HaLLoWeen!

Holy guacamole, this is a lot of pictures, folks. I see some people write that at the beginning of posts, and then there are like 10 pictures following. Woah. Take it easy. That's just getting crazy.

This is the kind of post that deserves that warning.

So I love Halloween. I'm starting to realize that many adults don't. And I feel sorry for them! There is just so much to love about this holiday!

Reason #1 Halloween Rocks:

 the food...

I made these {Candy Corn Pops} for one Halloween playgroup.

 And this, scary meatball centipede for the other Halloween playgroup.

 These {Shattered Glass} cupcakes were for the ward Halloween party.

This bean dip was for our annual Halloween party...

as well as this {pumpkin} cheeseball.

Not pictured are the non-Halloween themed, Buffalo Chicken bites that I also made for the party. I think Travis loved them so much he wanted to kick me to the curb and marry them. If you want to give them a try, they are on Pinterest! :)

 Reason #2 Halloween rocks...

 the costumes!

Weston ended up being an American Gladiator, to go with the helmet. :)

 Don't be intimidated by those guns... he is a little too beefy for his own good, I know. We are trying to cut back.

 And for his super cool, gladiator name.... Blowout. Very fitting.

Last month, when we came home with Weston's lobster costume, Collin just BEGGED for his own. When we asked him what he wanted to be, without hestiation, he said, Shaun the Sheep. And it didn't change all month! The only time he decided he DIDN'T want to be Shaun was after I finally made his costume (you know, after hours of gluing, fuzzy cottonballs to a onsie) and it got stuck over his head. Guess it freaked him out, but we got it all figured out. There was no way he wasn't going to be Shaun the Sheep after all that work.

Obviously, most people don't know who that is, but it's a show (kinda like Wallace and Gromit) that he loves to watch on Netflix.

I was a little tempted to have him be a sexy fireman though, when one day I found him running around the house looking like this. Doesn't it just make you think of those calendars? Not that I've ever seen one or anything.

 So Shaun the Sheep he was! And I'm only just realizing that I forgot to blacken his nose like I had planned on. Darn! 

Also, I know his ears are perhaps more {rabbit-ish} than {sheep-ish}, but whattaya gonna do? Certainly not resew them.

His friend, Gavin, was a chicken. Isn't he adorable?! Rach made the whole thing. I was impressed.

As I suspected, the sheep wasn't the most durable costume. But it didn't help that Collin would be caught plucking cottonballs off his chest and chucking them at the kids. Here he is near the end of the night. I spent some time regluing before the real Halloween.

 I just had to share Miss Millie. I died laughing. The picture doesn't do this 80's aerobic instructor justice, but be assured that that bubble bum is secured with the shiniest, red spandex. What a hoot.

 Reason #3, Halloween rocks...

Caramel apples
(accompanied by our Halloween shin-dig)

I made these babies Friday night and my mouth is watering just looking at them!

 Going back to the {costumes} portion of why Halloween rocks... here are the party guests!

The Leighs were a cat and dog...

 The Mackowiaks were an English {bloke} and a soccer player.

 The Water's were a candy cane and a dead guy.

 The Shaws were Juno and her boyfriend (forgot his name). Rach pays so much attention to detail... compare to the DVD cover of the movie. Way good!

 The Taylors were Forest Gump and a box of chocolates.

 I really debated on whether to show this picture. I mean, really debated. But then I told myself I would just delete it before I printed my book. Pray I remember!

The Hawes (leave it to them to be the shockers!! :) were... the Bobbitts. If you don't know who they are, maybe google it. Or don't. There is a hot dog in that baggie and a knife in Laney's hand. Not much else you need to know. We were dying! And apparently they waltzed into Tops to buy the hotdog on their way to our party and Taylor left his robe open. Hide the kids!! :)

 The Finlinson's were Bob Ross and his beautiful tree. I loved this one, how creative!

 Rachel's sister, Laura, was in town so she came as the Tootsie Roll Pop, Mr. Owl. This was a legit costume. She and her mom sewed it. It won Best Overall prize!

 The Dobbin's were {highschool sweethearts}.

 The Carter's were... well you can figure it out! I think Denyse kept referring to herself as Shaniqua or something. It was pretty hilarious. And completely, non-offensive. People were asking them if they were nervous to drive over dressed like that! For good reason! This IS Buffalo, after all. I think my favorite accessory was her bootylicious backside. :) 

 The Fricke's came as Jackie O and Pres. Kennedy. They definitely looked the part! They won the {Best Couple} award.

Not forgetting.... the Christmas Story lamp and box! This really isn't the best picture... the fringe on the bottom of the lamp is camoflagued with the couch and you can't tell my tights are fish net :( Ah well. What surprised me more were the people that didn't know what we were! You mean your families don't watch this movie each and every Christmas?! "You'll shot your eye out kid!". "He laid there like a slug, it was his only defense." "Ho. Ho. HOOOOO."

Trav was almost Ralphie instead of the box and I was thinking that would have been great for a picture of him trying to inch his hands up my leg...haha.

We usually do a donut eating contest, but this year I added a few more games...

Like the Minute to Win It, {Face the Cookie}.... Luke won in no time at all.

Also, {Junk in the Trunk}, where you have to shake out 6 ping pong balls from an empty tissue box, tied to your backside. It makes for a good show. :) Levi cleaned up on this game.

I really need to post the video that I got of this last game. I just can't figure out how to download video from my new camera. It is a couples game where you have to pop a balloon between the two of you, but you have to stand back to front. Cue the pelvic thrusts. Are you forming a mental picture? If not, google, America's Funniest Home Videos balloon pop and a video should pop up. Um... hysterical. Like we were popping more blood vessels than balloons from laughing so hard. Except for maybe one couple that looked more mortified than anything. :) Put the kids to bed, then play this one at your next party!
 At the end, I put on a groovy song and we had a dance competition! Finally! I've always wanted to have a dance at our party. So even if I had to bribe people with a caramel apple, I finally got my dance party. :) And thanks to Laney and Denyse, it was full of {Elaine-esk} moves and black girl booty shakin. Drop it like it's hot.

It turned out to be a really fun night, but I think I'm relieved it's our last year... it was a TON of work. It consumed my whole week and definitely every second of Saturday. On Monday I think I spent an hour just making to do lists of all the stores I had to go to, things I needed to buy, and stuff I had to make. It was worth it, but it also meant Trav got to spend some time rubbing out the knots in my back Sunday afternoon. But a big thank you to everyone that made an effort to be there to make it all worthwhile!!

Reason #4 Halloween Rocks:

Taking your kids trick or treating, then eating all their candy

We had dinner at the Shaws on Monday night, then Gavin and Collin got to make their dreams come true and go trick or treating for the first time. It did not take this kid long to figure out how things worked. After the first couple of houses, he would start beelining it for the next door. It was kind of funny to watch as he determindly ran with his ears flying straight up. What wasn't funny was when he'd get just one piece of candy, then scream at the person, "More, MORE!" I was with him at one house that, unfortunately for us, was giving out little bags of fritos. He watched as it plopped in his bucket, then in a crazied frenzy started yelling, "NO! Candy!!!" Like, duh mister, this is not the holiday where you scrimp on the sugar. I was so embarrassed and kept scolding him while apologizing and dragging my monster away. Well, Trav wasn't going to have any of that. He grabbed Collin, marched back up there to make him apologize and say thank you, but the man felt BAD and pulled out his wallet and gave Collin a $1 bill! As if HE had something to be sorry for! So even though Collin did apologize, he ended up being rewarded for bad behavior. Well... I don't know... I don't think he understands money yet. So WE were rewarded for having a child with bad behavior.

After an hour of collecting, he had a couple buckets of candy, one puzzle, an outfit (from my neighbors), and the dollar bill. Not too shabby.

It was great weather for trick or treating! We made our way up Huxley and down Woodridge and it only starting raining when we were about to call it quits anyway. And on the retreat home, we caught a glimpse of a truly spooky critter. This thing was HUGE. As big as a leaf. The biggest spider I've ever seen that wasn't a tarantula.

It really was fun to take the boys around, but I did have one of those {When did I get to this point} moments. Like, I've only ever been on the other end of this event... and now I'm on the parent end. I still don't feel old, but I think times like this try to tell me I am.

 

So did I make a good case for Halloween? :) The only thing that didn't rock, was the lack of Twix's in Collin's loot. And my disasterous house after it was all over. But other than that, this haunted holiday is for sure #2 on my list. It also means #1 is on it's way!!!