halloween story time at the library on Thursday morning.  We do class on Monday and Wednesday and sometimes will do a "field trip" day later in the week.  I taught this week and we were doing the letter H.  It was perfect that it fell on the week of Halloween!  I'm so sad that Juliet's not in any pictures!  We took them before she got there.  She was a dalmatian and was adorable.  I feel bad sometimes that she's the only girl, but man do these little boys adore her.  

Everett, Kaden, Jack, and Mark:

 I love the way the siblings are being held in this shot.  Mia, Mark's little sister, was an old lady.  Her mom even made her a walker out of PVC pipe.  HILARIOUS.  Mia stays with me on the days that Jamie teaches Joy School and she keeps Everett for me the days that I teach.  As a result, Mia loves baby Everett.  

 Which is why she escaped here to go point at him:

 Kaden did NOT want to be in any of the photos.  I may have bribed him with candy to just get the few seen here.

 We then took the kids to Chick-fil-A (or Chick-A-LAY, as Kaden calls it), where Kaden had an accident in the play place and I realized I had forgotten to throw his extra pants in the diaper bag.  He totally walked out of that place in just his skivvies.  We buzzed home, threw his costume in the washing machine, took naps, and waited for Daddy to come home so we could go trick or treating.  While we were waiting, Kaden practiced making Everett smile:

Trick or treating was a huge hit.  Everything is so much more magical when you are seeing it through a little one's eyes.  Kaden was most excited by the houses that handed out lollipops.  He'd always turn around and yell to us, "I got another LOLLIPOP!!!" after they plunked one of those into his bucket.  We seriously live in the perfect neighborhood for trick or treating.  I love it! Our little lobster passed out in the stroller for most of the Halloween night action, but he was the cutest sleeping crustacean imaginable.

I shot this cute  video of Kaden after the evening's festivities:

And here's one more of cute Everett just being his awesome, chubby, happy self:

 We're already plotting next year's costumes.

Next on the agenda:  Christmas music!!!  And cooking my first turkey for Thanksgiving.  I'm a little nervous about that.