Happy Halloween!

It's hard to believe that Halloween has come and gone already. The older I get, the faster the years fly by. Part of the reason that it felt like Halloween crept up on us this year was the absence of the pumpkin carving tradition we normally take part in. Carving pumpkins isn't something Rophone enjoys, and since my surgery has left me one armed it was something that just didn't get done. I think doing that a few days before Halloween gets us excited for what's to come. Plus, I usually make spudnuts on Halloween for the kids to enjoy when they come home and to deliver to the neighbors. That, too, was not going to happen with one arm.  Oh, well. Halloween came anyway.


This was a big and exciting Halloween for Bud. This is the first year he has been in school with a school party to celebrate. He was super excited about his costume this year, too. He decided to be a cowboy, both on Friday for his school party and for Halloween. He wore his costume for days straight. He was so excited about his school party--

And getting him to bottle his excitement for a picture before trick-or-treating was a challenge.

The girls were excited, too. Ginger indecisively decided to go as a crossing-guard-witch, and Pen went as a fairy.

Big was super excited to be a construction-worker-guy-- until it actually came time to get ready to go. Failing to take a nap earlier in the day, he was pushing for one as we were trying to get ready to go. Posing for a picture of his costume wasn't high on his list of things he wanted to do.

I attempted to take a few more photos of all the kids together before they headed out.

Rophone reported that while trick-or-treating Bud was a man on a mission. He exhibited some surprising speed-walking skills. Excited to get to as many houses as possible, he was driven nuts by Big, who had to pause to admire every basketball hoop they encountered. A couple of the hoops even had balls nearby, and Rophone said it was difficult to convince Big to continue on instead of shooting a few. They also came across a few broken hoops on their way, over which Big had to stop and mourn for a minute or two, lamenting the loss. It didn't help that Ginger was stopping and staring at things, as well. Rophone said it drove anxious Bud absolutely batty. How I wish I could have seen it.


The kids really had a blast and brought home a ton of candy. Not that we needed any more candy. Based on past experience, Rophone bought about 200 pieces of candy to pass out. Only 9 kids came to our door. 9!!! I got rather bored, actually. I found myself peeping out the window in hopes of seeing someone on their way up the walk. It felt rather like I'd been stood up for a date or something. 


Even though I kind of got stood up this year, I can't wait until next! I love seeing my kids get dressed up and excited, and participating in all of our Halloween traditions. I can't wait until I'm two-armed again next year so we can do them all. Happy Halloween!