"My feet hurt. I'm through with Halloween."

A few days removed from All Hallow's Eve, I now reflect back on it with such amazement. Sure, I got a little antsy when some of the kiddos - Lil' A and her cute (dark) Angel costume in particular - would run off a house down from us, messing up my "stick together" initiative, but that's just a role model being nervous about bodysnatchers. Other than that...amazement.

The kids looked so awesome in their costumes, even though I see the boys in their's pretty much every day I see them. The girls...they looked sweet. I wish I could show you guys a picture, but for some reason I am not ready to go passed the first letter of their name stage, even though we have plastered FB with their pics. It's a weird quirk. I'll seek help for it.

So we live in a pretty small, but oddly lotsa-street-having neighborhood. I had no idea to be completey honest. I thought we had three, maybe four, streets...but there's some in this hood that branch off of other streets and sprout into all different directions. And...that equates into lots of pavement pounding. Which leads me to E's declaration to me about 3/4 through the night of, "My feet hurt. I'm through with Halloween."

I couldn't help but laugh to hear my little 3-yr old say that while holding up his arms to me to pick him up in his awesome Iron Man costume. Iron Man does fly after all, so after all this walking...I guess he would be tired. And in that heavy armor. I get it.

Rounding the last corner into the home stretch, J-Boy, oops, Spider-Man, was the next to give up on candy-seeking. And with Spider-Man usually swinging from webs instead of hoofing it, I totally get that, too.

So, one by one, the kiddos began to fall off the Halloween bandwagon. The only real two hangesr-on were J-Girl and Lil' A, who were upset we were gonna pack it in and head home. Oh, and M was wearing A's costume from the night before - with a little modesty-enhancing improvements - complete with something like 5-inch heel boots. Her feet were screaming. Not barking, screaming.

So fast forward down the street, we are home. The candy is poured out and kids are sorting through it. Tasting it for the first time because I am still scarred by the idea my mom or someone must've put in my head about parents ALWAYS checking the candy first before anyone gets to it eat. I loathed it then, as did the kids now. I 100% understand it now. There are crazies out there. Best to check your candy situation first.

Which leads me to Peanut Butter M&Ms, which Lil' B got, but opted out of sharing with me. When I asked him for this little snack pack of PBM&Ms and mentioned I loved them, he too, surprisingly became quite fond of them, even remarking, "But they're my favorite." Hm. This is quite odd, Watson. I've never known him to even mention this particular candy before, nor ask me to buy it the many times we've been at the store.

Who didn't I mention...who didn't I mention...? Ah yes, G! Usually the most rambunctious of the lot, he was very well-behaved all night. Even remembered to say his "thank you's" each time about halfway through the journey. Maybe it was his Batman suit keeping him in line and the idea that he needed to be a beacon of "good" on a night designed for "bad." Yea. We'll stick with that.

Enjoy your candies!