(this is "Spidey", our friendly pet--with a broken leg--who drops down for a visit at our table any time a loud noise is made. He is a big hit during the month of October at our house. Sorry to anyone who came over and got scared because I forgot to turn it off!)To start with, I know I must warn you about the amount of pictures in this post. I just can't narrow it down to a few! I have a sickness I'm sure. But I also wanted to throw everything together in one last post to wrap up Halloween for the year and move on. It already seems like these pictures are from a long time ago, but considering the way I've been catching up on the blog, the fact that they are barely a week old is not too shabby. And really after this, I'll be pretty much caught up, which I haven't been in ages. So I hope to keep it that way!
So, now on to documenting Halloween this year. We started Friday night with a family night of eating pizza, carving pumpkins, and making caramel apples. I was wondering if we'd have time to fit it in this year since October was a very hectic month. But luckily we did and I'm so glad! Although, we realized we were really kidding ourselves when we thought pumpkin carving was a family activity. After the initial fun of cutting it open, things got wild and we were constantly telling the boys to quit stabbing each other with sharp objects and ransacking the house while we were busy working. So, we eventually put them to bed and continued working on the pumpkins. I think we finished at 1 a.m. (because every member of the family had to have their own, of course. But of course that means that Garrett and I each carved an extra one!) I was quite certain my hand was going to fall off by the time we finished.
Tyler was trying his hardest to get into it, but he was so disgusted by the smell. He has been so funny lately and seems to have the most sensitive nose as of late for some reason. So the pumpkins were definitely a challenge for him. As you can see from the pictures, he was not so thrilled with the task of cleaning it out. (And Sam was nowhere near the pumpkins during our carving expedition. He didn't care for them too much.)
But the caramel apples seemed to make everything okay...
OK, and let me say that I haven't laughed so hard in a long, long, long time.... Garrett got pretty intense with his pumpkin carving this year. He got out his Dremel and started working on it and then quickly was getting sprayed in the eyes and mouth with pumpkin shavings so then he proceeded to get his safety goggles while he worked. So, I don't know if I have ever seen someone take it so seriously... I about died laughing.
Check out all the orange pumpkin shavings on his face! You should have seen the front of his shirt when he finished, too...
So after a true labor of love, we finally had them finished up. From left to right, we have Tyler's (ok really it was mine since I think I have carpal tunnel now from carving it for him...) spider, Garrett's Count von Count (Sesame Street), my polka dotted pumpkin, and Sammy's traditional face that got chopped into it after we had about killed over from the carving. But it sure was fun looking at the final result!!
So, then the morning of Halloween started out with a photo session for me and then it was time to get ready for festivities. We had a trunk or treat/ward party at the church, so we headed there in the later afternoon. We took our new candy bowl that was the highlight of the boys' Halloween this year. It tried to scare you when you reached for the candy. Tyler & Sam could not get enough of it!
And let me just say the following pictures of nothing short of a miracle. During the week leading up to Halloween, I finally found the costume for Sam on sale and he was thrilled when I got it and hugged it and the whole nine yards. But it was a different story when we actually put it on him for the first time. He was terrified of wearing it. I guess he was scared to see himself in costume. So, I was worried that he was going to have to go as himself for Halloween because we tried a few more times during the week with the same results. But as we got closer to Halloween we told him over and over that if he dressed up as a puppy, people would give him lots of candy. So I waited until we were getting out of the truck at the church to try putting it on him. He was distracted enough by all of the other kids playing that it worked. And he was even happy wearing it! I was so relieved and I thought he made the CUTEST puppy dog I've ever seen. I was one happy mama!
And I can't explain this pose of Tyler's. I hope he's not practicing to be Mr. October in an upcoming Fireman calendar. Hmmm...
I loved that puppy from the front, but I couldn't get over how cute he was from the back too!
After the costume parade at the trunk or treat...waiting to go outside and get some candy!
And then it was finally time to hit up all the cars and get Mom and Dad some yummy treats. :)
After we trunk or treated, we hit up a street close to our house to do a little traditional door to door trick or treating. The neighborhood had gone all out and decorated every house and had the street was abuzz with a TON of people. It had its pros & cons, but it was fun. There were a few really scary things for little kids, though, and at one point Sam was bawling because he'd been scared so bad. I was amazed he recovered. And luckily we had turned the corner and headed up the other side of the street just in time, before a guy came running around the corner with a chainsaw. The kids over there were scared stiff. I was glad my kids weren't over there.
After about 30 minutes, we were ready to call it a day. So we headed home and enjoyed the loot!
But all in all, we had a great Halloween! I love seeing kids on Halloween, it's so much fun. And I could look at my kids in their costumes all day long--I think they're so cute. :) And now we're already a week into November, how on earth is this happening and where has this year gone?!
Here are just two of the many, many humorous lawn decorations at some of the houses. They were pretty funny!
Well, here they are...the rest of Sam's 2 year pictures. And you would not believe what a sour little bugger he was being that day either. You'd never know it by looking at these! He kept scrunching up his face and furrowing his eyebrows and saying "all done". And we were only there for about 15 minutes! He didn't last long, but I just kept saying "all I really need is one good one to update the mantle". And I was happy that I got a few keepers. I just love this kid and his emerging personality! This age of 2 has to be my favorite. Yes, he is difficult. Quite often, too. But there is so much cuteness in a 2 year old to conquer that "terrible two-ness", it makes it all worth it!
And out of all of them, I think this one above is the biggest keeper for me. I'm thinkin' it's going on the mantle. What do you think? And grandparents, if you'd like a print of a particular picture, this is your chance to tell me...I'll probably send them to you with your holiday packages in a couple weeks. So let me know!
