a happy home halloween

little mermaid 5, abby cadabby 3, and baby ninja 1
we have always lived in condo complexes (not trick-or-treat friendly), so on halloween we would load our costumed clan and drive to friend's neighborhoods for candy. this year was a wonderful first- we walked our street, mingled with friendly neighbors, and passed out loads of sweets to the spooky bell ringers.

this halloween marked another first- moms complete loss of costume choice. mia's mermaid pick turned out beautiful, but i had to do some serious manipulating before she would discard the ugly seashell headband that came with the costume in exchange for the adorable flower i made for her hair.

there is no manipulating miley however. her strength of mind will serve her well in the future, but it tends to make parenting more difficult. just before this picture was taken, my little sesame street fairy tried to turn me into a frog with her trusty magic wand. something tells me she didn't want her picture taken.

baby ninja, who seems less and less like a baby every day, didn't slow down long enough to get his picture taken. his big sisters had taught him some cool moves and he was busy running through the house screaming "ha-yah!" he loved trick-or-treating and successfully charmed all the neighbors into giving him more than one piece of candy.