Beggars Night, Halloween, Truck or Treating... all the same thing right?

So here in Des Moines, they have some interesting traditions, one of which is Beggars Night. Instead of trick or treating on actual Halloween they go trick or treating the night before under the fore mentioned name. Children that are old enough are expected to share a joke (of the laffy taffy knock knock variety) to receive their treats. (My favorite: What's a cow laying down? GROUND BEEF! What's a cow with two legs? LEAN BEEF!) We were just excited when Alec would say anything at all to the strangers holding the bowl full of sugary goodness... We ended up trick or treating with some friends from the ward, and it was a great time.

Alec's first trick or treating!

Alec and his good buddy, Harrison, decided to take a rest (and a few nose dives) off the fireplace hearth after a long night of candy gathering...Alec and some friends taking a breather before the sugar high really kicked in....On actual Halloween night I got the kids dressed up in their finest Halloween garb, and we spent most of the day outside. It was a BEAUTIFUL 70 degrees so we went to the park in the morning with friends, went to a park with Nick for lunch, took some brief naps, played in the backyard, and had dinner on the back deck. Can you tell we're trying to savor the warm weather while we have it?Notice Lyssa's rockin' Halloween legging I made her from some of my old toe socks. If you look close you can see there are even little spiders with googly eyes. I thought they turned out really well!Alec's been really attached to me lately... this is him giving me some lovin'.Halloween evening we went to the ward chili dinner/truck or treat. They had a costume parade for all the little kids to show off their costume. When Alec walked onto the stage his expression was something like this....He actually won the contest! Here he's showing off his sweet prize.

(Daddy will probably enjoy it for him) Lyssa was very proud of her big brother and wanted a closer look at his prize...We didn't really decorate the trunk much, but we did bring our pumpkins and play the 'parkinson spooky music mix'!

We did well with the trick or treating, ending up with way more candy that we bought... Nick's taking it all to work because I have no self control and Alec doesn't need it either. I'm excited for more upcoming holidays to begin, but we have sure enjoyed watching my cute kiddos play "Cat and Mouse". (Lyssa's saying "Grrrr! I'm going to get you mouse!")Lyssa: "You're my hero, big brother mouse. I'll just be your sweet little tiger."

Alec: "You're not so bad yourself, Tigger."The End.