Happy Halloween

My poor neglected blog.  I do want to write about my amazing vacation/10-year anniversary trip, but that will have to wait for a later date.  Tonight, it's all about Halloween.

My Benny, that child never ceases to amaze me.  We didn't get any decorations up this year because we were gone for the portion of October that usually happens. So this morning, the kids got those long faces and begged me to put up decorations, I drug out the box and we managed some spiderwebs, ghosts and a witch on the door.  They were happy, and it wasn't terribly time consuming or difficult.

The weather was picture perfect today, sunny and 65 degrees, so while the boys decorated, I tackled the neglected leaves in the front yard.  Having raked them into a big pile, I went to bag them when Benny stopped me.

"No, don't."

"Did you want to jump in them?"

"No, you have to leave them for the other kids."

"What other kids?"

"The ones that are coming trick-or-treating."

Apparently, Benny had a vision of miniature ghost and zombies launching themselves at this pile of leaves on their way to the door to ask for candy.  I think this is because if he had come across a giant pile of leaves in one of our neighbor's yards, he wouldn't have hesitated taking advantage of it.

So the leaves stayed.

I don't know if you've seen his costume this year, but if not here it is.

Trigger Happy from the Skylander video game.

So as the sun set, and the streets started filling with short silhouettes of dozens of kids, you could always tell where Benny was as he bounced from house to house with those crazy ears creating a very distinct shadow.

They roamed the neighborhood for over an hour, we had to pull out Olivia's stroller, he quest for candy was greater than her walking stamina.  Joe had to actually come and empty his bag it was so full so he could go out and collect more.

All in all, a very happy Halloween.  We made it home a little after 7pm and the kids were really excited to hand out candy to the later trick-or-treaters.  They begged me to sit in the front yard with them, which I agreed to do it they provided me with chocolate.  They would run up the sidewalk as far and I would allow and yell down the street to the distant kids.

"Come to our house for candy!"

"We're open!"

Then Benny would grab two handfuls of candy and chase these kids down the sidewalk, shoving candy in their bags before they can even ask for it.  If we could harness that energy and rechannel it, we could have an amazing salesman on our hands one day.

We were all about fangs on our
pumpkins this year.

The final trick-or-treaters came right as I was getting the kids ready for bed.  The doorbell rang, and all three of them bolted for the front door yelling like banshees.  Benny of course fell on the way to the door and Joe opened it anyway to some stunned kids watching Benny scream like he had been stabbed, all while trying to elbow his siblings out of the way and shove candy into the bags kids who were starting to edge away from the door.  They weren't even able to get out a "trick-or-treat."

My little 'angry bird' with matching pumpkin.