what should I be?

I have a goal for next Halloween.

I am going to figure out costumes a month in advance . . . and GO with them.

I was wishy washy this year, and ended up throwing together costumes at the last minute (like, seriously, I was at the store an hour before the Trunk-or-Treat).

Carly wanted to be a "scaaaaarrrryy cat!", and pretty much stuck with that.

I could do that.

I started with a plan to dress Q as a cow and John as a chicken, both costumes I could borrow from friends, and I would be a farm girl. Well, Q and J both HATED the cow costume, so I realized I needed them to be in costume without feeling like they were in costume. Too bad. Q made one cute cow.

[moo moo, I'm Q.]

I gathered up things we already had, found Q a $5 hat at Target, and BAM!, I had a witch, a pumpkin, and a cat. We went to find a black shirt for Carly's costume, and I found two: a plain black one, and one with sparkly silver polka-dots on it. I'll let you guess which one she picked. I guess it is no surprise; she has a tendency to put her own flair on her costumes. Poor John was a bit neglected. I got a Goodwill coat and cut the sleeves off to make him a little extra puffy (like he isn't round enough on his own . . . ) and put Carly's 4T jack-o-lantern pajama shirt on him. Whatever works, right?

[I'm not a witch I'm your wife!]

Carly loved her nose and whispers, though it itched her a little bit and it ended up smeared all over her hands every time I put it on. It reminded me of the year I went as a witch and had green face paint all over my face and it tortured me with itchiness. That is one of the most distinct memories from my childhood. Traumatizing.

[one of my favorite pictures of Carly of all time.]

[one of my favorite pictures of John of all time.]

For the most part, we kept our Halloween celebrations low-key this year. Last year we were totally Halloweened out by the time the 31st came, and Carly was traumatized, of course. So I didn't do too much with her. We did have a little Halloween playgroup and she had Halloween preschool. We went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat on Friday, and, despite being initially spooked and requesting we go right home, Carly got an early reminder of just how fun getting all that candy can be.

[babies' first Halloween.]

 [Halloween pj's; Trunk-or-Treat success; "Uncle Brady is a kitty just like me!"; our version of holiday baking.]

Halloween arrived.

We did a Halloween "project", where Carly started to say all the things were scary so I drew happy faces on all of them. I tried to pull off some festive food. And we went to the grocery store. Doesn't get scarier than that.

Halloween night we went Trick-or-Treating with friends. It was a very cold night, so the dads stayed inside with the babies and we went up and down the street. Carly would go to the front door and hang back until EVERY kid had gotten their candy, I mean, it had to be completely clear before she'd go up. I wish she'd show that kind of patience at home! After every house, Carly would show me her bag and say, "Look, I got candy!" and then she'd say, "I'm sure having a fun time trick-or-treating!" I sure had a fun time just watching her.

[cat, Super Why, and octopus; waiting patiently; showing me her spoils; love my kitty.]

We warmed up afterwards at our friend's house, eating caramel apples and caramel corn. We came home to baths and a too-late bedtime, and the babies proceeded to sleep through the night and Carly slept  in until 9:30.

We'll call it a success.

Happy [belated] Halloween!