Happy Halloween

What a night!! Actually, it was pretty uneventful which I consider to be the best success. Tobin is definitely getting older. I would say he was acting like a teenager, but I don't want to face my future yet. I took Noah and Brenna to Hallmark to buy a webkinz for a friend of Noah's and my cell phone rang and lo and behold it was my son telling me he had changed his mind and he now needed a costume for trick or treating! Was he kidding? Doesn't he know how many errands I run for them almost everyday!! In fact, now that I think about it, if I could save the gas, wear and tear on my car and most of all wear and tear on me, I would have his college paid for! So, I schlepped his younger siblings to some huge megastore and found the costumes on sale, which was a plus for me. As I was waiting in line, I started talking to the woman in front of me and I relayed my tale of woe as we waited painfully for the clerk. She told me that I was a much better mother than she was b/c she would have had him either make do or do without. It was some small gesture of niceness but it always makes you feel good to be told you're doing something right.

As soon as it got dark, Noah and Brenna were ready to go. Brenna and Noah practically ran between houses. They had so much fun asking for tricks and treats! They loved it best when they were able to dip their hand in the candy bowl themselves. One house in our neighborhood really goes all out for halloween. In addition to handing out candy, she hands out glow necklaces, hires a magician and has fairy dust for the kids to throw for good luck. Brenna and Noah probably would have been happy at watching the magician all night; he was quite good. During one of his tricks he had Brenna right the word TOP on a card. It was part of the trick which I can't explain because the magician's hands were faster than my eye, but he tore it in half and gave it to Brenna to remember! She was as excited to get that torn piece of card as she was a huge candy bar. We ran into several of Brenna's friends which was fun. I love looking at all the costumes. I kept asking Brenna if she was ready to go back home, but she would adamantly say no. What I forgot to tell her that was as far as she walked from home would be how far we had to walk back. Two minutes after I asked her for the 10th time if she was ready to go home, she finally declared in her most tired voice that she was ready to go home. Oops, were we far from home. Luckily, we knocked on the door of a friend who took pity on us and gave us a ride home.

As we were trick or treating, Noah was pretty quick and would scoot ahead. I wished he would have stayed with us, but he is definitely growing up. Noah was hoping to catch up with his buddies to complete the costume as a rapping trio, but we never did much to his dismay. I had hoped when Noah told me he wanted to ge a gangster, that it was the glorified Al Capone 1920s gangster version. Nope-- it was the thoroughly modern "gangsta" version complete with bling! Andy convinced me a few years ago that Halloween costumes were about their individual freedom of expression and not some creative version of a trio I could come up with (the 3 musketeers; Hermoine, Ron and Harry) to create a perfect costume. I mean what was I thinking, they weren't triplets after all! Happy Halloween everyone!