Ding Dong...Trick or Treat!

I love Halloween. I mean, what's not to love? It's a time to play dress up and an excuse to gorge oneself on candy! There's minimal expectations and therefore, minimal stress.

And this year was no exception - in fact, it was probably the best Halloween yet!

To start with, I made it to the Halloween party this year. And may I just point out again what a HUGE deal that was for Logan...and me!

Then, I wanted to do something special for my boys this year. Papa Murphy's has been all over the radio advertising their Jack-O-Lantern pizza, so when Logan and I were heading home from his school party and we were stopped in front of our very own Papa Murphy's, I decided to swing in a pick up our very own Halloween inspired pizza (can't beat a pizza for six bucks right?). Logan was so excited about it, I was beginning to wonder if he'd even let me wait until dinner time to cook it! (He did...barely...) Gavin wasn't too interested in this special pizza until it was cooked...and then I think he really only cared about eating it!

After dinner, I dressed Gavin up in his costume...much to his displeasure! Logan, on the other hand, didn't need to be outfitted since he had refused to take his Iron Man suit off after his party and was therefore still wearing it. I forced my boys outside then for my very favorite activity - Pictures!!!

The only thing that made Gavin perk up and stop thinking about how much he hated his costume was when I lit up the pumpkins!  Then it was just a matter of making sure he didn't catch his sleaves on fire...

And, finally, it was time for Trick or Treating!

Turns out we jumped the gun a little bit, because on our first run through our neighborhood, we only found one house open for business (besides our own). Gavin only went up to one house, and he clung to me the entire time. In fact, he only reached one hand out long enough to take a box of Dots from a generous Logan. At this point, we headed back to our house to wait it out a little longer.  Luckily, Mimi was there to help console a disappointed Logan with one of his favorite Halloween books!

On our second round out, Gavin stayed back at the house (supervised, of course) while Logan and I headed out to canvas the neighborhood again. This time we struck gold! The neighborhood was in full swing, and there were lots of houses open for business. Logan had a blast going from house to house saying "Trick or Treat!" It didn't take him long to catch on to the fact that he needed to say "Thank You" too. (This Mama pushes the politeness!) This year was probably the longest and farthest we have ever gone for trick or treating. Logan let me know when he was too tired to walk any farther by handing over his candy bucket and informing me he was too tired to carry it anymore!

One of the fun things about Halloween is that my in-laws (Mimi & Papa) always show up to join in the festivities. They love to pass out candy, and it keeps our house in business even when we are all out doing our own Trick-or-Treating. (It also means that Gavin has people to watch him when, like this year, he doesn't have any interest in major trick or treating.) Papa, in particular, loves this particular job of distributing candy. Okay, really, he just likes wearing a scary mask and jumping out at people.    For example...

Passing out candy also happens to be one of Logan's favorite jobs - he may even still like it better than actually trick or treating himself. And this year Gavin got in on the action, too. I love watching my boys pass out candy to other kids, watching them freely give away to others. I think it's awesome that even during Halloween there is an opportunity to teach my children about the fun of giving to others!

Of course, there's nothing wrong with nabbing a piece or two for oneself either...

At this point in the night Gavin decided he really like wearing his costume - as long as he didn't have to wear the ears.  In fact, he liked it so much that he insisted I take more pictures of him.  No joke!

At the end of the night (a whopping 7:30) we closed up shop and sent Mimi & Papa home for the night. The boys and I crashed on the couch watching Disney Junior (they were still dressed in their costumes) until 8:00 when I finally found the energy to get them ready for bed. It wasn't long before I was in bed, too.

I loved getting to spend the afternoon and evening with my children doing something different and fun - a once a year kind of activity! And, I really do think it was our best Halloween yet!

Party Time ~ The Story of a Mother Righting Last Year's Wrongs & Having a Good Time with It!

Last year I made the mistake of not going to Logan's preschool Halloween party.  It's not that I didn't know about the party, because I did.  And it's not that I couldn't get away from work, because I could have.  I just didn't realize that it was such a big deal for parents to be at these things (probably the result of never having my parents at these things.)  And neither did he...until it was party time and a bunch of parents were there, but not HIS mom.  I literally spent the rest of the year being reminded by my at-the-time-four-year-old that I had missed his Halloween party.  It didn't matter that I made it to the Christmas Party.  Or the Valentine's Day party.  I had missed the Halloween party.  Oh, the mommy guilt I lived with for so long...

This year I set out to redeem myself in the eyes of my now-five-year-old.  I made sure I was at the kindergarten Halloween parade AND his classroom's Halloween party.  And I think I managed to make him the happiest kindergartner in existence!  This year I will be hearing all about how I DID make it to his Halloween party!  No mommy guilt this time!

I didn't really know what I was getting myself into.  I had no idea where I was supposed to be, only that I was supposed to be there at 1:45.  If you know me, situations like this send my anxiety meter into overdrive!  But, once I got there, I headed to Logan's classroom and his super awsome teacher sent me in the right direction - after I helped her dress the kindergarten class in their costumes!

First came the parade.  All the parents were sent outside to the bus parking lot where we waited for each class to parade out of the building, around the circle drive, and then back into the building.  Hardest part for me:  making sure I was taking pictures of MY Iron Man!  Luckily, the classroom teacher led the way for each class, and it turned out that Logan was the only Iron Man in his class.
Phew!

As Logan's class went back into the building, I walked with him.  He was excited to point out different things about his school to me as we made our way through the building.  At one point, the class had to line up along the wall in a hallway, sit down, and wait for the parade to end.  It gave the kids a good chance to see all the other costumes because groups of kids filed past them as they were waiting for the parade to end.

Next was the classroom party.  All the kids filed back into the classroom where napkins filled with pretzels and juice boxes waited for them.  There was also a treat bag set out for each student.

The room mother planned two activities for the kids.  The first was "Trick-or-Treating."  The kids all lined up and walked around the room collecting different treats from different parents.  There were suckers, stickers, pencils, and other little goodies.

The second activity was making a "Jack-O-Lantern" out of a clementine.  Each kid was handed a permanent marker and allowed to draw a face on their clementine.

After all of the activities, the kids were allowed to eat their snacks while the teacher, Mrs. Gilby, passed back the little pumpkins that each child had decorated in art class the day before.

And then it was 2:45, the party was over, and I got to take Logan home with me for the day!  On the drive home Logan talked non-stop about what a fun day he had at school, how much he loved the parade and the party, and how excited he was to go Trick-or-Treating that evening!  And, to top of the afternoon, we stopped at Sonic for an Ocean Water!

Like I said, I think I redeemed myself, and I definitely have a happy child this year!

Stay tuned for "Trick or Treat" coming tomorrow!