Happy Halloween!

Here are the pictures I got from Halloween this year. Ryan did NOT love the chicken costume any more than he liked the lion costume. I didn't buy new costumes for him since he can wear ones we had from his brothers. He did not want to wear it, but he did and he eventually did what I would call okay.

The two older boys were THRILLED to get into their costumes. They absolutely couldn't wait. They've worn them so much since last year that Joshua's glove even had a small hole in the seem, which he begged Mamaw to fix and she willingly did. He was grateful (me, too!) for her skills. :) :) :)

Okay, I know it's not fun to take a picture of a crying baby, but we thought he looked SO adorable as a chicken that I couldn't help but snap a few even with the screams.

Before leaving, we gave the boys the "rules" for the evening. Joshua remembered ringing doorbells and saying "Trick-or-Treat" but we reminded them that they also take only one piece of candy, they profusely thank each person for whatever it is that they received, and they tell the homeowner to have a great night or a Happy Halloween as they leave. They did pretty well with it. Then we added that you only go ringing doorbells or knocking on doors that have lights on AND that you wait for your brothers and all go at once.

The older boys would charge up to a door in excitement and the poor little chicken was too chicken to join them. He would sometimes go (if we knew the people, we would say things like "This is Mr. Paul's house - you can go say hello!) and he would do fine once he was sure of himself. Other times, he would wait and hold back and we'd let the other boys walk up. Ryan got all of five pieces of candy that night, I think, which was MORE than plenty. We really don't need candy and junk food in our house. I have come to appreciate the families that hand out things like pretzels and goldfish that the boys can eat beyond the special night.

I saw a post on Facebook where a gal said one of her daughter's friends said they were worshiping Satan if they dressed up for Halloween. I couldn't disagree more. Do I think of Halloween as a religious holiday? Of course not! Do I agree with all practices and thoughts of evil associated with it? Not at all! I'm not even entirely comfortable with the one house in our neighborhood decorating their entire yard with gravestones and skulls and ghosts simply because it terrifies my kids as we walk by. But, does that stop us from enjoying the opportunity to dress up and walk around the neighborhood? My boys LOVE to dress up. It's not unusual for them to play like their cowboys or farm animals or superheroes. So, the only difference is that I'm allowing them to put the costumes on outside of our house. And it's a fun way to get to know different neighbors than we might normally see. We live in such a nice neighborhood.

Here's Ryan coming back with a special treat from one of the houses. He wouldn't carry his pumpkin (it is a little big for him) and he refused to keep the chicken hood part of his "coat" on (I love this costume for its warmth, too! I put other clothes underneath the other boys' costumes because it was chilly that night.). But, he ended up doing just fine.

This was the first year that we sort of hung back at the sidewalk and let the older boys take the lead and go up to the doors by themselves. It was a new and unique feeling. In the past I've been right there with them to greet the homeowner. Now I'm the parent with older kids who waves and says thanks from afar.

After walking one block, Ryan and I came back so he could get out of his costume and be happy. Our bowl that we had filled to the brim with 'premium' candy was empty already, so we had either had a lot of trick-or-treaters or someone dumped the entire thing into their bag. Neither would surprise me. After getting my little man into PJs, I refilled the bowl and answered the doorbell when it rang. I love being the one who gets to "ooh" and "aah" at the various costumes and say hello to neighborhood friends and plenty of kiddos I've never seen before. The older two went back out with Daddy. I'm not sure for how long they walked, but eventually they got into Daddy's car who took them out to buy them a special drink. Joshua chose Gatorade, I think, and Caleb chose something else (probably chocolate milk) and they came home.

While I had soup in the crock pot, Shawn saw that the Carrabba's in Lancaster had $5 carry out pizzas. After placing his order early while he was at work and waiting in the carry-out line for over an hour with other highly irate customers, he finally asked to talk to a manager who never showed (and it takes a loooonnnggg time for Shawn to get upset). He eventually got his pizza as he was about to just walk away, but it made us late in getting our evening started and he vowed we would NEVER do anything take-out from there again since it's so poorly managed and operated. The pizza was good, but certainly not worth the aggravation. They couldn't tell who had ordered what or what number a person was in line and the whole thing was a big cluster. Oh well! Live and learn! I still love the restaurant, but we've not been back there since as I think it's left a bad taste in Shawn's mouth, so to speak.

Speaking of taste, we let the kids eat candy that night. We let them eat some the next night, too, as I recall. But I remember the pediatric dentist saying to eat it all at once and not a piece at a time as the continual exposure to sugar does more damage in rotting teeth than once and done. So, we eventually tossed the extra. We had eaten a TON of calories already, and none of us needs the chocolate. We probably could have frozen it, but I have no willpower. If it's in my house, I'm going to indulge. And that leads to bulge... so, in the trash it went. I hate to throw things away. "Waste not, want not" as an expression I heard often growing up. But, I've also learned that it goes to waste or your waist, and which is worse?