This is Halloween!

 No-school days are so welcome.  But it's a conundrum!  Do we relax?  Do we get a lot done?  I had intentions of doing both, so when Araceli and I got home from cello at 8:30 this morning, I took a nap!  Oh heavenly day!  Then we got everyone's practicing done and visited Nana.  She looks rather chipper in this picture, doesn't she?  We took Little Caesar's pizza to her and made a little dent in her Halloween candy supply.

 Trajan and Mic were the first to arrive to the big Halloween party.  Their costumes stole the show!  They had Freestone cuffed and booked in no time.

 Tziporah started out as a mouse, then picked out a crown at the dollar store, then added tap shoes and a tutu.  What was she?  Draw your own conclusions.

 Kimber and her five kids.  And she looks this relaxed??

 Angie's family.  You know, Clint's sister?  Tziporah's dance teacher's daughter?  There are so many connections in Davis County!

 The Barber kids.  Adorable!

 He officially changed his name to Ptolemy Spiderman Dopp.  But you can call him Chip.

 Savanna, one of my sweet little Chinese this year.  Her grandparents live up the street.  Dr. Ferguson has been the anesthesiologist for Ari's surgeries.  Her Aunt Kenzie teaches ballet with me, and has had my kids in her classes.  Kenzie is such a dedicated and fabulous teacher.

 Ruby, Clint's sister Jenny's baby.

 The independent Halloween Firm of Fitzgerald and Fitzgerald.  They came prepared to choose costume winners, and they did a great job!  I'm so glad I don't have to decide!

 Fitz family adorableness

 I love this picture.  I'm so glad you brought your mom, Sarah!  This woman drove me to as many or more ballet classes as my own mom and probably sat through just as many of my recitals, too!

 Another picture that just makes me smile.

 Some 7th grade awkwardness going on right here.  ;)

 Tanner is such a great kid!  He's witty enough to hang with the adults and fun enough to hang with the kids.  I think grandma and Grandpa count as both adults and kids!  They are always up for fun.

 The Byingtons, our neighbors and friends.

 The McBrides, neighbors since the 1970's, friends since their son Jacob started taking violin lessons from me.  He is such a fun student.  I love him and his family.

 The Moodys!  Marianne has been a teacher/mentor to my girls at Clytie's for years.  And now their kids get to play with my kids every week!  It's great!  Cleo took a rocking horse from my shop last week.  She couldn't stand to part with it and lugged it up the stairs and to the car, so I gave it to her.  A few days later, I came out of the library and the horse was in my car!  Cue music from "Psycho!"  Marianne said I could only give it back if it just appeared somewhere.  So I have to figure out how, when and where to do that.  Ideas?

 This girl stole the show!  Michelle Fitzgerald, woman of many (all) talents, sewed that Little Red Riding Hood costume.  Look how Liby plays the part!

 "Liby, show me scared!"

 And then there are the Dopps. recycling costumes from years past.  This one that Coco made was worth a reprise! Xanthe was the cutest little hipster bride, wearing Araceli's baptism dress, and Freestone threw on a leather jacket from '50's day.  I didn't even get pictures of them!

 Coco and Bill...scary!  At the party, the kids go through our back yard to Coco and Bill's, then on to Josh and Emily's Ghost Gully, then up the street, around the block and back to our house.

 This year, Josh chain-sawed a path through the woods from Coco's to his house.  It was so cool!  I think he threw his back out trying to hack through the brush in 15 minutes.  Motivated by deadlines, just like his sister.  It was so worth it, Josh!

 Scott was scared of the woods!

 By the time I got over there, most of the balloons were taken by kids.  Imagine a hundred balloons.  It's so pretty!

 I'm so lucky to have Emily close by.  She is always watching my kids and solving my quandries with her spot-on advice and recommendations.  Plus, she's funny and fun, and their kids are perfect friends for mine.

 Ann Gammon, Coco's next-door neighbor.  She has a heart of gold and a hug of steel!

 Beautiful Isabella, my niece.  Isn't she a stunning Ice Princess?

 And Collin.  Yikes!

 These two little girls.  So funny!

 Ruth Ford, our back yard neighbor.  She is 89 and going strong.  Amazing woman!

 I must have blacked out for a few minutes during the candy drop because there are no pictures.  Oh ya, I remember.  My phone ran out of memory, so I used Scott's.  I even video taped some of the prime moments of our yearly fight about how to drop the candy.  Scott won this time and dropped it in a big pile instead of flinging it out over the crowd, injuring people in the process.  But his way isn't as exciting.  I'm going to win next time, so wear protective gear, everyone!  Trajan said we should have a disclaimer, "Football costumes or characters with shields only!"

 I painted this while the kids were painting, just for fun.

 All the prizes Michelle and Brittany made for the costume contest.  I have the best friends, family and neighbors!

 Somebody got a new app on his phone.

 Ruby threw on a dress and put her hair in a loose bun.  She later said, "Why is everyone so concerned about what you're supposed to be?  Can't you just be 'dressed up for Halloween'?'  Ha ha.

 This child was killing us.  She was so funny!  At this point in the night, she was wearing whiskers, ruby slippers, a Sophia the First dress, a tiara and sunglasses.  She couldn't see in the sunglasses because it was dark, and she was dragging a Fancy Nancy suitcase with wheels and holding a guinea pig.  She looked like a little blind mouse princess from Oz.  I died laughing.

This was a great Halloween.  It had everything, from bins of candy to a traditional argument about how to hurl it at kids.  It had trick-or-treating, some of us with the Kings, some with the Scheullers, pizza with Coco and Bill, visits with our Windsor neighbors, and to top it all off, the most amazing summer-like weather ever.  At the end of the night, Freestone had 72 Snickers, a dozen of them full-size.  He gets obsessed.  I'm pretty sure none of the Scheullers had any Snickers after the trading was complete!  Another Halloween in the books.  I'm sad...but happy.

Tizzy the other day:  I don't LIKE mummy band-aids.  Hashtags:
 #halloweenyourekillinme
#damnyoupinterest
Ha ha.