Tricks and Treats

Our Halloween sort of flew by in a whirlwind, and so it's just now that I'm getting time to post a video of the events at our house. We started the day off with mass chaos at the kids school Halloween parade. Each class marched through the gym and we got to see all the costumes. It wouldn't have been too bad, except there is never enough seating and the kids practically ran through the gym, so you could hardly get a look at them. There were some pretty creative costumes, as well as a few that were a little sad. One kid wore a cardboard box...it practically screamed "my mom didn't care if I dressed up or not"! Times are tight, I know, but a cardboard box??? After that, I had to rush out to the store and get treats for 2 of the kids classes. 4 dozen doughnuts, apple juice, cups and napkins, plus some extra candy for trick or treaters and I felt broke! We took the treats to the school and then went home to get Natalie a nap before all the chaos really began. She slept for 3 hours...which hasn't happened in a long time. But, I was grateful to have the time to finish off some other things around the house. By the time the kids got home, they were all sugared up from parties at school, and we were off to trick or treat at Grandma and Grandma Heaton's house. They like to have us come early - they usually go out for dinner and try to avoid all other trick or treaters! Grandma even had real candy for the kids (if you know G & G Heaton, candy is a true luxury at their house!). We came home, ate a quick dinner, re-painted Jake's face and we were off! The weather couldn't have been much nicer - it was 65-70* outside when we started and just a few sprinkles hit us throughout the night. But, no winter jackets and mittens were required! We hit our own neighborhood and then headed to American Fork to trick or treat with Ryan and Andrea and their youngest kids. The houses were all right together, so the kids just ran from house to house and we could hardly keep up with them. We came home around 8:30 and the kids dumped out their loot and began the counting and sorting and trading. I know that each of them had upwards of 100 pieces of candy and gum....ugh! I'm hoping to hide some of it and keep it for later! The kids were feeling a little sad and disgruntled this year because I told them I was not buying any new costumes....they had to find something in the box that we already had...Abby borrowed a cheer outfit from a friend, Jake was a zombie like last year, Emily chose the BYU cheer outfit that Abby wore a few years ago and Natalie was a poodle from last year as well. I think that after a few houses, they forgot all about where the costumes came from and that they had to be re-used....amazing what the promise of a little sugar will do!

PS. I had a video all ready to post with this, but for some reason, it won't download. Pictures just don't do it all justice, but they'll have to do.