Or, Vampires, and Mummies, and Skeletons... Oh My!!
That would be the more appropriate phrase, describing my little troop of Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween Night! Of course Dorothy was there too, to keep them all heading down the right path.
We had quite a busy, fun-packed night. Daddy had to work, so we planned to visit him and then meet some friends at a restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, the process of getting 4 kids into their costumes took me longer than expected. We abandoned the face makeup and the sit-down dinner. We opted for In-n-Out as take-out and ate at the Fire Station with Daddy so he could check out the kids' costumes. Afterward, we joined up with a group of friends for Trick-or-Treating! The big kids ran ahead with the single goal of getting as much candy as possible! A couple of the younger ones stayed with Allison and I.
Allison took to Trick-or-Treating like a real pro. It didn't take her long to figure out what to do. I loved hearing her say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" at all the houses. So cute! She was an adorable Dorothy. I made her dress by altering a pattern for a dress. She had a little black Scottie dog in her basket as Toto. I tried to get the boys to go as TinMan, Scarecrow & Cowardly Lion, but they were having none of that! Too bad. That would have been cute!
My poor Ryan was so excited to be a mummy, at first. It started out great and looked fabulous. But as the night wore on, the costume just kept falling off him piece by piece. I guess the gazillion safety pins I put in it weren't enough to hold it all in place while running around. He stayed by me so I could keep wrapping him up over and over while walking. Ugh! I sure learned some do's and don'ts of the mummy costume. Trial and error for sure! 
Blake ran along with all the big kids as a Skeleton. He so badly wanted his face painted but settled for white spray paint in his hair. He insisted that was best as "skulls are white, Mom!" He was very happy. (white paint was sprayed after picture. oops!)
Darren has always wanted to be a scary Halloween character. I finally gave in this year. We slicked back his hair and painted it black. He had some great looking teeth to bond onto his own, but they wouldn't stick well. Bummer. I made his vest and bow tie (don't look too closely, I'm no seamstress). I didn't have a pattern. I just bought a piece of fabric and held it up to him, started cutting and sewing. Surprisingly it turned out ok. He was happy, so that's all that matters.
After the candy collecting was over, we went back to our base home, The Hanshaws. Rachelle had made hot chocolate, wassail, and the yummiest home-made Apple Fritters!! They were quite a treat! The kids got to check out their loot, make trades, and play for a while while the grown-ups visited.
Overall the night was a huge success! The kids all had a blast and got more than their necessary share of cavity causing candy. I love the Fall and I love Halloween. Isn't it great?
I'm not sure who ever thought of this idea of carving faces in pumpkins, but I love the tradition. My kids enjoy it too. Even Daddy gets involved each year. The boys each chose their own design for their pumpkins this year and did them on their own (except Blake who required a little assistance). I think traditions are a great family-bonding experience and this is one for us! Here is what the boys created this year:
Jason's youngest sister, Emily, came to stay a few days with us. She has two adorable children- Daylen is 3 and Gwen is 9 months. Allison had so much fun having a playmate to run around with all day long. Daylen is a bundle of energy and successfully wore Allison out! She also loved playing mother to her little cousin Gwen. She often tried to swipe Gwen's pacifier too. It looks exactly like the one Alli USED to have. I took away her pacifier (a.k.a. Su-su) a week before their visit. She refused to take naps that whole week. Bless that little nephew of mine, because after keeping her busy those days, she couldn't help but fall asleep when put in her bed. She has now gone back to napping ever since! I owe you one, little buddy! Anyway, we were all so excited to have them come hang out with us! We're pretty boring around here, but hope they had fun. We tried to find a few things to entertain them.
Our friends, the Pinneo's, hosted their annual Halloween Costume Party! It was tons of fun, as usual. There were games, yummy food, friends, and prizes for best costumes. It's so fun to see what everyone comes up with from year to year. Here are some of this year's: Remember to click on pictures for enlarged view!
Happy Birthday Darren!
My baby turned 11! I can't believe it!
I'm searching for a baby picture of him to post, for nostalgic reasons. I'll have to post that later!
Here is some of the fun we had to celebrate his day.
The morning started with his favorite breakfast, French Toast Casserole.
After school, his friend Michael came over (it was his b-day also, only he turned 12) and they decorated cupcakes together to take to Scouts that night.
We went to dinner at restaurant of his choice (In-n-Out). Daddy had to work that day, so after dinner we packed up his gifts and went to the Fire Station so Daddy could join in on the fun. Daddy surprised Darren with a chocolate cake he made that day. Yum! We sang happy birthday, had cake and ice cream, and Darren opened his gifts. He got a hiking backpack and sleeping bag for his future Scout outings! He was sooooooo excited! After the Fire Station Darren went to Scouts. It was such an exciting, busy day! But that's not all...
Two nights later, Friday, Darren got to have a few friends over for a campout birthday party. The boys played video games, ate pizza, played a couple games like flashlight tag in the dark house, body-body, etc. They went outside for silly string wars. They won candy in one of the games which they ate while watching the movie Eragon. Of course there was cake & ice cream too. Then Darren set up the 6-man tent and they had a campout in the backyard. They told ghost stories and were asleep by 11:30pm. It was really a fun time. I think the boys all had a blast! I know Darren did! Happy Birthday to my big kid! 
