Halloween; happy and heartening

Gosh, let's just go for a full 30 days later on this blog being written, shall we?  I've become so much more relaxed about writing.  It's crazy.  To be honest, I am not sure I am liking this newfound quality all that much.   Each day I say I will get to it.  And another day goes by and another and another.  So this is what procrastination feels like, huh?

So much to say about Halloween and the different layers that factored into our evening.  It was a spontaneous mix of events that made the holiday complete for me.  It actually unfolded into a really exceptional evening.

This year despite me asking the kids (multiple times!) do you want go to the party store and get new costumes, they both said they'd be happy in their costumes they wore last year.  And oh yeah, these are the same costumes they wore the year before that.  These costumes were purchased on October 31, 2014, just moments before it got dark and trick or treating began.  They were bought from the CVS across the street and their Halloween merchandise was already marked down by 50%.  Score!  Talk about getting your money's worth.

Up until 2014, the kids for some reason weren't big on getting dressed up and going trick or treating.  Not sure why because Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays.  Hello! Going door to door and being given candy?  How much fun is that!?!?   For some unknown reason it all changed when the kids told me they wanted to go trick or treating about an hour before the sun set and we scrambled to get them costumes.  CVS to the rescue!

Ha!  You can see in the picture how short the sleeves are on the kids!

The day before, Sam got an invitation from a fellow classmate to join her in going around the neighborhood.  Given Sam's history with social anxiety and making friends, it was so awesome to hear that one of her friends wanted to go trick or treating with her.  I love this.

Ian and I crashed their group of girls and we had a great time!  The amount of candy the kids collected was insane! 

When we got home, our neighbor had her fire pit going and invited us to come hang out.  She made spiked and non-spiked hot chocolate.  It was a beautiful evening.  I wished it could've lasted for hours.

Bedtimes didn't matter on October 31st of this year.  :)   

Both costumes have since been thrown away.  Halloween costumes, especially the kind found at CVS, don't really have a long shelf life.  Wearing them for 3 years in a row is extending its lifespan by about 2 years.   I look forward to seeing what next year brings.