boo

As much as I was looking forward Halloween this year I did not have high hopes for the actual day. To put it simply Maya is a total pill. A very adorable pill, but a pill none the less. The odds were slim she'd even go out trick or treating at the same time a temper tantrum of some sort was almost 100% guaranteed.

I battle in my mind a lot when it comes to Maya. Almost everything is a struggle and her favourite thing to say is "not yet!" Come on Maya it's bedtime..... NOT YET! Maya, time to go to the sitters.... NOT YET! Maya dinner time..... NOT!! YET!! You get the idea. Even with all the 'not yets' once you get her past that she's fine. Like last week we were going out to eat with Auntie Yoli. Maya threw a temper tantrum of epic proportions while we tried to get ready to leave the house. She continued her exorcist type screaming while on our way to the rastaurant, but a few minutes into the trip she was fine and she was an absolute angel while we ate.

I questioned whether the battle would be worth it. Mike thought not, but I was game to give it a try. I started a good hour before it actually got dark to give her enough time to stage her little protest. Mike and Abby left the house to trick or treat at the sitters and some "not within walking distance friends". There was some screeching, but all in all in she got into the costume relatively easily. She followed me around afterwards demanding I "take it off!" But I busied her outside with setting out the pumpkins. She still wasn't a 100% happy when Papa and Grandma Linda showed up, but she was getting there.



Abby, of course, was outside of her skin she was so excited. We had plans to meet up with the Mommy Project and family, but I wasn't sure Abby would make it to the agreed upon time. It wasn't quite dark when headed out, but we were far from the only ones getting an early start.



I'd like to tell you it was a nice easy stroll through the neighbourhood, that I took tons of great pictures and The Mommy Project and I got all caught up with each other, but that wasn't quite the deal. As it turns out a three year old who's not quite sure about Halloween yet walks a whole lot slower than a six year old who has a few years of Halloween experience under her belt. It was a constant balance of speeding Maya up and slowing Abby down so they could meet some where in the middle. It was too much to keep track of to even attempt to pull the camera out of my pocket. I didn't even get a chance to get a shot of Mike and I with the girls.

Although I did get this..... enjoy. You'll likely never see Mike dressed up again. Mike was recently nominated co-chair of our Parent's Council at school. As such Friday he got to spend some time at the school judging the best decorated door contest and his fellow co-chair supplied him with this costume. I'm still impressed ML got him to wear it.



I am happy to report that by the end of the evening Maya was roaming around fluffing up her skirt and telling every one she was a true Princess. More photographic evidence at flickr including this year's Halloween pumpkins.... the Scream face and Kang from the Simpsons.