Day 46

 I took the kids trick or treating last night.
(The base had theirs on the 29th, the city will have it on Halloween. Which is the exact opposite of last year.)

My children haven't figured out that most kids get to choose a costume from the store each year.
They think it's normal to just go to your dress up bin and put something together.

Alex decided on a fairy, and Derek went as the worlds most adorable firefighter. He could put out fires with his cuteness.

 A few days ago the high reached 80 degrees, but last night was downright cold. Go figure.
The kids didn't seem to notice, in their rush to collect the goods.

Brooke joined us, just like last year. 

(Ignore Derek's plastic bag. He left his pumpkin sitting at home.)

So typically what happens after Halloween, is that my kids eat a few pieces of candy that night, and then I do the usual mom-thing and parcel it out one piece at a time over the next several weeks.

This presents a few problems. Namely, I have no willpower and I will eat the candy after the kids go to bed. And also, ever since Alex had her cavities, I'm trying to be better about limiting sugary treats. Dragging out the candy eating for the next month didn't seem prudent.

So we tried something new last night.
We got home, I put on an episode of Mickey Mouse, and I let them go to town on their candy.
They ate and ate and ate until the show was over, then after a thorough teeth-brushing, I sent their sugared up bodies right to bed.

Then first thing this morning, the eating resumed. Sunday morning cartoons and a breakfast of sugar.


I regretted that about 15 minutes later when I realized I couldn't send them back to bed.
So instead I sent them outside to run it off and we ended up with a new family member.

His name is Don and he's living in my dining room, of all places.

But I happen to think my family is just perfect the way it is. No Don necessary.

This is the last thing I see every night before I climb into the very middle of our queen sized bed.

I miss my husband.
(But I do like hogging the bed.)