Trick or Treat, Frozen Feet!

 
Happy Halloween!  For our second year in a row living here, it has turned rainy and COLD for our big day.  BOOOO!  But that didn't stop our crew from braving the elements and heading out for some good old-fashioned trick-or-treating anyway.  YAY!  Hahaha.  This year, I set a bowl of candy out on the front porch and ventured out with the fam to document the fun of the evening, before heading back early with Alex to get him on his way to bed.  And even though I was freezing, at least the rain held out the entire time I was with them.  :)

 

 

 

 

This year, Alex was probably the most excited of them all.  It's always hilarious to see the novelty of trick-or-treating through the eyes of a preschooler.  Because I mean, SERIOUSLY.  You get to dress up in costumes?  And then go door to door to door along with every other kid in the neighborhood and get free CANDY just for the asking of it??  BEST. KID. HOLIDAY. EVER!!!  Hahaha.  At least that's what it looked like Alex was thinking as he traipsed along trailing behind the big kids all evening long.  His running commentary as we tripped along was also hilarious, as was the way he waved at everyone he saw.  Pointing out everyone else's costumes and loudly calling a guy dressed in a gorilla suit "creepy" {who was sitting in a chair passing out candy and trying to scare the kids}, were just a few of the things he did to endear himself to everyone who came within earshot.  Hahahaha.  {Although, to be clear, this is not sarcasm.  I think every person who passed out candy to him got a huge kick out of his enthusiasm.  :)  }

We managed one long street and cul-de-sac before I headed home with Alex, and after Scott ran in to get a coat for Jane -- she had forgotten it and was FROZEN {pun intended -- hahahahaha} -- he took the older crew out for a little bit longer. 

Once everyone was finally home, there was much dumping and counting and sorting and trading of loot before settling down to watch a little Amazing Race as a family with the older 3.  Alex and Jane are FINALLY settling down upstairs and will hopefully be asleep soon!  Sleep will be needed for everyone tonight, as the festivities will continue tomorrow {as they always do} with Grace's 10th birthday celebration!  {And just in case you're wondering, she's already worn me down into opening all of her presents.  Hahahaha.}  Until next time...

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Guts

 

Jane has been DYING to carve pumpkins for the last couple of weeks now.  Ever since I bought the two pumpkins that have been gracing our front porch, actually.  We've managed to put her off every night this week due to other time-consuming things going on, but tonight was finally her lucky night! 

As we have in the past, we divided the design up amongst the kids and -- when Ethan found a bunch of forgotten votive candles in a cabinet -- created a couple of jack o' lanterns worthy of tomorrow's Halloween festivities.

{Pumpkin #1 -- Eyes courtesy of me, nose courtesy of Alex, mouth courtesy of Ethan.  We took turns drawing our parts on the pumpkin with a sharpie and then I went to work carving it up.  And in case you were wondering, Alex needed a little help with his circle drawing skills.  That's why it looks like the pumpkin has a mustache.  :)  }

{I'm not sure why Sophie wanted to pose with this one, because she had no part in its creation.  Haha.}

Scott and I did all the carving and scooping of the pumpkin guts -- because NO ONE wanted to touch them -- and then after we were done, the kids promptly ran off to play and didn't even bother to watch the lighting of the candles.  Boooo!  Hahaha.  I think we've started a new Halloween Eve tradition, though, because now there's no way the pumpkins will get moldy before the big day.  :)  Can't wait until tomorrow!  

 She was SOOOOO excited and happy.  And also very, VERY tired.  For some reason she couldn't fall asleep last night until almost 11.  Possibly because she was so over-tired from all the late nights this week.  :(

 My handsome helper.  :)

And the pumpkin guts.  Alex was particularly repelled by these.  Hahaha.

{Pumpkin #2 on the right.  Eyes courtesy of Grace, nose courtesy of Sophie, and mouth courtesy of Jane.}

 The candles!  I was excited even if none of the kids were.

 And lighting up the night!

 Spooooky! Hahaha.

Happy Halloween Eve!

Halloween Town

 We found our army of pumpkin cans!  

This past Sunday, I came up with the brilliant distractionary tactic of inviting Ethan to help me plan out what to do with our basement.   It has been a a wasteland of boxes (both packed and unpacked) and messes, ever since we moved in over a year ago.  No one EVER really wants to play down there these days, thanks to the aforesaid messes and the fact that it is dimly lit and unfinished. 

I decided a couple of weeks ago that SOMETHING needs to happen down there and contemplated paying the kids a giant sum of money just to get it cleaned up and organized.  However, it's the organizing that is probably the hardest thing about it. Part of the problem is that there are no storage shelves, and as I thought about this conundrum, I realized that building shelves in the basement would pretty much be a dream come true for Ethan.  I told him my plan on Sunday afternoon and, after grabbing the whiteboard, he drew out a diagram and went down with a tape measure to get the exact dimensions of everything.  Hahaha.  After he had finished labeling everything on the board, the girls wandered in and decided to jump in on the action as well.  They went to town adding all the "finishing touches," and the next thing I knew, they were ALL in the basement cleaning it up without me having to say a word about how much I was willing to pay them to get it done!

The end result of their labor for the day {and Scott and I did end up going down to help for a bit as well}, was 4 or 5 garbage bags full of trash and a half cleaned out basement.  It will definitely take some time to get it COMPLETELY cleaned out and up.  

The happiest discovery of the day, though, was when I found the box of long, lost Pumpkin Cans that we made a few years ago in St. Louis!   I was so sad last year when we couldn't find them to decorate with for Halloween, and had chalked it up to one more thing that was lost in the move.  The kids were ecstatic as well, and we went right to work decorating the mantle as soon as we opened the box.  :)

Other than our pumpkins, our main Halloween decorations this year have been courtesy of Jane.  She is VERY into creating paper cut-outs this season, and I have to say that they're kind of really hilarious and cute.  Not to mention creative.  :)

Unfortunately, Alex is VERY into ripping up paper these days, and as a result, most of her decorations have bitten the dust before the day is out.  She's made bats and pumpkins and -- most recently -- this witch.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!  Hahaha.

 She's riding on a broom!  Hahaha.

 I found the witch glued to the front door later that day.  And then NOT glued to the door a little after that.  :(

In keeping with the countdown for the actual day of Halloween, Alex had a class party today at preschool and was so excited when he found the mask to his costume this morning!  As excited as he was to wear it to school today, he must have been equal parts self-conscious -- or perhaps "over it" -- because when I picked him up at the end of the day, his teacher informed me that he had taken off his costume early on and couldn't be persuaded to put it back on.  Hahaha.   Oh Wolverine Boy!

 Putting his name on the door to take attendance.

And sitting to decorate his treat bag.

Oh well!  Hopefully, he won't be sick of it when it's time to really go trick-or-treating.  The Halloween Countdown continues tomorrow, with one more fun-tivity for the older kids {Ethan and Grace get to wear their costumes for Running Club after school}, and then -- come Friday -- we'll be ready for the big day!  Now if only we can find time to carve some pumpkins before then, Jane will be one happy girl.  Hahahaha.  :)

Party Time

Oh hey.  Long time no talk.  Hahaha.  Scott was gone for half of last week, which left me cuckoo for cocoa puffs by the end, and THIS week got off to a rough start as well.  The blog, therefore, has been simmering on the back burner out of necessity.  Tonight, however, was the ward Halloween Party and with it came the perfect excuse to pull out the camera and breathe some life into a post once more. :) 
 
Get ready for a LOT of pictures of my kids in costume...

 Wolverine -- courtesy of Costco.  And yes, it's not even Halloween and we've already lost the mask.

 But at least he's still got those "claws," as he calls them.  Hahaha.

 One of the MANY Elsas this Halloween.

 A Grandpa Burglar.  I was mistaken before when I thought Grace was planning on being a Granny burglar.

 She REALLY wanted a mustache.

 Cute little Elsa Jane.  

 Sophie was supposed to be the Granny burglar, but got too shy to wear the wig at the last minute.  Instead, she became the Granddaughter burglar.  Hahaha.

 One of the Young Men at church is a caricature artist.  Every year at the party he offers his services for free.  :)  Grace was VERY excited about this one.  Hahaha.

 And so was Sophie.  

 And what's that, you say?  Are you thinking it looks slightly familiar?  Well, that's possibly because it IS.  Hahaha.  Welcome to Ethan the S'more 2.0 -- a newly revamped and reconfigured s'more costume for 2014.

 This puppy was whipped together after school today using a cardboard box, some white fabric and polyfil, along with the original "chocolate" brown shirt from 2011.  It still fits.  Enough.  Hahahaha.  This time around we "toasted" the marshmallow with a brown ink pad, then sewed the marshmallow right to the front of the shirt, and finally hot glued the "graham crackers" to the front and the back.  It was quite the feat to get the shirt on and off, but it worked!  And Ethan was pleased.  So THAT is really all that matters.  :)

He was VERY happy this time around that people actually recognized what he was supposed to be.  Hahaha.

And that was our night!  Stay tuned for more Halloween festivities happening around the house...