Weeeee! It's Halloweeeeeeen!

If it's been 365 days, I know only one thing: It's time to blog again!

 

Hooray for Halloween! And hooray for the first time we actually had a jack-o-lantern for all three boys!

 

Our approach is this: Each boy draws his own design on paper, and I sketch it onto each pumpkin. So, each artist is pictured to the right of his own creation below!

 

P.S. If you're very impressed by the three-year-old's design, please know he described it, and Elliott drew it. Then, Elliott decided there were far too many "fancy" designs, so he'd go "classic."

 

Speaking of Elliott, we might as well kick things off with him! Wanna guess what his costume was? Here's a hint. A little hint Elliott calls "comms."

 

Here's a better hint. Not at all surprisingly, Elliott was a Homeland Security agent.

 

If you're thinking, "It's as if that child plays dress-up just to be MORE serious," we'd all agree with you. In fact, a friend suggested he consider dressing as a tax accountant next year, and I'd say it's in the top three of possible 2016 costumes.

 

Could this be my favorite feature? He carried a briefcase with a Homeland Security logo that said, "CANDY CONFISCATION, Protecting the Public Since 2005."

 

On the other end of the law spectrum, we find Patrick.

 

Although he looks like he should be cupping his hands and requesting soup, he's actually a hardened criminal who's just broken out of jail. Here. Try this shot:

 

Actually, he was only half of a criminal enterprise. Here's his best bud, the one who sprang them from the clink.

 

I'd like to point out that I stopped snapping to request no more pleasant smiling from these thugs... Ah well. Details.

 

And speaking of details, here are all of the criminal accessories we could come up with:

 

Handcuffs, a red crowbar, money bags and a ball-and-chain, which Patrick insisted on calling a "ball chain" no matter HOW many times I corrected him. Oh, and the matching bandit mask his buddy's mom carefully crafted for Patrick was lost just hours before Trick or Treat.

 

If you're wondering where these fellas research bad guys, look no further than Lego! Tada! The inspiration:

 

OK, OK. You're on the edge of your seat for the unveiling of James. Your wait is over!

 

He's Firefighter James! And he seriously had a professional-grade (hand-me-down!) uniform:

 

Why yes, he DID collect candy in a fire extinguisher. Thank you for noticing! And JUST because Elliott gave me a stern talking-to, telling me no one cares about these details and no one's going to read these things and WHY do you DO this stuff..., here are all three panels of my pretzel-barrel fire extinguisher:

 

He slays me with these faces.

 

Here's our whole crew before stuff broke, accessories ran away and the ball-chain tripped its wearer.

 

Ahhhh, I just love it!

 

And I love that our fantastic neighbors hosted their annual pre-T-or-T dinner party in their garage! As their daughter pointed out, "We HAVE to. It's TRADITION." And when our kids actually eat something WITHOUT sugar, we all appreciate the heck out of this tradition!

 

Here are all the kids from our street that we kinda corralled and marginally got to look toward the cameras at the end of the driveway. They'll all be licensed drivers next week, so I'm glad we pushed to get this photo!

 

Oh, and just adjacent to this party garage, we found the prop the led James to win Halloween.

I mean, BOOM.

 

At this point, Elliott had already cut out to meet his crew of friends and their fabulous, pizza-serving parents. By chance, I saw him only once during the whole evening. And because he's a loving son,  he dutifully stopped to pose for my camera. See him there?  

 

Luckily, another parent captured these wacky kids while they were all still amenable to the paparazzi.

 

I walked with James and remembered that no one moves at a three-year-old's pace except a three-year-old. (I extend my thanks to the whole entire village that helped our boys get through Trick or Treat 2015!)

 

Luckily (and strategically), the fire extinguisher filled right up before we even made it off our street, so James was thrilled to head home to inspect his haul.

 

His big brothers, on the other hand, are practically professionals, and they took full advantage of a two-hour candy-collecting window. As is now their norm, they collapsed into bed and then got to the serious sorting and trading in the a.m. 

 

And DO YOU KNOW what else? For the first time in four years, we DIDN'T have a steady downpour during Trick or Treat! It spit and sprinkled on us, but we were unfazed. Can't ruin our Halloween, Mother Nature! :D