The Pretty + The Brave: Read and Treat

Halloween in Florida didn't feel so Halloweeny (temperature-wise), I'm used to freezing my ass off by the time we start going door-to-door, but this year it was warm. Owen even asked (on several occasions) if he could peel of some of his layers. But all other aspects of the Halloween vibe were in full effect; we decorated the house and partook in several different Halloween-based-shenanigans. On Thursday, we went to 'Read and Treat' at the kids' school where they went trick-or-treating through the halls, listened to a story-teller and then got as many free books as you could hold - I think we made out with at least 30. Sunday we went to 'The Boo at the Zoo' and that was good fun; the kids saw animals, played games, made Halloween-themed decorations, got lost in a maze and got loads of candy. Then we had the traditional trick-or-treating around the neighborhood that evening. Owen called the sum of these parts "Triple Candy." Three events. Three times to get candy. To a four year old, that's hot shit. That's "Triple Candy" ooooor "Cha-Ching!" as Ethan put it.

This year, Ethan was the Grim Reaper, I wasn't surprised, I mean, the kid is almost 11 and as far as the cutesy Halloween costumes go - he's completely over it, and has been for several years.

Ariana was a vampire, but of course she had to put a girly spin on it yet she still wanted to be 'scary.' I was surprised that she wanted to be something scary (she even requested that she have 'blood' dripping from her mouth, I'm used to her being a princess or a cheerleader or a butterfly or a fairy or a...you get the point. But no, she too, is over the cutesy costumes. And so it begins, the 'tween' years, it's frightening how quickly kids are maturing now-a-days, but the wise person in me knows that if I shelter them from it I'm only going to be doing my children a disservice, so I welcome it with not-quite-all-the-way-open arms and a watchful eye. Though this doesn't mean she'll be getting a her belly button pierced anytime soon.

Owen was a dragon; a costume he's been wearing on and off for the past month and actually went to sleep in on several occasions.

And Bear was an out of control guard dog, oh no...wait...that's him 24/7. Soooooo, I'm totally spacing out and keep getting distracted (probably due to my lack of sleep) so I'm going to do you all a favor and stop typing now, go make my fourth cup of coffee, dry my hair and enjoy my last full week as a stay-at-home-mommy. Watch out 96 MSS - Ready or not...here.I.come!