Happy Halloween

It's sad, but only two of my children are young enough to trick-or-treat.  All the rest are too big. Originally, the plan was for the kids to trick or treat until 7th grade, but I was weak and allowed them to trick-or-treat until they reached high school.  It's been several years since I made elaborate costumes for the kids.  I had planned to let Paige and Allie select their costumes and then spend October creating them. 

The plans changed when a dear friend offered to loan us costumes that her daughter had worn previously.  Allie was a Candy Corn Witch.

Paige was a Groovy Girl from the sixties.  Several people remarked that she was a hippy.

Joe and Marley walk the two girls and their friends around the neighborhood.  Joe created this Pumpkin Head to wear while he played chaperone.

Halloween

 We had a cold, rainy Halloween this year.  Paige and Allie went door to door with Katie and Joe supervising for about 45 minutes, before they returned home due to cold.  Amy and Madelyn were super nice to them and drove the younger girls through the rest of the neighborhood for another 30 minutes.  They ended their night at Dairy Queen getting a free ice cream cone.  They all arrived home with red noses and icy fingers.

We definitely didn't have princesses this year.  Instead, Allie was a ninja and Paige was the bride of Frankenstein.

Earlier in the day, our homeschool group took a field trip to a bowling alley and laser tag place.  The kids all had a great time.  Paige said this was the best Halloween ever.  Even though the homeschool group takes up way too much time, it has been a positive experience for my children.

 


Fooling around with our good friends while waiting for laser tag.

Halloween Costumes

For years, my children have worn home-made Halloween costumes.  When my older children were young, each October found me spending hours in from of the sewing machine.  Elaborate costumes (many involving sequins and satin) were created with hundred of hours of preparation. 

One year, I was unable to create costumes because of a dangerous pregnancy.  Mike used duct tape and raided closets, toy boxes, and the garage to create imaginative costumes.  One child was a mad scientist with a red flashing light  Another child was dressed as Inspector Gadget complete with spy raincoat (hemmed with duct tape) and strange gadgets. A third child wore a recycled princess from an older sister.  The kids had a great time in their costumes and loved helping dad pull them together. 

That experience led me to spend less time creating gorgeous costumes.  I felt a little deprived of creativity, but the stress was considerably less and everyone enjoyed the excitement of dressing for Halloween.

Many of the kids are too old to dress up for Halloween now.  Time for me is at a premium, due to work on the project house.  Saturday, I realized that Halloween was only a few days away.  My younger girls weren't sure about how they wanted to dress.  I was feeling a little guilty because there wasn't enough time to create something  elaborate or fancy.  Amy came to the rescue.  We were sitting in the family room racking our brains for ideas.  Amy entered the room with dress-up clothes and we were able to pull together two costumes for the younger two girls.  It took a total of 30 minutes and both girls are thrilled with what they will be wearing. 

Trick or Treat

We are Christians who regularly attend church. We let our kids trick or treat. I've tried to steer our children away from dressing up as witches because I don't want them to take witchcraft as a joke. Usually, my girls have wanted to be various princesses or cheerleaders. Steven always wanted to be Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, or Link. That was easy because the basic costume didn't change too much. Joe always wanted to be something fairly easy. He's been Inspector Gadget, a pizza delivery guy, etc.

This year, everyone wants to dress up as zombies or vampires. I know that these creatures have been in a lot of popular movies and books recently, but I don't want my 6 year old dressing up as a vampire. The Twilight saga just seems sick to me. The relationships twisted and unhealthy. Most of my children haven't seen or read any of the Twilight stuff and just hear about cool vampires.

Here's what my kids want to be this year, either for trick or treating or for various parties that they will be attending:

Allie-vampire
Paige-vampire princess or a witch
Madelyn-zombie ballerina
Joe-zombie
Steve-Waldo (thank you Steve!)
Amy-zombie

Katie has school that night, so she isn't planning on dressing up.

I don't know what everyone will use for their costume yet, but I'm not happy this year. Princesses and Star Wars characters were fun and innocent. Zombies and vampires are dark characters.

Halloween Fun

My mom decided not to hold her annual Halloween party. She usually does a huge production with wild games, lots of prizes and candy, and tons of great food. She also does a cake walk, where each family goes home with a full-sized cake for each person.

To keep my children from feeling let-down this year and because trick or treat day was the 30th, I decided to do a wimpy family party on Halloween. We had a blast. I didn't do a lot of preparation, but Mike and I threw together some simple, silly games.

What is a Halloween party without everyone eating a donut without using their hands?
Katie was the winner, but Joe had the most messy fun!





A piggy-back race. Kate and Joe were the winning team.




The wheel barrow race.


The three-legged race. One group was a four-legged group.



Mike thought that regular bobbing for apples wasn't interesting. We bobbed for apples, grape tomatoes or green olives.



Everyone laughed and had a great time. After a dinner of chili dogs, chips, and salsa, we all watched "The Corpse Bride." We will definitely do another party like this one. I wasn't running around trying to get supplies ready and everyone had fun. Sometimes simple things are the best!

October 30 th Fun

Joe, our "Eddie Munster" vampire.



Amy, who tried to scare the visitors, while passing out candy.


Our small town did trick or treating on Saturday night from 5:30-7:30. The nearby park offered free roasted hot dogs, popcorn, beverages, and drinks for all children in costumes. Mike and I walked down to the park with the two youngest girls. We probably won't bother doing the hot dog roast next year. The crowds were huge and the hot dogs cold and burnt.



Paige, our good little witch.

The local skate park had a Halloween contest/party. Steve, Kate, Madelyn and Joe spent most of the day at the skate park watching the contests and hanging out with their friends. Steve won one event, but missed out on two contests because he had to run home for food. The skate party lasted until around 7:00pm. The event was organized and ran by two 20-something guys who used to spend a lot of time at the skate park. Mike and I walked down to the park for a short time to see some of the contests.



Madelyn, the mad scientist.

We had over 200 beggars (children in costumes) stop by our house. In our former neighborhood, we had a lot of carloads come by. Here almost all of the kids were walking in groups or with their parents. The temperature was wonderful making it a great night to be outside.



Allie, our little princess.



Steve, aka Where's Waldo.

After everyone came home, the older children had friends over until late. They ate all the remaining candy and horsed around. We seem to becoming an evening hang-out for teens. I really love that the kids and their friends enjoy hang out at our home. We've been able to get to know our children's friends a little better. On the downside, I can no longer change into pajamas at 8:00pm. Oh, the sacrifices moms make for their children!

Katie didn't dress up for Halloween. She and her boyfriend walked the two youngest girls around the neighborhood. I was impressed that she offered to help out, instead of wanting to pass candy or hang out with friends.



Steve's good friend, Shane.

Halloween 2009

We finally got the costumes ready Saturday morning. Paige wanted to be a butterfly. Then Allie wanted to be a butterfly also. There was a short skirmish, until I explained that only one girl could be a butterfly. That was the Halloween rule. After learning that she couldn't be a butterfly, Allie wanted to be a murderer. I tried to talk her into being a bee or something similar, but nothing was any good. She decided to let me see what was available at the store. Eventually, she agreed to be a black bunny with white ears and a white tail. I had planned to use black sweat pants and sweat shirt for the body parts of the girls costumes. Did you know that plain sweat shirts and sweat pants are not available? They all have designs or sayings. Walmart had long black shirts and leggings, so we used them instead. The girls wore blanket sleepers under their costumes and remained warm throughout the night. Sorry that the photo is so bad.



Joe dressed up in a shroud with black wings that he made from an industrial garbage bag and two curtain rods. He also carried an ax-thing. He explained that he was "Your worst nightmare." Steve dressed up as Dr. Who with a home made sonic screwdriver.



Madelyn fashioned a pirate costume from items around the house. I really enjoyed not spending hours and hours preparing costumes this year. The kids used their imaginations and I wasn't stressed. Maybe this should become a family tradition.

I Think We've Got It

Paige and Allie woke me up around 2:30am with fevers and sore throats. They were cold and thirsty, but unable to swallow. I staggered into the kitchen, groping for the Tylenol in the cabinet above the sink. Mike usually handles the middle of the night medicine patrol, because I can't see anything without my contacts. By the time I get my contacts in and struggle to see the tiny print, I'm awake for hours. Yesterday, he spent the day digging 30 post hole for the privacy fence at the new place. So I took pity on him and tried to do the job blind. As I glared at the small amount of Tylenol in the bottom of the almost empty bottle, I noticed that the liquid was really grainy. The girls were given 1/4 doses, because I thought someone may have been dishing out meds without shaking the bottle well first.

The two girls spent the day on the couch, watching movies and sipping on orange juice. They were feeling a little better when I called from Kalamazoo to see how they were doing. (Madelyn and I are still trying to locate pointe shoes in her size!) For a special treat, I brought home a large pumpkin for the kids to carve. We usually carve the pumpkins on the deck where the mess is kept to a minimum, but today we carved on the table. The two youngest girls were allowed to design the face of the pumpkin. Paige wanted a happy, smiling pumpkin with NO teeth. Allie wanted a happy pumpkin WITH teeth that would be blacked out with markers.

The decision (made by me) was to have a happy pumpkin with NO teeth on the bottom and WITH teeth on the top. No one was happy. All the older children wanted scary pumpkins. Paige didn't like the blackened teeth idea. Isn't life tough?

Squabbling Children

Tempers have had short fuses at my home lately. Alison has been particularly challenging. Taking her anywhere has been risky. I never know when she will explode and make a scene. After a really bad Monday, I decided that we were staying home until everyone changed their mood.

Tuesday, Madelyn was really out-of-sorts and displayed the ugly-teen attitude. Alison continued to be her un-sunny self and threatened to run away. Last night, we discovered a stash of candy wrappers in Alison's bedroom. A LOT of candy wrappers. Wrappers from approximately 2 pounds of candy. The wrappers were not in her room when I cleaned it on Monday morning. Could her mood be the result of incredibly high blood sugar levels?

Last night, Alison came to my bedroom crying that her stomach hurt. She had really bad cramps. After asking pertinent questions, I learned that she was constipated. I wonder. Did candy have anything to do with her situation?

We ate a lot of fruits and vegetables today. We drank a lot of water. Alison is feeling a lot better and has been pleasant all day. Madelyn has returned to her normal, happy, helpful, self. The remaining Halloween candy is now in the freezer. It may never resurface again.

Let Them Eat Cake

My mom hosts an annual Halloween party at her house for all of her grandchildren. The grandchildren range in age from 18 months to 21 years, so she does different games each year. This year she planned a ghost drop (covered clothes pins into a plastic bucket), pumpkin toss (catapult used to throw small pumpkins into a large field), cake walk, and a mummy wrap (teams pick a person and cover them with toilet paper to make mummies).

Thursday, mom called and asked if I could bake 4 cakes and 24 cupcakes for the Saturday afternoon party. I agreed and tried to figure how to complete 4 costumes, bake, and get everyone to dance and music on Friday. Then, the phone rang. My oldest daughter wanted to come home from college for the weekend and attend the party. While I was glad that she would be visiting, my schedule was thrown to pieces. The four hour trip was making a huge hole in my Friday.

After picking up my daughter, she agreed to drive the younger children to dance and music classes Friday afternoon so I could bake cakes. The children who needed costumes completed tried to find something we already had that they could use for the party.

Friday, night my oldest daughter helped me decorate all the cupcakes and cakes. We worked in an assembly-line and completed them in a little over an hour.

During the cake walk, all of my children won a cake. I won a cake. We don't need 8 cakes in our home when I am trying to lose weight!!!!! Thankfully, my oldest child took a cake back to school with her, my 10 year old gave her cake to someone who didn't win a cake. What is incredibly scary is that there is only ONE cake left from Saturday. I don't even want to think about the amount of sugar that my little girls have eaten recently.