Happy Falloween!

No, that's not a typo. That's how Casey says, "Happy Halloween!" (Falloween rhymes with Halloween in this scenario.)

This year we went trick-or-treating for real. For over an hour! It was a blast. I had class, but I booked out of there as soon as it ended at 6:45pm and was home around 7:15pm, as Jason pulled the last little ladybug bootie on Marcie's foot.

Jason's parents generously offered to come hand out candy at our house so we could both take the kids trick-or-treating. Jason's sister Tiffany came with us, and we brought along her dog Barley, too. We started by going a little up the hill from our house-- we live almost at the top, so we don't get many trick-or-treaters. If you go to the bottom of our hill, there is a long stretch of neighborhood that is relatively flat, and it's like a mall on Halloween. It's crazy! I can't imagine how much candy those houses go through. But because we live in an area that is only lightly travelled, the kiddos scored full sized candy bars! This is especially a treat for me and Jason because Marcie is too young for candy bars and Casey is so picky, he really only eats MnMs and Tootsie Rolls! My parents sent the kids Halloween cards and glow necklaces ("How cool!" according to Casey.), which we used while traversing the neighborhood.

Anyway, we stayed on our block, then went down a long, windy hill to our friends' house. They recently remodeled the interior (it's beautiful) and we hadn't seen it yet. So it was fun to poke around. And Casey was an amazingly well-mannered Buzz Lightyear. When the door opened, he called out "Trick or treat." And once he got the candy he said, "Thank you so much" or "Thank you very much." Never just thanks. It was so grown-up and so cute. Then, he'd call out "Happy Falloween!" as we left. Every once in a while, when he got something he liked, he'd say, "Look at that, Mommy." It was very cute. When we got home, he asked to tear into the Cars candy he got-- fruit snacks in the shape of the Cars movie characters. He took two bites out of the Chick piece, and he hated it. But he was so polite about it! He said, "I want spit out, Mommy," with this look of terror on his face. Of course we let him spit it out--we were just delighted he was willing to try something new!

I still haven't found my camera, but I promise to update this post when I get the photos Jason's dad snapped for us. I'm so grateful they came over to help out-- it really was a treat to take the kiddos trick-or-treating together.

The rest of the night was less stellar, unfortunately. Both kids have a cold. Marcie was up basically every two hours. The first time she was wet and the other two times she was hungry. The last time, she would fall asleep on my chest, but when I'd lay her in her crib, she'd wake right up and begin shrieking. Some time around 4:30am, my angel-of-a-husband rolled over (as Marcie's shrieking began after I put her in bed) and said, "I'll get her." It was awesome. For me. It was pretty sucky for him.

This morning, Marcie has experienced two total diaper blow-outs. Both kids have whined more in the am hours than in the past month, and I'm running on a low gas tank from sleeping in 1 1/2 to 2 hour intervals. We'll sleep them with their humidifiers tonight. Having two sick children is hard, but at the moment I'm counting my blessings that I'm not sick too-- otherwise it would be a nightmare to try and care for them (knock on wood here).

Despite the lack of sleep, Halloweed was fun-- beautiful weather, polite children-- I really couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening!