Halloween 2010

Halloween weekend was jam-packed with FUN this year! It started with a rockin' Halloween party hosted by some friends! It was a seriously great party! Lots of super delish eats, fun games, & good company.

We had our babysitter snap this picture before we left for the party. I have to add that Jeremiah didn't like dressing up as a kid & he has not once dressed up for the holiday as an adult. So he was pretty good with this "costume" - didn't take him too far out of his comfort zone! :) Thanks to my sister Chelsea for suggesting the idea. I thought it was so brilliant & after I started making it I was looking online to see how other people finished it & I found out it's a $50 mass-marketed vinyl costume. Who knew? Not this girl. In case you live under a rock our costume is "bun in the oven & the baker." And no Jeremiah wouldn't wear a white chef's hat - which is fine because what cool chef's do for one? And for two, he's a baker, not a chef! LOL

It had been a really busy week & here in the land of sun you can't carve a pumpkin more than a couple days in advance - it's just not cold enough so they get nasty & rotted very quickly. So on Saturday morning we finally let the kids get creative. This is the first year in I can't remember how many that I haven't gone all out & used a detailed pattern. I love carving pumpkins! But I just wasn't feeling it this year & I decided to let the kids have their own fun since when you do a pattern they can't do much more than pick it out & watch! To add to the simplicity of this year's pumpkins, Jack & Ellie opted to use the potato-head type parts on their pumpkins instead of carving. I wasn't going to try to talk them out of it - fine with me! :) They LOVED it!

Ellie trying to push & pound in the pieces


Both sides of Jack's creation

Callie wanted to actually carve a pumpkin. After we got all the guts out I let her draw on her own face. It didn't turn out quite like she'd hoped so she asked me to help her. She cut out most of it & insisted on using the bat pumpkin cutter to pound out a bat-looking hair bow!

After a late soccer game I brought the kids home & got them ready for a tri-ward trunk-or-treat. Thank goodness the wards skipped the chili & hot dogs before the trunk-or-treating this year. It's an insanely chaotic ordeal with canned chili & boiled fake meat hot dogs (blech!) and cheap buns.

I was happy that the kids had been happy to repeat last years' costumes (except Ellie since she's grown the most). I was glad because I worked dang hard on that mermaid costume last year! The devil cape wasn't difficult but it was still nice to see my labors pay off for two years & get plenty of use. Ellie wore a witch costume that Callie wore a few years ago. Each of the kids loved their characters.

The devil

The witch

The mermaid

The trunk. Thanks to my dad not being afraid to ask for stuff (his example has helped me score a few things too)! The giant inflatable spider had been over the produce section at WalMart but got a hole in it. He must have been there when they were taking it down. He asked if he could have it & then he took it home & patched it & borrowed a blower from a friend with a jump house business. He & my mom brought their spooky halloween trees too & we set up a great trunk :)

The great candy sort on Sunday morning

Since Halloween was on Sunday we didn't take the kids trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Instead they wore their Halloween pj's over to my parents' house who hosted a small get-together. We had 4 types of soup, homemade rolls & lots of desserts. We hung out & visited while my dad & the kids handed out candy to trick-or-treaters. Callie absolutely LOVED getting to pass out candy to everyone!

It was a perfect Halloween weekend!