verbatim: Happy Halloween!

You know I'm frazzled when I forgot to take a photo of my own kids in their Halloween costumes! Bad, bad mommy. You'll have to trust me that the kids looked great in their very aptly chosen costumes: Julie was a princess, Pete was a ninja, and Steph was a devil.

Steph had an extra treat, because after waiting 5 years, she finally got to participate in the school's annual 5th grade Halloween parade this morning. Only the 5th graders are allowed to come to school in costume, and then the principal (also in costume!) leads them through every single classroom in the school. It was great fun.

Then tonight, just as we were sitting down to dinner, a neighborhood friend called to say that they had just gone trick-or-treating at Jason Varitek's house—and got a baseball signed by the man himself! The kids quickly suited up and dashed over, but we were met at the door by his father-in-law and a bunch of cute little girls in costume instead. Ah well! So we went back home and finished dinner.

The kids got tons of candy, at least half of which we'll bring to the school tomorrow to donate to Birthday Wishes, an organization that helps homeless kids celebrate their birthdays. They also collected $32 for UNICEF!

We got about 50 trick-or-treaters here, which is somewhat less than I anticipated, considering the mild weather. Someone also pointed out that this is the first time we've ever had Halloween before Daylight Savings Time ends, or begins, or whichever is the thing that will happen this weekend. (I can never remember which is which. I know we turn the clocks back, but I can't keep it straight whether that's Standard or Daylight time. I wish we could abolish the whole thing anyhow.)