From the Trenches of Motherhood: October 2009

I have always loved Halloween. I don't think I can nail down one specific reason. Maybe it's the candy or the opportunity to become someone other than me for a night. It could be the pumpkins, apple cider or the hay rides. Or maybe the sound of the leaves crunching under my feet as I walked down the sidewalks in my quest for candy.

Now that I am a mom, I derive great joy from taking my kids to the pumpkin patch (and then bringing those pumpkins to "life"), drinking hot apple cider after spending an afternoon jumping in the leaves and, of course, dressing them in cute and creative costumes and drinking in their excitement as they run from house to house in THEIR quest for candy!

I have, of course, taken full advantage of the years where I have had the privilege of making the "BIG DECISION". . . . which of course is the choice of costumes.

Dressing triplets is always fun and the first Halloween was no exception. I had been milling over costume ideas for weeks. Three peas in a pod, the three little pigs, three blind mice. . .they were all good ideas, but I wanted something more original. Then one day, as I was browsing through costumes online for inspiration, it came to me. . . .

A hot dog, mustard and ketchup!

Starring Maren as the "Hot Dog"

Lukas as the "Mustard"

Jacob as the "Ketchup"

And the triple stroller as the "Hot Dog Cart"

The following year was not quite as creative, but it certainly summed up life with 21 month-old triplets:

The Rieben Family Zoo
Featuring Mommy and Daddy as the "Zoo keepers"
Jacob as the "Elephant"
Lukas as the "Lion"
Maren as the "Zebra"

The Rieben Zoo on the move. . .

Sadly, I was literally a world away (bringing Joshua home from Uzbekistan) the next year and missed the glorious event, but the festivities continued on without me. . .

Representing Griffindor:
Jacob as "Neville"
Maren as "Hermione"
Lukas as "Ron"
Will (our best buddy) as "Harry Potter"

Last year was another summary of life as we had come to know it:

Five Busy Little Bees

The Queen Bee

My Baby Bumblebee

My So-stinkin-cute-you-WANT-him-to-sting-you Bee!

*Note: The other two bees decided to buzz off before I could get a decent picture of them!

Sadly, I have a feeling that my years of choosing the costumes are slowly drawing to a close, BUT, I did manage to sweet talk them into one more year. I don't want to give away the surprise completely, but here is a hint. . . .