This Halloween ....

.... the girls were Lalaloopsy Dolls.  

Zoe was Mittens Fluff 'N' Stuff.

Ella was Spot, Splatter, Splash.

I didn't make their costumes this year, to save time I bought them online (for more than I ever thought I'd ever pay for Halloween costumes).  But the girls LOVED them and put them on within minutes of the mailman delivering them to our house.

They even worked on their homework while dressed up.

Pumpkin Time this Halloween was a two-part affair.  Thanks to Grama Dianne and Grampa Lindy the girls chose their own pumpkins and pumpkins for Tom and me.  Thanks to the Dollar Store they had these funny face pieces (like Mr. Potato Head) to use as decorations.

This is one of my current favorite photos of the girls -- and Zoe's little puppy Emma, too.

Pumpkin carving took place Halloween Night.  Now that I'm bringing in an income again Tom is able to take days off more easily, so he was home to celebrate Halloween with us, and very year I am so thankful that he loves carving pumpkins.

Then the rat-race began.  Dinner, costumes, hair and make-up (plus a little wine for me and some beer for Tom) -- and of course time to take some pictures.

Finally we were ready to head out .....

But before we made it to our first stop (cocktails at our neighbor's house) the girls realized wigs are not as much fun to wear as they thought they'd be -- and that it was chilly out and a jacket would feel good.  So the wigs went off and the jackets went on -- and off we went again.

The girls had a blast going up to the doors by themselves while Tom and I waited on the street.  I'm pretty sure they remembered their manners, and I know they were asked a lot about their costumes -- not too many people know about the Lalaloopsy Dolls.  But my favorite two moments were when they came running back to us super excited and Zoe said 'mom, I got a BEER!' (it was a can of fruit punch and it still makes me laugh when I think about it) -- and when they were going up to one house that had two doors (one at the front and one on the side) but only the side door was brightly lit.  Zoe headed towards the unlit door and Ella said 'Zoe, go to the light!!!'.  I am also still laughing about that one too.

They did make it back from 'going to the light' ...

.... and were also pretty amazed by all the pumpkins carved into Jack-0-Lanterns at this house.  I can't even imagine.

It was a really fun night, but now that I have kids who are in school full-time and I'm teaching full-time and I still have a full-time husband I really, really think it would be great if Halloween was always on the last Saturday of October.  Trying to get all this fun in after being in school all day, and then going to school the day after (and trying to teach kids who still have Halloween on their minds and Halloween Sugar supplying even more energy to their little bodies) was pretty crazy.  Fun but crazy.

Goodbye 'til next year, Halloween.