Guess What I'm Gonna Post About?

If you guessed Halloween you're absofreakinglutely right! Oh, Hallow's Eve, how I love you... for you created this:

That right there is a candy-crazed superhero princess. Is it weird to want to call your three-year-old little girl a bad-A? Cause I do. And she is.

This moment was captured by my friend, Halley, at the kickoff of our Halloween festivities last Friday. The m&m's (mamas and munchkins) got together and decorated cookies and chatted... and played spin the bottle.

Our brood...

Little Eve woke up and joined the party once we got inside and out of the cold. She was feeling super festive...

It was a glorious morning, indeed.

The next day we suited up for the ward Halloween Party. Every year I have complete visions of grandeur about Halloween and my plans for the most amazing costume ever! And then every year I don't end up even dressing up. At all. I blame this on the fact that I'm pretty sure I operate at about 30% of where all other moms operate... but at least Leah looked squishable.

Posing in the hallway on the way out... after no less than a 35 minute wrestling/pleading/berating match about me wanting her to wear black boots instead of brown. Guess who won?

She'll regret it one day. Mark my words. She's gonna regret the brown boots of Halloween 2011.

Other than a shameful amount of chili consumption, the ward party was pretty ummm...mellow. So we didn't really take any pictures. And I actually wrote "lame" instead of "mellow" when I first wrote that sentence. But I was just kidding.

Truth is, I was feeling a little run down (remember the me running at 30% of everyone else part?) so I've got no one to blame but myself. Cause I was probably only running at about 20% at the party... which would pretty much mean laying flat on your face for anyone else.

We did manage to get outta there before having to help clean up so that was cool.

I should mention, for documentation sake, that we got slammed with a rogue snow storm on Saturday that left the whole tri-state area in a declared state of emergency. We were delighted when we went to turn our heater on for the first time and it sputtered and coughed and swore at us but failed to produce any heat. We spent the whole day chattering and trembling and huddled under blankets. Nearly lost our lives to exposure and typhoid fever.

'Cept for Leah...

...she seized the day and brought us back a squirrel to eat.

By Monday all the snow was gone and it had heated up to a toasty 58 degrees so we set off for the Hoboken Halloween Raggamuffin Parade. Does that not sound like the cutest Halloween festivity ever? It is. It's a parade down the main street of Hoboken where all the little ones in town march along together, along with some excellent floats and marching bands, etc. And then all the businesses along Washington street pass out candy for trick or treating. It was most excellent.

Some little Raggamuffins of our own... and me.

The beginning of the parade... right before we jumped in.

Leah was smitten with one marching band member in particular, the tuba player. She was overjoyed clomping along, trying to trip him.

Then we hopped out of the parade to collect some loot.

This little gem was taken by accident when I was putting my camera away. Love the sneak attack it captured.

The Turkey Sub and Tiny Tuna looking delectable.

Leah couldn't be contained. This was pretty much my view the entire time. I luffed it.

And after some extensive elbow throwing to collect a sufficient amount of sugar, we headed home.

So Leah could let her hair down, drink some hot chocolate....

...and Eve could get back to work on her ipad...

I will say, having a child who is old enough to actually enjoy and get involved in Halloween makes an already magical day one thousand times better. I dare say this was my very favorite Halloween yet.