She's a Lady....bug

Hallowe'en has come and gone and was a smashing success. Grandma & Grandpa came in for the festivities, since they usually only get 4 kids at their place, and we've been bragging about our 150+ trick-or-treaters for 3 years now. In a town that is supposedly home to 400 people, how do we get so many visitors on Hallowe'en night? I guess all those city kids know that the shorty-tally couple with the cute ladybug and 2 bad chugs in St. A. give out a bag of chips AND a huge handful of candy & chocolate bars.

Grandma & I took Talia to a few houses - our 2 closest neighbours, the new neighbours 2 doors down (I figured I should introduce myself as the proud owner of the 2 dogs that get their 2 dogs all worked up everyday) and another friend down the street. When we came back in, Talia cried, picked up her coat, crawled over to the front door and pointed outside - so Daddy and Grandpa took her out for a nice, long walk around the neighbourhood so she could see all the kids & pumpkins some more. We ended up getting only about half the kids we usually do, so we had lots of time for visiting & eating treats. What a great night.

Our favourite combination of costumes for the night were the 4 girls who came as a bottle of ketchup, a clown, and 2 Micheal Jacksons. And my personal favourite from last year was back in his crowd-pleasing costume - a huge gift box, beautifully wrapped, with a tag that said "To: The Ladies, From: God." Runners-up were the giant lego block and the puffy snowman. I'm so sad that I only have a few more Hallowe'ens to have my way with m'ladybug, before she wants to be a (yawn) princess or (groan) Spiderman.

Yesterday we all had chocolate hangovers as we said bye-bye to Grandma & Grandpa. Talia (clearly inspired by Skyler's presence at Book Club yesterday afternoon) took 3 wobbly steps last night. I fear it is too little, too late to stop The Big Appointment on Wednesday, where the Dr. will give us the official diagnosis as "Lazy, with an underlying case of So Cute People Don't Stop Picking Me Up."