Happy Hauntings

Halloween actually began on Friday for many of us teachers. Several students and staff members dressed up. I'm not one to go whole-hog, but I did wear a sweatshirt featuring a cat in a witch's pointed hat.

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The preschool, which is located in my building and operated by high school students, always takes the tots around to trick-or-treat at participating classrooms. Here is the first group to arrive at my door, under the care of one of my students, Jenny.
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Aren't they adorable? They loved the little whistles we gave them, povided by Wyndie's husband Eugene.
Today was hectic, with everyone going different directions, but we all came together around 4:00 to prepare for the trunk-or-treat at church.

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Trunk-or-treats are the big solution to the dangers of trick-or-treating these days. The cities of Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside both hold a huge community trunk-or-treat each year. Unable to be 3 places at once, we opted for the smaller version at church.

Dylan and his friends Eric and Justin got together to attend the trunk-or treat. Afterward they did the traditional trick-or-treating in the neighborhoods around our home for a couple of hours.

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I tried to capture the moon behind them in this shot. It looked a lot cooler in real life.

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Dylan went as a pirate and Justin as a soldier. Eric went as a stick figure. He got the idea for it online. It's a little hard to imagine until you see him in the dark, so I took the picture of him below while he was standing in our darkened bathroom. (Without the flash it's a bit blurred.)

Where do people dream up these things? It looked pretty nifty, though.

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Sarah and Jacob handed out candy at the trunk-or-treat. Afterward, Sarah babysat for a neighbor who went to a Halloween party and Jacob went trick-or-treating with some friends, Crystal and Ryan. He dressed up Goth-style.
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I got a kick out of watching him try to remove the black eye makeup when he came home. Welcome to my world, Jacob!
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At the trunk-or-treat they had a contest for the best decorated "trunks" and Jacob did a nice job of scarifying our car for the event. We didn't win, but it looked good!

Now Halloween is over, the pillowcases are stuffed with candy, the kids are sleeping off the sugar rush, and tomorrow it will be November. Am I the only one who feels like time is flashing by in a blur?

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Speaking of November 1st, a BIG happy birthday to my brother Jeff, who barely missed being born on Halloween. Hope you have a great day, bro!