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!

Spooky Halloween Dinner

Our great friends, The Haws, have a tradition to have a spooky Halloween dinner every year. Usually it's just them but this year since we've reached the "like family" status they invited us to join them! :) Summer knocked herself out preparing a fun and totally spooky meal. I feel bad that my only contribution was witches' fingers!

On the menu:

Frankenstein's brain with veggies &...

rat dip


creepy crawlers


witches' fingers

And not pictured is bats! Summer roasted some bats game hens & used black food coloring in the butter to get a nice gross bat color. She even used toothpicks to prop out the wings. They looked just like bats. Of course I would know - I've roasted tons.

The table. There were even fun straw cups with worms on the side for the kids.


Part of their tradition is wearing Halloween hats during the dinner. We almost cancelled because of this! jk



Jeremiah tried on a couple options (this one is from Jack's devil costume)...



And decided on this.



The kids LOVED the creepy food. Sadly I haven't been doing this with my kids, although before they came along Jeremiah & I had a few Halloween themed meals. I'm going to have to start making it a tradition in our family too. Thanks so much Brit & Summer for including us this year in your family Halloween dinner. You guys are the best!

Mummy juice

Sometimes I'm a bad mom, but today I'm a good mom! Look what Callie's going to have in her lunch box tomorrow! I found this idea (2nd picture) from a new favorite site One Charming Party (LOVE it!). I got a 50 cent bottle of Minute Maid at WalMart (sometimes I like that place) and I didn't have any cream colored streamers so I got some dried out diaper wipes from my car (LOL - it's in desperate need of a good detail job!), cut them into connecting stips and went to work! I love it! :) I've also been putting these cute Halloween lunchbox jokes in her lunch for the past 2 weeks. She loves them! See what a good mom I am today?!

Barnyard Boo

While we were in Utah we went to the Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point (in Lehi). For $7 the kids got a punch card that allowed you to do 7 different activities out of a variety of choices. It was right next to Cornbelly's which looked really fun too, but this was cheaper & there were pony rides, which Katelyn (our niece) was very interested in. Barnyard Boo turned out to be an excellent choice!

First punch: pony rides!





Second punch: spider toss with spider rings for prizes

No punch required: checking out the animals. Feed was 25 cents/handful. Uncle Justin bought a few handfuls & let the kids all feed the animals. Jack was hilarious - after he'd had his turn feeding the llama he sat on the ground & patiently picked up the kernels that fell to the ground during the other kids' turns. By the end he had a new big handful. He fed the llama again, picked up the kernels that got knocked out from its tongue again, & went in for one last turn. He makes me laugh!

Third punch: face painting




Fourth punch: monster bowling with stickers for the prize

Fifth punch: cookie "decorating," although it was really just smearing a glob of frosting on a cookie w/a popsicle stick. No sprinkles or real decorating. Prize: eat your cookie.




Sixth punch: making mummy pops

We were there for an hour & the kids had a great time! We gave our last punches away & headed off for pizza. What a fun time! It makes me bummed that there's never seasonal fun stuff to do here in Kingman. One of the major downsides of living in the desert :( I need a corn field & a farm!

Halloween 2009

By the time Halloween rolled around I was burned out. Total bummer since Halloween is my favorite holiday! Besides Christmas of course. But it's right up there. No festive meals this year, no candy countdown chain, nothing extra. Next year I'll have to either buy costumes or start making them sooner because I don't want to have another bummer Halloween. Even though I started making the mermaid costume at the beginning of the month, I worked on it off & on until the week before Halloween. And then I still had to add a couple things. And I still had to make Jack's costume. Fortunately I had the sense to scrap the angel costume for Ellie before I even bought the fabric (only money on the on-sale pattern was wasted)! Instead she wore the Little Bo-Peep costume that Callie wore 4 years ago.

I love Jack's costume. To me it is just the epitome of a homemade Halloween costume. Simple & classic! Oh, & Jack insisted on being a "debil" after seeing a "pinchfork" at a store & deciding he wanted to be whatever got to carry that around!

SO MUCH WORK! Not impressive enough results for the amount of work this dang costume was! The important thing is that she LOVED IT! She put it on all week before Halloween & walked around the house.

This costume is semi-homemade. I made the pantaloons & I dyed the dress blue & put blue ribbon in the bonnet & smock, & I spray painted a junky lawn candy cane for the staff. The adorable lamb purse (not that you can tell from the pics) is one that Chelsea sent for Callie 4 1/2 years ago!