Home on Halloween

Don't they look cute? Allie made her own costume this year and is the cutest 50's girl I have ever seen. Jack is thrilled to be part of Lightening McQueen's Pit Crew. Will is merely tolerating his pirate hat and Erin is a pig in a blanket.... sometimes that girl's creativity really comes in handy.

It's Halloween..... sigh........ and I am home by myself waiting for little ones to knock on my door. I don't mind, really. It's better than chasing after my kids in the dark. However, in this moment of relative quiet, I find myself reflective. I've kind of turned into a scrooge about Halloween. Last year, I decorated and went all out like I normally do, and found myself in the worst mood ever as I sent my kids out in the pouring rain to trick or treat. Maybe it was because I was pregnant, maybe because it was raining, but I couldn't wait to tear everything down the day after Halloween. I thought with time, I would get over it, but as we are here at Halloween, I have to say, that I'm just not feeling it this year. I have no desire to haul out my decorations and spookify my house, and boy, have my kids let me know what a crappy mom I am. Nevermind that they all got the costumes that they wanted. We went to Scary Hill (Cherry Hill's Halloween) this year, we baked a Jack-O-Lantern cake (at 535 calories a slice). Nope.... doesn't count. I finally caved this afternoon and bought pumpkins, which my kids fancified with dress-ups. I hate the mess, but Matt is great and will usually do it with them.

Ugghhhh.... so not feeling it. Anyway, I guess here is the run-down of what we did for Halloween this year. Maybe next year, you will see our house on YouTube, or maybe not. Now I just need to get it together for Christmas.

One of my favorite things to do around Halloween, if it's possible, is to go to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Disney World. Obviously, we don't make it every year, but this year we did. We planned ahead, and the kids dressed up like characters from Alice in Wonderland. Allie was Alice, Erin was the Queen of Hearts, Jack was the Mad Hatter and Will was the White Rabbit. We had a lot of fun planning their costumes. Matt and I were going to go as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, but as the trip grew closer, something had to give. So here are our pictures of our Halloween Party with Mickey.

It should be noted that Erin made her dress. It has a jacket that goes with it, but she wasn't quite finished with it for DisneyWorld.

This party is always lots of fun. There is a special parade led by the Headless Horseman, complete with Haunted Mansion grave diggers and Disney Villains. You get to trick-or-treat around the park and the have DJ's playing music all around the park. It is so fun and I am so glad we got to go this year.

After we got home from Florida, we put up a few decorations and then last weekend, we went to Scary Hill with Alan, Katie & Aspen. We played miniature golf, which takes FOREVER with three little kids and two babies. Then on to the batting cages and the rock wall. Erin and Jack really have a knack for hitting a ball. I think I might see Little League in our future.

Last week was filled with parties; at school, at Grandma's and at church. Friday was one of those days that defines the credo, "motherhood is not for wimps." Matt and I had to be at two programs, a parade and a party all within a half an hour of each other. I have to say, that I will be happy when Erin starts junior high next year and we're back down to two in elementary schools. Man, there's a lot of stuff. Jack's class had a great little program where they sang and dance and told Halloween jokes. It is so fun to see this side of him. He is ALL BOY. With the girls, they have been singing and dancing since they were capable of moving on their own. Jack is pretty much just into climbing and playing video games; he doesn't sing or dance much. So watching him perform with his friends was priceless. Here is the gang (Jack, Landon & Nate plus some random little girl I don't know) after the performance... dang the stupid window was making it hard to get a good picture.

Next, we were off to Erin's Zombie Program. This is a big deal at our school. It's done by 5th graders every year, but because of the MAC program and Erin's curriculum being 5th grade this year, they got to participate. It was really fun. The whole thing is done in black light and is filled with jokes and songs and dancing. So much fun.

Here they are in all their zombie glory. My girl is the tall one in the back.

Here is Erin with Will and her two good friends, Bryn and Tiffani.

These girls are the three musketeers.

Sadly, I did not get any pictures of Allie in her costume parade, but she had a great time and although we didn't catch all of everything in that half-hour time frame, we caught a little bit of everything, and managed to not be total loser parents.

Friday night was Grandma Homer's Halloween Party. My mom has been doing this for the last four years and it has really turned into something we love. It works well because we all get to see all of the kids in their costumes, and we get to chat and eat and play games that we wouldn't get to actually do on Halloween. This year, we roasted hot dogs in Grandpa's fire pit outside and had a lot of fun until it got really cold. This is the only picture we got of all of the kids in their costumes, due to an unfortunate mustard episode.

Jack and Andrew thought it was sooooo funny that they had the same costume. After dinner, we played Trick or Treat Hide and Seek, and Halloween Bunco. We made caramel apples and watched the Cardinals win Game 7 of the World Series. The kids got to color and watch a special Halloween show. It was so much fun.... the only thing that would have made it better is if Greg, Sarah, Lizzie and Abbey could have joined us. Maybe next year.

Saturday night was our party at the church. Too bad for me that I don't have pictures and too bad for you that the internet doesn't have scent capabilities. The kids Trunk-or-Treated around the parking lot of the building, making sure to stop at Brother Carlson's trunk.... he was grilling up hot dogs for his treat. What a fun idea; one our Grandpa Homer could definitely get behind. It is so fun to see what creative and festive folks we have in our ward.

After the Trunk-or-Treat, we moved inside to eat a dutch oven dinner made by some of the church folks. There were prizes awarded for the best dishes, but I really don't think there was a bad dish made. It was so fun. It's on nights like these that I feel so blessed to live where I do, with such great people.

That brings us to tonight. I am sitting in the front room, listening to Oingo Boingo and trying to get caught up on the happenings of the last month. I am hoping that next year finds me more in the mood to celebrate things that go bump in the night, but until then, I will wish you all a Happy Halloween and the hope that you don't wake up to smashed pumpkins in the morning.

Like my costume?