Trick or Treat!

I'll admit it. I'm not really into Halloween. I'm just not. But this year, Kingston was sort of "getting" the whole idea of dressing up and Trick or Treating. All of his buddies at school had decided what they wanted to be and Mrs. Cindy quizzed them on it daily. When asked, Kingston always answered, "Choo-choo train!" Of course he did. That is pretty much his standard answer for just about anything!

So one Friday after school I promised I would help him make his costume. We settled on the tank engine, James (more because I knew I had red wrapping paper at home than for any other reason). I got out the box. The black magic marker. The rubber cement that I was sure would be dried up after all these years but wasn't. The paper plate. I mean, what's a homemade Halloween costume if there isn't a paper plate involved?!

With Kingston's "help" we concocted the most silly looking choo-choo train. He loved it. He was quite concerned, however, that James didn't have wheels at first. "Mommy. James neeeeeds wheels!" Another colored-in paper plate later, James had wheels. I'm just glad he got over the idea that James needed a coal car, too!

So after a late nap (an no lunch except for a chocolate chip cookie and some chocolate milk. . . Thanks, Pappy for a fun day!) Kingston woke up ready to Trick or Treat. We went to a little neighborhood where I know a few folks and parked at a friend's house.

And without further ado. . . James!

We went to my friend Mary's house first. It was a miracle we made it up the stairs. We hadn't really thought about the difficulty of climbing stairs, reaching for things, etc. when designing the costume! Mary and her husband, Tony, watched through the windows and laughed at us as we navigated the stairs! They waited behind the door for Kingston to do his thing. And he did!

Knock, knock!

"Trick or Treat!" He actually said it! It was perfect! Mary and Tony were so sweet to him. It was a great first time!

From there we hit about 4 more houses and then called it a night.

The good thing about the costume was that he couldn't reach to get things out of his bucket! And he couldn't eat a sucker because he couldn't reach his mouth! So we fed him a few pieces of candy and that was that!

I'll be honest. Halloween is a lot more fun with a kid involved! I will look forward to next year a little more now! Now it's just a matter of hiding the few bits of candy that he did get. He seems to think it is fair game any time. I don't know where he would get that idea. Oops, I should probably wipe the ButterFinger off of my keyboard. Drool.