Happy Halloween!

Wyatt has been talking about Halloween since Labor Day. We've been reading books, singing songs and costume possibilities have been an endless topic of discussion. Despite the fact that he was excited about Halloween, I knew Wyatt's fear would keep him from participating fully in the festivities. He is even terrified the Halloween display at our local drug store. With an oversize skeleton head, tombstones draped in cobwebs and a cackling witch on a motion sensor, it is a little scary. I could barely distract him long enough to pay for our stuff so we could get the heck out of there. Later that night, around 2am, I heard him whimpering in his room. I went in to check and asked if he had a bad dream. He answered, "Yes. I don't wike da sca-wee skel-kon at da store, mommy!" If the Halloween display at Shopper's Drug Mart was giving him nightmares, I knew he would be no match for the ghouls and creepies we would see out on Halloween.

To ease into the holiday, we decided to check out the party that our gym throws every year. It's geared toward families so we figured, how scary can it be? They have bouncy houses, games, cookie decorating and even a haunted house (which, of course, we steered clear of). Nate and Dayven smuggled their vodka tonics in their water bottles. Nothing like some good wholesome family fun! The highlight of the night was discovering the group dance lesson, where a dance instructor taught the Michael Jackson Thriller dance. We are a dancing family so this was right up our alley. It's a little hard to do a choreographed dance with a baby in your arms so I hung back to take pictures while the boys cut a rug. Watch for Dayven in the orange fleece in the video. Wyatt had a ball and didn't want to leave. He talked about it the whole way home and kept doing his new moves, even after he was changed into his PJs and ready for bed.

I had the pleasure of being one of the volunteers in Wyatt's classroom for their Halloween party on Friday. He wasn't excited to dress up, but I was. I was quite pleased with myself for incorporating a literary theme (The Cat in the Hat) and thankfully, Wyatt wasn't afraid of me. There were stories, games, crafts and a special Halloween treat. It was so fun seeing him in his element and getting to know the kids that he's always talking about.

Wyatt was on the fence about Trick or Treating (or "Halloweening" as it's referred to here) so Saturday night, we poured a glass of wine and camped out on the couch in the front room to watch the kids coming up the walk. A few friends even stopped by and it was fun seeing everyone in their costumes. Dayven stuffed Wyatt into the monkey costume we have and he did keep it on for about 4 minutes, but he was really upset about it, as you can see. We finally decided to just let him wear his Buzz Lightyear PJs since they could kind of pass for a costume. Hadley had multiple wardrobe changes, like a typical girl. Wyatt finally worked up the nerve to go out so we headed over to our friends' house across the street. He said his spiel and got some loot, but got stage fright at the second house so that was the end of his trick or treating experience. He's not really a sweet tooth guy so the idea of candy doesn't motivate him. Still, he liked watching all the kids come to the door.

We made the fatal mistake of grossly underestimating the amount of candy we needed. I've never been a good judge of this and it's something I stress about every year. I don't want to run out, but I really don't want any leftover. The last thing I need is a bunch of candy sitting around tempting me. So, as Dayven continued answering the door with a bowl that was growing dangerously empty, I frantically searched the pantry for individually wrapped items that could pass as treats. I found some fruit snacks, which Dayven said were lame (and might warrant some pumpkin smashing later), but hey, we were desperate. When those were gone, I did the unthinkable. I raided Wyatt's pumpkin and stole the treats he'd gotten at his school party. He saw me doing it and only slightly protested, after I promised to replace them all. It still crushes me just thinking about it! The rush finally died down and we turned out the lights about 8:30. Good thing too because we were about one knock away from serving individually wrapped Kraft cheese slices!