Happy Halloween

I have great memories of dressing up for Halloween when I was growing up. I think for five years in a row I was Pippi Longstockings... another year I was an "M&M" with another 'emily'. Although I'm not a big fan of all the creepy stuff that goes along with Halloween I definitely think it's simply a 'fun' holiday. THe festivities started yesterday as the kids dressed up and we went to Papa Paul's and Gramma Lori's. We 'trick-or-treated' and then hung out for the night eating yummy food and playing. The highlight of the night was definitely opening up an early Eliott bday present - Racin' Roadie.... a hilarious toy for a one year old boy who loves to climb and bounce. He even 'bucked' him off a few times. Today we started the evening at the Hansen house. Madison goes here in the mornings a couple days a week and we both love it there. It was fun that we all got to stick around this time enjoying yummy treats and cute kids. AFter we left, Madison kept saying, "Mom, more Jess's house." Then we headed out to the Yoder house for our first trick-or-treating. Madison is definitely a kid who needs to know what's going to happen before it happens and she usually processes it for days before. I told Matt to tell her what to do and the conversation went something like this. "Madison, we are going to walk around to people's houses, and when they answer the door say 'trick-or-treat' and they will give you candy. You can't do this every day, just on halloween". It was pretty funny the first time she went up to a house. We went with our bible study kids which consists of 7 or so little people. Most of the rest of the kids rushed up to the door while Madison stuck in the back. She watched as the lady put candy in everyone's pumpkins. You could tell she was pretty confused and was trying to figure out what to make of the situation. She needed about ten minutes to process the situation but the lady threw a piece of candy in her pumpkin and the rest of the kids headed back to their parents. She stood there, still not quite sure of the situation and not quite ready to turn around. It didn't take her long to catch on and she went up to several houses... but each time you could tell she was a bit confused by the whole process. Her personality continues to come out as she grows... an incredibly sweet girl who totally processes (in her own "Madi-time" each situation she is in. A fun couple of days for the Hofferts :).