Halloween Festivities

This year's Halloween was the most fun I've had for this holiday in YEARS! I have always loved Halloween, getting dressed up, eating candy, carving pumpkins etc - but those years in between childhood and having your own kids can be kind of lame when it comes to Halloween. This year Eli was PUMPED for Trick or Treating - we practiced at home on a daily basis, and even Owen got all excited about knocking on doors, squealing, and getting something tossed in his bucket. We also had fun with crafts and cookies during the weeks leading up to the big day.

On Halloween we got up early, dressed nicely, and headed to the park for family pictures. Both of my kids made a scene because Eli wanted to go down the slide, and Owen wanted to jump in the pond, so hopefully we managed to get some good shots out of the chaos (a friend was the photographer - she was so nice about the theatrics!). Following the photo shoot, Owen fell in the parking lot and got a bloody mouth and fat lip. Then we went to the ward (church) sugar fest, aka party and Trunk or Treat (you go from car to car getting candy), then we got dinner, then we went home for some good old fashioned door to door Trick or Treating! We went much longer/farther than I anticipated, but the kids had a BLAST. The weather was just right, there were hordes of kids in costumes roaming the neighborhood, and it was just such FUN. We could NOT keep Eli from going into people's houses though... he would knock, they would open the door, and IN he'd go! We'll have to work on that for next year...

On Sunday Eli had to be sent out of nursery early due to unfriendly behavior - I had to carry him flailing and screaming out of the building, then back into the building when I realized Brad had the keys, then back out of the building. It took all my muscles and crisis negotiation skills to get him into his carseat... I took him home, fed him real food, banned sugar for the rest of the day, sent him to his room with a movie for a couple hours... and he finally came back out a normal child. Talk about a sugar crash! I guess his little body wasn't used to all that junk! If there's one thing I would "re-do" about Halloween if I could, it would be to have everyone give out dried fruit, nuts and whole grain crackers instead of candy! Well, that and I'd take away all the "evil-scary" decorations and costumes. =)

And now for the festivities in pictures.

Crafts and Cookies

Pumpkins

Costumes and Candy

*For the record. The boys were Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat. I bought the monkey costume when Eli was a baby, and my mom made the yellow outfit - I made the tie, belt and hat. I spent an ENTIRE day making that hat too... Eli was so excited about it and loved modeling it.... until Halloween. He REFUSED to wear it. I finally got it on his head for a quick picture, and that was it. By the end of the night he'd taken off the tie too, so most people thought he was a Jedi or a karate kid. Oh well. =)