Halloween With Me Hearties! Arr!

Halloween floated in with a crew of pirates...

...Pirates on the treasure hunt for candy.

 But we taught these pirates to give from their loot. Mommy organized a trip to Stratford Commons for our church mom's group, Heartland Mothers Together.

 Gryffy found a lady he could sweeten up.  When he realized she had her own candy to unhand, he stood beside her and begged like a pitiful puppy.  Yeah, she's smiling now, but if you had checked back five minutes later, she had perfected her own pirate scowl.

 Avast!  Tootsie Roll!

 At home, we made our Mr. Pumpkin Heads and enjoyed a pumpkin pizza.

 Lorelei made a Miss Piggy Princess, Gryffy, a pirate. Surprised?

 And before we carved a pumpkin, we let Lorelei and Gryffin plan the design safely on the computer.  This is what she came up with with the click of a mouse.

 Let the slimy stuff begin!

 From 2-D to 3-D.

 L & G on the front steps ready to trick-or-treat.  Mark was in Quebec until the day before Halloween, so we decided to keep Halloween low key and, for the first year, did not throw a party.  We love friends, but this was the best Halloween yet--lots of time together to truly enjoy each other!

 We have the best next door neighbors, Steve and Jo.  Steve goes ALL out every year and stages a car wreck in his front yard.  The kids can't wait to see what he'll do.

 Call an ambulance!

 We donated our smoke machine to the neighbors last year--they say it adds the finishing touch!

 Trick-or-Treat!

  Mark picked up his Jack Sparrow hat from Disneyworld.

 Landlubber Lorelei & ye Wench, Wendy.

 And Lorelei loved passing out candy when we got home while we had a late dinner.  We turned our porch lights out a bit early, and the kids were asleep in bed by 8:30 while we watched Desperate Housewives.  (Not bad considering it's Halloween night!)  The kids have been great about sharing candy--in the car yesterday, they shared a lollipop (there was only one) back and forth every five seconds beautifully.  This was a very proud moment--kids that share!  And Lorelei works on her reading for candy--I write spells (okay, words up to five letters) on the driveway in sidewalk chalk, and if she can sound out all ten, she gets candy. 

Happy Halloween, me hearties!