Happy Halloween

I have no doubt if you ask my children right now what their favorite holiday is they would shout
"HALLOWEEN" This holiday is definitely made for children, and mine enjoyed it to the very last bite.

Earlier in the week we carved our pumpkins. Everyone wanted in on the action! I know… that knife looks pretty close to the kids, but Shawn is a skilled Jack-o-lantern craftsman and no one was hurt in this operation.

Except for Grant, who got plowed out of the way by Reagan.

The night before Halloween we went to a party put on by PAVA (an organization at the school for the wives of the students). There were a ton of people there. I don't have any pictures of the festivities because my camera died when we got there. The kids just ran around the whole night. Jefferson had his try at a donut eating contest. He lost big time! Not his strong point. I ended up having to hold the string steady for him, but he had fun.

Halloween day, party time! Jefferson wanted to go trick-or-treating at 9am. It was a long, agonizing day. The boys wanted to dress up as Knights this year, so it made sense for Reagan to be a princess. I made the boys costumes, but pooped out and bought the princess. Someone asked me if she was a maid? I thought that was funny. I think the hardest part about making them is sitting back and watching them get ruined by spilt food and wrestling (yes, wrestling… of all things to do on Halloween) Oh well, what can I expect?

Reagan is one lucky girl. She doesn't even know how lucky she is to have these brothers! They ADORE her.

Boy, they sure had me fooled with all that fighting… they really are best friends 

Our neighbors invited us over for a Chili dinner and cookie decorating. It was so much fun. Here's the kids surrounded by frosting , cookies, and chocolate (aka heaven).

These are Jefferson's creations. "I made these ones for you Mommy. I took a bite from every one to make sure they tasted good for you." Hey, at least he thought of me, right.

The kids played duck-duck-goose. Jefferson thought it was HILARIOUS when the game changed to witch-witch-cat. Pure kid fun! Part of me wanted to get down on the floor with them. There was a lot of laugher and smiles (my favorite!)

Then we headed out with some friends to go Trick-or-Treating. We went to a really nice part of town and let the kids lead the way from house to house. I love this picture of all the kids piled on someone's front porch. There's no room to even open the front door.

Here's Reagan hitching a ride with her Best Friend

Reagan did well. She couldn't even walk last Halloween. This year she would walk up to the door, but insisted on Shawn or I holding her hand. She made out with a huge loot of candy. She was grabbing it by the handfuls and stuffing it into her purse. Trust me, she ate all
of it too… and some of Jefferson's as well. We found out what a candy fein she is. She's a little taste tester too. She would just take a single bite from each candy, then want another one opened.

Here is Grant and Jefferson with their friend, Miles.

Grant was REALLY good about not eating any of his candy before I could look through it. And he didn't say a word when suddenly half of his pile was taken away. What a good sport. Someone even gave him shelled peanuts… interesting. Good thing he didn't try one of those!

Every last piece of candy has been eaten and it's only been a day since Halloween. I like it better this way. Get it over with, eat it all! And no one even got a gut ache. This was a perfect Halloween!

….And one more shot of this princess…
I just can't resist!