A Happy Halloween

I'm not sure if it was the cooler weather, the vibrantly colored leaves, or maybe because we live on a busy street, but I was more excited about Halloween this year than I have been in a very long time. As a kid, nothing was more fun than dressing up in a costume and going door-to-door to get free candy, and now that we own a house and are officially "grown-ups" it thrilled me to be on the other side of that tradition, providing candy for the youngsters that came knocking on the door. When my best friend came to visit a couple of weeks ago (which will be an entirely different post when I get the pictures from her), we all sat around, ate chili, watched college football, drank apple cider, and carved pumpkins together, so our house was properly decorated for October 31st. I did not realize how expensive candy was until I decided to load up on jumbo bags of Snickers, Twix bars, and M&M's (only the best for our visitors of course) every time I went to the grocery store. But seeing as it was our first Halloween here, I had no idea how many little superheroes and princesses to expect at the front door.

On Saturday evening, I filled up a big bowl with the candy we purchased, lit up our pumpkins, and turned on the front porch light for the festivities. Only... the front porch light did not work. After switching the bulb and trying again, there was still no luck. How would kids know that we were a candy-friendly household if our lights did not work? Between the dogs going nuts from all of the people walking by and the broken porch light, my only option was to sit on the front stoop and freeze my little rear end off. Wrapped in a blanket and wearing a cozy sweatshirt and slippers, I sat outside for 2 1/2 hours as the multitudes of kids came by. Sure, it was a tad frigid and not everyone could see that I was out there, but seeing the smiles on those little faces made it all worth it. And even though I WAY overshot the amount of candy we needed to buy and have tons leftover, it's a safe bet to say that I will do it all over again next year... and it's even more exciting to think that we'll have a little pumpkin of our own to dress up in costume!

As a sidenote, we originally wanted to have a pumpkin carving contest when we were carving these. I won't reveal who carved which one (or what each one is supposed to be!), but what I can say is that we may need a little practice before next October! A winner has yet to be determined!

We hope you had a fun, safe, and festive day, too!