babybloomr

We had so much fun! Here are a few photos to prove it:

Ok, as planned, I was a mummy…blogger.

And yeah, I weenied out on carrying the laptop around with me.

Charlotte did indeed revive the ‘classic’ shark costume with the legs hanging out of the mouth. It’s so funny, the first time she wore it two years ago it was a little too big for her so she had trouble seeing out of the little mesh mask part because it kept falling down over her eyes and blocking her vision. Last year was better though still a little hard to see, but this year she has grown so much that her head was crammed into the top of shark and she couldn’t lower her face enough to see the ground, which made walking around in the dark a real adventure. She is such a little character, I love that kid.

And then there was Madi. What can I say about Madi’s costume, except maybe ??? and, also !!! She totally nailed the Beth look to a frightening degree– her water-balloons-stuffed-into-socks boobs were so gigantic that nobody made eye contact with her the entire night! Behold:

That was in our front yard right before we headed out for the night. The handcuffs dangling from her belt and the fingerless gloves were a nice touch, but the best part was the official Dog the Bounty Hunter badge pinned to the top of  her oh-so-classy tank top– which sadly, you can’t really see in that photo because like I said, it’s hard to see anything with all that chestiness going on. But wait, it gets better worse! Here she is at my brother Matt’s house, totally rocking the Beth ‘tude:

I know, I know, I should be shot for letting her go out in public looking like that. Actually, I think I laughed harder than anyone else, so you know, Mother of the Year here. YAY ME!

Since Russ was out of town, we didn’t have a candy hander-out-er because even though the dogs would probably be willing, they don’t have opposable thumbs which would really complicate that whole answering-the-doorbell thing. So, as I did last year I put a whole bunch of candy in a bowl on the front porch next to our jack o’lantern…

(It’s a character from a website the girls just love, Homestar Runner. Which you’ve probably never heard of it unless you are living with teenagers.)

Even though I always leave a note politely suggesting they just take a few pieces, I kind of take for granted that the first group of trick-or-treaters will probably wipe out all the candy. When I was growing up there was an older couple up on the hill that always left a little peach basket full of stick candy on their front porch and we always headed there first and systematically emptied it. (Which would horrify my well-mannered parents who raised me right, by the way, so DON’T tell them!) Last year the bowl was not only completely emptied, it also mysteriously ended up in the middle of my driveway. But this year we came home to this:

What self-respecting sugar-crazed child would leave three lousy pieces of free candy at the bottom of a bowl? These kids today– amateurs!

This year we headed over to Matt and Carol’s neighborhood first instead of last, because we were hoping to get there early enough to see my little great-niece Anna Rose in her costume. Her parents Josh and Sarah were there of course, and also Sarah’s  parents, Peg and ‘Pa’. Love them.

(If you’ve never visited Peg’s fabulous blog, YOU MUST– here is a link, check it out: http://bloomfieldfarm.blogspot.com/ )

Anna Rose was the cutest lady bug you ever saw, and she was totally digging the whole trick or treat thing– didn’t take her long to figure it out! After walking around the Historic Richland area for  a while, we headed down the street to Matt’s where Carol had made some REALLY good chili and we all hung out and just talked and laughed and ate and watched Anna Rose be adorable. She finally pooped out…

… so Josh and Sarah took her home. By that time it was almost 9:00, so even though we took a nostalgic drive around our old neighborhood, we ended up calling it a night too. A great Halloween was had by all.

Russ came home on Sunday and brought me armloads of flowers for our anniversary, so our house kinda looks like somebody died. Or won the Kentucky Derby. Either way, they are beautiful and I love them.

So how about you guys? Did you get many trick-or-treaters, or were you forced to eat all of that candy yourself?

That’s right, Russ and I got married on Halloween.

*insert joke here.*

It wasn’t my fault, it was the Imperials. Russ and I had already set the date and ordered the invitations when the Imperials job came up, and then once he took it Sherman decided to go ahead and leave early so suddenly Russ had to jump right in there and start doing the concerts and they were already booked for the weekend in October that we were getting married so we had to take the only free day they had available and it was on Sunday afternoon… of the 31st. And yes, we did get trick or treaters on our wedding night. Yeah. On the plus side, nobody ever forgets our anniversary!

The circumstances of our wedding were just a foretaste of glory divine as far as being married to a singer is concerned. There have been more than a few anniversaries over the years that we haven’t been able to spend together because Russ is on the road, and this year will be one of them. We have gotten used to celebrating special occasions a few days early or a couple of days late, no biggie. And even if Russ was going to be in town, we wouldn’t be going out to dinner or doing any of those anniversary-type things this Saturday night anyway–  hello, I have to trick or treat with my girls! We established our roles early on: Russ is the official candy hander-outer while I take Charlotte and Madi from house to house ringing doorbells. Now, I know some Christians have a problem with celebrating Halloween unless it’s in the guise of a Harvest Festival or something, but let’s be honest here– it’s not about devils and demons, it’s ALL ABOUT THE CANDY! My girls could care less about the origins of All Hallow’s Eve, they just want some bite-size Snickers. We don’t torture animals or worship Satan, we just carve a pumpkin and dress up in something ridiculous. We have made some wonderful memories over the years, especially when they were little– I’ll never forget the year Charlotte was 3 and we put a multi-colored afro wig on her tiny head and wrote “John 3:16″ across her tiny bare chest and sent her out as the NFL Rainbow Guy…

We’ve also developed some strictly adhered-to Halloween family traditions. Even though we moved away from the old neighborhood that the girls grew up in we still go back every year and trick or treat there.We start at Marcus and Becca’s house and end up at the Gilbreath’s house, where the kids fan out to canvas their street and the grownups enjoy a big bowl of homemade soup and a glass of wine that we all take outside and eat sitting on the steps and lounging around in lawn chairs. Then we drive over to my brother Matt’s neighborhood, because they have a huge block party  there– people come from all over the city to see the decorated houses and jack-o-lantern displays. By that time we are footsore and full of sugar, so we end the evening in Matt’s living room where Carol always has special treat bags for Madi and Charlotte and takes an annual picture of us in our costumes. Yes, I said OUR costumes. Once when they were really little I made the mistake of dressing up with them and they have insisted on it ever since. Over the last few years I have been a Roaring Twenties flapper, a pirate-ess, a gypsy, a fairy and Lucy Ricardo. Actually, I really enjoy it and I am very aware that this tradition’s days are numbered since the girls and I are rapidly aging out of this holiday!

This year Charlotte has chosen to revive her ever-popular ‘shark with a pair of legs hanging out of it’s mouth’ costume– this will be the third year running, but when I asked her if maybe she might be ready for a change she said that she would really prefer to be the shark again. “After all, it IS a classic,” she explained. I am going to be a Mummy Blogger– get it?!  I will be wrapped in lots of gauze and maybe carry my laptop… Or I may just go with the mummy part, laptops are heavy. Madi is going to be Beth Chapman, Dog the Bounty Hunter’s wife. (She prefers to think of it as an homage rather than an impersonation. Madi loves her some Dog the Bounty Hunter.) This has presented some interesting challenges since Madi is very petite with dark hair and Beth is, well…

You can see our dilemma.

Today at Walmart we scored a big blonde wig, which we plan on further enhancing with back combing and  a Bump-it. We also bought some long pink fake nails, fingerless gloves, and a glittery belt that will we equip with a walkie-talkie, badge and handcuffs.  Most importantly, we found the perfect GINORMOUS black bra! And a package of water balloons. Hopefully she will be able to get her black tank top over, uh, them. We’ll finish the whole thing off with high heels and way too much makeup and jewelry.

I’m just the best mother ever.

And yes, you know I’ll be taking pictures.

So this Saturday night, while you’re passing out candy to your little neighborhood ghosts and princesses, think back if you will to that LOOOOOOOOONG ago Halloween in Hot Springs, Arkansas when sweet little mustachioed gospel singer Russ Taff  took talkative little former cheerleader Tori Timm to be his lawfully wedded wife… and send us some love. Wow. 33 years. Who knew?!