Happy Halloween

It has now become a tradition. Every year, Brian and I are surprised at the door by trick or treaters and always by the first and largest group of kids and parents, since they are trying to get all the candy in before the rain begins. And every year my "chosen" costume seems to be me right out of the shower in my bathrobe. I must dress up every year as the scary stressed out Mom. At least it isn't a large green army coat but it is close. Every year Brian is the frantic Dad running around looking for candy to give the first group before he has to run out to Target to get more. Superhero stressed Mom in her bathrobe saves the day with her private stash of the "good stuff". At the Saumsiegle house, we don't just dress up for the festivities, we give a show! The part that really makes it a classic is that in preparation to NOT have this happen again for the third year in a row, I go online to check and see when Haverhill's trick or treat night will be. I google, I click on the calender and I tell Brian and Donna that it will be the 28th. Are you sure, they ask me? It's in the middle of the week". I look again at the calender and say, "well that's what it says." Only after the first rush of trick or treaters have gone and Brian has returned from Target with way too much candy. (Must be the stress) Does he press the point of the wrong date. I, with all the righteous anger a person falsely accused coursing through my body, bring back up the website which clearly shows the 28th as the trick or treat night. There! Take that! I silently say to Brian. Luckily I didn't say it out loud because Brian turns to me and says, "You didn't notice that this was for 2006 and not 2008?" Oh the horror! It must be Halloween. Colin and Connor both decided to be Storm Troopers. It took me until the second to the last house to get Colin to stop crying about the cold. This is the kid that says in 40 degree weather that he can deal with the cold in just a t-shirt and underwear.

Connor, the one with the red bag chosen because he thought it would hold more candy, didn't want to wait for me to take a picture and got very, very impatient with Brian, Colin, and Kaya because he was missing the trick or treating. I told him that it was fine, we still had an hour but he was convinced that people would be like his parents and not have candy so the other kids would get it all. I think we are scarring him and I start to feel bad but then I remember that this is our job as parents. Second reference to Mom's green army coat here.

Unlike the boys, Kaya was raring to go! She didn't really care about the candy or the costume. She just wanted to get out of the house and outside at night. It made her feel very cool and she was the only thing that made the night enjoyable. She is a comedian. There isn't anything about her that doesn't make me smile.

Here's the Saumsiegle Trick or Treaters. Yes, I did desperately want Kaya to go as Princess Leia. But Brian made me get her the Elmo costume because that's what Kaya wanted to be. But just imaging the picture with Kaya in a Leia costume. Not to be...I am foiled all around. That's OK, I'll just make sure that I save my bathroom costume for their teenage years.

Happy Halloween! Hope yours if filled with less tricks and more treats!