I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!!

Halloween is the portal to all the holiday fun that is coming in the next two months. And as I am really a 7 year-old girl, trapped in this 29 year-old stay at home mother's body, I throw myself into the joy of this most frivolous of all non-holidays. (You know it's a non-holiday when my government employed husband doesn't get the day off... Really? Columbus Day is a holiday and Halloween is a non-holiday? What is the world coming to?!!?) Anyhow... I love carving pumpkins. I love candy. I love making all sorts of crafty, spooky things with the girls. I love candy. I love dressing up. I love candy. I love... What am I missing? Oh yeah. I love candy. (I told you I was 7...) Anyway, Tom and I throw a really great Halloween party every year. It's a blast. Adults only. Costumes mandatory. It's the greatest to see 20 adults in costume and not a kid around. This year we played "The Newly-Dead Game". Sadly, some marriages will never be the same! We almost had a couple of the guys banned to our couch for the night... Questions such as "What animal does your mother in law most remind you of?" kept us laughing all night... But not Farrah. Corwin might be out of the dog house now that it's been a few days...

Here we all are. (Missed you guys this year, Brenda and Rob...)

Now that is a drunken pirate! The annual "Mummy Game" competition left Tom too dizzy to stand. (Think of spinning and spinning around while I hold a roll of toilet paper until it's all gone and he's all mummified...)

Tom and Sam-o. My captain and our little matey.

Arrrrrgh, me hartey's!

Now for the kid's Halloween party... Also super fun to my 7 year-old soul...

Here is Brooke and her good friend Alyssa after bobbing for apples. Brooke cheated. I swear. She found one with a long old stem and delicately picked it out with her teeth. Leaving me to...

Plunge my whole face and head into a bucket full of water and children's spit. But it was worth it when I saw the kids' faces in this picture. There always needs to be a mom willing to let loose and let her mascara run down her face. It was fun. And I'll wear waterproof makeup next year!

This picture should be first, but you get the idea...

Here is a picture of the girls. Erin is a red (her favorite color) flower fairy. Alix is a yellow (the ONLY color that she likes) princess and Brooke is a rainbow (too undecided to pick just one color...) flower fairy. We decided to make their costumes this year and had a great time. Alix changed her mind about being a yellow (of course) flower fairy at the last minute, but loved what we came up with for her princess "suit". The tutus turned out so great (I think...) Just frothy clouds of tulle.

Siiiigh. What a great non-holiday!