Halloween '08 and I turn 28!

The title of this post rhymes! Halloween is a crazy day at my house. Not only are there the usual school parties, costumes to put together, dinner to prepare before the kids stuff themselves sick- but it's my birthday as well! I never really liked birthdays as I child because I was extremely shy and hated being the center of attention. But now I love it! I feel like EVERYONE is celebrating my birthday.
The day went something like this: Breakfast, take Owen to preschool, take Jack to buy a second sword for his costume since his first one broke, stop at Albertsons to buy juice boxes for Jack's school party, pick up Owen & a friend from preschool, take them home, feed them lunch, take Jack and pick-up his friend and take them to the bus stop just in time, go to lunch with my girl-friends to celebrate my birthday and drink lots of diet coke, go back home and wake up Owen and Lucy from their naps, drag them to Jack's Halloween Party, pick-up pizzas on the way home, clean my messy house like a crazy woman before my in-laws arrive, eat dinner, open my presents, take the kids trunk-or-treating, take the kids trick-or-treating, return home and put kids to bed, rent a movie at Blockbuster to watch with my hubby and in-laws, fight to stay awake because the movie is painfully slow and boring, finally go to sleep. (Saturday was just as busy- but I'll spare you the details.)
During the trunk-or-treating, Lucy looked dumb-founded with an expression on her face like, "I am surrounded by imbecils." She'd walk backwards any time she encountered a masked person . . . which was pretty often. So I finally just scooped her up and held her. But by the time we were trick-or-treating at homes instead of car trunks, it clicked and she totally had the hang of it. She completely embraced it and would say after each house, "Neh How!" (Translation: "Next House!) She'd point her finger to the next house as Adam, her vehicle for the night, carried her from door to door.

During the trunk-or-treating Owen would examine each piece of candy before dropping it into his pumpkin pail. He'd exclaim, "Cool! Look Mama, a tootsie roll!!!" It was as though this tootsie roll was something he had never tasted or seen before, a rare gem. He did this with each candy. Fortunately it wore off by the time we began trick-or-treating at homes. I was some what exhausted of sharing his enthusiasm for skittles and starbursts. (Had they been dropping Sea's Candies into his pail, I could have definitely kept up my enthusiasm.)

And now, I present to you:

A witch, a ghost (not a member of the KKK), and Zorro . . . . . . . . . .

Here is a darling picture of Jack, at his school Halloween party: