Halloween fun!

In the Des Moines area, trick-or-treating is done on "begger's night" - the night before Halloween. This weekend it works out great for the parents, because there are many Halloween parties for grown ups. Our invite was across the metro, so we declined, since our sitters have only watched the kids while I was in my home-office. We are "breaking them in" in early December though, but we will be going to a neighbors party, so I feel pretty comfortable.......I digress....

BTW We don't have many beggers on the cul-de-sac. I can see people on the main street, but the only person we have had is the little friend of Carolyn who is trick-or-treating with our crew. Glad I bought the Wonka candy and not yummy chocolate bars.....Wonka has a LONG shelf life and just doesn't tempt me the way a Snickers might. Also I have sworn off eating my kid's candy and I can really do it. (I know what you are thinking.....they haven't even collected any yet, but there was "trunk or treat" at the kid's school last Friday, so they have plenty of candy I have avoided all week.) Don't get me wrong, I bought my own candy, that I am less likely to over-eat, which is only helping me a bit, since I have eaten way more than normal.....I digress.......

Here is our crew. Let me tell you - getting 4 kids in costume to look OK at the same time is a challenge, especially when one is a bit tired and cranky from full day kindergarten (but I won't name any names - but this child can be glad I deleted the photo w/ crossed eyes - it was a beaut!).
Here are Trixette and Trixie the Halloween Fairies. After reading every "Rainbow Fairy" book ever published this summer, Carolyn was destined to be a fairy this Halloween. Luckily we decided early on that Anna would be a fairy too, because once she saw Carolyn's wings she HAD to have some too.

Joel is an American Flag. His Aunt Debbie sewed this costume for his cousin Ben (who is now a freshman in college). His eyes are on Ken, who got the job of making him smile for the picture.

If you know anything about Matthew, you are not surprised that he is an inventor! Note the K-Nex invention that walks and carries a small pumpkin.