trick or treat 2009

October 29th, our town held its annual trick or treat. Again, we were incredibly lucky to have yet another unbelievable fall day...dry, sunny, warm. No-coat weather!

Here are Nick and Xavier, getting ready to receive the hundreds of children demanding candy. Nick doesn't know what's coming...but Xavier seems to (he's looking up in this picture and smiling, like he know's Bennett is behind Nick...)

Sneaky Ben :-)

Ben wore his Spiderman costume again this year, because he loves it just that much. As my friend Lisa would say, "it wasn't exactly the same as last year...this year, it was Spiderman with a Wedgie." Her son (also named Ben, hmmm) had done the same thing years ago when he was a little boy...so she had experience with this 'my costume shrunk' phenomenon.

Xavier was a 1960's Mouseketeer. I know it looks like he's just dressed in khaki's and a coat...but you can't see his shirt with "XAVIER" spelled in big block letters, and that coat is actually a Mickey Mouse letter jacket. I chose this for him, because X LOVES (loves.) LOVES Mickey Mouse. He is an unruly, riotous child in the morning, if he does not have his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I've DVR'd thousands of episodes (that may be an exaggeration), so that we can stop the rage. Its like a happy pill for him. :-)

The other really funny part about Ben's costume: We had 2 of these last year (one for each of the boys), and because I am a very clever person, I snuck one away from Ben after Halloween 2008 so that only one of them would get the wear and tear of year-round dress up play. I was banking on him wanting to be Spiderman again this year. And when he told me that's what he wanted in early October, I thought, "JACKPOT! I've got a perfect one already saved!!" Because of course, the zipper on the one he plays with almost daily is broken, and there's a hole in the knee.

So, about 30 minutes before Trick or Treat was to begin, I triumphantly pulled the "new" Spidey from its hiding place, congratulating myself silently on how much of a forward thinker I was (and remembering where I had put it...) to realize that... that zipper was broken too. Noooooooooooooo!!! Somehow Ben had managed to get to it before I had put it away last year, I guess, and I hadn't noticed the damage.

Three safety pins later, my son looked like a hillbilly, but at least he was happy and in a somewhat functional costume.

So Ben and I walked around our neighborhood, while X, Nick, and his parents stayed back at the house to hand out candy. Xavier loved seeing all the kids trick or treating in their costumes, and B had so much fun this year running up to the houses. I was proud that he said 'thank you' to everyone, without prompting. He gets overwhelmed by the amount of candy, because we don't typically have candy in our house, so its very much a novelty for him.

Bennett couldn't wait to get to Grandma McNutt's house. She is our backyard neighbor, and Ben really likes her. It was funny, because he's not really used to seeing her house from the front, and all the way around our block he kept saying..."I can't wait to see Grandma McNutt! Let's go!" and after all that, he totally ran right past her house, even though she was yelling..."Bennett! Bennett!! Come here, buddy!" as he went by. LOL. He was completely focused on the neighboring house, which he thought was hers...he eventually found her (I let it go on, because sometimes its funny to me, how oblivious to general whereabouts he is. hehe)

After visiting with Grandma McNutt, we headed back home. I lagged behind Ben, wanting to take a picture. As I was shooting, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a squirrel tousling in the leaves on the side of the road. I thought to myself, "Watch...that squirrel is going to run right in front of him, and scare him half to death." And guess what. I was right.

Seconds after I took the picture below, that squirrel darted in front of Benny and he was so freaked out, he threw his pumpkin up in the air, candy flew everywhere and he ended up falling.

And there I was, about 30 feet behind him, laughing hysterically.

All the retired people that live on that section of our neighborhood, handing out candy in their driveways must have thought I was a total nutcase mother. I don't think they saw the squirrel and there I was, struggling to get it together to help my wailing, scared child gather up his candy that was now stewn about the road.

It still makes me laugh to think about it.

I hope he's not scarred for life, by the squirrel who dared to play 'chicken' with him, and his mother who couldn't stop laughing at his expense.

Grandma P and Xavier.

Xavier and Grandma governing the candy-give-away process...

M-I-C...K-E-Y...M-O-U-S-E!!! (sing that to yourself as you look at the next picture. :-)

And finally ... our jack-o-lanterns in all their glowing glory.

And so, dear friends, I nominate myself for Trick or Treat mother of the year 2009. My kid looked like hillbilly with a safety-pinned costume, I let him run around aimlessly looking for Grandma McNutt, and then I laughed at the fact that he was nearly attacked by a squirrel while he shouted, "ITS NOT FUNNY!!!" at me. (I'm still laughing while I type this...and that makes me a clear winner of the proposed award...)

Happy Halloween!! (approximately 40 days late. ;-p)