Happy Halloween!

It's hard to believe this was Sophia's 3rd Halloween! We've gone from being a Pea in the Pod (not even crawling)to a Ballerina (the chubbiest & cutest!) to our little Minnie Mouse who was capable of shouting "Trick or Treat"! Ah, we're just so proud. HA! We'd been trying to prep Sophia this year on 'what to do' - wearing a costume, carrying a bucket, ringing a doorbell, saying "Trick or Treat" & then "thank you". We accomplished most of that list...not too shabby! We had made plans to take Sophia by the grandparents houses that afternoon to let her do some practice runs & to let them have some photo opps. We arrived at Lopez's first where she totally didn't want to wear the ears, carry the bag or ring the doorbell. Fantastic. We even completed the mission by not wanting candy. Fail. However, we were able to get some sweet photos of Sophia with Patricia, Rafa & Gabby...the bonus was Devon showed up! This made Minnie's day! Next up we headed to the Schultz's where we had a repeat...at least she rang the doorbell here & was interested in receiving the goods from Nana's basket! This time she understood what was going into her bag & she wanted to taste it....like, NOW. A few photos & giggles later, we were off to Ava's house!

We had planned to get together with Crimi's at their house to do trick or treating & to have dinner. Upon arrival, the girls squealed at each others costumes & decided to play. We quickly gathered the goods for the trailer ride around the neighborhood with some other friends & off we went. It was much colder than we expected, so in total we gathered treats for about an hour I'm guessing. The girls had fun riding on the trailer & seeing all the other kids' costumes. They did very well & were the most polite children out there...of course! Afterwards we headed back to Crimi's where we changed the girls into their PJ's & warmed up eating some yummy homemade ziti, breadsticks & more. It was delish & we were all able to thaw out - BRR! The girls had a blast & Rod even assembled a fun fort out of blankets & chairs - they LOVED this...they were giggling going in & out & it was fun to watch.

I even opted to bring a Halloween favorite from my childhood that my mom would make, Ghosts in the Graveyard dessert. It was always fun to eat...however, I was too late in buying the supplies & couldn't find the pumpkins or candycorns. My cool whip ghosts were only one & he melted into the dirt....the disaster provided a great laugh & good lesson that I need to buy the supplies early next year. However, it tasted the same as I always remembered - deeeelish!! Here's the link to view it & to make it next year:

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/ghosts-in-the-graveyard-54472.aspx