Best. Halloween. Ever!

That's no exaggeration.  Halloween 2025 really will go down as the best--or at least the most memorable-ever.  And the funniest.

In what has become a tradition during our years here in VA, we had two of our boys--son #3 and son #4--over to our house to celebrate, along with their wives and the nine children they have between them.  We also had their old friend from college (who lives in the area) join us, with his wife and their five kids.  So we had 14 little Trick-or-Treaters in all.  We live in a Halloween-obsessed neighborhood of the cookie cutter variety, with nice flat streets and safe sidewalks, and with over 200 houses that have very little real estate separating them from each other.  So it's a Trick-or-Treater's paradise.

We had chili and chicken nuggets and mac-and-cheese and hot spiced cider beforehand, and then the kids went out and hit the mean streets.

So what was so memorable and funny about this Halloween, compared to previous ones, you ask, when we've had a similar fun-filled gathering every other October 31 since we moved here?  Well...

A couple of years ago, son #4 told us about this Internet Halloween trick that had gone viral, and he encouraged us to try it.  It involves a potato.  Have you heard of it?  Here's an article that explains the whole thing, if you're interested: https://www.mashed.com/1438031/halloween-potato-trend-explained (Basically, you put a potato in your bowl of candy, and then you let kids come and pick what they want from the bowl.  You don't explain the potato or say a word about it, but just wait to see if they notice it and watch how they react.)  

My husband and I always put two chairs out in front of the house, with the candy bowl sitting on a little table between us.  This year, we bought a five-pound bag of smallish potatoes along with all the bags of candy, and this is how our bowl looked for each group of Trick-or-Treaters who came up our front walk.

Honestly, I wasn't sure how this experiment would go over, and even wondered if it would be a total bust. Well, I needn't have worried!  It was so hilarious to see the way the kids reacted to finding a potato in the bowl, and to see how many of them eagerly scooped it up and walked away with it as if it was a grand prize. There was only one time that a group came up, saw the potato, and all walked away without anyone opting to take it.  Every other group had an enthusiastic potato-snatcher. 

Trick-or-Treater: "Is that a potato?"  Us: "Yes!"  Trick-or-Treater: "Can I have it?" Us: "Sure, and take some candy, too."

Trick-or-Treater: "Wait, is that a potato?"  Us: "Yes, it's a potato."  Trick-or-Treater, grabbing the spud: "It's MY potato now!"

Trick-or-Treater: "What's a potato doing in there?"  Us: "You can have it if you want."  Trick-or-Treater: "Mom!  Do you want a potato?"  Trick-or-Treater's mom, waiting on the sidewalk near the road: "You have potatoes?!"  Us: "Yes, we do!"  Trick-or-Treater: "I'm taking it.  I'm going to boil it when I get home." 

We laughed SO MUCH, I'm telling you.  Who would have thought that so many children--of all ages, not just the humor-savvy teens--would want the potato?! We gave away every potato in the five-pound bag and ran out long before the trick-or-treating was over.  Almost right away, we decided that next year, we'd better get a ten-pound bag.  One of the moms who stopped by with her kids absolutely loved it, and she said that we needed to do this every year.  So I guess we're going to be "the potato house"; that will be our claim to fame.

Son #3 sat out front with us, after returning from trick-or-treating with his own kids, to watch some of the potato shenanigans, and we laughed so much with him.  (He has the most infectious laugh, too; I challenge anyone to hear it and not join in!)  He took videos of a number of the kids coming up the walk, to record their reactions to the potato. I would share a few of those videos here, but I don't feel right about putting other people's kids' faces on the Internet without their permission.  Just know that it was absolutely hilarious. 

So that was Halloween at our house this year.  I hope yours was every bit as fun.  (But I'll bet it wasn't as funny!)

My daughter-in-law Braveheart requests this dessert every Halloween.
 It's "Heavenly Dirt," which I made for our sons' football team spaghetti dinners
every week when they were in high school.  (Minus the "gravestones," of course!)