The Grand Haul

So Halloween night I picked the kids up from school and headed home. They had that low frequency sugar/excitement buzz radiating about an inch off their skin. It was already dusk, and when we drove through a neighborhood, Max nearly flipped out when he saw kids out on the street, "Halloween, has already started!! Hurry mommy!!!" I assured him that there was plenty of time and that there would be plenty of candy for him and his brother. We pull into the drive way and I barely put the car into park before he has flown out of the car headed inside to get his candy bag. He is shaking and jumping with anticipation when I burst his proverbial bubble with the information that he has to eat dinner first. Heaven help the child who has to EAT something other than CANDY on Halloween. I inform him he must eat either a peanut butter and jelly or tuna fish sandwich..... in a panic he negotiates down to "just bread and butter" (toast). During this time, our first trick or treater arrives and he greets this young ninja ( a stanger to us ) with " I'm eating my dinner first, but then I get to come, too!"

I have to say Halloween night was not as big a hit at the new house as it was at the old house . I was very reserved with the first few trick or treaters, thinking I wouldn't have enough supplies to make it through the evening. When we only had a few by 8:00, the remaining trick or treaters were treated with handfuls of blow pops and tootsie rolls just to get it out of my house.

Then my little Darth Vader and Storm Trooper made it back with their haul. And apparenlty my neighbors were just as desperate to get the candy out of their house as I was, because the boys were dragging their bags. They had only gone around one block, and I think they thought they were just stopping to empty their bags and head out again, but it was late and I was not going to allow any more chocolate to enter my house. I was the evil wicked witch of motherhood when I only allowed them one piece of candy each before they had to head to the shower. After much crying and whining, we negotiated a shower in complete darkness with nothing but their glow stick necklaces, and well... who can turn down a shower in complete darkness with nothing but glow stick necklaces.

Now.... what to do with all the candy... we still have a bucket of candy from last year.....