My Favorite Day of the Year!

November 1st is my favorite day of the year, because I am and will forever be a Halloween Grinch. #halloweengrinch4life

I don't think I even have good reasons for disliking Halloween so much. All I know is that I love October until about the middle of the month -- but once Lorelei's birthday is over (October 17th!) it's all downhill from there for me. I'm cranky from the constant sugar rush (because I'm eating candy corn and fun-sized Milky Ways like it's my job), I'm annoyed that Target wants $30 for a polyester superhero suit, and all of the events leading up to Halloween (Fall Fun Fests! School Halloween parties! Costume parades!) nearly send me over the edge.

Rant over. Thank you for letting me air my Halloween grievances each and every year.

You may be thinking, "She's such a hypocrite!" because I DO love me some kids dressed up in Halloween clothing (or Halloween garb, as I prefer to call it). I even got into the spirit this year when I scored some candy corn Lularoe leggings:

I had to get my money's worth, so I wore these leggings approximately 6 times in a 2-week period.

The kids were set on their costumes mid-week last week, so I took an early Halloween picture just in case there wasn't an opportunity/Ford refused to cooperate come Halloween night:

Sydney: bunny

Lorelei: pink Power Ranger

Ford: dinosaur

Ruthie: not pictured because she's semi-costumeless this year

Last Friday (October 28th), Sydney's school dressed up like their favorite storybook characters. Sydney doesn't necessarily have a favorite, so I encouraged her to dress up like Corduroy when I came across the picture below (on the left) and realized we had the exact same yellow cardigan and a similar green skirt:

Okay, okay, so we DID attend a pre-Halloween Halloween event. The church where Lorelei attends preschool hosted a Trunk or Treat Sunday afternoon -- I knew it would be low key, which was, truthfully, my main reason for attending. (I'm a 100-year old stuck in a 32-year old body in case you hadn't noticed.) It was hot Sunday afternoon, so I convinced Lorelei to dress up as a Navy cheerleader rather than a Power Ranger so she wouldn't sweat to death (in her $20 -- not $30! -- polyester Target suit).

Ford refused to dress up for Trunk or Treat. Fine by me.

One family brought their old truck for kids to "drive," and had a "horse" set up (with a real saddle). I told the woman, when she said Ford could play in the truck, "Okay, but I'm warning you: if he gets in, he's never coming out."

I was right. We had to pull him out, kicking and screaming, after he had already hogged it for 30 minutes.

Halloween night (Chet took the kids around the neighborhood while Ruthie and I handed out candy at home):

I didn't put the Navy cheerleader outfit on Ruthie last night because the skirt was super tight (although, speaking from experience, that's good training if she's ever an actual cheerleader).

Pre-bedtime sugar rush:

And guess what? Today is Sydney's 50th day of school, so they were encouraged to "dress 50s." I almost started homeschooling her on the spot I was so annoyed. Syd thought she was dressed like "someone who was 50 [years old]":

She might not be entirely wrong...

Happy November 1st!!!