Trick or Treat

It was a dark and blustery night. The rain seemed to be holding off, at least for now. We knew we had to do it but did we have to? Couldn't we just sit home and get ready to watch the next episode of Castle? No, we had three kids (our daughter and her two young uncles) waiting patiently for us to put our coats and hats on. We had to do it. We couldn't hold off anymore. We had to go Trick or Treating.

Me (with Harrison) and Mel. Photo by Mel 

And we did. We  (me (with baby Harrison the Cat in the carrier), my husband, father-in-law and his wife Mel), followed our excited children (Minnie Mouse, Harry Potter & The Green Lantern) as they ran gleefully (albeit coldly) to each house eager to get their treats.

Harry Potter, Minnie Mouse (minus the ears) & The Green Lantern (holding a cat)

Luckily, the kids seemed happy to just do our cul-de-sac, and we were back home a short while later.  The loot was spread out on the floor to see what they had gotten. For the number of houses we had gone to, they did very well. Way too much for our three year old. Too much for Mommy and Daddy too, but that's another story.

Now, what will I keep?

 My little girl is excited about her treats, but she is more excited about the Switch Witch. What is that you may ask? I heard about the Switch Witch last year on the radio. The Switch Witch comes on Halloween Night and switches children's candy for a present that they've requested. The idea is to prevent the kids from eating all the junk. Now, Charlotte is three so it wouldn't be that hard to gradually make the candy disappear, but I figure that if we introduce the witch now, it'll work as she gets older too. The presents will obviously reflect their age, but it's worth a try anyway. So that's what we did. She went through her candy, decided what she'd like to keep and left the rest for the Switch Witch. Tonight, the witch will come and bring her what she requested - a skipping rope and a pink halloween hair extension (she asked for pink hair like Ariel, so we're hoping this will do). Now what to do with that candy...

So, as I sit here now, drinking a glass of wine and partaking of a chocolate or two, I watch Castle knowing both children are safely tucked in bed, having survived this spooky night known as All Hallows Eve. Thankfully, we did too.