Halloween in Texas

Life is always an adventure living in a new place. Halloween is a different holiday here.

First - No planning costumes around winter coats. It is warm! People sit outside to hand out candy. Even after dark it is warm enough to walk around in a T-shirt.

Second - No planning costumes around school work. There were no costumes worn at school. I've heard teachers say there is no learning that takes place when kids wear costumes. Here it was just another day of education. Vanesssa was even doing ITBS testing. She did tell me that she counted 22 girls with pumpkin shirts. Turns out since the kids can't wear costumes to school, they wear Halloween themed t-shirts. Good to know for next year.

Third- What to expect? I called my next door neighbor to see how many trick-or-treaters to expect on our street. Not that many. We live on a cul-de-sac just inside our neighborhood. Most people skip past our street and head straight for the rows and rows of houses nearby.

Since we knew the number of trick-or-treaters would be few, Aaron opted to hand out full sized candy bars. He takes the "everything-is-bigger-in-Texas" to heart.

The neighbors were giving him a heard time about being "that guy" they have to compete with. He teased them that next year we're handing out ice cream cones. Yep, he's "that guy".

This year Savanah wanted to be a bubble bath. It was a fun costume to put together.

On the night of Halloween, I needed to go to Ethan's last football game so Savanah took the package of balloons next door and my sweet neighbor blew up the balloons for her. That's what they mean when they say, it takes a village.

For the trunk-or-treat last Friday Vanessa was a shadow. Complete with face paint that she did her self - as she has done in the past - click here.

You have to love my girls who are so black and white opposite of each other. Literally.

Since, she had to explain her costume to so many people last week, she woke up Halloween morning and said she wanted to be a pirate. We already have an eye-patch (see previous post). Target was sold out of any costume that even closely resembled a pirate. After school, I took her to Walmart and showed her the limited selection. In the end, she was a witch.

Ethan dressed up as a football player. He went as far as playing an actual game so that he would have the sweat and scrapes to make it more authentic.

Other than that, my boys did not want to dress up at all. Two words:  PARTY POOPERS!!!

Este stayed home to hand out candy. I thought about having him put the candy bars in the butter churn instead of a bowl, but I was worried somebody might steal it.

This year I went all out on the Halloween decorations. Ok...not by most people's standards but since I hurriedly places some random decorations out on Halloween morning last year, anything is an improvement.

I got the idea to tie tule around the porch light from Pinterest. Here is that photo.

Here is my porch light. Since they didn't give the instructions on how to tie a beautiful bow, this was my version. I'll say it... pathetic.

Savanah added a decoration to the front porch. Lovely.

I bought some pumpkins - totally fake.

Now I can't find real pumpkins to make some much needed puree. Another thing to know for next year - buy pumpkins early or they will be gone.

I placed my pumpkins and added a scary spider to my front porch then noticed I had place them in the same places on my house as my neighbor had the same items placed on her house weeks before. I did some rearranging to make it a little less obvious that I was totally copying her. I will admit it looked as nice as when I copy things from Pinterest... pathetic but, it's better than nothing.

The girls colored some window clings. That faded in the sunshine. Lovely.

I made some Frankenstein pudding cups that the kids enjoyed after school.

We had Mummy Dogs for dinner but by that point I was rushing out the door to the football game so there are no photos since they were all eaten by the time I returned home.

This morning I remembered the special pencils I bought to give to the girls on Halloween. Nice. One more thing to do next year.

There you have it. The summary of our first Halloween back in Texas. Next year will be even bigger and better. As they say here, Go big or go home....we're just getting started.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween this year, Vanessa dressed up as a witch to go to school. Here is a photo of her and her faithful pet cat.

Okay, he's not that faithful of a pet.

For dance class, she dressed up as a vampire and applied face paint all by herself. I had a really hard time not laughing out loud when she walked out of the bathroom as a beautiful vampire.

Savanah decided not to dress up this year. She just rolled out of bed and headed to school.

AJ not only dressed as Napolean Dynamite, he did "the dance". I was absolutely forbidden to record it. I can't imagine why.

My sister came to visit . She bought a costume for her faithful pet dog, Charlie (he is extremely faithful). Charlie's costume didn't fit him so AJ decided to wear it.

Laurann dressed up as a In-N-Out worker and after searching multiple stores the night before looking for a big dog costume, we found a nice banana outfit for Charlie. Somebody said he looked like a french fry. That's appropriate.

We all participated in the Spook Sprint, a local fund raiser for adoption. Participants were encouraged to dress up. For the race, AJ decided to wear the dog costume. Savanah literally rolled out of bed to go to the race. Vanessa was a vampire without the face paint but fangs this time.

I dressed up as a nurse. That's appropriate. Does it even count as a costume if I wear it all the time? Scrubs are nice that way. I also rolled out of bed and headed to the race.

Here we are all lined up. As you can see there were a lot of contestants. It was a highly competitive race.

We all participated in the mile run. Half way through the race Vanessa informed me that she was mad that I forced her to do the race and she never wants to do it again. To this day, she refers to it as "The Marathon". I think deep down inside she would do it again. (Those of you who live locally, let me know if you hear of a children's race. It's fun and I think it's good exercise for the kids.)

At the end of the race, the organizers had a costume contest. None of my kids won but we didn't care, we were freezing and looking forward to going home to drink hot chocolate.

Who drinks hot chocolate after running a marathon?

My Little Redhead?

I liked the fact that Halloween was a two-day holiday this year. I like holidays that last for days.

Vanessa dressed up for pre-school. Her requested costume: Ginny Weasley, a character from Harry Potter. She is really into Harry Potter right now. She is listening to me read it with Savanah and she loves watching the movies. She can even parrot several of the lines. Last week, she drew a picture of Moaning Myrtle being murdered by a basilisk at preschool. Here is my best attempt at a Ginny look-a-like.The wig is actually a 70's guy wig. It was just the right length and color for my Ginny. I received several compliments on her being a red head. She wanted to make sure all the "Vanessa hair" was hidden under the wig.

Savanah was Hermonie Granger, another character from Harry Potter. I braided her hair in tiny braids to make it bushy. She wore the same Gryffindor robe the boys wore back when they would dress up as Harry Potter. She tried doing spells all day and informed me she wanted to be adopted by witches.
AJ was an Ultimate Texas fan. Is that a surprise? He decided he wants to paint his face like this next year for the game against Oklahoma.

On Friday, we went trick-or-treating to the nearby assisted living center. They have all kinds of activities for the kids like a bean bag toss, cake walk, and cookie decorating. It is a fun family tradition.
After that, we went to the school carnival. Every year it is crowded, hot, and miserable. By the end, there isn't a single parent with a smile on their face. Having said that, we go every year. The kids love it and it's a better fundraiser than selling things to family and friends. The girls loved digging eyeballs out of a bucket of slimy spaghetti.

Vanessa won a live goldfish. It was a girl goldfish named Casey. (I don't know how to tell a girl fish from a boy fish so we have to take Vanessa's word on it.) Yes, I'm speaking of Casey in the past tense. She died shortly after I found a fish bowl and purchased food for her.
Vanessa's preschool also did a carnival to help raise money for a young couple who have premature twin babies. AJ pointed out that the tickets cost more at this carnival but, they let the kids stay in the jump house as long as they wanted. They had slides and rides that the kids really enjoyed. It wasn't very crowded and a lot of fun. Too bad this isn't an annual event.

On Saturday, we carved pumpkins. Savanah thought digging out the insides was disgusting. Ethan and AJ thought it was awesome! Esteban thought it was uncool so, he didn't do one.Here is Vanessa's and Savanah's finished products.

They looked great in the dark.

Saturday night, I took the girls trick or treating. (I'm always happy when they don't want to stay out for very long.) AJ went to a party where he went trick-or-treating with friends. Aaron watched a football game (his favorite way to spend a holiday). Ethan and Esteban invited friends over to watch a movie in the barn. Yep, I said the barn. It was a bit cold so they wrapped up tight. They watched A Sixth Sense, a movie that scared me when I watched it years ago. They thought is was intriguing but, not scary. ( I think they just hate to admit they were really scared.) The only time they were scared was when Aaron snuck out and threw rocks at the barn roof.

Halloween is a holiday that is a lot more fun with kids. I'm grateful for my Four-n-More that make it all the MORE fun.

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.

Halloween Highlights

At Esteban's middle school, costumes are not allowed on Halloween. Instead of dressing up, they have crazy hair day. Esteban was not happy that I snapped this picture of him as he left for school. (He looks a lot like Lauren's boyfriend with hair like this.)
Ethan was a vampire.AJ was a mime. He enjoyed acting out the part. Although, some of the kids in his class didn't know what a mime was.Savanah was Cinderella. It is so strange to see her dressed like a princess, wait, she dresses like this on a weekly basis.Vanessa was Tinkerbell. The anticipation of waiting for Halloween was almost more than she could handle. The festivities of the day began with pumpkin waffle jack-o-lanterns for breakfast. Complete with chocolate chips. (As if they wouldn't get enough sugar in one day.)After the boys all went to school, the girls and I met up with some neighbors to go trick-or-treating at the local grocery store.
Later that evening, we ate dinner with several families from the neighborhood. Then we went to the nearby assisted living center for activities and treats.After that, we did the traditional house by house trick or treating. One neighbor had a "rolling coffin". It is a large wooden box suspended in air with cables. Kids get in, the coffin is closed, and then they spin it around. The boys loved it! Even Vanessa got in. She didn't think it was so fun after all. She refused to even look at our neighbor after that. We had an enjoyable day. Now the house is full of candy. I have the feeling that it won't last long. I feel it is my duty to inspect their candy for harmful substances. I especially want to check the Butterfingers and Reese's. It is sometimes hard to be the mom, but someone has to do it.