Halloween and other scary things

Halloween was a weeks-long series of pumpkin patching, carnivals, parties and trick-or-treating this year and it was also a series of costumes for Thomas. We visited the pumpkin patch twice - once with Thomas' class and once with Grandpa and Grandma.

We started the festivities a week in advance at Thomas' school carnival where the kids play games to win prizes and generally marvel at seeing their teachers in costumes.

On Friday both boys had parties at school and for this event Thomas decided he would be a football player rather than wear the skeleton costume that he had begged to have for weeks. In a rare moment of knowing that I should choose my battles, I agreed to let him switch costumes, as we had all the parts lying around the house anyway.

He initially planned to be a "Texas Longhorn football boy" but had another change of plans late on Thursday when a classmate told him that if he was a Longhorn she wouldn't marry him. After a conversation - wherein I basically told him that while this "friend" is cute and nice, I would hope that the girl he might someday choose to marry would not threaten him over his wardrobe choices -  he was not dissuaded.  He spent Friday as the Jayhawks' #10. Saturday found him back in the Texas jersey for the bulk of the day but by Sunday he had again decided that he's a Jayhawk at heart. 

We trick-or-treated with neighbors and after 15 short minutes Thomas announced that he thought he had enough candy so Andrew carried on with the tribe and Thomas and I returned home to have dinner with our friends, the Wards, and hand-out treats at our house. Everyone was happy with that plan. Andrew came home an hour later with a bushel basket full of candy and riding high on the idea that he had been wandering the streets after dark.

This afternoon has seen them sorting their haul, trading treasures and giving me the things that have peanuts, which is a very generous test of my willpower. They both consumed way too much chocolate after school today but isn't that kind of what November 1st is all about?

In other frightening notes...

• I walked a full block down an alley in Downtown Lawrence today thinking that someone was following me because I was hearing jingling.  I kept looking over my shoulder, but nothing. As I bounded up the stairs to my office I heard it again. That's when I realized that my predator was my own necklace.
• I pretty much utterly failed by forgetting to snap a picture of my costumed boys pre-begging last night. I'll see if I can talk them into dressing up as football players just one more time this week to document the look.  Considering that they would wear the jerseys to bed if I let them, I'm not thinking it will be a challenge.
• Also? Mark had a birthday last week. We're not allowed to discuss it or celebrate it or acknowledge it in any way but the boys really felt like we needed to get him some sort of gift. Thomas was adamant that this would be exactly what daddy needed and that it would help him a lot. Having no better suggestion from the birthday boy, he was gifted with this beauty when he arrived home from a work week in Atlanta. 

It's a pooper scooper. 

Happy Birthday, Hondo! We love you!