We opted to try something different on October 31st this year. Our new parish holds an All Saints party with a hot dog dinner, games for the kids, entertainment (this year it was a juggler) and the option to also bring home candy. With temperatures dipping low, the added bonus of the event being indoors was great. We had two shepherds, St. Gianna (a doctor) and a monkey from Noah’s ark. The kids had a lot of fun and Shecklet #3 was also an assistant for one of the juggler’s tricks.
The 3 older Littles love playing with the dress up clothes/costumes in our basement. It’s not surprising then, that the idea of collecting candy just for dressing up is sheer brilliance in their minds. I’m pretty sure that the level of excitement doesn’t stem from the possibility of eating everything they bring home. They purely enjoy dressing up, greeting the neighbors, collecting, combining, and then sorting what they were so generously given.
This year, our Littles went as a mummy, baby dragon, cowgirl and a gnome. It was so much fun seeing Little #2 wear the mummy costume that Uncle Tony wore as a kid. Little #4, the dragon, was the third Shecklet to don the warm, fuzzy, green outfit. (Little #3 was too little her first Halloween and too big her second.) We put a pink bow on her head to make her a “girl dragon.” Our cowgirl was a superhero with her pink mask, and our garden gnome was grinning from ear to ear, but you couldn’t quite see it through his long, white beard.
Trick-or-treating began after school when we stopped by “the loft” to visit Papa, Mr. Eric and Uncle Tony. Auntie Kristin also came by and brought the kids a treat. From there, we went to Nana & Papa’s house to run up the front sidewalk and ring the doorbell. After a few group photos and adding non-edible treats to their buckets/bags, we loaded back up and drove home to get ready for round three in our neighborhood.
Two of our friends joined us for the fun. The guys walked the kids door-to-door and the ladies took turns holding Little #4. Little #3 joined us back home after making it around most of our block. From what I was told, the boys made mad dashes between houses as they went around the rest of the neighborhood. It was cool and slightly misty out tonight, so I’m sure running helped keep them at least a little warm.
Upon their return, Little #1 & Little #2 dumped their candy into one pile. Little #3 didn’t want to be left out, so she added hers to the mix. Then, being the organizers that they are, they set to work on sorting the candy by type. Who knew that Halloween could double as math exercise?
We ended our nightly prayers by praying for the people who handed out candy tonight. It was a great way to talk to the Littles about what generosity means and how we can in turn be generous to others – and not just when it comes to candy. I love to see their little hearts so open to such a concept.
We have four kids. That means we “had” to buy four pumpkins. Based on previous years’ experiences, I had a feeling there would be much excitement prior to carving pumpkins, but not as much when it came to actually cleaning out the pumpkin guts. I was correct…times four. *Sigh*
But like any committed mom, I took the silver serving spoon and scraped the pumpkin insides bare and dumped out the orange seedy contents onto the baking sheet on the table…times four.
Then I attempted to follow the drawn on lines of the pumpkin faces…times four.
After just over an hour, we had jack-o-lanterns for the Littles…times four.
And they couldn’t be happier…times four.
P.S. you’ll see Little #4’s pumpkin has two bottom teeth just like her 🙂
We took a trip to Jake’s parents’ house today and were able to enjoy the beautiful weather! The kids got to trick-or-treat at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and then we headed to the apple orchard where my mother-in-law works ever fall. The older three Littles loved checking out the animals, climbing the hay bales, playing on the wooden train, going for a tractor ride and navigating the corn maze. Little #4 wasn’t very enthralled with taking group photos with her siblings, but we tried.
One of the local high schools hosted a fun afternoon event for kids. The high schoolers decorated the trunks of their cars, had activities for the kids and handed out candy to the Littles. I have been asked if we can go again next year…and we just finished 10 minutes ago 🙂
Birthday costume party for a classmate of Little #1. He had a blast! Games, candy, dance party, cake & ice cream. Great way to spend a rainy October day!
Yesterday I loaded up the crew and brought them to Jake’s parents’ house so they could trick-or-treat at Grandma & Grandpa’s. Today, we headed out to the office to greet Papa & Uncle Tony and then went to the house to see Nana. The kids have had so much fun wearing their costumes this year…Buzz Lightyear, Red Dog, and Little Bee.
Halloween was a blast this year! The boys were both pretty excited about it going into the big day. In the end, we actually had to cut Lincoln off. I think he would have tried another block’s worth of houses if we had let him. The kid has the candy grab down pat – thanks for the practice, Uncle Tony! Good thing most houses put the candy into his bucket instead. Here’s a rundown of the day, in pictures.
We visited Nana & Papa’s house in the morning. Since Nana recently had shoulder surgery, it was easier to go to her.
The next doorbell we rang was Uncle Tony’s. He put on his Halloween costume too – he was The Karate Kid this year.
Later in the day we carved our lone pumpkin. This baby came straight from our garden. It’s the only thing (aside from the celery) that did well this summer. I think it sucked the life out of every other pumpkin that attempted to grow on the same vine.
Finally, we gathered the munchkins together (ours plus two others) and headed out on a quest for candy.
We had a special guest come along with us. Auntie Stacie was home for the weekend and helped us keep track of the kids as we walked around the block.
