Halloween Happy

I really love Halloween a little bit more each year. I liked dressing up when I was little so, to me, it's like one big dress up day. My sister and I used to dress up in mostly homemade costumes, thanks to Mom. We'd get tons of candy, count it up at the end of the night, making sure to check for razor blades and to see who got the most candy. Then my mom would hide it in the freezer allowing us one piece a day. She relied on us forgetting all about the candy, eventually, so she could throw the remainder away.

Halloween is one of those holidays that makes it so much fun to be a mom. Ever since Gabe was little, I've dressed him up and taken him to the same neighborhood, with the exception of a few years, and it's now the neighborhood we live in. And our neighborhood really stepped it up this year!

There were more decorated houses, more strobe lights, more characters, more fog machines, it was so much fun!

You know what else was great about this Halloween? It was Lola and Christian's very first time trick or treating. Last year Lola was in my belly and Christian stayed home with Daddy. And Christian's first Halloween only met him at a few months old.

We started the Halloween festivities with carving pumpkins the night before. Gabe didn't join us because he went to a friend's house and as he put it, "Mom! You have tons of pictures of me carving pumpkins. I don't need to do it again." So I settled on watching I Know What You Did Last Summer and picking out Halloween candy with him before he was off to his friend's house.

But the big kids wanted to do it (i.e. Mom and Dad). And, by far the cutest pumpkins to come from our carvings were the Lola pumpkin on the left and the Christian (Frankenstein) pumpkin on the right.

I guess I love Halloween especially so because there are limitations on a lot Christian can participate in with regular children, so we grasp at what we can. Dressing him up and taking him trick or treating is something we can do. So trick or treating we did!

But first we need a pre-trick or treating pep talk from Dad.

"Okay, I think I'm ready."

Lola is ready, too.

 Another thing I LOVE about our neighborhood is that some of the houses have special treats for kids they recognize that actually live in our neighborhood. It's so sweet. We're met with a, "Happy Hallow- Oh! I know you! You get a special treat!" And from behind their backs appears a little extra something. One of the extra somethings this year was a Halloween bunny for each baby. Christian liked his and "petted" it the entire trip.

"Hold my hand, Christian!"

After we came home,  Lola got to try her first lollipop all by herself, as she insisted, without anyone holding it for her. It ain't Halloween 'til someone has a sugar rush.

So, of course, Christian had to do it, too! With Daddy's help, Christian was able to grasp the stick and taste the lollipop. And it ain't Halloween unless someone is holding a lollipop.

(Look, Miss Kim, grasping the lollipop stick all by myself!)

 Completely exhausted from the whole ordeal, Christian falls fast asleep with Mr. Halloween bunny by his side.

 It was a great Halloween with great family and great neighbors. It was a Halloween that made me happy and excited to be a mom. All of my children had some kind of fun, whether it was Gabe going trick or treating with friends all by himself for the first time, Christian holding Mr. Bunny, or Lola getting her sugar rush on. And that makes this mommy even happier.

Time to put the candy in the freezer.