Quietest Halloween In Years - Cleaning Out The House

My sister and some of her family showed up at the end of the night and I have always taken pictures of her family. I thought their make-up was super cute so I put that picture at the top. 

Several years ago, I started handing out jewelry for Halloween and also offered candy for those that didn't want jewelry. The boys like key chains, coins, and watches. This year, I added something new. 

The girls and I went through all my decorations this past week when they were all here. I had stuffed animals for each holiday. When the girls were little, I collected stuffed animals and books for each holiday so that I had decorations the kids could play with and I didn't have to worry about them breaking things. 

Since my divorce, I didn't get the decorations out. I bought new for some holidays and once or twice, I pulled out some of the decorations. Since many of the stuffed animals were new, they have just been in totes for the past 15 years. 

The girls didn't want to keep many of the stuffed animals and I don't need them anymore so I thought I could offer them to the babies that came trick or treating tonight. I put them into a plastic treasure chest and let them pick the one they wanted for their baby.

I heard from several people that they had no trick or treaters this year. I probably had about 230 or so. I usually have more than that but our town had a huge "trunk or treat" with many of the city businesses all in one place early in the evening and it is a school night so I think many parents went to that rather than having their kids walk door to door. 

This girl came and found earrings to match her costume. She was so excited so I asked her parents if I could take her picture with the earrings on. They were clip on so it worked out well. 

My neighbors came super early. I wasn't even home and as I pulled up,  one had just gone past my house and saw me coming and ran back and the other family was just walking up the walk. I had them wait for me to get in the house and they scurried picking jewelry, watches and a cute bunny for the baby.

I was standing just inside the door later when I heard one kid excitedly telling his friend that "This house is the coolest, I get great stuff every year." I also had several parents tell me their kids didn't want to go home until they came to my house as their kids kept reminding them they wanted to come to my house. Others said they drove around trying to find my house. It was wonderful to have different options for each kid so they could choose what they wanted. 

I think we will have less and less kids in future years as our country changes. Princess One appreciates when people give her kids non-candy so I hope that I made some parent's lives easier by offering non-candy options. 

Have a Blessed Day!