Boo!

Sunday was Halloween, but it was also Sunday, soooo...we decided to do some home-based, fun family activities after attending Church that morning.  After eating lunch, we decided to watch some fun, family Halloween movies.  There was Disney's Haunted Mansion, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and Hocus Pocus.

For dinner we had a stew that had chunks of butternut squash in it (very similar to pumpkin), and then we cut out and frosted sugar cookies!

 Jeremiah helping Kyle...

 My sister, Brittany, and Jeremiah helped the kids cut out and bake the cookies.

Yummy!  All in all, a WONDERFUL, fun and family filled Halloween!

HaLlOwEeN fUn WiTh FaMiLy!

I love this time of year!  The weather cools off.  You get to break out the jeans and sweatshirts.  The holidays approach, in triplicate.  Everyone is excited and happy.  It's just a fun time...especially when seen through the eyes of your children.

I was blessed this year to have lots of visitors for Halloween.  My parents moved here from California in June - now they are only 5 minutes from my house.  My sister, Heidi, lives with them.  My sister, Jamie, and her friend Q (that's what his friends call him) were here.  And my sister, Brittany, and her boyfriend, Jeremiah, came.  It was a full house...just the way I like it!

Around Phoenix, you can't carve your pumpkin too early or it molds...within about two days!  This being the day before Halloween, it was time.  I was so excited to have siblings around who were excited to help my kids carve.  That has usually fallen to me in previous years.  I was glad to take a break this year.  Instead, I got to document the festivities with my camera!

 Cutting the tops off...

 Ewwwy, gooey, insides...

 I think Kyle might fit inside this pumpkin...he looks like he's trying to crawl inside!

 Those seeds will make for a great snack once we roast them!

 All the kids cut their pumpkins completely by themselves.  I was very impressed with the results!

 Kyle and his pumpkin have the same face!

 Everyone was so hard at work!

 When Jeremiah saw our pool he asked if he could go swimming.  I reminded him it was the end of October and the pool was cold (in the 50's).  He said that wasn't too cold and asked if the kids could go, too.  We asked if the kids wanted to and they jumped at the chance.  Morgan sat on a raft and tried to keep from getting all they way in - she didn't succeed.

 This is Jeremiah and Kyle getting ready to take their first plunge into the pool...

  Colton diving off the diving board...

 Morgan was still trying to keep from getting her head wet.  It was so funny to watch Jeremiah tease her as she was stuck in the deep end, on a raft, at Jeremiah's mercy...and he wasn't about to be merciful!

 When the raft was within a distance to the step in the deepend that she thought she could jump to, she made a break for it...and made it...barely.

 Everyone showing off their creations...Colton, Brittany, Bryan, Kyle, Morgan, Jamie, and Q.

cheerleaders, vampires, and sharks...oh my!

I must say that I dread Halloween a little bit.  I like the holiday, I just dread having to come up with costumes for my kids.  What will they want to be?  Is it something I can make for cheap?  Can I even make it?  Better yet, can they make it?  Many times, they don't seem to be able to make a decision until the week they need the costume.  We have been guilty of wearing the same costume a couple years in a row...if it was even CLOSE to fitting (a little high-waters never hurt anyone).

This year, Morgan decided to be a cheerleader.  Wonderful!  She could use her uniform from dance class.  Colton wanted to be a shark.  Bryan had been a shark about four years before.  Only 2 months previous to Colton's declaration, I had thrown Bryan's costume away, wondering why in the world I had held onto it for so long.  Who asks to be a shark?  Apparently one other person besides Bryan.  Luckily it wasn't too difficult a costume to make...again.  I was able to plant the idea in Kyle's head that he would make a MARVELOUS vampire...especially since he lost his two front teeth - very fanglike look for him.  A friend of mine had a vampire costume he could borrow.  Perfect!

The Friday before Halloween (which was Sunday this year), Morgan, Colton, and Kyle went to school dressed up in their costumes (minus Kyle's scary vampire makeup due to school rules).  

The district doesn't allow a Halloween parade, but our school has gotten around it by linking it to a book.  You bring the book to carry with you during the parade and dress up as your favorite character in the book.  This means that kids, rather than bringing their favorite book, search for a book that fits the character they were going to be for Halloween anyway.  It all works out.

All the kids also had Halloween parties in their classes.  I helped out at Kyle's...

 His teacher, Cinderella, reading a Hallween story to her class.

 Concentrating on coloring a bookmark - love his tongue!  It means he is concentrating.

 Bingo...

 Decorating cookies...

 ...and eating them!

 The book parade!

The book parade ended with a rally by the principle in the gym.  On a side note...he announced their school, after state testing, came back as the 7th best school in the state!  So cool!

That night was our ward's "Trunk Or Treat" celebration. The kids were especially excited for "Trunk or Treat" since they wouldn't be trick or treating on actual Halloween due to it being on Sunday (trying to keep the Sabbath day holy). Bryan was unsure if he would dress up. At thirteen years old he wasn't ready to give up the candy of Halloween, yet he thought he might be too old for a costume. Thirty minutes before the party, I suggested he go as a cowboy. Mark had the hat, boots, gun belt with holster...he was excited to have something cool to dress up as that would let him get some candy. The party was a success!



 NOW Kyle could wear his vampire makeup!  Doesn't he look scary? ...In a very cute way, of course.