Today was a Halloween extravaganza. So much so that I took the day off of work to be with my kids.

This morning there was a Halloween party at their school. There’s a large call center nearby that invites the kids over to trick-or-treat every year so that’s how we kicked off the day.

Nolan dressed up as a mouse that we borrowed from our neighbors. Avery’s Halloween costume was very spur-of-the-moment. Seeing as she has an entire closet and trunk full of dress up clothes, I thought we’d leave it up to her on the day of Halloween to decide. Some may call that lazy and unprepared. I call it fostering a sense of spontaneity in America’s youth. All week she said she wanted to be Tinkerbell but she came down the stairs this morning as Supergirl. I was so freaking proud. She was the only girl in her entire school that wasn’t dressed up like a princess and/or in pink sparkles.

{The mouse hat is ruining Nolan’s life.}

When we got home, I had a conference call I needed to dial in to. I put in the movie “Cars” in an effort to distract the short people. Here’s an excerpt of this call and an example as to why you should not participate in conference calls when you are home with two children under the age of five:

Colleague: blah, blah, blah, something extremely smart and insightful, blah, blah.

Me: {yelling} No, no no!

Colleague: {caught off guard} Oh, OK. Well we don’t have to approach it that way.

Me: Sorry. It’s not you. My daughter is sitting on my son. You’re idea was great, I’m sure. Carry on.

After a nap for Nolan {Note: I changed his diaper and put him down for a nap WHILE on the conference call. I rule.} and some errands, it was time to get ready for Trick-or-Treating with our neighbors.

Since Avery will never step so low as to be seen in the same outfit twice, it was time for an outfit change.

{I’ll never get over the fact that it’s 80 degrees on Halloween night. Definitely not how I grew up…}

Nolan was the real entertainment of the evening. At the first house we went to, he got a sucker. From that point on, instead of saying “Trick or Treat” he’d say “See sucker?” and show it to the confused homeowner. He didn’t get a single piece of candy outside of that lone sucker. And at one point I literally had to enter a home to fetch my son when he darted in after he heard a puppy inside. No “Stranger Danger” for this little boy.

{There’s nothing in that bucket except for his mouse hat and the sucker wrapper.}

This sucker must have been made with Sadness and Filth because he was a messy, disaster of a child when he was done. I’ve never seen such a sad little mouse. He was so dirty that he stained our couch from simply touching his tear-stained cheek to the fabric. Get ready for a heartbreaking picture, people.

{He just heard that Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries are getting a divorce.}

Well, that’s another Halloween for the memory books. Only 54 shopping days until Christmas.

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