Halloweeeeeen!

Halloween came and went and a good time was had by all.

I congratulated myself on surviving yet another Halloween using items from our dress-up box in the playroom, although we had a near-crisis Wednesday, when we went to see the stage show of Little House on the Prairie" and Punky informed me afterward that she absolutely had to be Laura Ingalls for Halloween and nothing else would do.

Fortunately, my kind friend Amanda had given her a prairie bonnet at the show, which went a long way toward making her last-minute costume happen. I paired it with a brown-patterned dress, added a fancy long apron and brown leather boots, and we were good to go. The freckles were not my idea- Punky insisted I draw stubble on her face after I drew it on Bruiser and freckles were our compromise. All in all, though, I have to admit that it was gratifying seeing my Laura Ingalls out there alongside all the Hannah Montanas and Jasmines and Ariels.

The best part was when she was outside playing with friends before trick-or-treating began. I went out to check on her and spied her walking blindly about with her bonnet pulled over her face.

"Punky, what on earth?" I asked.

"I'm Mary now, Mommy!" Punky said excitedly. "I'm Mary in the part where she's blind!"

A double-duty costume! That's my girl.

The challenge with Bruiser was convincing him to wear a costume at all. I figured a cowboy costume was about as good as it was going to get for him. The hat lasted all of two minutes and soon after that, he began trying to pull off his vest and bandana.

"You can't get candy without a costume, Bruiser," I warned him sternly. "They just won't give you anything unless you wear your costume."

The costume stayed on.

This was the first year Bruiser did more than sit in the stroller and Punky took admirable care of him, dragging him along with her to each door and instructing him on what to do.

"Trick or treat!" she'd say at each house. "Say trick or treat, Bruiser!"

"Trig oh treed!"

"Thank you!" she'd say sweetly once the candy had been distributed. "Say thank you, Bruiser!"

"Thag you!"

They made quite a pair.