Trick or Treat!

Is this day for new moms, or what?!  Please.  An excuse to dress up your kids in ridiculously adorable costumes, parade them around the neighborhood, take a thousand pictures, and then eat the candy they collected after the kids go to bed because they're not old enough to eat it, and you can't let it go to waste...

Ellie-girl was the cutest mouse you've ever seen!  

And Robbie has been anticipating being a Kangaroo for a day, learning that Kangaroos go "HOP!" and practicing his jumping.  Which means he bobs his upper body up and down and pumps his arms, while his feet never leave the ground.  Sweet boy!

I tried to keep from squeezing him and kissing his cheeks every second he had his costume on, and failed miserably.  He was just edible!

Once the kids were in costume, we stopped by our neighbors' and one of Rob's coworker's homes to say hi and trick-or-treat.  Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the afternoon!

Rob had brought home a pumpkin bucket on Friday for Robbie, and Robbie was very excited to put it to good use today.  (I wonder if he now thinks that he only needs to hold out his pumpkin in order to receive candy from us?)

"Mom, look!  I got brains-candy!"  He did.

Little did we realize that the kids' costumes (which were purchased based on low ticket price) actually represent them well right now!  Ellie was quiet as a mouse today - just taking everything in, smiling and batting her eyes, and generally being sweet.  We even stretched her feedings with all the activity of the day, and she hardly fussed.

Robbie was a busy little kangaroo, playing trains with Grandma in the basement, chasing Grandpa around the house, learning to play the piano, and helping hand out candy!  Only half of my pictures of him turned out because the rest are blurry action shots.  He is always in motion and has zero time to stop and pose for pictures anymore!

To say he enjoyed handing out candy would be an understatement.  He helped for hours.  He would grab 2 pieces of candy, reach his little arm out the door and happily say "Here!" as he dropped the treats into the kids' bags buckets.  After the door would close he would shriek and clap, happy to have shared candy with kids I am now convinced he thought were coming over to see him!

And can I just take a moment to say...

WHAT IS WITH THE TRICKLING-BLOOD 'SCREAM' MASKS?!  That movie (and subsequent costume) is OLD, the mask is just plain gross, and you're freaking my 1 1/2 year old out!  Time to get a new idea.

I watched Robbie hand candy to multiple boys with this costume on.  After a while he would forget to release the candy, his hand hovering over their bag as he gawked at their garish masks.  Once he turned around to me and made his 'icky' face, scrunching up his nose, squinting his eyes, and moaning 'uuuhhhh!', and then he pulled his fingers down his face to explain the trickling blood to me.  He was not amused.

I hear you, buddy.  Something is not right about that.

On a lighter note, I bet you didn't know that kangaroos love cucumber slices?

Or that they enjoy smelling roses?

Rear view... the tail was just too much.

Can you tell we love this little guy?  Just a tiny bit...

We hope your Halloween was full of innocent fun and lots of sweets and sweeties!

(*A special thanks to my mom and dad for letting our family, otherwise known as 'The Traveling Circus', crash their halloween.  At one point both kids were screaming out of exhaustion and hunger, and at best we gave them a work out while they ran between playing with Robbie, getting carry-out Chinese for dinner, and attending to their trick-or-treaters!  The only explanation is that they must really love us.)