Contrary to popular belief, sometimes we do actually spend a week at home.  This one counts, even though CT did spend most of Saturday flying to Chicago and back again in her quest for miles.  But she was back in plenty of time to enjoy Baby Flyer’s first Halloween!!

While she is too young for candy, or fully understanding what Halloween is, she had a blast.  One of her friends and his parents came over for play time, dinner, and to help hand out candy.  We also got to hear about their recent experience flying with an infant to Europe with Lufthansa.  They gave the airline a great review for making travel with a baby enjoyable, even on long-haul flights.

When we first moved to our neighborhood, I was sure we would get a ton of trick or treaters since it’s a popular area, and the houses are close together.  So, I bought a bunch of candy, and ended up sending most of it into work with CT so we wouldn’t be tempted by it laying around the house.  After speaking with some family who grew up in this area, it seemed like it was unusually quiet all around and we blamed the drizzly/cloudy weather.  They sent their leftover candy bars into work too.

For our second Halloween here, I still bought a decent amount of candy and ended up practically giving it away to kids as they walked past.  Encouraging them to take two pieces and offering a piece to the adults.  This year, I kept it simple.  I bought one bag from Costco (150 pieces for $15.99) and we probably used about half of it.  I think I need to accept that we just may not get a lot of trick-or-treaters.

 In any case, we had a great night, especially Baby Flyer.  She took a long late afternoon nap and was ready to party- literally.  She was giggling, squealing, and scooting all night.  When we picked her up, she would kick and pump her legs in excitement.  Though I’m sure if it had just been the three of us at home, she would have been ready for bed half way through dinner.

Speaking of dinner, I made Neverhomemaker’s Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili topped with shredded cheddar cheese and Mel’s Kitchen Cafe Cornbread.  This chili recipe is my go to.  It always hits the spot, especially on a cooler evening (which we’ve actually been having!).  I’ve tried many cornbread recipes, but they have all been too dense.  This was my first time making this recipe, and it was perfect.  Light and fluffy.  I used half of the sugar the recipe calls for and found it plenty sweet.  Some had a glass of wine, others had a pumpkin beer and we finished the night with a sliver of German chocolate cake our guests brought.

Something to know about me- I love decorating for Fall and Halloween, even in SoCal.  It reminds me of ‘home’ back on the East Coast, where the seasons are beautiful.

I keep my decorations simple, focusing on the front two rooms of the house.  Last year, I made paper bats out of cardstock then I used painters’ tape to stick them to the wall and inside lampshades.  After Halloween, I store them for next year, and they hold up great.  I always hang our bat garland and put our out black candlestick holders with our black and white drip candles.  Basically, I have fun and like to add something new each year.

Baby Flyer was a marathon runner for Halloween!  It was simple to put together and oh so cute.  It’s official, babies in Halloween costumes are the best!  She managed to keep the sweatbands on, even the one on her head.  When we first put it on, she immediately tried to take it off so I thought it was a lost cause.  However, we learned that if we distracted her for a few seconds afterwards, she would move on and leave it alone.

If you want to “get the look,” I found  her running shorts on clearance at Marshalls, but here is a similar pair, Nike Baby Running Shorts and Nike Toddler Socks.  Her sweatbands are from Amazon and her running shoes are from the Nike Factory Store.  She wore a white onesie we already had and I made her bib using a piece of felt, Tacky Glue, and foam letters and numbers.  I used her birthday for the number on her bib.

See you at the finish line!

-CR (and Baby Flyer)