Its the real Deal... Happy Halloween!!!

As the girls are getting older we are trying to develop holiday traditions that they can remember later on. I have so much fun looking back and reflecting on all the fun that my parents and my brother had during the fall months and I want my girls to be able to do the same. When Kyra was young we were lucky enough to be able to have her every year for trick or treating. Last year she wanted to give it a try with her stepbrothers and although I was disappointed (and jealous) I took a deep breath and conceded. This year I was all excited that she was going to be with us and the little girls. The bambinos are at the age were they are getting to be so much fun- sheer joy on those little faces- its priceless. But as fate would have it, Kyra decided this was the year (of all years!!!) that she was too old to go with her family anymore and it was time to go with her girlfriends. Harumph* So I pouted and moped around the house until Timmy helped me remember what I did for Halloween when I was 13… fair enough. I still wanted to help her get her costume together though and she let me take the lead on that one- woot woot! Miss Kyra Jean chose to go as a minion from the Disney movie Despicable Me (most likely the largest minion on record). It wasn’t that hard to find the denim overhauls and I got lucky finding a bright yellow sweatshirt and stocking hat (I have good luck at the thrift shops in town). But could I find a pair of yellow tights/ leggings or stockings??? Hell no. Argh. I spent a whole day searching around the city until I finally found some. By the end of the day it would have been far more cost effective to have just gone on Amazon and ordered some with express shipping. However, it would also mean that I would have missed out on a few fabulous finds… I guess its all how you look at it. It wasn’t time wasted because it was fun :)

For the past few years we have taken the girls trick or treating with Tim’s parents and his brother the afternoon of Halloween. This year Timmy was able to get the day off so that he could come along too. So remember a while back when I mentioned that this year just felt off? Well the day’s weather just topped that horrible feeling off and sent it through the roof. It rained all day. And not just a sweet, gentle misting either. Full on fat rain. Darnit! We tried to make the best of it and did our pumpkin carving as a family. Timmy gets to cut the top off while the girls and I dig out all the guts. It’s gross and awesome. Because the rain foiled our plans to get out there and beg door to door for candy I figured it best to go visiting the family. My parents live literally 12 minutes from my house and had indicated earlier that day that they would love for the girls to stop by and see them. Now here is a little peek into my brain: when it comes to Halloween I continue to have the mindset of a 10 year old. Bring home as much candy as humanly possible. If I run out to my parents house that will take a huge chunk out of my candy hoarding capability. What’s a girl to do? Well as fate would have it, the rain came down and there was no end in sight. So out to Grammie and Baba’s we go. They were so happy. We stayed for a short visit, hit up the neighbors for full size candy bars and then headed into town to swing past and surprise AJ and Anna at their house. They were thrilled to see the girls and AJ had even taken then screen out of the screen door like people used to do when we were kids- it was awesome. Anna liked Katie’s Raggedy Ann outfit and Via was adorable as a tiny orange crayon. We didn’t stay long because I didn’t want the girls to get too wet so we gave a few high fives, grabbed some candy and kisses and loaded back into the car to meet Tim’s family for supper at out favorite new buffet PIZZA RANCH. It’s so yummy. I had my reservations about the establishment as they are a fully engrossed Christian restaurant (and how does that work) but they don’t make you pray and then don’t say anything like go in peace so as long as they keep their love of God out of my face… its all good. That’s not to say I don’t love me some Jesus, cause I sure do. I just don’t like to be told what to do (some things never change). We were able to fill our bellies with some delicious food and then after some hugs and kisses made our way home to watch the nightmare before Christmas as a family. No matter how crappy the weather… it was still our favorite day of the year.