"Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night." *

I just ate a Reuben sandwich as big as my head and may not move for a month. But it’s all ok because I went to the OB yesterday where I discovered I have lost another pound, bringing my total to 12, and got yelled at for forgetting to schedule my ultrasound. Poor neglected fourth child.

The trick-or-treating went fairly well, barring the moment when I threatened to make them all stay in because they were whining and not listening to me as I pulled a damn superhero costume pretty much out of my ass. I have one word for you: Plastics. No, kidding. Safety pins. Which I suppose is two words, but God, they saved my life and I may never sew anything ever again. Or at least not anything that only has to last for two hours. I also had to let go of my control-freak self and allow Primo to design his own Harry Potter costume, and you know what, his idea turned out pretty well so I have learned a lesson. Namely, more Valium, less control.



I made Jess’s butternut squash soup for dinner but H and Sarah Louise ate most of it before I got around to pureeing it in the blender. Oh well. It was a thematic dinner – orange soup and black bread. Pumpkin pie for dessert. After a nod to dinner in the form of grilled cheese, milk, and gherkins, Primo ate a Three Musketeers, a bag of M&Ms, some Sour Patch kids, and God knows what all else. Seg ate some candy and then complained that his stomach hurt so came home and ate toast and milk. Terzo ate anything he could get open, including an Almond Joy that (I think) was run over by a car, and the non-edible gooey eyeballs given out here:


The pumpkin creativity on display was wonderful:



This one looks disturbingly like my father-in-law:



I think these were funny:



This was my favorite:

Once home, the boys rooted around in their treat bags to check out their loot, but we had to hurry them upstairs to bed. After all, today was a school day. But first they had to put notes on their jack-o-lanterns so that the Great Pumpkin (otherwise known as Mom) would know whose was whose.


Even though I carefully explained that *I* was the Great Pumpkin, and he's not like Santa because Santa is REAL, the boys were delighted by the idea of the Great Pumpkin coming on Halloween night...with books. What can I say, I had a gift card and a twenty-percent-off coupon set to expire tomorrow...and if *Santa* thinks I am sharing any more gift cards or coupons, he's got a second think coming.

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* Steve Almond