Happy Halloween!

Original post title, I know, but there's no better way to say it! We love Halloween around here.

It's Z's favorite holiday. We started the day by singing a duet (between yawns and giggles) from The Nightmare Before Christmas: "This is Halloween, this is Halloween... (Halloween, Halloween, Halloween...)."

This year she decided to dress up as Alice in Wonderland. For the past 24 hours, she has been leaning more toward a zombified Alice in Wonderland, but when she got dressed this afternoon, she decided to stick with the original plan.

This year she was invited to go trick-or-treating with a friend, making this the first year ever that we haven't spent the night together as a family. Why did we say yes when our ghastly little hearts were wailing "no"? Simply put, it's one of the mysteries of parenthood -- this whole "putting the child before your self" gig.

So Z went trick-or-treating halfway across the island. Rob and I decided not to be Halloween grinches and sit in the darkness of our house ignoring the children's cries for candy. We actually did some last minute decorating, and even put up a "Happy Halloween" banner.

Good thing we did -- this year, we were actually visited by several groups of trick-or-treaters. In years past, we've been lucky if we saw ten kids during the course of the night. Tonight, there must have been at least fifty.

I even managed to put together a "costume" of sorts: Paul Frank shirt + wings.

What am I? I have no idea. The Angel of Candy? The Obesity Fairy? The Weird Lady Who Refused to Let That One Little Boy Take the Glo Lights that Lined Her Walkway (and Who Nearly Pitched a Fit When They Went Missing Later)?

Alas, now the candy supplies are running low, and the collective groans of tots with tummy aches are rising into the moonlit October sky. It was a good night...although we missed our little trick-or-traitor Z. :) I think next year I'll go as a witch and hold my child captive for the night.