A not so SPOOKY Halloween

Halloween has NEVER been one of my favorite holidays. But this Halloween was one of the BEST we have ever had! Sal was home by 5pm to help me get the kids ready to go. (That was a treat for me.) Just as I was thinking, "What should I feed the kids?" Doug and Heather called and asked if we were hungry, when we asked why they told us to come over for a BBQ. When I asked what we could bring they said "Nothing because you always do all the food." I must say it was a treat to just show up and have an amazing spread at our disposal. They had hamburgers and hot dogs with all the necessary fixings, a veggie tray with dip and chips. Oh I forgot, we did supply the Diet Coke and Dr. Pepper. I think every year we should do a neighborly BBQ. It was great to hang out and eat while handing out candy.

Sal and I always try to talk Hayden into being really wacky characters for Halloween. Sometimes we can convince him (Sumo Wrestler) and other years we can't (Grim Reaper). This year was one of those years where we were successful. He convinced him to be the guy on the Tapatio bottle. Tapatio is the hot sauce that Sal and Cole put on everything. I think Hayden's friends tried to talk him out of it, but in the end he listened to his parents! :o) This year Hayden wanted to go with friends to get a pillowcase FULL of candy. It was the second year that we let him go alone. He took my cell phone and RAN, and I mean literally RAN through the whole neighborhood. He didn't get a pillowcase full, but he did get enough candy to last until Easter. Don't you remember when you wanted to go to EVERY house on the block and you knew all the candy would FILL an entire pillowcase?

Cole is our AVID Star Wars fan. Every year as we talk about costumes he always has to be some Star Wars character. One year it was Darth Vader, another year it was a Clone Trooper, and this year is was Jingo Fet. I have absolutely no clue who that is, but WAY back in July or August he said that is what he wanted to be and he never changed his mind. Cole was bummin' this year because Garrett wouldn't be home to trick or treat with and I wouldn't let him go with Hayden. SO I called his good friend Olivia to see if Cole could go with her. Olivia lives around the corner from us and she and Cole are great friends. I must say the boys in the neighborhood tease Cole about being friends with a girl, but I reassure Cole that it is ok to be friends with a girl and in a few years they will all WANT to be friends with girls. Cole and Olivia had a great time trick or treating and got TONS of candy too.

Olivia was so excited to go trick-or-treating. She kept saying, "Mom, it's dark! Time to trick-or-treat." Once I got the boys off, we got her ready to go. She came with us to eat and then she was READY to go! Liv and Kennedy started our strong, but Kennedy quickly faded. She got tired but not Liv. She kept saying, "Let's got to the next house." There were a few houses that I thought would be too scary for her, but she wasn't even afraid. She marched right up to the door. As we walked along she would say how important it is to say thank you. Near the end of the block, she said her bucket was SO HEAVY. I asked her if she wanted me to carry it, but she said "nope, I got it." Olivia, THANK YOU for hanging out with your dear old Mom on Halloween. I wish I could freeze time and you could be 3 forever!