I love Halloween!

So, I only ended up with about 2 hours of sleep last night, so I'm going to need a huge diet coke soon. BUT it is just 9 days from my 2nd favorite holiday - Halloween!!!! I love Autumn and everything it brings - fall leaves, pumpkins, hot cocoa.... Sunday, we had some of my family over for dinner and pumpkin-carving. We used to do big parties, but it was really nice to just have a low-key one this year. Last year we hosted 2 Halloween parties for the kids (1 for Lauren, and 1 for the little girls and neighbor kids). Lauren said her friends that came are still talking about our Dead Man Buffet!
Kent is especially into the whole spooky Halloween. It's so funny watching him every year! Every Halloween, he comes home early and starts decorating the yard - strobe lights, fog machine, scary figures - the works! My only stipulation is that it can't scare away trick-or-treaters, so nothing really scary until after 8:30. When we moved to this cul-de-sac a few years ago, we discovered that we don't get nearly as many trick-or-treaters, so we started giving out full-size candy bars to entice them. Sadly, most of our neighbors don't even stay home, so our efforts to increase traffic have been thwarted. The Lawrence's are great, though! They sit in their garage and make homemade scones and pass out candy. I love them! We usually take the girls to our old neighborhood so they can visit more houses. Seriously, what's the point of creating darling costumes if only a few people get to see them?