Minion, singular

We woke up to very appropriate Halloween weather. Foggy enough to be eerie, the pleasant warmth just chilly enough to be seasonal, the cloudiness tempered by the sun trying to peek out and the fall color...I know some of you had horrible, trick-or-treat thwarting weather and I am so sorry. My poor nephew couldn't go out.

Our friend Ami purchased her daughter Ellie and Anna matching minion hats. Ever since, Anna had her heart set on being a minion for Halloween. And a minion she was.

It appears that Anna convinced her principal to be Gru. (I intend to obtain photo evidence).  We love Anna's principal. He is very involved and makes it his business to know each kid. Anna has a good- natured bantering relationship with him. When the plan hatched I think other kids were going to be minions too. As it turns out, Anna is the only kid who dressed as a minion.  So today he walked into her class party in Gru garb announcing, "Where is my minion?" Apparently Anna and Mr. Carter employ character accents when they speak to one another as well.

Anna's school is a lovely place. She still kind of complains, but she has no grounds. Every adult in that school is kind and tries to make it a place that is safe and good for kids to be. Children are greeted with warm smiles and "Hi honey, how are you today - so glad to see you!" The opportunities are myriad. Anna was accepted into the "Challenge" program (for gifted kids) - the only girl of 4 kids in the program.  She absolutely loves it and makes it her business to beat all 3 boys at every activity.  She is in the chorus and adores her music teacher. There are only 17 kids in her class. I could go on.

Naturally, this school puts on the best Halloween parade ever. The police come and block the street, the high school pep band comes and plays, and I think hundreds of adoring parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors line the street. The kids march past not once but twice.  The teachers go all-out in dressing up.  It was a blast. Every kid should have such an effort put into their school experience. 

Trick-or-treating tonight was a lot of fun too. The neighborhood has a great small-town feel.  Anna is the first child to live on our street in a long time, so a few of our elderly neighbors were beside themselves in anticipation of being able to hand out some candy. When I took pictures of Anna outside, they were peeking out their windows, and then immediately turned their lights on and stationed themselves at their doors.  They were so thrilled.  Two ladies in particular take every opportunity to tell me how great it is to have the girls in the neighborhood, tonight being no exception.  One said, "(Anna) is just so adorable! Both of your girls are adorable! The other one just looks like a.... starlet!" Of course I had to tell Molly because she delights in the neighbors' use of 1940's terms.

She came home to do her usual sorting and tallying of candy.  She did really well. Molly and Grandpa reported that we had zero trick-or-treaters. Which means that Molly has Halloween candy now too. Molly really didn't need candy since her cross-country team has been doing "secret sisters" for like, 10 consecutive weeks now. Which pretty much means she gets a ginormous bag of candy and other sweets every Friday. 

I tried to savor every moment. You never know when this is the last year they might still be a "little kid."