Happy Halloween (a bit late)

We've been a bit sleep deprived in our house the last few days (months) and somehow I missed posting about Halloween. Somewhere, on my good camera, there are some better pictures from the evening...I'll have to update this post with real pictures when I can find two minutes to myself (i.e., when I'm not pumping, feeding JJ, making someone something to eat, doing dishes, driving, or attempting to sleep). In the meantime, a quick picture from my phone will have to do.

This year is the first year that we felt Brody was really old enough to go out at night trick or treating. I realize most people bring babies as little as Jameson out for such a fun occasion, but that's just not our style. I think when kids are too little to enjoy being dressed up or too little that a night out is likely to ruin the next week of sleep, they're just too little. Of course, since Jameson sleeps like doggy-do most nights, we weren't so much worried about ruining his sleep. What we were most concerned about it that it was damn cold - DAMN cold! So JJ stayed home with Grammie while Ryan, Brody and I had a night to ourselves. I love Jameson with every cell in my body, but there was something quite nostalgic about having a moment in time with just the three of us again.

Main Street has a Halloween Howl where they close down the street and all of the stores stay open and hand out candy. Some of the restaurants had cookies and hot cider (we LOVE hot cider). They have live music, a halloween costume parade, horse drawn carriage rides...it's pure, delightful chaos - and bonus, Mama got a coupon for my favorite little shop downtown that sells fabulous skin care products! We thought it would be a perfect way to kick-off the Halloween weekend. So we met up with Auntie Laura, Uncle Jeff, and the cousins and had ourselves a spooky good time.

SIDE NOTE: It turns out is a good thing we went because we got a B.I.G. snowstorm with 22 inches of snow just before trick or treating - mass power outages, icy snow-covered sidewalks, full on snowstorm, and we didn't go out again. Good thing Brody is only 4 so he didn't realize that we missed the real trick or treating!

Brody (aka G.I. Joe) and Wilder (aka Captain Jack Sparrow) at the Halloween Howl!

Brody and his friends Seamus and Connor.

This skeleton looking guy freaked Brody out! He wanted nothing to do with him or his candy. Poor kid!

A walking shot that didn't come out so hot...the boys are behind the Greek goddesses, Belle and her friend Alex!

And because Brody's legs were "too tired" to go see what he looked like in the mirror, he asked me to take a picture of him with his crazy teeth and crazy eyes that he got from a friend at school for Halloween. (Question for parents...was I supposed to put Halloween goody bags together for all of the kids in Brody's preschool class? He got a handful of Halloween goody bags in his cubby last week. Most days I already feel like a slacker mom because I have to leave my kids to go to work - these overachieving parents with goody bags for every occasion are killing me!).