In case I haven't mentioned, we have six kids. This means that we'd have to live on a secluded mountain peak to avoid Halloween and all the fun/terror it brings. We start talking about our costumes at the beginning of September. But I refuse to do anything about it before October actually arrives. And because I can't bring myself to buy a costume unless under emergency situations, we have a lot of scurrying around to make things right.
Luckily, most costumes survive the first few uses. For example, we had Batman for the 3rd time when Rebekah took on the character.
And it was perfect for Joseph. He really wanted to be Batman, but was only big enough for Boy Robin. That was close enough for him. We went to the school to join Rebekah in her Kindergarten parade. The Dynamic Duo must stay together!
And getting a sucker for his troubles didn't bother him at all. (He was pretty reluctant to join Rebekah at first. That "Collett Coma" keeps us in good manners in most situations, but it doesn't wear off before 10 minutes passes and it almost kept Joseph from participating!)
I was able to use old costumes for everyone, but Daniel and Nathan.
This was Nathan's costume. It is a copy of the costumes Chad and I made for ourselves in 1999 (our first Halloween).
It was plenty big on him. He could wear it again next year if he chooses to. Here is Nathan in the main parade that day. He was looking up at a ghost traveling across the hallway.
Leah was a mummy. This was Daniel's costume 4 years ago. She got to follow her teacher (a.k.a. Dorothy (Wizard of Oz)) which put a pretty big smile on her face.
The next night the school hosted a Halloween carnival (fundraiser) and we enjoyed ourselves as we played some games, won some prizes and visited with friends.
Rebekah is a dangerous bowler.
Sarah joined in the cupcake walk. She seemed so tiny next to those big high school kids. But she was not bothered by the difference. Even after Nathan was done, she remained and walked the circle, making those other kids trip over her. I should have pulled her out sooner, but it was so darn CUTE to watch!
There was a haunted house. The kids waited in line for quite a while. (It's a little tricky to get these 6 into the same shot!)
The three oldest decided that they wanted to go through on a scary run. We sent Rebekah and Joseph through a mild one.
As it turned out, Leah wasn't quite as brave as she thought. She came out a little early in tears and didn't want to talk about it. I thought it was a perfect time to whip out the camera. Mwah, hah, hah!
And there was a spaghetti dinner. Of course, we'd already done the cupcake walk and had dessert, so I had no bargaining chips left to get the kids to eat the food we paid for. Luckily, it was only $3 a plate.
And then the next night (doesn't Halloween usually last 3 days?) was the Trunk-or-Treat at the church. By this time, it was Day 24 of my no candy challenge. Ugh. That was hard.
Skeleton Nathan (A perfect costume for him...he's so skinny!)
Sarah was a stinkin' cute clown.
Here are all the kids at once. Daniel was Sherlock Holmes. That was an interesting costume to figure out. "Thanks" to my mom who gave me some helpful advice.
Trick-or-Treat!
Daniel collected candy and then put it into our bowl to pass out to trick-or-treaters. He resisted the temptations that were all around him! Amazing. We were giving out fist fulls of candy at the end and still ended up with a ton of candy (that I CAN'T eat)!
Our jack-o-lanterns were still doing pretty good a week after being carved.
I made an ice sculpture using a mold and colored water. Then I sat it on a small block of dry ice. It smoked and swirled as the trick-or-treaters came by. It got some fun comments! And then the dry ice gave the jack-o-lantern a 5 o'clock shadow. :)
And that is Halloween this year. Whew! It took me half an hour to type it all up.
December...here we come!
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