Bewitching Night

When two people that absolutely love Halloween as much as Derek and I have children, the outcome is...this:

Greta knew what she wanted to be for Halloween this year even before she was quite sure of what the holiday entailed. This would be her first year out to trick or treat and this was the first year that she could express her enthusiasm with more than squeaks and grunts and 2 word phrases. Greta chose to be a spider way back in August. I let her wear it around the house, but had to fight her to take it off before we ran errands. And, the only reason I made her take it off was that I wanted it to still be special and exciting on Halloween night.

Whew. We made it to Halloween and wouldn't you know it, she told me she wanted to be a witch. ARG! This was my fault, really. We watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. She thought it was fascinating and scary, but not too scary. At the end she looked at me and said, "Is the witch alright?" "She really was kinda nice." My jaw dropped and then I had to laugh! What is this little baby girl going to do in this world? Should I be scared or relieved that she isn't just going to be a princess? I love that about her. I love that she is unique and thoughtful. I should have known this when she exclaimed that her favorite color was undoubtedly orange and not pink or purple or pink with sparkles. Greta is going to surprise us every time. And, in the end, she was a perfect big, black and hairy spider.

Derek and I had the best time decorating the house and filling the month of October with fun for Greta and Jack. A Halloween Express opened down the street and Greta named and seemed to know the monsters and zombies and creepy fellows on display there. We went every few days to let her be scared and giggle and squeal. And, poor Jack hated it and dreaded going. He takes things a little more seriously than his sister does. He much more enjoyed painting pumpkins and sniffing candy bars and watching The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. But, they are going to be the perfect Trick or Treating pair come next year. Jack knew exactly what was going on...and not once did he get a rock in his sack!

So, on Halloween we played outside in the leaves and set our Jack-o-lanterns in a row. We took long naps and I made a pot of spicy chili and breadsticks (old witch's fingers). We simmered cider and chilled the Hornsby's. We dressed up and went out before dark and were back to have a party with our great friends, the Lytles and the Grovers. Derek made a witch's brew with dry ice and we lit the candles and turned on the lightning and thunder on our door step (Greta called it the underboomens). We had a spooktacular time.