Halloween Festivities

When I was a kid, Halloween lasted ONE day.  That was it!  We wore our costumes to school ON Halloween...except for those rare times it fell on a weekend and if it did, we still had a Halloween party the Friday before and got to wear our costumes for the ENTIRE day, despite the worry that they are "too distracting" or "upsetting for other kids".  We had our ward Halloween party/carnival (not Trunk-or-Treat) on HALLOWEEN afternoon and it ended right at dusk so we could go Trick-or-Treating.  Things sure have changed!  Here is how we celebrated our Halloween week in 2010!

Hunter discovered my Halloween cookie cutters when I pulled them out of my cupboards during a frantic search for muffin liners one morning (I was running late, of course).  He begged me to make Halloween cookies.  I put him off for a few days before I finally found the time and energy to do it.  On Saturday, the week before Halloween at 9:30 in the morning, I decided to get it over with.  I knew if I didn't do them right away that morning, I would lose my gusto as I normally do as the day progresses.  Here are the final results:

I'm sure you can tell which ones I frosted and decorated compared to the ones the boys were in charge of! 

On Sunday, October 24th, we went to my mom's for family dinner.  Jacob is probably happy to be allergic to cats since it entitles him to play outside in the backyard the entire evening!  They did come in to decorate their pumpkin cookies, one of my mom's Halloween traditions.

Jacob and his "bestest" cousin.

Out of the numerous costumes this kid owns, he had his heart set on being a ghost.  Apparently a friend from the ward was a ghost last year and Jacob hasn't forgotten about it.  He originally planned to be a vampire, but decided a ghost was a better choice.  I got some plain white fabric and with a little sewing help from my mom, voila!

Hunter insisted that he wanted to be a ghost like Jacob.  Luckily I had bought some extra white fabric for another project.  I ended up having my mom help me convert it into a ghost costume for him as well.  While we were trying it on him to measure where to sew, he changed his mind and said he didn't want to be a ghost anymore.  We (my mom) sewed it anyways in case he changed his mind.  He didn't!  He decided to go as a fireman.  We had our ward Trunk-or-Treat that night, October 25th.  They loved every minute of it!  Except for the dinner menu.  They will not eat chili & baked potatoes!  I learned that lesson last year and fed them before we went.  Hunter wouldn't eat it of course.  I threatened that he wouldn't get to eat any of his candy if he didn't eat all of his dinner.  He wasn't swayed and seemed satisfied with not getting any candy.  Of course, the candy ban didn't last very long once we got there.  I'm kind of a softie on "holidays".

On Friday, October 29th, Jacob's school had a costume parade.  Jacob goes to afternoon kindergarten, but the class was invited to participate in the parade that morning.  It was fun for him to see his class dressed up.  He got to go home right afterward.  All the kids that stayed at school had to remove their costumes immediately after the parade and wear boring old clothes for the rest of the day.  So sad!

Jacob & Brigham (Brigham is Jacob's favorite friend in his class)

Party of Five

On Saturday, Halloween Eve, we went out to eat at Chili's.  They had a deal that kids ate free if they wore their costumes.  The boys didn't complain!

Jacob really started getting into his costume by the 3rd time he wore it!

He actually wanted to wear his vampire costume tonight.  We had planned to go to my parents after dinner so I told him to wear his ghost costume so Grandma could see it since she helped put it together.  We didn't even make it over there that night!

We did go to see my Grandma after dinner.  She looks forward to us coming & Trick-or-Treating every year!

Unfortunately, Hunter fell asleep on the way over and missed the entire event.  Grandma had lots of candy to spare and put some in Hunter's bucket for him to find in the morning.  Grandma likes to keep her apartment WARM.  Trevor walked in and told her it felt like summertime in there!  After about 10 minutes, Hunter started thrashing around.  He was probably roasting in that fireman costume.  We tore his jacket off so he could be a little more comfortable.  He ended up staying asleep for the entire night!  After we returned home, I took Jacob to some ward member's houses.  They had announced that certain homes would be handing out candy & I didn't want Jacob to miss out on Trick-or-Treating entirely this year since Halloween fell on a Sunday.  We got a late start so most of the lights were out, but we were grateful to find 2 houses who were handing out late! 

 

On Halloween, we went to Austin & Deedra's for Trevor's family Halloween party.  Jacob was permitted to wear his vampire costume to this one.  Hunter started off the evening in his fireman costume, but became shy as soon as we got there and asked me to remove it.  He didn't even want to walk inside with it on.  My arms were full carrying stuff so I made him come all the way inside before he could remove it.  Jacob wanted to wear his the entire evening.  It's funny how different they are! 

Hunter is laughing because he was trying to shoot this dart at the target and he hit me instead.

After the party we made a late night stop by my parent's house.  Luckily they held off going to bed so we could stop by and Trick-or-Treat. 

We were all exhausted by the time we got home.  We dropped everything and hopped into bed.  No matter how hard you hope the Cleaning Fairy will come, the mess will always still be there in the morning for you! 

Hope everyone had a safe & fun Halloween!