Another Great Halloween!

First, there was the trip to the "pumpkin patch" with Hannah's school.

And wee! A hayride!
For like, five minutes.
In the middle of a great big city.


And Halloween cookies...

With messy orange frosting that looked just as good on the pumpkin's face as it did on Hannah's.

Jenna definitely needed some help - did I mention how messy this frosting was?

And then? "Harvest Festival" at Hannah's school. But, this festival was cool with some very old-fashioned, and to some people totally inappropriate, spooky halloweeny things, like stick your hand in the box - if you dare! - and try to guess what's inside. And what was in there? Oh, the horror! The macabre insanity! Body parts! Yipee! Gummy worms for intestines, hot dog links for fingers, a water-filled latex glove for a heart, an old bone for, well, a bone.

Did I mention that Hannah goes to a private Christian school?

Halloween just isn't the same anymore, but this came close. I remember when we put together an elaborate haunted house in the basement of my childhood church. In the church! With the evil twisted surgeon, the headless ghost, and-- well, those were the good ol' days.

I just realized I'm actually old enough to have good ol' days. Huh.

And then there was the Halloween parade in our neighborhood. We got the kids all dressed up...

And you may be thinking: Why would you move to Texas and then put your kid in a cowgirl outfit for Halloween? Hey, it was all her idea. Seriously. Yee-haw.

Believe it or not, there were probably more cowboys in my hometown in California than there are out here. By far.

She actually said she wanted to wear a scarf like Jenna. I love this kid.

And when we picked out a costume for Cohen, we were like, "He HAS to be a pumpkin this year!" "Yeah, that would be so cool!" "Yeah, he will be the cool kid on the block!" "Yeah!" "Yeah, so lets get it!" "Okay, yeah!"

So we did. We got it. Out of all the--
But...
I think he pulled it off. Don't you?
He even loved the hat. I had my doubts.

And Jenna? I think next year, I'll get her a funkier costume, but this year, I indulged her love of long skirts and dresses. I think she loves her reflection in them even more.

Jenna, look at mommy! Say cheese!

Sorry, mom. Got more important things to do.

And then off to the parade. With Jenna lagging behind to keep her shadow company :)


Cohen's nurse happened to be on duty for the night, so she got to work really ha--, I mean, have fun with us, too. :)

I can't say the parade turned out quite like we expected.

As the kids showed up, Hannah was pretty happy--

And then more of them showed up, and she wasn't so happy anymore.

This is a picture of her running through the throng of creepy-scary costumes, in complete desperation for her mommy or daddy to protect her.

Daddy, my hero!

She is not the bravest child in the bunch.

We're working on that.

Jenna, on the other hand, was completely unaffected by the commotion. She was off by herself, admiring (what else?) her reflection in somebody else's window.

Hey, where did everyone go?


Meanwhile, our cowgirl got a ride off into the sunset...
And in minutes, we all ended up in a cul-de-sac eating pizza and cookies. Well, most of us, anyways (Can't wait for Cohen to taste his first cookie!)

But he sure loves being outside. Here he is, doing the Halloween boogie (I guess?), and he had to be the cutest darn pumpkin around. 

Come to think of it, I think he may actually have been the only walking pumpkin around...

And later that night...

When we have stuffy noses around our house, we whip out a new role of toilet paper. That's right. Good ol TP. I was sitting on the couch and heard Cohen moving around the kitchen, mumbling.  I walked around the couch to check on him and...

A paper trail.

The perpetrator was soon in custody, but--

In lieu of discipline, I gave him some mummy love.But I was having so much fun I couldn't help myself, couldn't just stop there.

Everyone's worst nightmare.
A public restroom souvenir.

Ba-dum-bump.

;)

But he was diggin' it.
His beautiful smile says it all.

It was another great Halloween.