Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun. Matthew and Ethan both really enjoyed getting dressed up...I think Ethan even enjoyed his sideburns and glasses, because he never touched them, and if I ever took off the glasses, he would beg me to put them back on. We went trick-or-treating in the mall, mainly because Ethan could walk around on his own a little bit, and because it's indoors and we could get away with putting Ethan in a T-shirt and shorts. As you can see, they were both very excited...Matthew even got into character a little bit, and insisted on carrying his bag with his hook.
I don't know if Ethan really knew what was going on, he just knew that it was awesome. Any place that just gives you candy for walking around is a place that Ethan wants to be. He would get so happy when people would give him treats, that at the very first store, he grabbed the sucker they gave him, and chucked his trick-or-treat bag on the ground so that he could use both hands to try and rip into his precious candy. It was pretty funny. Later, we got him to understand that if he held onto the bag, people would continue to fill it up with the good stuff.

The only slightly disappointing thing was that people kept thinking Ethan was Santa Claus. It's hard not to get irritated, since I went to so much trouble to get in every possible detail of Smee...and then to have some people not get it... But, enough people did get who he was, that I can't be too disappointed.

After the mall, we went out to Morgan so that Matthew could go "real" trick-or-treating with his cousins. We bundled Ethan up in a stroller, and would let him get out every now and then (like when a house would hand out full-sized candy bars or soda) so that he could get in on the experience, too. Mostly, though I think he was happy to just go along for the ride in his warm, cozy stroller.

Matthew had a GREAT time trick or treating with his cousins. It was the first time that he had actually gone door-to-door, and he thought it was the best thing ever. He would run from house to house, and the parents had a hard time keeping up with him. He loved saying "trick or treat" and then shouting "Happy Halloween!" over his shoulder as he steamed ahead to the next, glorious, candy-giving house.

The only thing that he didn't like was once, he tripped, fell, and then skidded down the sidewalk, en route to the next house. Luckily, by that time, we were almost done, because falling down really seemed to take the wind out of his sails, and he wanted to be carried to every house.

All in all, we had a good time, and the kids made quite a haul (which I'm as excited about as them, due to the "mommy tax").

I can't believe it, but now that Halloween is over, we're starting to think ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas, and CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!! Where did the time go?

Well, hope you all had a Happy Halloween, and are looking forward to the Holidays as much as we are.