BUSY Halloween weekend

Whew! What a busy few days! To start the long holiday weekend off, the girls went to a Halloween party at the library during their regular story hour and craft time. On Halloween evening they went to the trunk-or-treat and carnival at the church just down the road from us. We go every year, and the kids always enjoy it. They have carnival games, hayrides, hot dogs, and Go Jump equipment. Saturday during the day, the kids went to a carnival sponsored by the fire department. They had Go Jump equipment, face painting, clowns making balloon animals, hot dogs and drinks, and the kids got to tour a fire truck and ambulance. That evening Bailey and Thomas went into Nashville to watch (and participate in) The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That was Bailey's first experience, but she read up ahead of time and was prepared with hot dogs, rice, newspaper, toilet paper, and the rest of the props. It's been almost 30 years since Ben and I saw Rocky Horror while we were in college!

Sunday was Reid's birthday. It's still amazing to me that she's such a grown-up, little lady after starting out as a 2 pound, 15 ouncer six years ago. Bailey and Thomas took the crew to Chucky Cheese's while Ben and I wrapped presents, made a cake and chili for her birthday party. We were just not up to Chucky Cheese's after three Halloween parties in as many days. Her party was just immediate family, but I think she had fun. When your birthday is just two days after Halloween, it's easy to get cheated, I guess!

When we were in Birmingham for Ben's high school reunion, Brooke and I hit the jackpot at Goodwill and found a pile of great costumes for $5.00 each. I stocked up because I thought they would make great dress-up clothes. As you can tell from the pictures, some of the kids found a favorite costume and stuck with it for all the parties. Others couldn't make up their minds and dressed up as a different character each time. For everyone who thought Ephraim's ladybug costume was too girly, you'll be glad to know that he trick-or-treated as a dragon instead. And in case you can't figure out the older kids' costumes, Riley was a mad scientist, Jensen was a rock star fairy and Thomas was a brown crayon.