Happy Halloween

What a Halloween week! Tuesday we spent the afternoon at Brent's office. We had to attend the 3rd Annual Bill Me Later House of Screams. They have department decorating contest, each floor competes against one another and some even divided themselves into sub-sections to try and out do one another. Apparently, some floors spent days working on it and it showed. I mean who wouldn't spend 16 hours creating a haunted house or the set from the Wizard of Oz when the alternative is work? Oh and the other huge motivator.....the winner gets $3,000 to divide between them! Seems like a no brainer to me but apparently the IT floor wasn't so into it. Hum. Although, I love my husband dearly I have to say his floor was the worst. Brent says they don't have time to play....they have deadlines. I get that, but it was pretty pathetic. My poor geeks. The kids were able to obtain an obscene amount of candy. There were buckets everywhere! Everyone thought T was a pretty adorable lion, he didn't really grasp the concept (which was fine by me) but had a fantastic time exploring. It was nice to see where Brent goes everyday and finally put names to faces.

Afterward, we went to my girlfriend Kara's house, who lives close by. Kara and I grew up together, we were neighbors. Now we have our own children, who hopefully will be life long friends. Annie is just 24 hours older than T. She is just precious and carries both her mother and father in her face. We had such a great time. The kids played and we sat around such a cozy fireplace eating pizza and drinking wine. Kara is a fabulous decorator. She is just like her mother. Eclectic with amazing vision, she haunts antique stores coming home with fabulous finds. Her newly remodel kitchen is outstanding; worth the hard work, hours of planning and shopping! I can't wait to see it when every detail is in place. We can't wait to have our own house so we can reciprocate. It was a busy day but Thomas did great. He was cozy in his PJ's and bundled up in his car seat, asleep for the night before we even hit the highway!

Wednesday morning was spent Trick or Treating with our Playgroup friends. We meet at a local community center every week and let the kids run. This week everyone came in their costumes and we set up stations for them to stop at...a trial run if you will. T wasn't in the best mood, probably due to sleep deprivation but we made it through. Most of the Moms brought items other than candy which I loved. T can't have it and even if he could I'd rather he didn't so pretzels, play dough and stickers were excellent stand ins. It was fun to see all of the kids running around it their outfits.

Thursday was no less chaotic. It's important to me to create family traditions. I want Thomas to have a million fond memories of his childhood. Something different for each holiday but dinner will always be a staple. The dinning room table was covered by a large black web ensuring the appropriate Halloween setting. The cutest wire pumpkin sat at the center ready to set off an orange glow. Dinner would probably be a five course meal if Brent wasn't so particular. It's just as well, three is plenty and when you still have pumpkins to carve, cupcakes to ice and a little boy who needs a bath before bed, even it can feel like a course to many. Thomas enjoyed watching us carve the pumpkins and even helped scrape it out. Once the insides were in a bowl he thought they should go back in the pumpkin. He wasn't so fond of how it felt so that was sort lived. Dinner was nice and dessert was fun. Before I knew it, it was time for bed!

Finally it was Halloween Friday! It was time for one last go round of Trick or Treating. My girlfriends that I grew up with in this very neighborhood were all going to be here with their children. Brent was home early and after a good nap and dinner T was all set! It was a little cool here so we put clothes under his already warm costume (the weather was perfect) and met up with everyone. With our wagons stocked with beer and wine we carted the kids from house to house repeating what our parents had done 30 years ago. T was a trooper although, he didn't want to hold his pumpkin bucket. I think it was a little overwhelming! He visited all of the neighbors that take great joy in having him around. My little lion was just too precious.

Brent put Thomas to bed and we went next door to Heather's to celebrate her birthday! It's so nice to have Grandma and Grandpa here to babysit! We don't even have to plan ahead....it's a huge blessing! Pizza, more beer, cake and lots of laughs was the perfect way to spend our night. I just loved it. It's nice to be home.