Halloween Festivities

I know the Internet has been inundated with pictures of kids in costumes. I wanted to join in on the fun. I'm impressed with those of you who had them posted by Friday night. (I'm just always a few days behind.)

This year Savanah insisted she wanted to be a ghost. It sounds easy to drape a sheet over her head and cut out holes for her eyes. The logistics of the costume make it not so easy. Vanessa wanted to be Tinkerbell (it kind of goes along with her pixie cut). AJ dressed all in black. He was a robber, ninja, shadow, nothing, and everything. (It changed every time I asked him.) Ethan was a hillbilly. I told him he could go to Aaron's closet to get stuff for his costume. Then I had to do damage control and explain to Aaron that I didn't think he was a hillbilly. Esteban also dressed in black. He helped at the school's carnival (not by choice), went trick or treating with a friend, and went to a party (definitely by choice).

Aaron dressed up as an investment banker (pretty scary these days). The way I see it, both of the Aaron's in our family were nothing more than thieves. When Aaron asked me what I was dressing up as, I pointed out my candy corn earrings. They were festive enough. Some years I go all out, not this year.

Since AJ and Savanah were out of school on Halloween (parent-teacher conferences), we went trick-or-treating down main street during the day. AJ brought along a friend. This is the boy that Vanessa wants to marry. She doesn't want to marry him in the future, she wants to marry him now. I don't think he, being a nine-year-old boy, feels the same way towards her. Maybe in a few years. I don't have a lot of room to talk. I married my older brother's friend.
We did the pumpkin carving that afternoon. Grandma & Grandpa donated the pumpkins. We purchased one of those pumpkin carving kits that made it easier than I thought.The boys made some cool looking pumpkins. Here is Ethan's and Vanessa's.Vanessa's pumpkin has pock marks from the fact that she stabbed it weeks ago. She slept with it for days and carried it everywhere she went. She also drew all over it with pen and cut it up . Aaron helped her with the face and I think it turned out kind of cute for all the abuse it had endured. She was upset Aaron cut the pumpkin and is telling on him next time she sees Grandpa.

We went to the school carnival. It was lots of fun. I bought all the kids tickets to use in the activities. Savanah refused to spend any of the tickets. She was hoarding them. I had to explain that they weren't good after the carnival. Vanessa had no problem spending hers. This is her at the ring-the-pumpkin activity.

Why is she so blurry? Because she was jumping up and down after she won.

After the carnival, we went to a neighbor's house for pizza. Then we headed out trick-or-treating. We went to the nearby retirement community. In spite of her pink jacket, pink dress, and pink earrings, several of the homeowners referred to her as a boy. (Personally, I would never dress a boy as a fairy. That's just me.) I was just grateful she didn't start yelling at them. Maybe the fact that they just dropped candy into her bag helped her let the comment slide. Savanah got tired of walking and Vanessa really wanted to eat her candy so, we left early (I'm not complaining.) We spent the rest of the night stuffing our faces with sugar. I had to be the candy inspector and test the Reese's Peanut Butter cups. They could be poisoned. The only way to tell is if I ate them. It was a hard job but somebody has to do it.