Halloween Countdown

We are T-minus 2 days until the ward Halloween party, and T-minus 6 days until the real deal.  And what do we have going on to prep for the big day?  Well, so far we've decorated the mantle with our pumpkin can army, hung up the cardstock buntings we created 3 years ago (that are slightly more bent out of shape but still going strong), and I've blown up a poster size print from last year's trick-or-treating to hang over the fireplace, that I think really adds a little something extra.  However, you wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of {mostly negative} comments I've received from the kids over it.  From "why did you pick THAT picture?" (Grace) to "I'm not even looking at the camera" (Ethan) to "this looks dumb" (Alex).  Basically nobody loves it but me.

In the costume department, we've gone through 3 different options for Alex before finding the PERFECT one {Mario} at Once Upon a Child; Grace has changed her mind about 5 times and still hasn't settled on anything; Ethan is insistent on not dressing up this year; Sophie has spent a chunk of her summer reading money to pay half the price of her Poodle Skirt ensemble for the big day; Jane is still going strong with "Sadness" from Inside Out; and Isaac won't keep any hood or hat on his head, so real costumes will have to wait until next year -- THIS year, he'll just rock some skeleton jammies and call it good.  Hahaha.

We still haven't carved our annual jack o'lanterns, but I busted out the "fun mom" card on Saturday (after a productive morning of cleaning the house), by making sugar cookies for the kids to decorate with the Halloween sprinkles I picked up at Kroger a couple of weeks ago.  Ethan was still out on a 5 mile hike with Scott for a scouting requirement, and Grace was at a friend's house during the festivities, but Sophie invited one of her friends over to plump up our numbers, and the younger ones had a grand old time decorating cookies and dumping far more sprinkles than needed all over the kitchen counter and floor.  Hahaha.

With Halloween almost here, we're getting closer and closer to kicking off the holiday season and I can't wait!!!  Stay tuned to see how the costumes all turn out...  :)