Halloween 2008

Confession: I hate Halloween. My animosity grows each year in repulsion to match the increasingly morbid and grotesque costumes/decor/etc. Because of this repulsion, my decor is limited to the few things that have been given to us over the years. It wasn't until I was talking to my sister Angela on Halloween morning that she reminded me of a few things. Namely, Halloween does have a fun side. I remembered when we were little an would spend Conference Weekend playing office and creating our pumpkin man. Pumpkin Man consisted of a plastic pumpkin head, our dad's flannel shirt and some pants stuffed with newspaper, and sitting in the corner of our entry way. I quickly found some of Tiago's old overalls and flannel shirt and constructed our own Pumpkin Girl. I knew someday I would find use for those cute boots that Mia could never wear.

She also gave me some fun ideas some of which I had tried and other that I am sure will become a part of our family's tradition. Just so you can have a few more ideas: musical tombstones (chairs) with Halloween music, pin the broom/nose on the witch, going on a dracula (lion) hunt. We love doughnut on a string, hot dog mummies,pumpkin anything, frog lips with marshmallow teeth,
fancy caramel apples with a scavenger hunt around the house to find the ingredients, and pumpkin shaped pizzas. We used garlic flavored crescent rolls filled with a garlic alfredo sauce with spinach, chicken, and cheddar cheese then brushed with a parmesean butter topping mix to add to the look.
This year we even added a Jamba Juice like drink packed with hidden goodness. The orange part was made with mango, carrots, and pineapple orange juice. The red part consisted of raspberries, red cabbage, and fruit punch Gatorade.

We ended up surprising Mia at school for a Halloween lunch.


It was fun to eat our mummy dogs and froggie lips. Afterwords I read a few Halloween books to the kids.

I tried to get some last minute decorations, but never found anything I really liked. I take that back. I did find a few things I liked, but they were a bit pricey for my taste. After wasting a few hours in the stores, I came home and did a quick search on Better Homes and Gardens website. I found a ton of cute/easy decor ideas that I could have done with the kids. Too late for this year. I guess that is for next year. Such as Candy Corn Topiaries , Creepy Critters, Felt Witch Hats, Crafty Pumpkin Candles. You should see their site. I love it.
Mia had wanted to be a Princess Kitty, Tiago wanted to be a car or fire truck, and Talia had no choice. After perusing for costumes, I decided to venture to make my own. With Tulle aplenty, I found a needle and thread and went to work on making a princess skirt to go with an Old Navy cat shirt and some borrowed cat ears and tail. In my head it was a lot cuter. She only ended up wearing it for our ward Trunk-o-Treat because of her newly school made bat mask which meant no more kitty. . .hello bat girl. Even with all my creativity, I couldn't and didn't want to figure out how to successfully turn Tiago into a vehicle though there are those who can. Instead, we borrowed a Thomas the Train giddy up and called it good. Talia got a pumpkin shirt and hat and again I went with the Tulle skirt. Her skirt actually turned out pretty cute.

We watched the first part of Jurassic Park while we ate our pizza dinner then got ready for trick-o-treating. Fernando made it home in time to go. He was already in a BYU shirt (not surprising) and so we just gave him a few of our BYU paraphernalia and called him a super fan. I had been a G rated version of a Geisha for our ward Trunk-o-Treat thanks to a brides maid dress from Angela's wedding, but opted on the more sturdy option of cowgirl. We went around a few houses in our neighborhood before the kids got bored. Talia even fell asleep in my arms.




We previously agreed that the kids could pick out any 5 candies to call their own and the rest would be given out to the kids who came to our house. Now, before anyone gets too offended, let me explain. We eat lots of treats at our house. My kids have no lack of sugar. We often have the conversation about sweets and the benefit to our health. We also talk a lot about eating the good stuff (translation fatty goodness like cakes, doughnuts, etc) versus mediocre stuff like skittles. We had to tell Tiago to pick more since he said he only wanted 2 candies. Fernando got them ready for bed and I sat in my driveway passing out the rest of the candy. I was more then generous since I wanted to get inside and be with Fernando who hasn't be around for awhile. I only had one group of over aged boys. After the 3rd time they came around, I told them that they were too old and probably could find something better to do next year. I know I will have some better ideas for a more festive Halloween next year, if only for the sake of my cute kids.