Saturday, November 01, 2008

Recent Quotes: Halloween Edition

Despite having one sick little black cat, Halloween 2008 was wildly successful. We made Elaine rest and sleep during the day so that she could trick-or-treat a little bit and come to the church fun fair at least for awhile. I think this is probably the nicest, most temperate Halloween I can remember--it was in the 70s.





I got the girls into their outfits and put their makeup on (which I had to repeatedly apply since they kept rubbing their noses) around 5:00. Darren took them out to trick-or-treat at 5:30 while I headed over to the church for the fun fair. Before they headed out, I asked "Now what do you need to remember while you are trick-or-treating?" Lucy said promptly, "Tell everyone thank you and don't wiggle our tails." Yup, that about covers it. I mean, that could just pretty much be their new life motto, don't you think?

At church there was a donut-eating contest, ring-of-pop, ducky pond, coloring table, cookie decorating table, dart game, bean bag toss, and cake walk. The girls both won candy at the booths and cake at the cakewalk. There was a chili cookoff (Darren didn't compete this year) and hotdogs for the kids. About 30 minutes into it, Elaine was sitting in a chair, holding a tostito and looking at it. I said, "Are you feeling sick? Do you want Daddy to take you home?" She nodded her head, so he did that. Then when it came time for the costume contest, Elaine won in her age category! I had to accept her prize for her (a book). Then before we left, each child got a large bag of candy too. Oh, and I won at the cakewalk as well--my friend Judy makes the most fabulous treats ever, so I made sure to select hers as my prize. I got chocolate-covered pretzels and chocolate-covered marshmallows.

This morning Elaine crawled in our bed around 4. She woke up around 7. "Guess what?" she whispered, leaning over into my face and spewing her germs onto me. "Guess what, Mama? I got cookies and candy when I went trick-or-treating!" Then Lucy climbed in with us. I tried to be asleep while they chatted about their candy. For some reason, they both brought their little jack-o-lanterns with battery-operated tealights in with them. With my eyes closed, I felt something. Lucy had her tealight and was running it through my hair. She whispered to Elaine, "Let’s see if this light will turn her hair a beautiful orange/blond/brown. And maybe just a little bitty bit to burn it."

OK, time to get up. We went down to the kitchen where, surrounded by plates of cupcakes from the cakewalk, trick-or-treat bags, our leftover Halloween candy we had passed out, and the bags of candy the church gave, I made them eat Fiber 1 cereal with skim milk.

And now...it is on to the holiday season. I asked them if they knew what holiday came next, and Lucy shouted, "Thanksgiving! That's where we get to eat pumpkin pie!"

Some day that girl is going to have a show on the Food Network, mark my words.

3 comments:

Becky said...

Elaine won! Yeah! As you said, who can resist a little black cat? I'm sorry she wasn't feeling well (did she get what you had in Door County?), but I'm glad the girls had a good time. Caleb, surprisingly, loved wearing his costume--even the hat! He was running all over the yard and down the street and into the neighbors' driveways and everywhere (not a slow turtle for sure). Scott has video he's going to post. Halloween success! Sounds like the fun fair went well. I made Scott's chili for my family to eat here in memory. Oh, and I love how Lucy wanted to burn your hair just a little bit. She's so funny! :)

Ann-Marie said...

I love the cat costumes! The not wiggle our tails, is excellent advice, and really, perfect for any age. I know Gary said you were all a little under the weather - not that it stopped him from stopping by later...or so I've heard... :-)

Jill said...

love the Fiber one comment ..too funny. Miralax works great,too :) That candy really does a number on kids, doesn't it. Glad you had a nice halloween - the weather was nice here too - big bonus :)