Only a few days late - a Halloween post

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. It was a double wammy for us, and I'm assuming you, with Halloween one night and Daylight Savings the next. I remember the days when the Fall Daylight Savings meant an extra hour of sleep. Now it just means the kids wake up an hour early for a few days.
If you're on the East coast I imagine you enjoyed a seasonably warm Halloween evening. This is the second year in a row with this weather so we're starting to get used to it. I remember clearly last year that Catherine refused to put a long sleeve shirt under her cheerleader costume and it was warm enough out that I didn't feel like too bad of a parent for letting her go out that way.

Anyway, back on track, our costumes this year were completely chosen by the girls. They each came up with what they wanted to be on their own and I have to admit I was a little surprised by their choices. Catherine wanted to a pumpkin, which is definitely an easy costume to find. Ella, on the other hand, wanted to be a Dalmatian dog and never swayed from that decision. I was secretly pleased that neither one of them picked princess, because it was nice to have a break from all things princess. That said, I saw so many beautiful princesses and I'm not down on that at all - it's more me being glad that the girls branched out a bit from their typical love of all things sparkly and pink!

I decided to make a big pot of vegetable soup so I wouldn't have to be messing around with dinner at the same time we were trying to get the kids into their costumes. Also, I figured all the vegetables would help to counterbalance the candy that would be consumed later in the night. Ella has become quite a help in the kitchen. Here she is peeling carrots...

And here is a big pot of soup simmering away all afternoon

On Thursday I cooked and pureed a pumpkin for the first time. On Friday I used the pumpkin puree to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. I made some substitutions to make the cookies a lot less sinful and with the pumpkin and whole wheat flour I can honestly say they might have been a bit healthy. Just a bit, because I didn't skimp on the chocolate chips. The girls love to help with baking so I am going to be experimenting with healthier substitutions and alternatives so we can enjoy the results without packing on the pounds. Most of you know that I love baked goods and have no control when faced with fresh baked cookies!

Here is a batch of cookies cooling before they get gobbled up....

After dinner it was time to start painting Ella's face. Matt did a great job because Ella really doesn't know how to sit still. The concept just eludes her. At one point after Matt had asked her a million times to sit still, she finally did. And then she started singing.

I don't have the greatest picture of our cute little pumpkin. Catherine was very distracted by our neighbors' cat who was right outside our door. She kept telling him he couldn't come in and to go find his own Halloween. Not sure what this face is all about, but she's cute!

Here is Ella with her whole costume on and her Dalmatian pal Lucky.

We added Wyatt, AKA Captain Jack Sparrow, to the mix and the kids were ready to go.

We had a great night hitting the houses on our small street. I have a philosophy about Trick or Treating. If the lights are one, we go. I feel like when someone leaves their lights on they are essentially inviting you in and I don't like to refuse that invitation. Honestly, it's not at all about the candy because goodness knows we don't need it. Because we live on a small street and not a big neighborhood not many trick or treaters come through. But still a majority of the people stay home to pass out candy. I hate thinking about someone sitting there with a bowl of candy and not having anyone come to their house.

In fact, on our way back one of the side streets we made a small detour because I saw a light on at a little house on the street before ours that I drive by a few times a day to get out to the main road. I knew that the girl who lived there was in some sort of walker despite being young. Sometimes I would see her outside being picked up by a paratransit vehicle when I would pass by. We went up to the house, the only one with a light on on that street. The home owner was there and I assume that the two people with her were her parents. They all were dressed in festive attire and invited us to come in. As the kids picked out candy we chatted and I told them we live nearby on another street and I always drive by so when I saw their light on I wanted to stop by and say hello. They just seemed so happy that we stopped by, the mother said thank you at least three times. I left reminded of the reason that I like Halloween. Not the spookiness or creepiness of it, but the idea that you have opportunities to make connections, however small, with the people who live close to you. Whatever else comes of it, at least we made someone's night a little brighter.