'Twas the Night Before Halloween....

....and all through the house....

....the girls were hell bent on not letting me sleep!!!

WHAT.A.NIGHT.

Okay, I will take partial responsibility for my lack of sleep last night. I *should* have gone to bed early...but due to a later-than-normal chat session with H (the time changed in Holland last week and doesn't change until this week here, resulting in a week of only a 4-hour time difference, rather than 5). Afterwards I still had some downloaded t.v. I wanted to watch, and then went to bed and curled up with the book that I'm reading....

It was 1:00 a.m. when E's head appeared around my door. She was looking for a place to sleep. "Can you turn out your light and go to bed now?" She asked, with an "I-want-to-snuggle" look on her face.

Sure, kid, why not? It was well past my bedtime anyhow.

E went to the bathroom and while she was in there, M came in. She's been having problems sleeping lately, she has a bit of a cough that only acts up at night (as these things tend to go). She looked at me and asked, "Is it morning time, mama?" Eeeesh.

So, they both came in. I turned out the light and crawled under the blankets, a kid on each side of me...a "mama sandwich" if you will. I knew it wasn't a good sign. I started softly singing, "There were three in the bed, and the little one said...."

"Roll over, roll over..." came Mo's squeaky little voice in the darkness.

That's when E informed me she had "growing pains". She gets those now and again...I'm not sure if they're really growing pains, or "the jimmy legs" like I occasionally suffer from. In any case, I rubbed her legs for a bit, and she seemed to doze off.

It was right around then that the coughing began. Mo's hacking was accompanied by kicking and flailing, her feet being draped over my neck, blankets being kicked off....E, not able to sleep soundly due to all the action in the bed, began kicking and flailing a fair bit herself...and I, being squeezed in the middle of all of this, was getting pounded from both sides...

2:00: Jimmy threatened to return. I managed a few stretches that allowed my legs to relax. Mo is still coughing.

2:30: Mo asked, again, between coughing bouts, "Is it morning time now, Mama?"

3:00: Tired of being kicked, I scooped E up and returned her to her own bed. Two is better than 3, definitely. Mo is still coughing, on and off.

4:00: Mo asks, "Is it morning time now, Mama?" Upon being told no, she decides she wants to sleep with Dada (his room is downstairs in the basement until more permanent living arrangements are made). I give her a flashlight and send her on her merry way.

4:30 (I think?): Mo returns, crawls into bed with me. Tossing and turning and blanket antics continue. At least the coughing has stopped.

7:00: Mo asks, "Is it morning time now, Mama?" I crack one eye open and glance at the clock. "Yes, Mo, it is. You can go play now." She replies, "I want to snuggle with Mama!!!"

Snuggle.with.mama.

sigh.

E shows up a few minutes later and crawls beneath the blankets. The two of them are vibrating with excitement over this afternoon's Halloween party and tonight's trick-or-treating. Finally I manage to (ahem) "encourage" them out of the bed by enticing them with computer games.

At this point, I have one thought running through my brain. If they're THIS excited about Halloween, I'm going to be completely screwed on Christmas Eve.

If only I had some kahlua to go in my coffee....