ハッピーハロウィン (Happy Halloween in Japanese)

My kids were definitely channeling the Orient this Halloween--and they were pretty darn cute while they did. The boys have known they wanted to be ninjas almost since last Halloween, so Ruby was the only one we really had to figure out. I'm not sure how long this whole "theme" thing will last, but for the moment they are pretty insistent and I don't mind at all.

I told them to be ninjas "saving" a Japanese princess. She doesn't look like she wants to be saved--probably because it looks more like an attack than a save.




Our actual Halloween night was nearly perfect. Unfortunately, in all my planning and preparing for the big night I failed to make sure my camera was charged and after just one photo is was dead. Ugg...I was kicking myself all night for not being ready to capture the pure joy and excitement brimming from each of my children. The Bywaters were kind enough to drive up and trick or treat with us as well, so my kids were pretty much in heaven.

I wasn't sure what Ruby would think of the whole trick-or-treating experience, but it only took one house for me to know. She was thrilled to be out with the crowd, tromping up and down the neighborhood. She outlasted both of her brothers' stamina when they were her age. After each house she would run back to show us what she had received, very insistent that we acknowledge her score with excitement equal to her own. I told Sam that she was absolutely in her element going door to door meeting strangers and welcoming their treats. Ruby truly loves to meet new people--especially when she thinks they have a fondness for her. I'm not sure if that makes her extremely kidnapable or just an awesome future missionary--I'm going with the later. Either way, I will always have to keep a close eye on this one.

One of the highlights of the night for me was at one of the houses where a woman passing out candy was also dressed like a geisha. Ruby immediately recognized the similarity and got very excited, pointing to her red lips and then to the woman's. It was priceless. (Did I mention how disappointed I was with the whole dead camera battery situation?)

After the fact, I did take a million pictures trying to make up for my loss. I certainly did not want to forget this cuteness. I was especially happy with how Ruby's costume turned out, considering we were just winging it from pictures on the Internet.




My ninjas being...ninjas. I loved their stop action moves for the camera. Max needs a little work a on the "stop" part of that action.




Reed's "ninja" eyes.


Max had a ninja meltdown during our photo shoot and this is the only picture I got of him that didn't also include tears and angry eyebrows.


Ruby liked getting her make-up on a little too much. I was shocked that she let me do it without a fuss. Even with my not-so-steady hand it came out pretty well.


In addition to finding out that Ruby likes to wear make up, we also discovered that she is not a big chocolate fan. In fact, I'm pretty sure she would be willing to trade all of her candy for a few pixie sticks--those, she can't get enough of.

Dead camera battery aside, it was a wonderful Halloween. The kids had tons of fun, the candy is almost gone, and Ruby now officially has girl dress up clothes.