There are certain days in the Halloween “season” where I abhor it: way too much candy, dressing kids up over and over, cleaning up all the paraphernalia for days on end after it’s over.

But there are other days where I think it’s the best day ever: when I sit in awe of all the creative ideas people come up with, feeling the warm camaraderie in our neighborhood running into old friends as we walk the streets, and watching my children glow from excitement.

Oh, and the Kit Kats and Twix. Mmmmm.

Plus, Halloween marks the time of year for me each year when I can count on the weather finally starting to cool down a little bit.

And I’m here to tell you, after days and days of hot, hot, hot, that feels mighty good.

One of my favorite parts of Halloween is the pumpkin carving:

Apparently we missed the boat on the big pumpkins this year because after searching at four different stores Dave came home with these little puppies.
The size sure made it more manageable…I have to say that.

But Max was still yearning for a bigger one.

So we decided to carve our watermelon:

I think it turned out pretty cool:
(Max did all that teeth-work himself.)

We all know that you can be really good things for Halloween, not just scary, crazy things, right?

So Max and his friend decided to be Mormon missionaries. In my opinion, you can’t get better than that:)
It made my heart jump a beat or two envisioning him in a few years dressing like that for real.

Whoa. Let’s just stop right there.

Elle was some sort of crazy (cute) mad-hatter:
When Grace found this head-piece in our dress-up box she decided she had to be a flapper.

And apparently flapper girls have to have fake eyelashes.
We didn’t have any real eyelash glue (not something we generally have on hand I guess) so we glued those babies on with an Elmer’s glue stick. Not a method I’d recommend if you want them to stay on for more than two seconds.

Claire went through many various stages of her witch outfit. She started out a blond witch (back here). Then we added some black spray-paint for her hair:

But what she really wanted was a green face.

I was trying to catch the light so she had to wait.

…and wait…

…and wait…
(But let’s pause here for a minute because seriously, I like these kids.)

Ok, back to Claire waiting for her green face happily:

…then not so happily:

And finally, there we go:

A real witch.

Lucy, of course, was Sleeping Beauty: …and never worried for a second about anything but her crown (that we seriously have scarcely been able to pry off for two weeks), and her ratty dress that Elle wore when she was Sleeping Beauty years ago.

She was pleased as punch about the whole ordeal.


Then it was on to the main event: Trick-or-Treating.



One of my most favorite things about Halloween was Lucy’s candy bucket because we had been so worried about all the candy coming her way.

It was miniscule, which, of course, makes for very scanty candy gathering.

But she was so darn pleased about that thing and the little bat plastered on the front that she hardly recognized that it didn’t really change weight from house to house. I have no idea what happened to all the candy after the first few houses because there was no room for more. She kept trick-or-treating with a big smile on her face. It was like the opposite of the loaves and the fishes story in the Bible….the candy just miraculously disappeared.

She dumped out her three or four pieces when the girls and their friends dumped out their mounds and she was just as happy as could be. Then she started playing with her squinkies and my brother and I ate her candy. It was awesome.

Let’s take a closer look at that green face by the end of the night:
Nice.

Ok, so I do love Halloween.

But I’m ok for it not to come back for another whole year:)

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22 Comments

  1. I loved halloween this year, my kids were at a perfect age. It was a little chilly in Canada, but nicer that most years ( however, snow forcast tomorrow UGH). It's the night where my kids never fight!… they are excited to go trick or treating together, to help each other, to then empty their 'loot' and oohh and aahh over every piece. My 3 yr old was so funny he had to stop at every house and have a conversation with the home owner about what he has in his 'bucket' it made for a long night!!

  2. A missionary! That is the cutest thing ever. I would be so proud, what a great teenager 🙂 My boy is 6 months, but I hope he has the same dream!

  3. I have a question about how you were able to post those square shaped pictures side-by-side, in even rows like that. (I've noticed you do different configurations similar to this in previous posts.)

    I'd like to be able to do that on my blog, but I can't figure out how. SO, if you (or anyone else that might know) could let me know, that would be wonderful! Oh yeah, adorable pictures by the way!

    Your paralyzed friend,
    Heather
    Heather_I_Johnson@yahoo.com

  4. Wonderful pictures and so fun! I love seeing an AZ Halloween. Here in AK we have snow and cold, so we trick-or-teat just a street or two (or course, we are on 1 acre lots so the houses are spread out quite a bit), and I shuttle them around in the car. We love it though. Love the story of Lucy's candy and your son being a missionary! Perfect!

  5. I love the kid's costumes. They all look amazing! I especially love the watermelon pumpkin with the spider coming out to its mouth. Great job Max 🙂

    It's so wonderful to see that Max & Elle still sit down to carve pumpkins with the family at their ages. I am hoping that will be the case in my house.

    I love Halloween as well but I am happy it's over for another year 🙂 I still have to take down all of my decor, maybe I will get to that this weekend!

  6. cute costumes! Your kids are adorable. I love that Lucy was content with her little bucket and not mounds of candy-she must have just been having enough fun that it didn't matter 🙂 PS you should talk more about your brother 🙂

  7. Hey, I've got an idea for Lucy for next year. We used to buy some really terrific things that we wouldn't normally buy for our kids outside of Christmas BEFORE Halloween. Then, when they came home from trick-or-treating, we'd pull those terrific things out (one per child) and ask if they would like to trade: candy for the new non-candy item. Every single time they gave up the candy. My husband would load up all the candy and take it to work. (At least, that's where I think the candy went. Some things it's just better not to know, right?)

  8. Fun Fun Photos! Is that a Mr. Jangles on your door? ha my kids love him especially my 11 month can't walk by it in our house without reaching out to touch the button on his nose or making a loud noise with her voice to try to get him to dance. Good times!

  9. I bought my kids candy this year. five cents for every piece! I didn't think they would go for it, but they did. We were at the dollar store the next day and they haven't even asked for their candy! I am thinking about saving it for decorating gingerbread houses…

  10. I have a friend that let's her kids enjoy the candy for a day and they she has them put their candy buckets out on the doorstep for the "Sugar Witch". The "Sugar Witch" takes all the candy and replaces it with other fun things like new markers, paints, small toys etc. (Then she hides the candy in the house so the kids can't find it and she and her husband enjoy it the rest of the year)
    This year one of my other friends dressed her little girl like a puppy dog which was so cute because she just gave her daughter a puppy a few months ago so she matched her pet. Very cute
    http://mymldface.blogspot.com/

  11. Each year between the running around and the ups/downs of kids hopped up on sugar and then crashing hard, the last minute fumble of costumes while younger ones are impatient to get started,then the inevitable halfway through the "can you carry me I'm tired", I too thought I disliked Halloween. This year we had no power so Halloween was cancelled. Its amazing when something is taken away you realize how much it really means. Broke my heart to tell my 5 yr old there was no trick or treat this year. Crossing fingers our power returns SOON (almost 1 wk) but thankful we have family sheltering us.

  12. gosh. i can't get over how great your family and kids are. most days, i think i only want a few kids…like, 3. but when i read your blog, i want 5 or more. i just love the family you guys are (as creepy as that probably sounds). your kids seem to ahve so much fun together and you seem like such a strong family unit. i just love it!

  13. The Encyclopedia Americana says: “Elements of the customs connected with Halloween can be traced to a Druid [ancient Celtic priesthood] ceremony in pre-Christian times. The Celts had festivals for two major gods—a sun god and a god of the dead . . . , whose festival was held on November 1, the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The festival of the dead was gradually incorporated into Christian ritual.”
    Pumpkin carving originated from an ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was celebrated from sunset on October 31st to sunset on November 1st, to honor the deceased relatives and friends. The carved pumpkins were set on porches and in windows, to welcome the spirits of loved ones and guide their way. They were believed to protect people from evil and malevolent spirits.
    “We all know that you can be really good things for Halloween, not just scary, crazy things, right?”
    Just because you dress up as a missionary does not make Halloween any less pagan, thus a slap in the face to God. Most people know that Halloween is from pagan origin but still feel that it is not wrong to celebrate it. Most people are not thinking about false worship when they observe holidays. These occasions give families opportunities to draw close together. That may sound ok on the surface, but to illustrate: Suppose you saw a piece of candy lying in the gutter. Would you pick up that candy and eat it? Of course not! That candy is unclean. Like that candy, holidays may seem sweet, but they have been picked up from unclean places. To take a stand for true worship, we need to have a viewpoint like that of the prophet Isaiah, who told true worshipers: “Touch nothing unclean.”—Isaiah 52:11.

  14. I read on a blog that the mother lets her kids have a few pieces of candy, then she has them put the candy on the doorstep before bedtime. The "Great Pumpkin" comes and takes the candy away (donates it) and gives the kids a nice little gift instead. They still get to enjoy trick or treating, still get to have a few pieces of candy, then enjoy a gift. To much???

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