Happy Halloween!

I have some news on the wedding front – Judy and Dimitris have come over all romantic and decided put the wedding back to February 14th – Valentine’s Day! It was Dimitris’ idea – he’s such a big softy! I’m quite relieved as it gives us more time to prepare for the big day and save up for the trip to Greece. I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve had such an enjoyable week or so I can’t tell you. First, I was out trick or treating with my three youngest on Halloween. They all wore scary masks and carried little trick or treat buckets and we went around the neighbourhood pestering the neighbours. (There’s nothing I like better than pestering the neighbours - it’s a hobby of mine!) Instead of calling out, “Trick or treat!” (as I instructed) Crissy kept calling out, “Treat or treat!” When I tried to correct her she said that she was doing it on purpose as she didn’t want to play any tricks, she just wanted the treats! She’s a girl after my own heart! Most of the neighbours were great (as always) and we managed to fill the buckets with treats in less than an hour. And I’m sure the kids managed to empty them again in even less time!

We then went to Judy’s house where she was having a kids fancy dress party. All the kids looked amazing in their cute little outfits. Dina, Judy’s daughter looked adorable dressed as a fairy! She wore a: diamante glitter communion alice band (which looked like a little fairy crown), pink leotard, pink frothy tutu skirt, girls pink party shoes and she carried a droopy little homemade wand! It was so lovely watching her running around waving her droopy wand casting pretend spells on the other children. When I asked her what spells she was casting she said, “Good spells!” How adorable!

My eldest boy, Keith wasn’t feeling so well and stayed home watching telly with his dad. But his brother Simon and his two sisters Crissy and Sarah all attended and had a great time.

Simon was dressed very formally, wearing: a white boy’s formal shirt, black patent leather shoes and boy’s black bow tie. His best friend Stuart (who was dressed as a cowboy) asked him why he hadn’t come in fancy dress as he had promised. Simon replied that he was in fancy dress – he had come dressed as a party pooper! That’s my boy!

The girls both wore matching girl’s special occasion dresses with a black top and red bow. They got them for a friend’s birthday party a few months ago and I was determined that they wore them again before they grew out of them. It would be such a shame to wear such beautiful dresses only once.

Talking about beautiful dresses, Jenny (one of Crissy’s friends) came dressed in an absolutely stunning ornate pink and white dress. When I asked her mother about the dress she told me that it was a Marie Antoinette Dressing Up Set from Cachet Kids. She also told me that it was only a little over £30, which I found hard to believe; but when I looked on the site it was true! I think it must be a misprice.

There were lots of great costumes at the party. One of the best was a homemade costume of a giant frog worn by one of Crissy’s friends. Another was a homemade costume of a scarecrow worn by one of the children I didn’t know. The problem with the costume was that a piece of wood ran through the arms and across the shoulders of the jacket to keep the arms stuck out like a scarecrow, but the poor child was then unable to use his arms to eat and drink. And it was very funny watching him trying to play party games with his arms stuck out like that.

My brother Ed brought his son Ashley dressed as a miniature James Bond. He wore a boy’s shirt with tie, a small black boy’s suit, small black patent leather shoes and he was carrying a tiny black toy handgun. He slept through most of the party and Ed took him home early to put him to bed.

Anyway, the party was a lot of fun – there was lots of food and drink, lots of games (like pass the parcel and bobbing for apples) and Dimitris put on a very funny magic show, in which most of the tricks went wrong to the great amusement of everybody.

Then on November 3rd the whole family went out to a local bonfire and firework display which was absolutely amazing. (It’s always held on a weekend, even when bonfire night falls during the week.) The event went on for about two hours; there was a massive bonfire and hundreds of fireworks. The kids all had sparklers and we all had burgers and hot chocolate to keep us warm. It was a great night – the kids loved it.