Halloween Anticipation

I think I'm more excited about Halloween than the kids are!  Much more so than Mothers Day, Halloween has been a painful holiday for me over the last few years.  Dave and I would always buy a giant quantity of candy to dole out to Trick or Treaters and as they paraded up to our house throughout the night, my heart would ache for the children I wished that I could escort around the neighborhood in their little costumes.

How different this year will be for me!  We put up all our decorations early this year, much to the delight of Valentino.  We went shopping for costumes a few weeks ago too.  Victoria will be a little green dinosaur and Valentino picked out a Superman costume.  The first time he tried it on, he told me that he wanted to fly.  So we went outside and I set him on a low wall and told him to jump.  He leaped off the wall and I caught him in my arms and swooped him around in the air.  To my surprise, he wailed in protest, "Mommy, not like that!"  We tried a few more times and finally I realized that he didn't want me to catch him because he actually believed that the cape would give him the ability to really fly like Superman in the movies.  I had to tell him that people can't fly, even when wearing a cape, because I was worried that he might try to leap from a higher location without me there to catch him.  He cried bitter tears of disappointment, and bad mommy that I am, I had to stifle a laugh.

We went to a Halloween party last weekend and all four of us dressed up.  Daddy has a referee outfit for some reason, so he looked super cute with his striped shirt and knee length socks.  Funny that we have been together for almost ten years and I never knew he had this referee outfit stashed away.  I assembled a makeshift fairy costume using random items such as the tiara from my wedding and some pink wings I had bought for Victoria before we decided she would be a dinosaur.  I was relieved to see that the hosts of the party also were dressed as matching pirates, so we weren't the only adults to show up in costumes.  Dave would have kicked my butt if that had happened!  There were two other Supermen, but Victoria was the only dinosaur.

Tonight we carved our Jack O' Lanterns.  So funny to see their different personalities!  Tino is so fastidious.  After I opened the lids, I invited the kids to help scoop out the pumpkin seeds and guts.  Tino did one scoop and was horrified that his hands were slimy and sticky with pumpkin goop.  He rushed off to the bathroom to wash his hands, and after that refused to help, but stood around as a commentator.

"Mommy, that my pumpkin."

"That pumpkin Victoria's."

"I no eat the pumpkin seeds."

"Mommy, that yucky.  You wash your hands, Mommy."

Victoria, on the other hand, was thoroughly entertained by scooping out pumpkin seeds and would reach into the pumpkin, extract 3 or 4 seeds, and deposit them in the bowl.  She did this for about 20 minutes before she finally got bored.  I carved the faces after they went to bed.  I can't wait to see their reaction when we light the candles tomorrow night.

Tomorrow we will go to Halloween zoo lights (in costume, of course) and on Sunday we'll go trick or treating.  This is a dream come true for me.  Photos will be forthcoming.