Halloween Happenings

Halloween is such a fun family holiday. My kids look forward to this day just as much as Christmas. As soon as I put out my Fall/Halloween decorations in September, one of the big kids would ask almost every single day if it was Halloween yet.

A new, fun tradition my Dad started with my kids a few years ago was to send them a pomegranate in the mail right before Halloween. My dad loves pomegranates and traditionally eats them while he watches the MLB world series every year. The pomegranates are extra tasty if our Yanks are in the playoffs and world series. Sadly, they made the playoffs but not the world series this year...

The kids love that my Dad also decorates the pomegranates. This year he sent 3 of them- one was labeled "Chloe, "Mitchell" and the 3rd had a face on each side for "Leah & Lexi."

My favorite thing about the Halloween season this year was the twins' obsession with pumpkins.

We've had a pumpkin decoration on our porch all month, and then just last week added 4 tiny ones from the pumpkin patch. For the past month, every time we leave the house (which is at least 2 times a day to take and pick up Chloe from school), the babies have to say hello to the pumpkins and kiss them. Yep- a whole lot of pumpkin smoochin' going on around here.

Each girl knows which little pumpkin is hers and puckers up, 2+ times a day.

Can't forget the big pumpkin, too!

Chloe's school does not allow anyone to dress up for school on Halloween except the kindergarteners. Instead, they have a spirit day and the theme was "Hawaiian." So Chloe got to wear her grass skirt, lei and a Hawaiian bow. Before leaving for school she asked me, "Isn't this a costume? I'm dressing up." Good point... but the school is trying to respect all of the families who don't celebrate Halloween and I can imagine that Halloween would be a day where nothing productive was accomplished with 25 kids in costumes.

For dinner, we had a Jack-o-lantern pizza. Very cute and very tasty.

Cheese (pizza)!

After dinner, all the kids scrambled to put on their costumes.

Lexi, one of our pumpkins. This costume has been worn by Chloe and Mitchell 4 times before. The best costumes are the ones that keep on giving!

Chloe, 2006, not quite 2 years old (she also wore it in 2005 but I didn't feel like scanning in that non-digital picture).

Mitch, 2008- 1 year

Mitch, 2009- 2 years

Leah, pumpkin #2.

Chloe, the witch (3rd year in a row for that. Easy! Love it).

Pumpkin sisters with pumpkin buckets. They were so excited. They had rehearsed their lines all day. "Trick or Treat." "Happy Halloween!"

Mitch, the pirate.

Poor Leah- right before dinner she complained that her tummy hurt and kept laying down on the floor as we were getting ready.

A group shot before we head out!

This was the twins' first time trick or treating, since Halloween was on a Sunday last year and we didn't go out. They had no fear of strangers. Anyone who is handing out candy is a friend to them.

We stopped by and saw Grandma Cynde next. The kids were so excited to show her their costumes, and she of course spoiled all of them with handfuls of candy.

Off in the dark to trick or treat. We live in a fabulous neighborhood to go trick or treating in.

A few memories of the twins' first trick or treating experience:

Besides having no fear of knocking on door after door of mostly strangers, they were also quite the little chatterboxes. After getting their treat, they would both stay up on the porch and talk and talk and talk to the homeowner. "Look- I pumpkin!" "I have hat!" "Candy in here" (pointing to her bucket). They were also very sweet to say "Thank you, you're welcome" (all one word/phrase for them) after receiving their treat. Lots of "Happy Halloweens" were said as well at each door, along with repeating whatever the other person told them. They were once told "Have fun, you guys" and so both babies repeated that phrase 10 times each as we headed to the next house.

If no one was home, they would say "That house broken" (over and over). My favorite thing of the night, and also the most embarrassing thing, is Lexi has quite the sticky finger. Most people are so sweet to let the kids pick out what treat they want, all while saying "Help yourself!" Mitchell and Chloe were pretty good to just take one (or two if the homeowner said so), but if the candy bowl was still within grabbing distance, you can be sure that Alexis was grabbing fistfuls as fast as she could. She of course said thank you over and over, but Ben and I had to be ready to run up to the porch and drag her away before she picked everyone clean.

But those little troopers walked almost the entire 1.5 hours by themselves, which is pretty good considering how heavy their buckets were at the end. I carried Leah for the last few houses but she would always get down and run up to the door unassisted.

Did the sticky bandit come away with the most candy? Probably!

With 4 capable trick or treaters now, we came away with loads of candy. And fortunately (but mostly unfortunately), we got terrific candy this year. Every year we seem to always get a good sized portion of junk candy- cheap suckers, flavorless jaw breakers, Sponge Bob gummy crabby patties (so gross looking- who spends the money to buy that disgusting junk?), peanut butter flavored taffy in the orange and black wrappers, etc. This year, I only saw 2 or 3 things total that were junk. Happy Halloween and happy eating!