Happy Halloween!

We had another great, exhausting Halloween this year. Before 7pm, we had our first trick-or-treaters. As I was pulling Reagan's hair into a ponytail, I watched the local high school approach my door. Ok... not the entire school, but it certainly seemed like the line of treaters wasn't going to end. After a few quick photos, we sent our kids on their way with Daddy. Here are some photos of our little characters.

Can you guess what Ben was? Uncle Pennybags! (Better known as Mr. Monopoly.) This was my thrifty, pulled-together costume: $1 hat, $3 cane, $4 thrift-store blazer, $2 fake-fur cut-out moustache, free "green house" box, and free red ribbon bowtie. Unfortunately he didn't own black pants before the costume, so I had to run out and buy him some. But at least I take comfort in the fact that he'll be able to use them for another year or so for church, etc.

Reagan was a 50's teeny-bopper, poodle-skirt girl. Her costume was fairly cheap too. I bought the scarf, and the skirt was an eBay find. I did blow some money on "poodle socks" from the costume store, but they were just too cute. The shoes were thrift store $2 finds, thanks to Nana.

Tommy's costume was a cheapie Target costume, but we couldn't resist. He's newest obsession (besides school buses and tractors) is fire engines. So, how could we pass up the fireman costume! Lucky guy that he was, he got to wear it three days in a row: skate night, preschool fall-festival, and Halloween! Somehow it hasn't ripped yet! So, it's ready for playtime!

The kids lasted one and a half hours and came home. Even after returning, Tommy went out for a few more homes. So they are well-stocked with candy! I went out the next day and bought three tall plastic containers, labeled them with kid's names, and let each kid keep 50 pieces each. The rest (of the chocolate) went into a plastic bag for the freezer for future use, and the rest of the junky stuff went in the garbage. I'm sure I could've found a more useful resting place, but Mommy really didn't need calories sitting around. So out they went. Now the kids are allowed one (or two) pieces a day. When it's gone, it's gone.

The Monday before Halloween, we all sat down to carve some pumpkins. Here are our creations. Reagan chose the bat design for Daddy to carve; Ben chose the ghost design for Mommy to carve; Tommy chose the silly parts to make a monster; and Mommy made the goofy one with ears and a nose (made from a little pumpkin). These were cute, but my favorites are still our pumpkins from a few years ago. Can you tell who they were?

Ernie and Bert!