Halloween 2009

So I realized this year I don't like Halloween on Saturdays. One reason is that the kids HAVE to dress up Friday for school AND Saturday. Yes, better mileage on those expensive or amazing costumes that took forever to make. But I kind of like getting all done in a day. Especially make up and hair coloring...my kids were so beat today after 2 days of partying. So I say we petition for the last Friday of October to be our day to commemorate Halloween and if it falls on the the 31st fantastic!

So the festivities began Friday. Gwen and I went over for the Halloween Parade, it was really cute and fun. I loved seeing all my little neighbor kids and my kids' friends dressed up. Gwen enjoyed it as well. But I have a confession. It was my first time attending. Yep, I have had 10 previous opportunities and never went. I tell you I am a lazy soul. 6 of those years I had a baby and that just seemed like too much and I know my limits. Besides I usually had some other monkey at home with the baby and sometimes 2 monkeys and I just could not get the ambition to get us all over there. I feel bad I missed because I saw how much it meant to my two kids I actually saw in the parade (only K-3rd grades do it). So take my advice and try to go! Later Friday Tim's work had trick-or-treating, only the 5 younger kids went. It was fun and they even treated us to donuts, bagels and muffins and drinks. Taran and his friends went to a party that night. Timo was wherever and I think he is bummed we didn't do a party this year. I had offered and it is just as well we didn't since we had the stomach flu this week at our house--Micah and then Gwen.

Saturday the kids wanted to get dressed up from the get-go but we had chores nand other things to do. We went to the baptism of some of the kids' friends and the older boys played in a flag football game. Unfortunately two boys did not get to go trick-or-treating because they caused a bunch of trouble getting their chores done. We went to my mom's for dinner and met up with my siblings there as well. My niece and nephew were a lion and a lamb--very cute! Tim took some of the kids trick-or-treating and Emily went with a friend and I stayed with the delinquents. One of them handed out candy for me which was nice so I could work on getting the laundry put away. A family in our neighborhood does a haunted creek behind their house since they border the creek. Tim took all the little boys and I stayed with Gwen. Timo and his friends were everywhere but not trick-or-treating because not all of them can trick-or-treat anymore. Taran was at a friend's and they watched Private Eyes--classic with Tim Conway and Don Knotts. We have that movie too. Tim's sisters came over later with their kids and the cousins had fun together playing. Emily took our niece with her and her friend trick-or-treating, and Izak took his 2 boys cousins to the haunted creek--he waited for them. My kids are scaredy cats like me! The weather was beautiful, you can see in the collage how the kids were playing outside at my mom's. Friday had been ugly so it was such a nice surprise that the weather was so nice for Halloween it usually isn't the case.

Overall it was a great holiday even though we had some meltdowns both days. We did miss Tim's parents who were in Idaho at his brother's play--his brother was playing Cogsworth in Beauty in the Beast. Next year I think we will all be robbers--simple and easy. I made Zane's zebra costume from Family Fun magazine, it turned out to be more work than I thought of course but it turned out really cute. Emily and Izak went through 4 or 5 ideas--Izak was actually 2 things one at school a basketball player and someone who had been in an accident on Saturday. Taran had me straighten his hair for a totally different look for him. Some of his friends didn't know who he was at first. Timo and his buddies were Qwambly which I have no idea what it means so I trusted him when he made the t-shirts. Emily ended up as Medusa and wore my old prom dress! The kids had fun and I guess that means it was a success and worth the discomforts!