Halloween has come and gone! Yay!

Although Halloween is over, the candies and sugar highs still linger. I have put the girls' candy bags up high and allow them only 2-3 pieces a day (if that). Many times they have had none...out of sight, out of mind. Am I a mean mother?

I remember as a child stashing my trick-or-treating loot under my bed, and keeping it there to be "dipped" into to my heart's content. Between me and my 6 siblings, there was a lot of candy lying around. However, not all of us inherited my mother's "sweet-tooth". My brothers, Mike and Dave, went through their candy so fast; it was gone before Thanksgiving. Other siblings still had theirs past Christmas. And even others had treats left to add to their Valentines. I, more often than not, still had Halloween candy well into the Easter season. I don't know if it was a dislike of eating a ton of sugary candy, or if it was because I liked the look on my brothers' and sisters' faces as I savored my candy, partaking slowly, in front of them, after their goodies were long gone. (Yes, that sounds like something I would do, being the oldest. I was quite bossy, they tell me.) But regardless, I know I am among the few over-protective parents who hand out daily rations of the well-deserved Halloween candy to their children who walked uphill both ways to search for their treasure.

On the Today Show a couple of days before Halloween, an expert guest appeared on a segment called, "The Good, the Bad, and the Scary" high-lighting points of interest about the healthiness (or lack, thereof) of Halloween treats. It mentioned a study showing that an average sized Halloween bag comfortably stuffed with candy contains over 14,000 calories, which is equal to 10 cups of straight sugar, which is equal to 47 cans of Coke. YUCK! An additional study showed that children eat an average of 10-15 pieces of candy on a typical Halloween day. This contains 950 calories, 113 grams of sugar, 37 grams of fat, 20 grams of saturated fat ...all of this equals 28 cubes of sugar and 1/3 stick of butter (fat). Again, YUCK!

So, I told Brooklyn these statistics a few days before Halloween. When she was assigned in class to write a paper on what she likes about Halloween, she mentioned these stats in her story (although exaggerated). Her paper turned into a health-conscious article about the truths of eating too much candy and a proclamation that she would not do so. (I doubt too many other 8-yr-olds were concerned with caloric, sugar, and fat intake on a day like Halloween.) She makes her mother proud!

On a more child-like note...the girls had a blast on Halloween. The four of them dressed up like the Cheetah Girls (from the Disney Chanel). We got most of their costume parts at D.I. and then supplemented with things from Wal-mart, Dollar Tree, and their own wardrobe. All in all, they were pretty cheap costumes and they all looked darling. The girls each donned a cheetah print somewhere in their costume. They went around saying "Cheetah-licious" (a catch phrase from the movie).

After trunk-or-treating, we came home. (We were done by 6:15 p.m. NICE!) And they finished the night out by answering the door every time other trick-or-treaters came to the door. Brooklyn thought that was fun, since she's never been on that "side" of Halloween before. Also, Darin and I hosted Holly and Heidi's Famous Couples Halloween Party at our house. I was amazed at how creative people are with costuming. It was a crazy night, but a lot of fun. (I still have yet to upload a photo of Darin and I in costume.)