Happy Halloween

Halloween this year, like every year, was full of soccer for us. Evan and I started the day with an early drive to Jackson for Evan’s regional soccer game. We won 4-2.

 

Later that evening Evan, Makinley, and I went to the NSC game in Nashville. 

Keagan, Madi, and friends went to Nashville for a haunted house. 

On Sunday Evan and I drove to Huntsville for another regional game. We won 8-1. 

Long gone are the days of trick -or-treating, but the boys did get a bag full of treats. Evan ate so many of his Sour Patch kids, that his tongue is now peeling. 🤷‍♀️

Not So Happy Halloween

Halloween used to be one of the most exciting days in our house. The boys spent weeks pouring over magazines selecting their must-have costume. Many years the boys couldn't decide on just one, so they got two costumes - one to wear to Fall Festival and one to wear trick-or-treating. It didn't matter because they often wore the costumes for weeks and even years after Halloween.

But then they grow up, and you spend Halloween night at the kitchen table doing math homework. This is the first time in 15 years that I haven't watched as one of the boys went out the door prepared for the hunt of candy. It is a terrible reality of their growing up.

Tricks and Treats

 
 
 
This brings me so much joy! I'm so happy to see Evan going trick-or-treating with a friend. I have been saddened that my little boy has become so grown up in such a short amount of time. I am relishing today's costume choice and his excitement for tonight - even if he is ditching us to hang out with a friend.

Keagan and Alex have ditched us, too. Alex's family knows me well enough to know I don't do temps below 55 degrees, and they have agreed to take the boys around the neighborhood. I am so grateful because 41degrees and wind gusts of 30mph spell misery. I lucked out this year getting to sit on the couch in my warm house drinking Port.                                                          Happy Halloween! Hope your night is filled with tricks and treats!

 

Happy Halloween

I have a hard time handing out trick or treat candy to teens, but I have an even harder time doing it when they don't bother to wear a costume and they use a purse as their treat sack. So when the eighth grader wearing sweats and carrying the fake Gucci purse just rang my bell, I gave her a pixie stick that I found in the pantry from a birthday party we attended months ago. She saw my chocolate, she saw me bypass it, and I caught her questioning look.

The pixie stick seemed like a good decision at the time, the perfect "that'll get her", but I am now fearing retaliation.

The boys hit the streets tonight eager for their own candy collection. Evan went as Captain America, Keagan as a Storm Trooper, and Ian, our neighbor and third child, went as a Ninja.

As I lay awake tonight waiting for the return of the teenagers and the sounds of eggs hitting my windows, I will take comfort in knowing I have these guys watching over me.

Trick or Treat

Because Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, the town of Hinesville decided trick or treat hours should be moved to Saturday. We were even "issued" times that trick or treating would be allowed. 

Could we be in the deep South AND in a military town? 

Just maybe.

The costumes are held together with safety pins, and even with the pins, they just barely stayed together for the big night. Because of the generousity of our neighbors, no doors were knocked down, and no squirts from the water gun were necessary. However, Evan may need therapy after stopping at this house.

He told me, "I think that guy might be a little crazy because he is dressed as a woman!"

Mission Boo the Neighbors

New neighborhood, new friends, and old traditions.

With the help of these two secret agents, we boo'ed three neighbors today. What boy doesn't want to bang on the neighbor's door, ring the doorbell multiple times, and then run as fast as possible?

I think the running as fast as you can away from the door is done so as to maintain the secrecy of your identity. In fact, I am certain of this, and it could be the very reason why I read the BooGram poem that stated this mission is a secret. Somehow we missed that key step in "how to boo the neighbors" because one of the agents, who will remain unnamed but can be clearly identified due to his inability to keep a secret, actually went to the neighbor's house and asked, "Did you get your treats?"

Look What Arrived in the Mail Today

If you lived on our street, then you would have heard the boys screaming when we arrived home today. And, no, it had nothing to do with a football game gone bad. Halloween costumes arrived! Clothes were stripped off before the front door was closed, and the costume parade began. Let's hope they stay together for two more weeks.

Keagan usually vacillates among four or five costumes before he makes a final decision. This year he made the decision rather quickly. He knew he wanted to be SWAT member because he wanted "to knock down doors to get extra candy."

His set of plastic hand-cuffs is already broken. Evan tried to escape his hold.

Evan's fascination with BEN10 continues. He was three when this TV show first aired, and he was hooked before it was cool to change into aliens and fight bad guys. However, this is the first year that he has chosen to be a character from the show. This year he is Spider Monkey so that he "can carry all that candy with the extra arms."

This costume is already four inches too short, but adult sized Spider Monkeys are just not made. I know because I actually had to ask. However, the length doesn't concern me nearly as much as the tail. Perhaps I should conveniently lose that.

Halloween

The boys love Halloween almost as much as Christmas! They have been anxiously awaiting tonight for weeks!

Snake Eyes and Indiana Jones

We first took the boys trick or treating on our old street in Montclair. We stopped at a friends' house on our way back home. Keagan and Josh are in the same class this year; Evan and Caleb were in the same class last year.

 When our neighbor, Mr. Fennelson, saw Keagan in his Indiana Jones hat, he had to put his on, too. We have been blessed with wonderful neighbors while living in Montclair. The boys look forward to Mr. Fennelson's arrival from work every afternoon and they would spend every Saturday afternoon "piddlin'" with him in the garage if I would let them.

When we returned home, the boys dumped their baskets to take a closer look at their loot. As they tore into boxes of drops and pieces of laffy taffy, I heard Evan say, "This was the best Halloween ever!" 

Halloween

The boys have been counting the days to Halloween since September 30th! This morning Keagan's class had a costume parade, and then they went trick or treating to area businesses. 

Evan's class had a Halloween party complete with crafts, games, and cookie decorating.

At when it was finally dark, we all (Opa and Oma included) headed out for trick or treating. We met some of our new neighbors on Ridgecrest, and we also went down our old street to see our old neighbors. Stacey and Frank were kind enough to make treat bags for the boys filled with whole sized candy bars. Jan and Vicki had hands full of candy to pass along to the boys. We miss living on Golf Club already!

As soon as we got home, the boys had dumped their baskets and were sorting the candy into piles: favorite, good, and bad. Evan will have his favorites eaten by Sunday; Keagan will still have uneaten candy a year from now.

Fall Festival

Tonight I took the boys to the daycare's annual fall festival. The boys wore costumes, played chase on the haunted playground, played a few carnival games, and ate a piece of candy or two. It was great fun for them and their friends. 

Evan, Charlie, and Jessie

Jade and Evan

Silas, Keagan, and Charlie

All Dressed Up and No Place to Go

It doesn't have to be October 31 for my boys to put on a costume. In fact, it could be said that Halloween is celebrated year around with our assortment of costumes. When the boys saw the first Halloween merchandise on display at Target two weeks ago, they were beyond excited. To make things worse, the annual Costume Express magazine arrived in the mail just days later. It didn't take long for both boys to decide their costumes of choice, and as soon as their minds were settled, they were determined to buy them. So on Sunday I struck a deal: Be obedient, make good decisions, and on Friday, we will go shopping for costumes. The boys had an awesome week, and today we went to Target to buy Darth Vader and Boba Fett. But the boys will not wait until October 31 to put them on. Our first Star Wars battle just ended and so far both costumes are still intact.