Only 40 days until Halloween...

It's that time of year - all of the spooky, ghoulish costumes and candy start appearing in every store from WalMart to Walgreens. So although it's still a little ways away, I thought it might be fun to start thinking about everything Halloween-ish.

This is such a fun kids' holiday - I mean, who doesn't like to be spooked and of course there's all the candy... It's a dentist's nightmare! And it's not like it's limited to just the one night of trick-or-treating anymore - oh no, there are the Halloween parties, the pumpkin patch trips, the neighborhood or city-wide events. I think my kids dressed up in their costumes last year at least 4 or 5 times before the big day itself, just for other events - all of which included bringing home a ton of candy, of course. My kids were thrilled and I carefully snuck all of the 'good' stuff out of their bags and buckets for Ron and I to enjoy. Hey, it's not like they actually need all of that sugar anyway, right?

I think I'm going to try something different this year. In years past, we've let the kids have several pieces of candy on Halloween night - I mean, you can't let them go hog wild or you'd never get them to sleep that night from the sugar rush. Then we usually let them have a piece or two a day over the next few days weeks months until everything that they (and we) like is gone. Then, whatever is left is usually donated somewhere - except for last year's leftovers which are still in the kids' buckets in the back of a cupboard somewhere in our kitchen. I guess we probably should just get rid of those before the kids start asking to play with their Halloween buckets...

I read somewhere last year about a family who allows their kids to eat as much candy as they want - just for a day or two - and then everything that's left is gotten rid of in some way or another. I kind of like this idea - I think giving them a ton of candy all at once is much better than spreading it over the months it takes to get through it a piece at a time and by then they're so used to begging for candy after every meal that it's hard (ok, impossible) to break them of the habit. Not to mention by that point we've hit Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter - all of which involve even more candy. Yikes! And even if we're not giving (much) to our kids, they seem to get it from everywhere else - school, church, well-meaning neighbors... Abby brought home so much candy last year that her bus driver gave her - if that happens again this year, I'm complaining to the school district. We did such a good job of limiting sweets when they were younger - I think we still do rather well... if it weren't for all of the darn holidays.

My kids love candy - I mean, who doesn't? I think it's interesting though that the kinds that they love the best aren't the ones I think you'd expect. Abby's not a huge chocolate fan, so her favorites are Smarties, Sweet Tarts and candy necklaces. She will eat peanut butter cups too. Hannah likes chocolate, but her favorite candy is any kind of sucker. I'm not sure about Becca yet - this Halloween will pretty much be her first real exposure to candy. I'm glad they're not into chocolate much - since that leaves all of it for Ron and I. Maybe that's not such a good thing though. LOL
Then of course, there are the costumes. Abby and Hannah are old enough now to decide for themselves what they want to be, which makes it much more difficult for me. Last year I did manage to convince them to wear costumes that we already had but I'm about all out of options for this year. Abby wants to be a butterfly though - and since we do already have wings, the rest of hers should be pretty simple. Hannah wants to be Tinkerbell so we'll be looking for a cheap option there. Becca is still little enough to go with whatever I choose, so I'll be keeping an eye out for something cute (and cheap!) for her too.

Here are some pics of the girls in previous Halloween costumes:

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