Halloween 2016

This Halloween felt a little anti-climactic -- and if I'm being totally honest, I was kind of bummed to discover that we have officially crossed the divide.  We are no longer a house of just little kiddies.  :(  Ethan was adamantly opposed to dressing up this year and opted to pass out candy instead, and Grace ditched trick-or-treating with the family last night in lieu of going out with friends.  Womp womp.  Hahaha.  As a result, I have no pictures of all 6 of my kids dressed up in a group shot for Isaac's first Halloween.  It is what it is, though, and the younger crew's enthusiasm for the holiday was enough to make up for the lack of family participation from the older ones.  Almost.  ;)

We procrastinated carving our pumpkins until yesterday after school, and even then -- I was the one doing all the work.  After drawing on the faces, and watching me do the initial cutting, everyone scampered off to do their own thing, leaving me to do the dirty work of scooping out the guts and carving out the features.  Jane stuck around the longest, but even she got bored and ran off before I was done.  You better believe I was making a mental note, as I was slaving away, that NEXT year we will be skipping the jack o'lanterns if this is how much everyone cares.  Hahahahaha.

By the time Superman, I mean Scott, got home from work, Grace had already left for her friend's house to get made up for her costume -- which was a made up character (named Peggy) from a story that she wrote at school, who always wears a Rainbow Dash pony shirt and carries around a stuffed penguin, of course.  After forcing the other kids to eat dinner really quickly, the little ones got themselves dressed and we were on our way!  But not before attempting a million pictures, that is.  Isaac proved less than cooperative with looking at the camera for the group shots, but I think we got enough with him in it to capture the fun of the moment.  :)

 Scott was in charge of judging a costume contest at work.  I think?  Whatever he was supposed to be doing was the catalyst for him dressing up, too.  Halloween and costumes are not typically his "thing."  Hahahaha.

Grace and her friends -- she's on the far right, and this is the only documentation I have of her "costume."

 Mario!

 Hahahahaha

 Dab!

  Skeleton Boy!

 Can't figure out what Jane is?

 She's Sadness, of course, from Inside Out!

 I kept trying to tell them to smile for the picture, and she kept reminding me that she couldn't because she was supposed to look sad.  Hahahaha.

 Totally nailing that sadness vibe, eh?  Hahaha.

 The candy man on his iPod.

 And doing his job.  :)

 My cute little bobby-soxer.  She worked hard for that outfit!  She used a big chunk of her summer reading money to purchase the shirt, skirt, socks, and shoes.  When she commits to a look, she really commits.  She looks adorable, though, and I know she was pleased with the outcome.  So, money well spent?

 That hair though!

I was surprised that the kids were all ready to head back home at a very reasonable hour, and then the fun REALLY started as they dumped and sorted their candy and ate a few handfuls before I hauled them all off to bed after making them scrub their teeth.  Haha.  Jane was cracking me up with how seriously she took her categorizing efforts -- she counted, sorted, and tallied everything up before heading up to bed.  Alex meanwhile just kept stuffing treat after treat in his mouth.  As soon as one thing was done, he was on to another, before I finally stopped him in his tracks and made him go upstairs.

 Pretty sure that no one could figure out what she was until she told them.  Grace's comment was that she looked like a mad scientist.  Hahahahaha.  Perhaps next year she can be Franny K. Stein.  :)

 Oh Alex.  The stick-on mustache was bugging him too much, so before we even left the house, he ripped it off and had me use eyeliner instead.  Haha.

Today's aftermath was not nearly as bad as it could have been, and with it being GRACE'S BIRTHDAY (!),  I was pleased to be dealing with mostly normal-behaved children.  Let's just hope that that continues throughout the rest of the week...  ;)

H A P P Y   H A L L O W E E N !!!