Halloween

Our Halloween was pretty traditional. Josie had a Halloween party at school (I love preschool), the girls went trick or treating at Justin's clinic, we went trick or treating around our neighborhood (in the rain, no less), and then we had our ward trunk or treat the next night. We had a lot of Halloween this year and, while I really enjoy this holiday, I'm glad it's over.

Here are the pictures:
This year, Josie had a hard time deciding on a costume. I had taken the boys to get their costumes but I told Jo that she couldn't have one until she made up her mind. Well, she finally did. She wanted to be a cat. But not just any cat. Doom Kitty from the obscure cartoon Ruby Gloom (it's actually a really cute little show, it you have Netflix I recommend it).

This is Doom Kitty (not to be confused with Doom Kitty - the adult entertainer, holy cow was that kind of a shock when I was searching for images to use for her costume)!

She requested a few modifications and this is what we ended up with. I love it. I think she looked especially fetching.

I ended up making two pair of ears because the first ones turned out weird. Sammie loved wearing them.

Sammie's costume was an owl. I love Old Navy kid costumes. I think they're cute, reasonably priced, and warm!

Sammie loved her costume (and since it was kind of big on her, I think we'll be able to get another year out of it - yay)!

 Trick or treating at the clinic.

 These are all the kids that came (a huge drop in numbers from previous years, but it was still a blast).

Halloween night it was rainy. Yuck. Thankfully it wasn't pouring rain so we still decided to brave the neighborhood.

Noah went as Pikachu this year and Clayton went as Spiderman.

(Not so) Interesting story. Clayton had originally chosen a Bumblebee (from Transformers) costume. We paid for it and everything. Then, the day before Halloween, it went missing. It's still missing. There was a lot of searching and a lot of frustration and that costume never was found. Fortunately, he had this Spiderman one from the play workshop that he did over the summer. Hopefully we'll find that Bumblebee costume somewhere and he can be that next year.

Noah LOVES his costume. He has worn it everyday since Halloween. I think he's the cutest Pokémon around!

 I love this picture. Man alive, my kids are attractive!

 Trick or treating out in the rain.

It was Sammie's first year going around with the big kids. She only made it down one street before she was over it (which was good, because I was over it by then too). So she and I went home to pass out candy, while Justin and the older kids stayed out for two more hours!

 Sam and I came home, ate some candy, and she went to bed. She was wiped!

When the older kids came home their loot was epic! Not only did they get loads of candy, it was almost all GOOD candy!

The kids enjoyed their loot (after parent taxes, of course). We gave them 15 minutes of gluttony, and now the candy sits in a bag where the kids get a few pieces a day (and I get candy by the fistful all day long). It's a hard life, but someone's got to fight childhood obesity around here!

So, until next year, Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

From the Amazin' Spider Man, the cutest owl you've ever seen, Pootie the Pikachu, and the always adorable Doom Kitty.

**More Halloween pictures to follow.**

More pumpkins!

**I'm almost all caught up! I have one more post I may try to squeeze in before I post all about Halloween so keep checking back, I'm on FIRE!**

Yesterday you read my scintillating post about our adventure-filled trip to the pumpkin patch. I then left you with a cliffhanger: "What did they do with those pumpkins!?!" The suspense must have been killing you. I apologize, but now you get another post!

I thought hard this year about what we were going to do with our pumpkins and I came up with an idea that I think is genius! The girls painted their pumpkins and the boys carved theirs. This way, everyone got to do something with their pumpkin and I didn't have to do all of the work (mostly for the girls, the boys proved last year that they're pretty good pumpkin carvers).

We aren't one of those families who goes crazy with pumpkin carving. We don't do intricate designs or anything fancy. We're pretty traditional and old school.

Here are the pictures (there's a lot of them - I'm trying to overcompensate for the pumpkin patch picture debacle):

These girls loved painting their pumpkins. It was so nice to just sit back and watch them do their thing (much better than trying to let them 'help' me carve).

 Love this cute messy, necked baby!

 Clayton was an animal! He worked so hard!

 The girls pumpkins. I think they turned out adorable!

 Clayton and Noah got a little help from Justin for some of the more intricate parts.

The boys had gotten haircuts that morning. They apparently gave Noah stickers. He put that one on his forehead and it stayed there all day.

 Love the look of concentration.

  The boy's finished pumpkins.

I love the bumpy pumpkins. Clayton's especially (his is probably my favorite - but shhhhh, don't tell the other kids!).

 All four:

 The boy's all lit up (Josie got mad at this point because hers didn't light up - oops):

Getting ready to put them by the front door (we had to wait for the paint to dry on the girl's pumpkins so we did this the next day after church - that's why they're especially fancy).

Love these kids and the pumpkins that they decorated (almost) entirely by themselves. We had the best night doing this with them. I love that they're getting old enough where projects like this are truly family events (not just me and Justin doing the work while the kids get bored and leave). These kids are pretty awesome! Bring on Halloween!