Totally Grateful. Day 9

Today is Halloween.

I've never been a huge Hallows Eve fan.

{not anti, but it's not my favorite}

As my kids get older though, their excitement has become contagious.

Between church and family carnivals, the weather cooling down and constant conversations about costumes, I had no chance of avoiding the Halloween spirit.

As long as we do the fun version of Halloween

{and ignore the creepy}

I guess I really do love Halloween after all.

Princess creepy teeth.

Tate got dressed up for time #3 for his preschool party.

{Seeing him in that mustache never gets old}

Jake left hunting again 2 days ago.

{so I am flying solo}

That meant that we would be doing Trick or Treating differently this year.

Instead of driving across town to go to Jake's parents trunk or treat, I decided to just stay in our neighborhood and have a nice 45 minute candy gathering fest.

Luckily we were able to join up with some of our favorite neighbors for the night.

The kids had mounds of candy after 3 streets.

{and they were anxious to get home and eat it}

So we made our way back home and dumped the hoard onto the table.

I let them all pick their favorites and then put all the rest into our bucket to hand out to other kids who came to our door.

{Ash with our neighbor Ben}

We ended up sitting out front after a while and loading up any candy bag they came near us.

{this is my favorite part}

But the very best treat of all arrived right before bedtime.

{wearing camo and smelling like he hadn't showered in days}

Jake arrived just in time to kiss the candy covered faces goodnight.

After the little ones were in bed I got to tell him all of the days adventures

{including the very drunk and grown up Mario and "naughty" Luigi we met trick or treating}

{who took a picture with my innocent Mario and Luigi}

{Tate actually told grown up Luigi... "This is weird"

I am so happy Jake is home.

I am definitely ready to hand over the "protector" baton tonight so I can get some sleep, finally!

Tonight I am grateful for Neighbors, Community, and the end of Jake's deer hunt!!!!!!!