Halloween 2013

This year I realized we are gradually growing out of Halloween.  I can’t even do my traditional Halloween collage because it was like herding ants to get everyone here at the same time let alone dressing up at the same time.

For all those years I dreaded it.  The changing-of-minds on costumes over and over and over.  The madness of the rush from one party to the next.  The sewing.  The whining.  The coordination of trick-or-treating with neighbor friends.  Trying to trick-or-treat with five kids wanting to go in five different directions and one or two bawling with candy drool dripping off their chins.

But as my mom and I took Lucy up and down the street one time until she was ready to call it quits, my other kids all spread out happily with friends doing their own things, I got a little melancholy and I missed these guys:
I even missed these guys:
I missed all the young families we have hung out with for our annual Halloween potluck every year and realized none of us are young families any more.  All these sweetie-pies are teenagers now, some dating and driving.How did that happen?

But Halloween was still good.  I do love simple.  And this year, aside from a few costume morphs, things were pretty good and pretty simple.

Costume morphing:

For the school fall festival Claire and Lu got dolled up as a cheerleader and a bride:
I hadn’t had time to help Claire fix up the Alice in Wonderland outfit she wanted to wear, and Lu and I hadn’t rounded up a Rapunzel outfit yet so they just went to the costume box and pulled out some gear.
Made things sooooo simple and put a big smile on my face.
Every once in a while Lu morphed into Nanny McPhee too 🙂
Then back to bride:
This is the only pic. I got from all that hoopla that night:Love that Josh for enjoying the hoopla with us and enduring the haunted house with the kids.

For the Trunk-or-Treat they stayed the same and Grace joined them as some kind of rendition of Pocahontas:At first she wasn’t too excited because we didn’t happen to have baby pjs big enough for her so she could match her friends but that’s what we had in the costume box.

But gradually caught the spirit:
She even helped her little sister morph back into a bride.
…a bride who couldn’t let go of her twirly hairdo from school that day because she loves that one so darn much.
The neighborhood trunk-or-treat was a hit.(Thanks Emily for that cute pic!)

Dave and I morphed from Great Gatsby folks:
…into normal run-of-the-mill parents on Halloween night:

Max and Elle morphed into high school kids on Halloween day.
Max and his friends were 50’s guys.
Luckily my mom was here to help whip Claire’s costume into shape since we put it off until Halloween night…
Elle and I made this dress out of some curtains we found at Good Will a while back {THIS POST is about how we made it}:
But Claire wanted it a little shorter to be more authentic, so here was the finished product:
…with a monster behind her…
Lucy decided to be an “angel” instead of a bride because her flowers itched her.  I can’t imagine that sequin thing was any better but she was pleased as punch about that thing.
Have I mentioned how much I love my dad?
Max was a volleyball guy with messy hair…since he had volleyball until almost 10 that night.
Grace and friends…
Let’s just go ahead and excuse this super blurry picture but I have to at least have a pic. of Elle on Halloween.  She was a bat as you can plainly see…
After eating THIS SOUP that I love, we sent the big kids off with their friends leaving a trail of bikes behind them.
And I set up the front walk for the trick-or-treaters as the nostalgia kicked in.
How am I going to tear myself away from this house filled with so many Halloween (and so many other) memories?
Lucy was very patient with me while I wiped my nostalgic tears.
Then we walked around with my mom just long enough to fill up her tiny bucket with a few treats and for me to lament about the good old days when all my children were babies.
This is how Lu looked by the end of the night passing out candy (which she loved):Gotta love that angel hairdo…

These girls had to come home for a break in between trick-or-treating…
These girls survived without their own trick-or-treating adventures this year.The loot:

Oh boy, just like I realize after Halloween every year, I do love that great holiday and all that comes with it.

Until next year…ha ha.