Trick-or-Treating Fun

Well, trick-or-treating was a blast for the girls last night, so much so that for the first year ever, both kids made it around our nearly one-mile trick-or-treating loop on foot all by themselves.  In past years, one child or another has pooped out before we completed our circuit, causing a parent to be stuck carrying the tired child, and causing us to skip the remaining houses en route home.  Last night, in fact, the girls were dismayed when the realized we were fast approaching our own house.  Because we didn't skip any houses this time, the kids also returned home with WAY more loot than in past years.  All in all, a successful holiday!

Here are the little witches, ready to go:

And here they are in the driveway, casting scary spells on me:

Madeleine has planned all along to be a spooky, scary, mean witch on Halloween.  In fact, every time she watches the Halloween episode of Dora the Explorer, she announces this to Dora.

DORA: What are YOU going to be for Halloween?
MADELEINE: Um, a BETEND mean WITCH!

I think she was still embodying this betend mean witch persona in the driveway picture; however, part way through our route, she seemed to have a change of heart.  As she and Ethan walked along, hand-in-hand, Madeleine explained the sudden reversal of her witch nature to him.

MADELEINE: Daddy, I'm not a MEAN witch, I'm just a NICE witch, because I don't cook POISON stuff, I just cook NICE stuff.
ETHAN: What kind of nice stuff do you cook?
MADELEINE: Um...NICE stuff!
ETHAN: Like nice sugar cookies?
MADELEINE: (delighted to be understood) Yeah!  I just cook nice SUGAR COOKIES!

Ethan walking with his reformed witch daughter

As we made our way around the neighborhood, Julia, the veteran trick-or-treater and faster walker, generally approached each house well before her sister.  At first, Madeleine seemed thrilled and honored just to be included in the whole adventure.  "Daddy, can I trick-or-treat at this house TOO?" she would squeal in incredulous delight.  However, as the night went on, Madeleine decided she wanted a more hands-on role in the trick-or-treating process, and began begging to ring the doorbell at each house.  The general routine went something like this:

JULIA: (walking hand-in-hand with me, approaching a house) Mama, I see the lights are on so can we trick-or-treat here?
ME: Sure!  Go on up to the door.
MADELEINE: (holding hands with Ethan, trailing us back in the shadows) JULIAAA!  Can I ring the DOOOORBEEEEELLLL?
ETHAN: I think Julia may have beaten us to it, Madeleine.
JULIA: (diligently standing at the door, not touching the doorbell) It's okay Daddy!  I'm WAITING for her!
MADELEINE: (trotting up the steps to the door, wiping out and losing her hat and candy bag in the process) Oh!  Whoopsies!
ETHAN: (getting Madeleine back on her feet and restoring her hat and bag)
MADELEINE: Uh, where's the doorbell?
JULIA AND MADELEINE: (searching cluelessly)
ETHAN AND I: Right there!  Right there!  No, to the right!  No, that's not it.  To the right!  To the right!
MADELEINE: (finally discovering the doorbell, reaching up high to ring it, tilting her head back with the effort and once again losing her witch hat) Oh no!  My HAAAAT!

On the occasions that Julia did get to ring the doorbell first, Madeleine insisted on ringing it herself as well, so some of our neighbors got the fun of having their bell annoyingly, repeatedly rung by anxious trick-or-treaters.  Sorry, neighbors.

Once we returned home, the girls had a big choice ahead of them: which two candies to choose for their dessert?

If we continue this two-candies-per-night ordeal, I dare say they may still have Halloween candy by the time spring comes.  I can't believe how loaded their trick-or-treat bags were, but they're definitely not complaining!

Julia, as usual, awoke at the crack of dawn, and came in to visit me in my bed.  I told her she could play in her room until I got up, and once I did, I peeked in to her bedroom to find her reading in bed.  "Mama!" she announced brightly.  "Do you remember we were talking about 'S-W' words the other day?  Well, I found one in this book.  Do you want to know what it is?"  She paused for suspense, then blurted out proudly, "SHIP!"

Ah, yes.  Ship.  Or should I saw Swip.  One of the most common S-W words.

Madeleine had a different sort of morning greeting for me when I poked my head into her room. 

MADELEINE: (fake whimpering) Ouchie!  Mama, I hurt my foot!  (switching from a whimper to a soothing voice)  But it's okay.  I KISSED it.

I wonder if she kissed it or if she LICK-KISSED it.

Finally, I leave you with this very random comment from Julia, as she stood in the living room getting dressed for school:

"Mama?  I kind of...feel like...(silence)...that Scotland and Ireland are kind of the same."

And what that has to do with anything is anyone's guess.