A real treat

It's our second Halloween in Virginia! That simultaneously makes me happy (we had a great time) and sad (we're still here - don't take that the wrong way, we just really miss being close to everyone at home!).

This year we were able to make it a fun time for ourselves and others that aren't in Kansas, er, Oklahoma, anymore. Our friends from church, Adam and Nadia and their son Caden, are here on short assignment from OK state and live in temporary housing, which for the trick-or-treat scene, just isn't the hottest of places. We also got to hang out with our new friends Saurabh and Courtney, whose daughter Kiran goes to preschool with Olaiya, and are one of the, count 'em, four families from preschool that live within a two block radius of our house! Can you say, neighborhood preschool? And carpool? Woohoo!

We really had a splendid time trick-or-treating on our street. Actually, our block. It didn't dawn on me until this year how perfectly ideal row houses are for trick-or-treating - up the steps to one door, down, and up the steps to the next door. We literally did just the 500 block of our street and hit over 15 houses within site of our front door! And the kids, even with our very vigilant "Just take one," warnings, came home with sixty-some odd pieces of candy. (This all being in stark contrast to mama's Iowa Halloweens and "Trick-or-Treat for Unicef!" experiences of driving to a "neighbor's" house, unloading and piling back into the van, driving a mile to the next neighbor's house and repeating like ten times throughout the county, consuming most of our "good" candy en route.) And mama was lovin' it because we actually ran into people we know (again, some of the other families from preschool...did I mention how excited I am that we ended up at this preschool?) and I got to glad hand all of our neighbors. They were all excited to see the kids (we have lots of young marrieds-no children folk on our block, so we are cute and novel) and we got to chat and just enjoy the weather. It was really festive! We didn't get started until after 6:30p, called it a night by 8ish and finished the evening with some "Iowa" chili and pumpkin chip bars. Like I said, it was a splendid evening.

Our neighbors with fun decorations, one of whom dressed up as IronMan, scruff, heart protection (? - Kurt says he did me a disservice by seeing that one by himself) and all.

The not-so-demure looking girlies.

Checking out the haul.

Naomi, look at me - you will give me no less than 3 Butterfingers.

Daddy takes my trash.

Kid in a candy store.

The post-dinner crew.

Olaiya in her original Halloween costume, a Snow Princess. The girls got to dress up four different times - Family Fun Night at school, the neighborhood Halloween parade, a Halloween party at a preschool neighbor's, and October 31. Olaiya was Snow Princess, witch, Snow Princess and Tink. She likes to keep it fresh.

Naomi in her other costume, a ballerina princess. Note the difference between the Sure, I'll pose for you Mom! Do I look better like this, or like this? eldest and the No, I don't want my picture taken, got-to-catch-her-on-the-run, youngest. I'll have to figure out how to keep the posey pictures artsy.