Happy Halloween 2007

I didn't realize that it had been a week since my last post. It seems I am slipping. School is starting to get super busy with the "End of the Semester Wrap Up". I cannot wait until this semester is over. It hasn't been test heavy nor even work heavy but it has dragged on and I'm ready for the end. On Tuesday this week Stefan had to take off work because I had to do a day long observation of a group of special ed students and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it home before he had to leave for work. We used this opportunity to carve the pumpkins (a little late this year). Lexi drew the faces for both pumpkins,



while Abby supervised from her stroller,



and Daddy carved out the creations.



On THE BIG DAY Lexi decided to repeat her performance of The Little Mermaid from last year much to my chagrin. I had talked her into being a ballerina so she could use her expensive recital costume more than once and she agreed to this choice until Halloween day. Such a finicky kid!



Abby appeared as Marie from Disney's Aristocats which was a hand-me-down from Lexi when she was 2. I didn't see any reason to pay for another little girl costume when I had one in the attic. This logic will work until Abby actually has an opinion on the matter which I hope will not be until Halloween 2009 because I have an adorable JoJo's Circus hand-me-down costume that I would love to see again because it is just too adorable.



My parents were with us this year which was a God send. I was fretting all day how I was going to get this accomplished on my lonesome plus I bought like 12 pounds of candy that, if no one was at the house passing it out, would have gone to waste. So, my dad stayed at the house to man the candy cauldron and Mom hit the road with me and the girls around 6.



We were the first ones out but I figured the others wouldn't be too far behind us because our neighborhood is filled with very young kids and it was a school night with bedtimes not to be ignored but I was wrong. We strolled along for 30 minutes only hitting the houses with lights on (which were quite a few). We then decided to take a little break and grab some sweatshirts. We headed back to the house were Lexi had a wardrobe malfunction and had to change into the ballerina garb for the sake of decency.



While at the house we ran into little Katelynn who was dressed as a lamb. This was the first time that Abby expressed an interest in getting out of the stroller. It was so cute - Abby dressed as a kitty and Katelynn as a lamb - Abby kept touching Katelynn's costume and trying to kiss her.



From that point on Abby decided she was going to try her hand in this Trick-or-Treat stuff. It was so cute as she did her little toddle waddle to the doors: her tale on her costume would wag from side to side. The first house we went to had a dog and Abby loves all animals (it's one of the only surefire ways to get her to giggle-being near a dog) so she pet the dog and tried to kiss it. I think that she thought this was the point of trick or treating - going around and kissing all the neighborhood dogs. The candy was only a bonus. She carried her little pumpkin tote shaking it like it was a glorified rattle. Too cute!

Abby lost all patience with this whole ordeal around 7:15 and broke into absolute hysteria so we called it quits. I think Lexi was ready too. So we returned home and the kiddos and Lexi was in bed at her normal bedtime. I sat out on the front patio to avoid the incessant doorbell ringing disturbing the girls' slumber and in a hope to keep the dogs from going insane. It seems that effort was in vane though because the dogs barking at the trick-or-treaters passing the house kept Lexi awake to the point that she kept coming down the stairs like a little waif telling me that she couldn't go to sleep. Abby, however, slept perfectly fine. Stefan arrived home at 8:15 and was able to get Lexi to finally go to sleep. It's unfortunate that, because of his job, he has to miss Halloween sometimes, but what can you do?

All-in-all I'd say that this was a pretty decent Halloween.