Happy Halloween. Our Bellies Hurt.

The celebrations started early around here. The girls love the Dinosaur Museum, so we went there last week. As usual, Kiki was dressed completely inappropriately for the weather. She even wore running shorts so she could skip underwear, meaning she braved the October chill in exactly TWO articles of clothing and flip-flops.

All in all, it was a fun start to our Fall Festivities.

Tuesday night was the ward Halloween Carnival.

Kiki was a cheetah-Rarr! (That's how you have to say it.)Kate was a fairy.

We had our first snow this week.

True to form, this:

...is how Kiki dressed to go play in the snow.

She didn't last long.

Thursday night the girls carved pumpkins with Bruce.

This job always falls to him because he is super artistic, very patient, and skilled in knife handling. Also, when his kid requests that her pumpkin has a "Butt," he happily turns the pumpkin around and carves one.

Friday was the school costume parade.

After school I asked Kate, "Why didn't you smile? Were you not having fun?" and she proceeded to tell me how "awesome" the whole day was, so I guess the caption for this picture should be: Smiling on the inside.

I made this awesome chocolate peanut butter tart with a pretzel crust.

Go to my recipe blog if you want the recipe, because it is evil and delicious.

Bruce's place of employment hosts a huge trick-or-treat event every year. People turn their offices and cubes into spook alleys and every department has a different theme.

Kiki went as a frog this time, and I also managed to get pants on her, which was a real milestone for the week. The candy flows freely at inContact, so the girls came home with heavy treat bags.

Then we went to Dan and Angie's for a Halloween bash. We roasted ourselves and marshmallows in front of a bonfire, and Angie made a (not too) scary spook alley for the kids.

Grandma Trea spoiled the girls with hugs and loves.

The other milestone that was reached on Friday night was that Kate spontaneously gave Uncle Dan a hug, no coercing necessary. Yep, only took her seven years to warm up to him.

By the time Saturday came, I was worn out already! And I'd eaten so much junk that I felt bloated and gross. So I ran a 12-miler on Saturday morning as penance, then we had our usual lunch at Mi Ranchito, joined by our friend Jim.

Bruce forced the girls to take a nap, and then it was FINALLY time to trick or treat.

We live in Utah County.

It was a foregone conclusion that the trick-or-treating would take place on Saturday.

The caption should read:

Our heroine wonders why she is freezing her can off so her kids can collect more candy even though they have an insane amount of candy at home already. Stupid Halloween.

My mom hosts a Halloween party every year, so we avoided most of the rain by hanging out at her house with assorted family members and eating soup and bread. The girls had to race Aunt Jamie to the door to give candy to the trick-or-treaters- it was hard to tell who was most excited about it.

Then, like all fun evenings, we collapsed on the couch in front of a movie. The end.