Trick or Treat!

Oh holidays, how I love you and the traditions we come up with carrying on year after year. Some people may "outgrow" the magic of holidays, not I. The anticipation, the planning, the holiday hype in every department store and catalog, the children's  wonder and excitement, the joy of it all... I thrive on it. I move from one holiday to the next ready to soak in and capture these precious fleeting moments. Because they are, my friends, fleeting. Time passes much too quickly, I have to enjoy it all. And, when no holiday is in sight... I make them up. Yes, why not? Life is just too short to not celebrate it.

The candy wrappers wadded in a ball stuffed in my pants pockets, Halloween decorations collected in piles in my dining room waiting to be stored back in the attic, and the remains of a sugar high wearing off... are evidence of a good time.

Halloween preparation started Friday night with a tasty homemade shrimp cocktail with blue corn tortilla chips and spicy pepperjack cheese to snack on, and pulling together last minute costume items.

Saturday we stuffed our annual candy bags to give out to our neighborhood trick or treaters. Middle Little had much fun putting together the candy bags and put them together perfectly with just the right balance of chocolate and fruity candies. (Last year, she was helping stuff candy bags and I caught her hiding a bag of fun sized M&Ms under her shirt...lol.)

Saturday evening we carved the annual pumpkin (this year Dad opted out... said he couldnt top the one he did last year, it was pretty cool). Check it out... easiest pumpkin to carve ever... the vomiting pumpkin. Actually, I kind of felt like this after stuffing all the candy bags earlier in the day. Dude, its called too many fun sized candy bars.

Sunday, Halloween morning I was up ready to try my hand at baking "from scratch" pumpkin pies. I scrubbed that little pumpkin and prepped it with great care in hopes that Id have the bestest pumpkin pies ever in my house.... the smell of fresh pumpkin pies all infused with spices and sweetness, was divine.

Delish. I was proud. So proud I ate about a quarter of the pie....AFTER we handed out candy and I had already eaten about as much candy as I handed out. Okay, not really, but I sure ate more of it than I should have. Can we say "hopped up" on sugar?

Before the whole candy eating frenzy and pie, Daddy cooked some mouth watering and just right seasoned chicken breasts on the grill for shredded chicken tacos. YUM. See, it wasnt all sugar... we did manage to eat something healthy.

After dinner, we climbed into the attic to see what we could drag out quickly to spook up the yard. A few "bloody sheets", some plastic skulls/body parts, lazer light, fog machine, a few random objects and we were good to go!

Daddy setting up the fog machine looking spooky in his tophat/wig.

And yes, now that I have overloaded your senses with all of this... I saved the best for last.

Middle Little decided she wanted to be "Jem" from the old 80's cartoon, Jem and the Holograms.

{Theme Song}
Jem...
Jem is excitement!
Oouu Jem...
Jem is adventure!
Ooouu...
Glamour and glitter,
Fashion and fame!
Jem...
Jem is truly outrageous
Truly, truly, truly outrageous
Woo ooo Jem...
Jem
the music's contagious (outrageous)
Jem is my name
No one else is the same
Jem is my name!

Oh how I love this girl. So here she is folks...

I bring you, the comeback tour... for one night only... "Jem"

Featuring D.J. Josh.0

If I hadnt taken such a long video Id post it, of Abbie dancing in the front yard to The Monster Mash & The Adams Family theme songs... lol.  Abbie is a dancing machine. The Littles had much fun trick or treating, handing out candy, eating candy and greeting people!

I am patiently waiting for Thanksgiving now. Oh the crafts and baking we can do! I can smell the turkey roasting, hear the football game in the background and see the kids running around! Someone pass me the gravy boat for my mashed potatoes.

Whether you observed Halloween or not this past weekend, I hope whatever you did, you had a good one! Now go celebrate something.   ;-)