Dead Man's Party

I hope that every one's night of fright was filled with sweets, scares and only a few tricks. We had a cool night but the wind died down just in time to provide a perfect evening for Lady Di and the kids to fill bags with candy. I was put on house duty and doled out treats to around sixty ghouls and goblins.

This year, we tried a new mix of Halloween candy. In addition to Snickers and Butterfingers, we added Pringles Stix, Animal Crackers and Grips Chips Deluxe packs. The parents of the younger trick or treaters appreciated the Animal Crackers. I was surprised to see the Pringle Stix going faster than any of the chocolate. I don't know if it was because it looked like something new, or because it was the longest package in the bowl. Regardless, at the end of the night, we were left with only ten Snickers and two Animal Crackers. Which just happened to be exactly what I had calculated to be my cut for the evening.

The kids used scary and pretty costumes to help them in their candy begging.

Sweet Pea picked out a harlequin mask and went as a Mardi Gras diva. She had no idea what Mardi Gras was, but she still accepted each compliment with a 'Thank You'. She just liked the mask at the store. Number One Son wore a skull mask with a camouflage hat. An old graduation gown from the dress up box in the basement, completed his costume.

And for those that were unable to view our house decorations this year, here is my annual pumpkin round up for this season. We only carved nine gourds this year.

I started with this 'Boo' pumpkin because it was rotten when we brought it home and I didn't want to spend too much time carving it.

These two are N1S's 'rock star' and SP's 'rock star groupie' pumpkins. I think SP was going for a pumpkin with H1N1 but I wouldn't let her use pumpkin guts for the vomit. But with the little blings she put on the pumpkin, it looks like she's screaming to her favorite rock song. So much so, that you can see the little 'white mint' in her mouth. N1S's might be Ace Frehley.

The kids also carved these two by themselves. It looks like SP's eyebrow got a little too involved with her eye on this one.

These two were a couple that I carved. I don't think they turned out too bad.

And this one was my favorite. At the pumpkin stand I had to buy it because it's shape was almost exactly like a skull. So I tried to carve a skull face and didn't butcher it too badly.

That is pretty much our Halloween. Now comes the task of disposing of all of the candy the kids carted home. I'm sure I'll find a way.

All the World's a Stage

We had a nice visit from my sister and her family last week. They have two girls, E who is Sweet Pea's age and her little sister H who is three and a half. As soon as they arrived the kids started playing. When they ran out of toys to drag out, Lady Di suggested that they go to the basement and think up a show to perform. We have a cabinet full of old costumes in the basement that helped with the creativity. Actually, each 30 second show was pretty much based on which costume each kid wanted to wear and less upon plot and storyline. One of the plays was titled, "The Beautiful Princess and Darth Vader". It involved a tale of a beautiful princess walking around humming to herself when Darth Vader enters and menacingly shouts, "Where is the princess!?"

Then both actors ran offstage down to the basement.

Here is the cast of "The Soldier, The Princess and The Hunter".

The next still photo is a promotion for the upcoming "Princess and the Pea" production. Starring Sweet Pea as 'the princess', Number One Son as 'the mattress' and cousin E's debut as 'the Pea'.

Little cousin H got stage fright and was unable to perform unfortunately.

When the cousins had to leave at the end of the day we thought the theatre district would close down for the day, but there was one last performance on the marquee. We were able to sneak a camera into the theatre to snap this photo from the play, 'Disco Darth Vader vs Spiderman Scooby-Doo with antlers'.

Who Are These Kids?

I was recently, perusing some family albums and came across a bunch of spooks that have shared our house through the years. I'm talking about the kids' Halloween costumes. Each Halloween, we take the kids trick-or-treating. Most years, the kids' have donned home made costumes. This is due to their Mom's amazing creativity and their Dad's amazing frugality.


So now, without further ado, for your consideration, our family's Halloween parade of the ghouls.

This was Number One Son's second Halloween. He was only 1 month old for his first Halloween. But we still put him in baby bib overalls, a straw hat and surrounded him with farmyard Beanie Babies. So his first costume was a farmer. Sorry that I can't locate the picture.
N1S's second Halloween costume kind of took us by surprise. He was only a year and a half old, so we weren't planning on any trick or treating. But when the night came, we through a costume together involving cutting apart and gluing a furry boa and black makeup whiskers. Even today we're not sure what kind of animal he was.

Next year was a little more creative, but just as last minute. On Halloween morning we decided to use black electrical tape and white sweats to create a 'jailbird'. Lady Di made the hat and fashioned a Styrofoam ball and chain. Sorry for the grainy picture. Our camera just didn't want to focus.
The following year saw yet another home made costume. With N1S's build, a scarecrow was inevitable.

We finally got caught up with Halloween the next year and Lady Di outdid herself. She captured, perfectly, the ultimate personification of one of N1S's heroes at the time. She dyed a mop head red, made eyes and a nose and sewed it to N1S's red hooded jacket for a great Elmo. She completed the costume with a giant crayon and Dorothy the goldfish swimming in his candy bucket. Dorothy was another Beanie Baby.

I think I missed a year or so, so this is our next picture. You will notice that Sweet Pea has now made her appearance. She was a Princess Ballerina in pink, of course. You will also notice that N1S wore his first store bought costume. We still have Scooby Doo in the costume box in the basement and SP still puts it on when she is playing dress up.

The following year, SP was still a princess. N1S started to express his own choices for a costume. The mask is bought, but the bones are more electrical tape.

In 2006, SP decided to ditch the princess and be the Corpse Bride. N1S opted for a vampire.

In this picture you will see that N1S finally chose a Star Wars character. He, of course, is Obi Wan Kenobi. And Lady Di, of course, made his cape. Or 'Jedi Robe' as N1S would say. SP went back to being a princess. Although, she is a fairy princess with pink wings that you can't see in the picture.

Last year, the kids went as the Soldier and the Kitty. N1S used an uncle's old Navy uniform and we broke down and bought SP a kitty nose and tail.

Well, that is a mostly complete rundown of the Halloween costumes through the years at our house. I'm sure, in a couple of weeks, the list will be updated with this years choices. I don't know if they will be scary, cute or weird. You will just have to wait for Halloween.

Kitty and the Soldier

It was a cold and windy night. A three quarters moon was our only light, as we set off in search of sugary snack treats. Our plan was simple. We would disguise ourselves in fiendishly clever costumes, choose an unsuspecting residence, and ring their doorbell. When our victims answered the door, a shout of "Trick or Treat!" would give the poor, shivering home owners no choice but to fill our bags with candy and hope that we spared them and would then proceed to the neighbor's house. A plan so simple, so perfect and so diabolically genius could not fail. (Cue lightning crash).

Our first stop was to the local pharmacy to get a picture of the kids in their costumes. The pharmacy will make a picture button for us on Friday. The kids also got their first piece of candy for the night. And the plan wasn't even in effect yet. Sweet Pea picked a tootsie roll, then saw that her brother got a Hershey bar, so she wanted to exchange. Now that the sugar rush was officially started, it was time to plot our route.

The Soldier and the Princess Kitty and I piled into the pick-up to our first street. We went to see our old neighbor. He was dressed as a pirate, and he even had a real parrot on his shoulder. The kids were ready to trade their whole nights candy for the bird. Since we had only been to a few houses by then, it was no deal. After the first street I asked, "OK, is that enough? Should we go home?" Princess Kitty showed her claws in disagreement. Even though it was forty-five degrees with a stiff northern wind, we kept going.

We then drove to our next street. Number One Son wanted to visit every house with a light on. I had to remind him that we don't go to strangers' houses. Unless they have Peanut Butter Cups, then we load up once, switch costumes, and return for a second haul.

By now the kids' arms were being stretched by the weight of their bounty and Sweet Pea had lost her Kitty tail for the third time. I could see signs of fatigue in Sweet Pea. The cold wind and her short Kindergarten legs were starting to discourage her. Then she dropped the bomb.

"I have to go to the bathroom!"

"Ungh, Can you wait until we get to our house two blocks away?", I pleaded. I believe anyone who has a daughter knows the answer to this question.

Luckily, at that point we were close to a friends' house that graciously let us in the back door to use their facilities. I hope the Kit-Kat bar we left on the sink was enough payment.

Now that we were warm and dry, we ventured out into the cold again.

One more street and we would be home free. The last street is, of course, our own street. I parked the Pixie Stix Pickup and we started our final push to fill our bags. It's a good thing our street goes downhill to the other end, or else Sweet Pea wouldn't have even started. I didn't tell her that we would have to come back up the hill to home. It's a good thing that we visited our own street because N1S, got to see the coolest Yoda pumpkin ever. He found this pumpkin at the same house that had the puking pumpkin last year. This is also N1S's favorite house because the home owner wears a cool Darth Maul costume. I think he wears it on other days of the year too.

Well, we got to see a parrot, a Yoda pumpkin and our neighbor's bathroom. It was now time to go home.

Lady Di and myself are two of those mean parents who let their kids eat only one piece of Halloween candy on Halloween night. And since Halloween landed on Wednesday this year, it was extra important to limit the sugar before bedtime. Otherwise, getting up for school in the morning would be just as scary as Halloween itself. N1S was lagging behind as we headed for home with a trail of wrappers following him. This surprised me. That is something I expect Sweet Pea to try, but I guess she was just too tired for tricks. In the house they each got a chocolate bar and a package of Sour French Fries. I thought the combination was just too good to break up, so I let the kids have two pieces of candy.

I'm sorry if you think my kids are getting a raw deal on the candy. They worked hard for it. They deserve it. They don't need it though. A little candy here and there is fine, but a Snickers Bar a day is not a habit I want to encourage. Plus, N1S's attention span seems to worsen in direct relation to how many M&M's he's eaten. The main part of Halloween is to have fun and be safe. We accomplished both goals. The kids had fun showing off their costumes to our neighbors. They also enjoyed seeing their friends' costumes and comparing bag contents. I got some new ideas for Halloween house decorating and pumpkin carving too. This year's pumpkins can be seen in the previous post.

Now I have to find a way to sneak most of the candy out of the house without the kids seeing. I guess I'd better start with the Peanut Butter Cups.