halloween 2009

The decorations:

I wasn't going to do much decorating for Halloween. Just because I knew that I wouldn't feel like taking them down when it was time (I just took those lights down today). But Eva and Samuel kept asking. Eva came in one day and said, "I was thinking (daydreaming) that I walked in and Dad had put all the decorations up." It was her dream. Her wish. I spent way too long making the Halloween bunting and the ghost and pumpkin lights.

October was the month of spray paint for me. Painted the Halloween tree, some frames for Samuel's room (and left them outside and they got rained on and warped. Brilliant), a board for our house numbers, Eva's wand, and this wreath that I hung on our front door. Lesson learned from all my painting, paying the extra dollar for the Krylon brand is worth it. I keep forgetting how much better it sprays and how much less my hand hurts after using it.

Eva made this skeleton and bats. They are still up. Maybe I will stick some Santa hats on them and then I won't have to take them down.

The costumes:

We had a few great ideas. With a Jiffy Pop container and a box, we could have easily been the Heene family of the Balloon Boy Hoax since Samuel looks very much like the halfie celeb Falcon. Me as Mayumi and Karl as Richard, of course. But, Samuel had his heart set on something else.

We also thought it might be funny to go to Karl's former place of work and dress as homeless people.

Eva found this hat (from her costume from when she was 2), wig (I don't know why we have it), and dress (I wore that thing over 10 years ago) in the Halloween box. She was excited and wanted to wear it. Insisting that I don't hem the dress.

Too easy, right?

About a day after that she watched, "Casper Meets Wendy" on the Disney Channel and decided she wanted to be Wendy.

Off to the fabric store for mom. I bought a bunch of red flannel and looked for the easiest pattern I could find for some pajamas that looked somewhat like this.

Best find of the year: I stopped at the thrift store and found a devil costume for 99 cents. I seriously got a high from it. That special-I-just-found-the-best-deal-ever high. I cut off the tail, let down the hem, and since it was a little short, I added a ruffle (which ended up taking way too long. Why do I keep sewing?).

I still had to figure out the hat. And the wand. And a little stuffed Casper so people would maybe know who she was. She insisted on wearing the wig and in the end, it made the costume. It was pretty funny. People kept asking, "Where is Eva?" Even her own grandma didn't recognize her.

I didn't get great photos of either of the kids in costume so I will post a billion mediocre ones.

The parades:

I know that some schools have stopped having Halloween parades. I hope that never happens in my kids' schools. I think they are fun. I did a craft with her class afterwards. I had them make popcorn hands. I was surprised at the different levels of coordination among the first graders.

Samuel wanted to be a transformer. We had watched a few You Tube videos of some pretty insane Transformer costumes. So, Karl decided to take on a kid version.

I knew he would make something insane. It was a hit. Among the young crowd, yes. But I found that those that were really impressed were not the kids. Grown men have never shown so much desire to wear cardboard and duct tape. Most importantly, Samuel was so pleased.

Here he is in his school parade. It was hard to sit in his costume. At his school, when everyone was sitting, he chose to stand and wouldn't let Karl take the costume off so he could sit. We were cracking up.

The big day:

Karl is the breakfast man in our house. The kids beg him for French Toast. This day, Eva asked if they could eat outside. It was unusually warm this Halloween (because I used the Secret :)) and so they were able to. In this picture, Eva is on the swings.

For dinner, I wanted it to be Halloween-esque and so I made dinner in a pumpkin. I also stuffed some acorn squash that we had. It was spooky looking and tasty. I wanted to make this a tradition but I am afraid that this tradition would include us trying to force the kids to eat every year. I guess they didn't love it. Not worth it. Will try something else next year.

We headed over to the ward Trunk or Treat. Sara and Katie joined us. Samuel got sick of transforming and refused after a couple of times. Maybe it was because it entailed him putting his forehead on the cold asphalt. People were bribing him with extra candy.

We headed down to my parents' neighborhood and met up with my cute giraffe nephew. He was going to be Speed Racer but they couldn't get his noggin through the shirt. Funny. He looked so cute running in that costume.

The candy:

Tradition is to pose behind the giant piles of candy. They got so much. Funny thing is, they never finish it all. They eat a ton, but it is just too much. Come Easter, I will be getting rid of the leftover Halloween candy.

This weekend was insane. Next, Samuel's birthday...