Halloween 2016

 Annual picture by Mr. Pumpkinhead

I like the decorating part of Halloween. I love the candy part of Halloween. I even like the Jack 'O Lantern part of Halloween, but I don't really love the whole dressing up part of Halloween. My kids always pick the most bizarre costumes.  No princesses or superheroes in this house.  That being said, I don't know why I found it sort of heart breaking that Atley didn't want to dress up this year.  In fact, he wasn't even with us for the school trunk-or-treat festivities or the church festivities because he had other "commitments".  Granted, that was true but, WHAAA!  That sucks.  He tells me he is practically a man.  A very tiny unorganized man, who still needs to be reminded to shower, but a man none the less.  Anyway, here are our Halloween pictures, sans Atley in costume.

  

Is there anything cuter than a praying Sumo?  

Harley and I did get to dress like twins for orange and black day at school. I guess that was fun.  Although looking at this picture of myself makes me think perhaps my name is Mrs. Pumpkinhead.

The Biggest Halloween Post in the History of the World

Let me start by saying that I am exhausted and more than a little happy that Halloween is finally over. It was fun, but seemed to drag on forever. It all started 3 weeks ago when Harley and her preschool friends attended a Fall Festival in Rockville, MD. (not pictured)  Last week all the kids went to a super fun Halloween party at a friends house. Yes, Nash is shooting icing directly into his mouth, completely bypassing the cupcake.

 

The next day our neighborhood had their costume parade.  By the way, Harley insisted on being Minnie Mouse, Nash a Jawa from Star Wars and Atley a fly. 

 

 

Pumpkin carving came as it always does the Monday before Halloween.

 

These little chocolate pies are one of my kids favorite treats because they can make them all by themselves with the mini-premade pie crusts, a box of chocolate pudding and whipped cream.

 

The next day we had a Trunk or Treat activity at our church.

 

Wednesday was Harley's preschool party at our house. Unfortunately, I didn't snap any pictures because I was too busy teaching but after school Harley taught the boys to play some of the games like Don't Eat Pete and Pumpkin Bowling.

 

 

As most activities in our house, even Pumpkin Bowling ended in a wrestling match.  I love the picture of Harley above when I caught her sneaking even more candy.

 

Thursday Halloween finally arrived.  Nash had a Halloween parade at his school, that I watched with Harley and Atley's class.  In the afternoon Atley and Nash both had class parties and of course Harley was right in the middle of it all.  Halloween evening we had some neighborhood families over for dinner. I served soup, bread, cider and some other fun things pictured below.  You will also notice that Harley tired of her Minnie Mouse costume and opted for a cowgirl costume instead.

 

Finally, ready for Trick or Treating!

 

Marble Monster Munch Mayhem

Oh,  how I love alliteration! A while back we had six consecutive days of rain. So, we had to get creative or go crazy. We each made some monsters and glued them onto a box. Then we shot marbles at them.  This literally provided the munchkins with almost 2 hours of entertainment.

Pumpkin Head an October Tradition

Early every October we have a Family Home Evening that includes the creation of our beloved friend Pumpkin Head. I am certain none of the kids remember a year without him.  It doesn't feel like October until he arrives on the front porch. 

In addition to scarecrow building we also watch our favorite Halloween Movie, Spookley the Square Pumpkin, while we drink cider and eat donuts. 

Crafts & Cookies

Sunday evening Nash came to me and asked, "Mom, are you sick?" I replied that I wasn't. He continued, "Do you have a headache?" I answered, "No, Nash. What do you want?" He then says, "Well, Sunday is almost over and we haven't had any dessert." You don't have to ask me twice. I will happily hop to it if dessert is involved. I made our usual Sunday treat, chocolate chip cookies, and then we decided to work on some Halloween crafts-mostly ideas borrowed from Pinterest. I love crafting with my kids. Even though it is inevitably a huge mess, watching their little hands and minds work is pretty awesome.



We made SPOOKY skeleton shirts!

 (Can you tell it was a little bit chilly when we took this picture?)

Egg Carton Bats!

Q-tip skeletons-who somehow morphed into Ninjago Villains.  The boys also made spider webs by creating designs on wax paper with glitter glue and then letting it dry.  The spider webs have managed to disappear.