Halloween

Updated: This photo taken by the UTD photo students.
Friday morning Ali gave a concert at his school. For the first time in 4 years I actually got to attend it. The kiddos sang and then paraded around, showing off their fabulous costumes. I, of course, forgot my camera. Ali somehow hurt his leg on Thursday night, so I had to really cajole to get him to school, and we only made it by the skin of our teeth. I kept threatening to leave him at home, but he managed to recover enough for the rest of the weekend's events.
Friday night A, L, and I went to my university dressed up as the super trio. We'd been working on our costumes for a week with t-shirts and capes for each of us. Leila had written us a theme song, and everyone was assigned a special power. Super Girl's power was super strength. Lightening boy could make thunder and rain. And Super Mommy had the power of laser Super Vision. (Get it? Leila assigned me that power.) The event at school was an art opening (Text=Gender) with a costume contest and portrait taking. (I thought our costumes fitted the gender theme well as Leila wore pink.) When it was time for the contest, men and women were told to separate for the judging. The dean of the school then walked around tapping people on the shoulder who didn't make it to the finals. (I think he might have been thinking of a dance contest with the shoulder tapping.) Ali didn't want to go to the men's side, so I entered us as a group on the women's side, doing my best to make us look like a super cute Super Trio. I guess it worked, because the dean just couldn't cut us. Instead, he decided to open a third category- the family category- and declared us the winners. We went up to the mike to say who we were. "I'm Super Mom," I said, "because I work full time and am a student here." Leila introduced herself as super girl, and then Ali melted them all saying, "I'm lightening boy and thunder boy. I can get you wet and make noise."
We're supposed to get a gift card or something worth $50, but I haven't heard from them yet. I'll post a picture when I get them.
On Saturday night we walked over to a neighbor's house a few blocks away for a gruesome dinner of mummy dogs, candy corn pizza, and frankenbrownies and broomsticks. I took blood for everyone to drink (grownups as well as kids.) Okay, the kids blood was blood orange soda. Leila went as a wicked fairy this time, but Ali was still Lightening boy. I went as Super Mom's alter ego: me.
Then we trick or treated around the neighborhood. We got home tired, with bags full of candy. I still haven't put them away, so the kids are kind of eating what they want. On Sunday Leila came in groaning and holding her tummy, saying she'd eaten too much candy. I guess it doesn't hurt for her to learn that.