I’ve always loved Halloween. I dressed up way longer than I probably should have (and like Crazy Running Legs, I seemed to have made it through my adolescence without one hoochbag costume! Horray for me!).

It’s hard to believe that this was E’s fourth Halloween already! (check out her Tink costume last year). And this year, she really got it. She was cray-cray for the candy. She picked out her costume months ago. She’s such a planner that she’s already plotted out all her costumes through the age of 12. I wish I was joking. When she told me in July she wanted to be Princess Leia this year, I was pretty sure she would stick to her guns. And she did.

Halloween may be the day that makes me love my neighborhood the most. It’s like Anytown, U.S.A. We have friends that live two streets over, so we all gather at their house first and cook-out before hitting the streets for treats.

These two are E’s best pals. All three were born within six months of each other and they’ve been playing together since before they could walk. When I’m taking pictures like this, I automatically try to picture them as teenage girls together. But I’m a sap.

Before it got dark, I had to get a picture of my Star Wars fans together.

This weekend, we looked at some websites to help us make Bobba Fett’s jetpack and armor but quickly got stressed out by how intricate the instructions were. Yes, they promised “movie-quality costumes.” Um, DadJovi’s greenish/gray jacket would have to be enough.

I also threw together a semi-lame costume after E. complained that I was the only one not dressing up. My boss brought a huge box of wigs into work last week, and as soon as I saw one, I started singing, “Jem is truly outrageous. Truly, truly outrageous.” Add heavy eyeliner and eye shadow, some of E’s necklaces, a lace-backed sweatshirt and voilà — a punk(ish) costume.

Before heading out, we tried to herd all the kids for one big group shot. Yup, gathering cats would have been easier. These trick-or-treaters were chomping at the bit to get their candy on.

Our neighborhood was PACKED this year. I don’t know if it was the suddenly gorgeous weather or what, but we kept saying we felt like we were in “E.T.” Remember the packs and packs of kids trick-or-treating in that movie? That’s about how it looked. It was awesome. E. RAN from house to house.

Well, that is, when she wasn’t fighting with the other kids over a seat in the wagon. We almost had to cut TOTing short because of a mini-meltdown. But the allure of more candy kept her in the game. She just may have harbored some ill feelings about the incident.

We were surprised when even E. said she was ready to head home. A pumpkin full of candy gets heavy! First order of business was to count up the loot.

Yes, there was so much candy along the way that she had to transfer some to DadJovi’s Bobba Fett helmet to make more room. This is not going to be good for any of us this week.

That should be the end of the story, right? Wrong. E. was WILD, like any normal American kid on Halloween night. So she may have had a lot piece of candy for dinner. That’s what the holiday is all about, right? We got her into bed by 9 and as usual, she was in there talking to her stuffed animals and singing songs for awhile. That’s like any other night. But there was also the glow-in-the-dark bracelet. In order to bribe her to stay in bed, I told her she could sleep with it. Big mistake. Huge mistake.

At about 10:30 she comes out for the fourth time, this time saying, “Mommy, my tongue hurts.” I told her it’s probably from the Sweet Tarts she had just before bed (yes, she brushed her teeth). I said, “Let’s get a drink of water, then you can go back to bed.” We walked into the kitchen and since I didn’t turn the light on I noticed her PJs were glowing. At first I thought she had the bracelet under them, but she said that she didn’t. It still didn’t click for me.

So I walked into her room and saw splatters of glowing purple all over her comforter and pillows. I picked up the bracelet and it was all chewed up and wet. I ran back to the kitchen and said, “Was this in your mouth??” She admitted it was.

I ran to Dr. Google and typed this in:

In my haste, I forgot the w. Thankfully, the first link that came up was from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and it assured me that no, they’re not toxic. But they do cause throat and mouth discomfort. I also discovered that a surprising number of people drink the glow stuff to see if it makes their pee glow (and apparently, in some cases, it does. You’re welcome for that nugget).

We spent the next 30 minutes rinsing out her mouth with water until she said it didn’t hurt as much anymore.

Finally, a little after 11, I climbed into her bed with her in an attempt to FINALLY get her to sleep. I’m not sure how long it took but when I woke up around midnight, she was out.

What’s the lesson? Glow bracelets and necklaces are for raves, not toddler bedrooms. I’m just thankful we didn’t have to rush to the ER.

Yup, I’m glad Halloween is only once a year.

What’s your most memorable Halloween? And have you ever had to call Poison Control for your kids?