Trick-or-Treat is almost over...

Did you have a lot of kids?  We're up to about fifty right now, and I haven't had any in about 15 minutes, so I'm thinking it is almost done.  Last year we had 64 kids come by--yes, I counted!  I had a freak-out moment about twenty minutes ago, afraid I wouldn't have enough candy, but my wonderful next-door-neighbor rescued me with some bags of Hershey's and Milky Ways.  So now, if there are leftovers, well...

Halloween's always more fun with friends!

The kids looooooove Halloween.  We had our Mummies for dinner tonight (thanks, Mary!),

and then took a few pictures.  In a few minutes they'll come tearing back in with full bags.  We'll give them a few minutes to start their most favorite part, The Barter.  This involves sorting and counting and then trading and trading and trading.  It takes days.

This year J held a "Halloween Boot Camp" for his little sister D.  This involved laps around the yard with a four-pound weight in a pillowcase:

It's not every day you have two hot dogs and a queen running around in your back yard.

There was also jumping in your Halloween shoes, maximizing the candy grab, and a discussion of the departure procedure from "interior" and "exterior" doorways.  But the most important part was the discussion of the barter.  Here is the board that J had D make:

When she arrives home, she's supposed to sort her candy into the categories listed on her poster.  This will make her better at trading.  Or that is what J says.  We'll see.

That's Anansi the Spider making an appearance at our front door.  Gotta love when History ties into the holiday!

Happy Halloween!  Time to blow out the pumpkins:

And now, finally, on to Thanksgiving. Time to get my wonderful turkey out, start planning my husband's favorite meal of the year, and lament how once again I'm not doing NaNoWriMo. 

Hang on, Tom.  I'm coming! 

Oh, and of course I have to "check" the candy, you know, just to be sure...