Boo!

Halloween was a very low key event at our house this year. I did minimal decorating (okay, none), and frankly, none of us seemed to miss it. It felt like I was slacking as a Mom - no pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies, no window clings, no big trip to a pumpkin patch, and most of all, no elaborate costumes.


Cameron and Aaron seemed altogether ambivalent about the holiday. They wanted the candy - but they acted like going trick-or-treating was a chore. I fear that my lack of enthusiasm has rubbed off on them. That, and being on D track - they aren't in school for Halloween.



Troy couldn't be home in the evening, so he couldn't go door to door with them like he usually does. They went with some great neighbors (thank you!), but came home early and stripped off their costumes as fast as they could. They would barely pose for a picture.

And can we talk about the costumes? Cameron - the boy with comfort issues - chose this loose fitting robe thing out of the big bin of costume basics in the basement. Did he want scary teeth? How about some ghoulish make-up? No, just the robe.


"What are you going to be?" I asked, knowing that people would be asking me what my kids were dressing up as.

"I don't know -- just a guy in a robe."


He honestly could not have cared less.


Aaron's costume at least has a little bit of a story behind it. Have you seen High School Musical? You know Sharpay? The blond, not-so-nice girl? She has a brother named Ryan. Yeah, that's who Aaron is dressed up as. Aaron saw a hat at Old Navy like the ones that Ryan wears in the movie - and immediately latched onto the idea of being him for Halloween. In addition to his penchant for fashionable hats, Ryan also likes to wear "spring-colored" clothes (Aaron's words), so Aaron just grabbed his lime green polo. That was it - that was his costume. A hat and his shirt from last Easter.


I asked him if he wanted a name tag or something to tie him to the movie, but he was convinced that it was perfectly obvious. I made him practice saying that he was "Ryan Evans from High School Musical". I figured that he would be asked that. A lot.


Alright...he's pretty cute.


Troy was home for a few hours in the afternoon, and managed to help carve some pumpkins with the boys. He's done fancy stencil carvings in the past, but this year it was fast and simple.


Cameron did his pumpkin entirely by himself!




I think they turned out great. Classic jack-o-lanterns.



A little trampoline time before they headed out.





And now we are faced with this.

Do you sneak your kids' candy?