"This is Halloween..."

Michael and I have been humming and singing the theme song to Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas movie all week. "Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! In this town we call home." You've got to have seen the movie to appreciate it.

This was a wonderful Halloween. Very convenient that it fell on a Saturday. Gabriel spent the morning with me in Concord while I got my hair cut at Mane Element and then we went food shopping at the Concord Cooperative Market and Hannafords. Gabriel wore his skeleton play suit and skull and cross bones socks as we paraded around the city.

When we got home, Gabriel took a power nap with Daddy, Elleigh, and Lucas. You can see Gabriel's skeleton suit on him while he is sleeping in the car seat. I wanted to make sure Gabriel got a good nap in before we hit the road for Trick or Treating. This photo was taken before we realized that Elleigh and Lucas had eaten Gabriel's Jack O Lantern. Michael left them out of the crate while he went to the dump, and apparently they devoured the face of Gabriel's pumpkin while unsupervised. Here's our pumpkin after the brutal Halloween attack. It was so windy that I can't imagine anyone could keep their pumpkins lighted last night, even with a face to help block the wind.

Once awake, we put Gabriel's costume on and drove to Grammy & Grampy Abberton's house. Daddy took a moment

to pose with Yoda and Darth V

ader before begging for treats. And of course, Grammy Abberton was all ready with special treats. Gabriel got a travel size See and Say toy and a whole container of baby puffs. And a 12 month sized outfit. Gabriel was Grammy & Grampy A's first Trick or Treater in years... maybe ever.

A house on Route 28 has had a very festive Halloween display all month. Every year they go all out with Halloween decorations, and I was excited to actually have a reason to stop and visit them this year. We went before it got too dark so their display would be slightly less scary for Gabriel. He didn't seem to mind any of the noises or costumes. And they gave out a green pumpkin covered cup with a straw (which Gabriel will certainly enjoy) and the cup had candy in it (which Mommy and Daddy will certainly enjoy.) We then put our own candy out in a bowl on the door step and then walked through our cul-de-sac Trick or Treating. Gabriel was very chipper and had a good time singing with Daddy and making horror noises. I was happy at how much fun Gabriel seemed to have walking around with us in the dark from house to house. We hit 5 houses before the sprinkle of rain became more significant. So we headed to Town Pizza for dinner. Yoda had chicken, cheese and tomato pieces off from our slices, a little crust, and guzzled a bottle of breast milk.

Happy Halloween!

I'm so lame this year for Halloween. I didn't wear a stitch of orange or black to work today. I bought a pumpkin last weekend, but it wasn't carved until dusk on Halloween night. And Lucas and Elleigh are wearing shirts, but they really aren't costumes. I do have my green T-shirt on that says "Spooky" on it.

We have candy though! And I guess on Halloween that candy is what it is all about anyway. I bought a bag last weekend of 1/2 Snickers regular and 1/2 Snickers Almonds, which Michael and I seem to enjoy. We still had plenty of the Snicker bar mix left despite our snacking. And then Halloween panic hit me on Wednesday night. On my way home, I stopped at the grocery store and ended up with a second bag of Halloween candy- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. We never get more than a dozen Trick or Treaters, but that second bag of candy always seems to be purchased every year because this could be the year we get swarmed. I figured this year since Halloween was on a Friday night, the kids would stay up later and hit more houses. That's what I told myself as I grabbed another bag of candy to purchase. Michael and I also like peanut butter cups.

Anyway... the official town treating hours are 5-8 pm and our first Trick or Treater showed up at 5:45 pm. It wasn't quite dark yet. I am not sure what our first treater was, but I am guessing a black spider. She was too young to say "Trick or Treat" herself. And Lucas and Elleigh overwhelmed her. So her Mom picked her up and I threw a peanut butter cup in her little pumpkin bag.

I left the front inner door slightly ajar so Lucas and Elleigh can watch through the glass of the outer door for any commotion outside and new cars driving into the cul-de-sac.

6:33 pm and our second Trick or Treater showed up. It was a solo Vampire. Elleigh and Lucas barked at him. This is Lucas' first Halloween and I think the Trick or Treaters make him nervous. But he is enjoying looking out the front door.

6:48 pm- Daddy came home from work and used the front door for a change just to trick the dogs. He also brought home salads from Wendy's.

7:22 pm- Michael and I have hit the candy bowl harder than the Trick or Treaters so far.

7:29 pm- A scarecrow and a witch showed up. They were cute and were more interested in petting the dogs than the candy.

7:55 pm- 4 older kids arrived. I have no idea if they were actually dressed up or not. The boy in the back was definitely not dressed in a costume. The girls may have been going for a rock star thing. I guess better Trick or Treating without costumes than having them out causing mischief. They just doubled our total treater count to 8.

8:28 pm- I think we are done with Trick or Treaters this year. 8 kids. That's 2 more than last year. We surely would have been fine with one bag of candy. We now have a bunch of mini Snickers bars to eat. The peanut butter cups are gone.

I can't help wondering how different Halloween will be for us for the next decade or so. I wonder what little Gabriel will have for a costume next year. Maybe we will take the dogs and go Trick or Treating down the whole cul-de-sac ourselves. At the very least we will have to go to Grandma's house in Canterbury on Halloween night. Sorry Nana, but the drive to Vermont is a bit much on Halloween night.