Happy Halloween!

Oh how I love these girls! Halloween was so fun with them. Lydia was one of the few students in the district (our school is the only one on a track system) who had to go to school on Halloween. But when she got home it wasn't long before we were dressing up and getting ready to go out. Uncle Tophe texted a few days ago and offered to man our door so that both Jon and I could go trick or treating with the girls. So nice of him! He took the girls for rides on the witches broomsticks before we went out. One of the best parts of their night.

We made quick visits to Grandma and Grandpa Blackhurst and Grandma and Grandpa Frazier. And took a few pictures at each stop. We realized that we should have started earlier. By the time we left our house in our neighborhood it was much darker than we'd have liked. Next year! We're try to remember to start out earlier next year!

Sophie was the cutest cowgirl (or cowboy/girl as she referred to herself) ever with lots of personality and happy to ride in the wagon this year. Her horse rode with her and sometimes Mia did too. Nothing scary jumped out at us, and she was more than okay with that. And she loved getting lots of yummy treats.

Mia had lots of costume options this year, but we all just about died from her adorableness when we saw her in this. And she had a great time trick or treating. She stood by her sisters at each house and reached in everyone's candy bowls when offered and figured things out rather quickly. She never complained about the cold, despite her freezing fingers.

Lydia started the night with s stumble right outside our house. We'd barely started when her broom (maybe?) slipped out and tripped her. She said her knee hurt real bad but she was walking just fine and didn't want to quit. At the end of the night we saw that she was scraped up enough to draw some blood but she toughed it out and it didn't become a problem. Also, why does she look like she's suddenly become a teenager??

This post wouldn't be complete if I neglected to mention Mr. Zomba and his shenanigans. One Saturday (weeks ago) Jon and the girls went to Home Depot to run some errands and came home with this guy. Only they kept him a secret. Mia and I had gone for a run and the girls kept asking me if I wanted to take a shower. They kept it up long enough that I started to suspect something so we all made our way into the bathroom and opened the shower. And though I knew something was up the sight of Mr. Zomba still made me shriek a little. The girls thought it was hilarious and Jon heard me in the basement. Mia, on the other hand, was not amused. Later on, before we set off for the grocery store, I discovered Mr. Zomba sitting on the pot looking like this:

I gasped when I saw him and then asked Soph to get me some tissue a few minutes later when she joined me. She stopped dead in her tracks, put her hands to her mouth, and screamed when she saw him, despite being in on the whole thing. We found him in different places in the house over the next few weeks. He was standing by Mia's chair wearing an eye patch and holding an inflatable sword one morning. Another morning he was sitting on the couch having a tea party party with Mia's tea set. The girls remember him sitting at the kitchen table eating a cookie and soda and playing the piano another day. Some blankets went missing one day and we found Mr. Zomba sitting at the piano with the blankets draped around him.

His days of popping up all over the house ended with him sitting out on our front porch, adding to the ambiance of Halloween. He's now retired to the basement until next year when I'm sure he'll surface and entertain us with his tricks.

We didn't quite have a theme going on this year, but seeing as I didn't realize Jon and I were dressing up until he came home at 4:30 on Halloween with a broom he'd borrowed from Stacey for me, I'd say we did alright!

I also wanted to record that Lydia and Sophie participated in Grandma Blackhurst's Halloween talent show. Lydia was the girl and I was the witch in The Girl and the Witch while Grandma narrated. And Soph did an incredible job presenting "Five Little Pumpkins" in front of the fam. Both girls had their parts as well as each other's parts memorized spot on. They experienced a bit of stage fright and were much quieter during the show than they ever were in practice. I loved their enthusiasm!