Happy Halloween!

It was a marathon on Halloween festivities for us!  First, the kids were all dressed up for their school parties on Thursday.  The girls even had a pony ride and a hay ride that day!  Asa and Addison spent Thursday with their three classmates.... playing, learning, carving pumpkins, and having a generally fabulous day.

Saturday, the kids took a visit to Gram's house.  It was a gorgeous day, and we ate lunch, gathered acorns, asked a billion questions, and the girls took it upon themselves to rearrange her Fall decor.  It really was a perfect Fall day!

That night, we walked over for Trunk or Treat at the church.  Being a small church, they were able to run amuck, bouncing from one game to the next, one jumpy to another.  Olive reached over and grabbed a huge handful of cotton candy and, before we knew what had happened, wadded it up and stuck it in her mouth.  Wet cotton candy is not exactly retrievable.  Needless to say, that girl thoroughly enjoyed herself.  They all did!

 On Monday, we went to Karen's house and celebrated Kristen's birthday... and did some old school neighborhood Trick or Treating.  We have never lived in a neighborhood, so the boys are just memorized by the whole thing!  At one point, Addison asked me if we had gone through the whole "town".  After chasing Ivey and Olive, it felt like it!

Ivey was an absolute riot that night.  She ran around, as Tinkerbell, bubbly and silly and cute.  You could hear her yelling out, "Brothers!!  Wait for me, guys!".  Being the little manipulator that she is, she managed to turn on the charm at each house.  She didn't stop with a mere "Trick or Treat".  No.  She then began some cute conversation with the people at the door.  She would point out her sparkly nails or mention their dog... and then go in for the kill.  "Can I have some more Halloween treats?"  Yes.  She used the phrase "Halloween treats".  I'd say that it worked on about 20% of the women, but ALL the males fell into her trap.  We even heard two teenage boys laughing at how they had no choice because she was SO cute.  Holy moly.  What are we in for?

Ivey wouldn't take her costume off that night, and I was way too tired to protest.  The next morning, I went in to wake her up for PlayPals at the church.  She sat up, smiled, and remarked at how she was so excited to wear her Tinkerbell dress to school.  After a little prodding, I realized I had two choices.  I could send Ms. Gina with a happy Tinkerbell or a very unhappy Ivey.  I have way bigger fish to fry than a Tinkerbell dress, so my little girl grabbed her Tiara (because every costume needs a tiara) and pranced out the door.  It seems that three year olds think nothing of a classmate showing up in a sparkly fairy dress for no reason.  I was told it was never an issue!

That brings us to today.  Wednesday.  Although we did manage to change out everything under the dress, Tink still hung out with us today.  Ivey volunteered to come along to Addison's orthodontist appointment this morning... happy as a clam.  If I knew a costume would invoke this much happiness, I would have put her in them for outings more often!  She trotted around the office, showering Addison with moral support while he got his brackets put in place.  Later that day, we did manage to switch out the Tinkerbell costume for a Cinderella dress, "while the other is in the wash".  Olive saw the wardrobe change and wanted in on the action, so while I peeled and diced 8lbs of potatoes for potato soup, the two princesses ran circles around the house.

Now, to cross our fingers that she doesn't want to deck out in the morning... I'm not sure how much more glitter I can handle!