Candy Candy Screamy Screamy Happy Happy Halloweeny

Now that Halloween is a week past, it's about time I write about it, huh?

We decided against trick-or-treating this year, mostly because A is just too young. I'm pretty sure he'd get to the first house, get some candy, and want to sit right there on the porch and dive into his loot. I don't think he'd get the concept of going from door-to-door to get more candy, which is kind of the whole point, and I was too lazy to dress him up and visit just one house. Besides, we had already dressed Alex up for the Boo Bash, and our church had its "Trunk-or-Treat" event the weekend we went to camp, so he would basically be all dressed up with nowhere to go. You'd think a big city like Dallas would have a ton of Halloween stuff for kids - which they do - but those things either took place earlier in the month or were for older kids, like haunted houses and scary movies.

Maybe I didn't look in the right places for things that little guys could do, like maybe one of the malls had something fun planned...whatever the case, I was pretty bummed that we would spend Halloween at home, costumeless, because I'm kind of a stickler for celebrating a holiday on the actual day.

So in order to redeem myself, I did what any good mother would do, and allowed Alex to sit in front of the TV and consume mass quantities of sugar all day long. Well, not all day. First thing in the morning, Granny B called for our annual reading of Little Orphan Annie by James Whitcomb Riley, a Halloween tradition started by her mom, my Mommo, many years ago. Last year, Alex was already in bed when we listened to it, so this year was his first to join in the tradition.

After breakfast, we ran a few errands that included a trip to Target, the grocery store, and Walgreens. I couldn't stand the thought of A going in public without a lick of Halloween spirit, and luckily, his Granny and Poppa had gotten him a fun orange shirt that lights up for just such an apparel emergency.

When we got back to the house, I filled a dish with an array of newly-purchased Halloween candy and set it on the end table, foolishly assuming that Alex would somehow neglect to notice the delicious, sugar-filled goodies that I had conveniently placed directly in his line of sight. Instead, he climbed onto the footstool, bellied up to the bowl, and began shoveling piece after piece of candy into his mouth.

I dragged him away from the candy and distracted him with Halloween presents. Yes, Halloween presents. I can't help it, I love any excuse to spoil him...and buy stuff...and Halloween is just as good an excuse as any. Anyway, it was just a few little things I had picked up, along with some things that Granny B and Grampa had sent earlier in the week.

From his mom and dad, he got a pail and a shovel for digging things in the back yard, some bathtub crayons, monster books, and the movie Monsters, Inc. for the car because, I swear on my shoe collection, if I have to listen to The Incredibles one more time I might shove a stiletto heel through my eardrum.

From his G-ma and Pa, he got a video of classic cartoons, Five Silly Monkeys with corresponding hand puppet, and an awesome pair of cowboy boots that I'll picture at a future date.

Normally movies are reserved for the car, but in this case, with it being Halloween and all, it seemed like a good time to make an exception. So A sat in front of the TV with his popcorn and watched Monsters, Inc.

I wasn't entirely sure what it was about, but I was pretty sure it involved monsters. And lots of kids screaming, which apparently is contagious.



Eventually he moved from the floor to the sofa, where he enjoyed a Tootsie Pop and did some more screaming.

When Timothy got home from work, we continued our festivities with pizza and Pringles and Rice Krispy Treats.

Alex wasn't sure what to think about the latter, especially when it attacked his elbow.

Alex pretty much crashed after all of the sugar consumption, so after a bath and and a trial run with his bathtub crayons...

...we put him to bed early. That meant no trick-or-treaters for us because doorbell ringing and strangers in creepy costumes equals Murphy barking his fool head off and waking Alex up. I was pretty bummed because that's another one of my favorite parts about Halloween - spoiling other people's kids. Next year's Halloween will just have to make up for this one. But A didn't know the difference and had a fun day, so that is all that really matters, isn't it?