Spookiest Night of the Year

We had a very spooky night of Halloween revelry. Mini-me was Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty), Patch was Luigi, and Ginger was a witch.

 Ginger has a mind of her own, as we all know. So when I told her she was a witch, she was very upset. She said, "I no witch. Ina pincess." She refused to put on the costume until I called it a "princess dress." So, she was a Halloween princess instead. She discovered how delicious hot dogs are for dinner and M&Ms are for dessert.

 Patch changed his mind around 47 times. Finally, this week, he settled on Luigi from Super Mario Brothers. Someone said to him, "Oh, wow, are you Luigi?" His answer: "No. I'm Patch. This is just a costume." He helped me hand out candy after we were done trick-or-treating. I noticed that he would give the pretty girls an extra piece (or two) of candy. There was one particularly attractive teen who came, and Patch said "I like the girls." Yeah he does.

 Mini-me found my costume in her closet and claimed it as her own. She was so excited to wear it, but wanted me to understand that she was a good Maleficent, not an evil one. She had to leave early, because she and Curly had rehearsal. Their show, Seussical: The Musical, opens on Friday. Curly is Horton and Mini-me is Cindy Lou Who.

The best part was that I didn't have to make a single costume and the only thing I bought was Patch's shirt. It was $5, and he can wear it to school. I love when Halloween works out that way!

Curly's brother brings his family every year. We love living close to cousins. Ginger in particular was so excited when they got here. In fact, Ginger was excited to see everyone. I'm not sure if it was the promise of sugar or something else, but she was happy to sit on laps or go talk to everyone in the room. For anyone who's ever been treated to one of Ginger's special chin-in-her-chest looks, you know how monumental this is!

So there you go. Another Halloween come and gone. Flower asked to stay at her mom's house this year and trick-or-treat with friends. It's only the second or third Halloween she hasn't been at our house, and the first time Curly hasn't gone trick-or-treating with her. Kids grow up, I suppose. Sometimes I wish they could stay little forever. But then I remember how great it is when they can get their own breakfast on a Saturday morning, and I'm okay with them growing up a little.