Trick or Sugar-free Treat?

It was a very big evening in our house last night.  

We had a couple princesses. 

 

Luigi (who later morphed into Mario because his unitard was a wee bit tight.) 

And a sad little puppy dog.

 

 

 

 

Daddy took the older two around the neighborhood.

 

And the little ones stayed with mom to help pass out candy.

 

 

 

(The orange bowl holds the loot.  Miss Ryan aint no dummy.)

The puppy dog cheered up.

And mama had a plan.

For my kids, the fun was in being allowed to run wildly through the neighborhood yelling "Trick of Treat."  I tried to use their tendency toward distraction to my benefit.

I promised them that when they returned from trick or treating, I would have some fun treats waiting for them.  They came in, took of their coats and shoes, (while I magically took their buckets and whisked them away to a brown grocery sack in the other room) and sat down at the table.  I made a couple huge pumpkin "sugar" cookies (with almond flour and honey) and had some goodie bags of fun items from the $1 bins.

The cookies were a hit.  

 

They cleaned their plates, brushed their teeth, and went to bed.

And I put the bag of candy way up high on the china cabinet -- out of their reach, and mine.