Happy Halloween

This week has been a struggle to post blog entries. This happens from time to time and I know it will pass. Just knowing that someone out there is actually reading what I write? Wow - it's a powerful thing and a great motivator. I cannot say this enough - thank you for reading this. And for coming back even when it takes me two or three days to post the entries that I start every day.

Okay then. On to today's post....

Halloween! This is our first Halloween with the kids in the States, so I was pretty excited. They are both old enough to get a kick out of it, and we live in a kid friendly neighborhood. Where I grew up, in order to get a full bag of candy, I had to walk at least three miles. Houses were a lot less close together then, and I loved candy so I was willing to walk for it. It was also much safer back then and no big deal for a kid to take off for a couple hours of trick or treating without an adult going with them. Those were good times. But with smaller kids, it's nice to live in a military neighborhood with lots of kids and houses that are closer together. My kids (thankfully) aren't nearly as motivated by candy as I used to be. But I love that they said thank you the majority of the time without being prompted. I also love how much the people in the neighborhood went out of the way to decorate and make it a great experience for the kiddos.

My friend Tascha came over with her two kids and she and I took the kids out while R handed out candy. With four kids under six, you never know how well or how poorly things will go, but all four kids listened really well and did what we asked, which meant that trick or treating tonight went beautifully. And as a bonus for the grownups? The kids were done in under an hour. And they were so, so cute.

As an additional bonus, once we got home, Tascha and I sat outside the garage to try and get rid of the over abundance of candy I bought (after the Trunk or Treat at the Y a week ago, we decided we should buy double the amount of candy we thought we needed. In defense of that decision, in Germany we always ended up running out in no time). To my intense and great surprise, our neighbor -- yes THAT one -- was outside handing out candy too, and she ended up coming over and hanging out with us. And it was fun. She was hilarious and friendly and I tried really hard not to look as surprised as I felt. I'm still never, ever going to block her driveway, but I think great strides were made tonight.

The only down side? We ended up with a lot of leftover candy. But all the leftovers are in sealed bags, so we are going to use some of it for stocking stuffers and the other we'll throw in the freezer for those days when ya just need a bit of chocolate. Or something to take to a potluck. If I can't see it and I can't smell it, I generally don't want to eat it. Unless it's really good cheesecake. Freezing cheesecake just makes it more appealing to me, oddly enough. Which is why I don't buy or make cheesecake.

I hope all of you had a safe and happy Halloween. And I believe this officially marks the beginning of the holiday season, even though I think the Christmas decorations have been out since the middle of October. Is it just me, or does it seem like Christmas marketing comes earlier every year?