Halloween's happenings!

To my friends: Round about October I found myself in seclusion. Not because I wanted or desired a quiet, relaxing, time without interruption from the human race but because the holidays began and the projects and events that our family was involved in were quite the time consuming tasks! So yes, my 'hermitude' is over and here is the reason for my absence from normal society!
First of all, since I had Ainsley, I haven't been able to help in Aubrey or Walker's classrooms at all. A great departure from last year! So I always ask their teachers for another way to lend a hand. (I'm a firm believer in parent volunteers in the schools, whenever or whatever that help might be.) Walker's Kindergarten teacher whom I absolutely adore, asked me to make (as pictured above) these lollipop ghosts for the Kindergarten Halloween Carnival (which is separate from the rest of the school's Halloween carnival). The K Halloween Carnival goes all out with booths, games, prizes, everything you can think of, even a great hot dog lunch for all of the kids, so I really wanted to help. So the 2 days before Halloween I spent my extra time, (you know, when you're not doing laundry, dishes, cleaning, chauffeuring, actually playing with the kids, oh! and talking with the husband,) tying, and 'face'ing these lollipop ghosts. Which when done, were pretty darn cute, all 350 of them!

We also had the ward Halloween "Trunk or Treat" which they held as a ward Family Home Evening this year. I loved that they changed it to an "off-Halloween" night so I could actually take my kids trick or treating this year.
And of course, like our ward is accustomed to doing, they outdid themselves! From the bubbling brew, which Maverick was intrigued by, to the Halloween craft (having the kids decorate their own treat bags) and the fact that they had an actual FHE lesson, it was just fantastic. They had the parade of costumes where the parents applaud as they walk by (my kids loved that.) They had food aplenty and most importantly, we all had fun conversations and a good time. The evening ends with families all parked beside one another with their trunks open handing out candy 'trick-or-treat' style to the kids. It's just a great night!



The night before Halloween, our elementary school holds its annual Boo Bash, which is extravagant and outdoes itself every year! They make an elaborate haunted house or trick or treat lane for the faint of heart which encompasses the entire multipurpose room. It's just amazing. They have jump houses aplenty, games, prizes, music, last year they even had a foam machine (which they didn't continue this year due to the 'messy' combination of foam on costumes.) They have cake walks and hula hoop contests, they have good food and just a lot of fun. The kids have a blast! And this year I did too. Last year I was in charge of all of the volunteers for bash which took hours of my 'free time.' This year I had promised Chris, to not involve myself in one more project...like I always say but seem to never avoid. But I tried, in this case, to keep that promise and got to enjoy the Boo Bash with the family.


And then the actual day of Halloween...
Which started with the parade of costumes at school! It was funny watching the parents in the school parking lot, adjusting their kid's costumes which were inevitably going to be taken off, dirtied, and possibly ripped during the first recess. Here are Aubrey and Walker with little Haven with whom we carpool to school.
And let the Trick or Treating begin! It was Maverick's first time Trick or Treating! We thought that it would take him a little while to figure this out considering he doesn't always take kindly to strangers..Nope! After the first house he was pushing to the front of the other kids and yelling "Tick or Teat" to the extended candy buckets.

We made it down one street with the Thatchers and the Billmans and the kids wanted to call it a night. They wanted to sit in front of our own home to pass out the candy. Done! We laid Ainsley down to sleep and the rest of us got our chairs and enjoyed the warm October evening being candy handlers.

The funny thing is: the kids love Halloween and candy but really don't like to eat it all afterward. Chris and I check all of their bags and goodies and then they leave their bags on the counter to graze on for a few days. After that they just tell me to throw it out. That was soooo not me as a child. I remember sitting for what seemed like hours trading candy with my siblings, sometimes being duped by my older brother in an unfair trade, and holding on to that candy with all my might and efforts. I guess my kids will have to learn that skill of unhealthy candy hording later.