Ghosts of Halloween Past

My dad has ALWAYS questioned my sanity when it comes to Halloween. This is the holiday he hates the very most, and I absolutely love it! The ironic part is that he gets bent out of shape if I don't dress my kids up and bring them trick-or-treating to his house!

For years now I have tried to make our costumes (I will admit that there were some costumes held together primarily by hot glue). I typically try to do a family theme & I have done this since Rob & I first got married!

I don't have pictures to post from 1997-1999 since they are glued into a scrapbook & I didn't want to try to mess with scanning them. They really weren't anything too monumental (hippies, Red Riding Hood & the Wold in Granny's clothes, a princess & prince). But here are some ghosts of Halloween past...

2000 we went as Woody & Jessie from Toy Story. I'm about 1/2 way through my pregnancy with Lauren...can you tell?

2001 Since Lauren was only 6 months old we opted out of Halloween.

2002 Wizards & a Unicorn

2003 Ben was 1 month old, so Lauren was the only one in costume that year

2004 We re-did Toy Story with more characters!

2005 We're off to see the Wizard...

2006 Alice in Wonderland. I'm wondering how Rob & Rachel didn't make it into the pictures. He was a card like Ben & Rachel was the White Rabbit.

2007 I was VERY pregnant with Hayden so we have zero pictures of that year. Lauren was a witch & Ben was a frog & Rachel was a unicorn(I totally cheated & bought/borrowed the costumes)

2008 Surrender the Booty (yes I am a ship)

2 costumes in one year? Rob & I at a How to Host a Murder Date night...do you like my nose & lip piercings? YIKES!!!

2009 The Force was strong with us, it was. Star Wars

Poor Lauren got the H1N1 flu & had to stay home from trick-or-treating...

What will 2010 bring? We have been chasing MANY options this season, some far wilder than even I could have imagined. Out of character, I have copped out & bought most of the costumes this year and we do NOT have a family theme (I do have a good reason which I will reveal AFTER Halloween...and no I am NOT pregnant although that does seem to be the recurring theme of the years I slack off). I'm going to have to make up for my slovenly ways in 2011!

The Halloween that was kind of a Hallowasn't

Stinkin' H1N1 flu...my poor babies are sick and it totally ruined Lauren's Halloween. This year Halloween shall now be known as Hallowasn't! Poor Lauren missed trick-or-treating. Luckily for her she got all of the treats without doing any of the work! Still kind of disappointing to not have her trotting out the door with the rest of our Jedi force.

The kids are taking turns passing the flu around, so we could be out of circulation until Thanksgiving at this rate.Oh well, better Halloween than down for Christmas!


I wonder if I should be blaming myself somewhat since I didn't fight to get them vaccinated. I've never put much stock into flu shots since every time we've gotten one everybody seems to get sicker than on years that we don't get shot. The guilt will pass soon enough, no doubt quicker than it should, but I made my decision and now I must deal with the consequences. And truth be told I probably won't get them shot next year either! However, I have become a firm believer in what Tamiflu can do. Miraculous stuff! Highly recommend it!

But I digress...back to Hallowasn't.
Rob took the kids out Trick-or-Treating for over 2 hours. I was betting Yoda, aka Hayden, would only last about a half an hour but that kid is driven by the almighty sugar rush. A regular glutton he is (imagine that being said in a Yoda voice)! He was bouncing, literally, off the furniture for at least 45 minutes after they returned...pretty funny to watch (until I was trying to corral him for bed).

Rachel rocked the Princess Leia buns and Rob couldn't get her to stop running from door to door for the first 2 culs-de-sac. Obi-Wan, Ben, Kanobi came home and instantly started doling out half his candy to Lauren...without being asked, and without picking through to find the ones he didn't like. He is such a generous and kind soul!

The sick Queen Amadala and I lounged at home to oversee the candy dispensing. Actually I grudgingly put down my book, North & South (smolder on Mr. Thornton) to hand out candy and she was quarantined in her room watching Halloween flicks. It was truly a different Hallowasn't than we are used to, but it's done and we can move on to Thanksgiving and Christmas...maybe, if everyone will hurry up and get better!

A Love Affair with Autumn

Autumn is, in my opinion, the BEST of all seasons. I love to watch the colors change up on the mountains and in my yard. I like that during the day I can still wear flip flops, but at night I need a jacket (since it is after October 1st it terribly unfashionable I know but, flip flops are so comfy that in my book it negates the fashion faux pas).

I love pulling out the winter clothes...it's like rediscovering long lost friends (there is something comforting about a good hoodie). It is magical to listen to the sound of crunching leaves and the sight of deep orange pumpkins nestled on porches makes my heart soar. It smells crisp and clean like laundry fresh out of the dryer (although there is that not so clean smell that happens for a short period while the lake turns over...but I try to block that from my brain).

Soup is an acceptable dinner, hot chocolate no longer sounds repulsively HOT but toasty and comforting, and the smell of baking pumpkin bread fills the house. I don't want you to think I've forgotten the best part of Fall...Halloween. I have warped at least one of our children into thinking it's a great holiday. I asked Ben what his favorite holiday was and he said Halloween. My dad would be horrified to hear that the answer was anything besides Christmas...he always wondered where I fit into the family with my strange obsession on this "Pagan Ritual...begging for food dressed up like a spook-stupid holiday". I didn't have to pierce anything, wear a mow-hawk, sneak out or date someone my dad hated to rebel...my form of rebellion came by dressing up and participating in Halloween! Of course now that he is the grandpa he is completely interested in what costumes the kids are going to wear and what time they are coming to his house to Trick-or-Treat. My Dad is awesome!

Another part of Autumn for me is making Halloween costumes. I love making costumes, I'm not very good at it but I love it anyway! My theory is, I don't need a pattern, that will just confuse me, and if it doesn't look quite right, hot glue can fix it! Oh what a seamstress I am! I should have not been such a jerk to my mom when I was a teenager and she was trying to teach me to be a domestic diva. Sorry Mom...you're a saint for trying!

One of the funniest things I have going with Halloween is that I have my kids believing that we HAVE to have a family costume theme. I'm waiting for Lauren or Ben to catch on that most families don't do this and request to stop. Rachel tried to rebel from this years Star Wars theme and announced she was going to be Cinderella. Lauren promptly replied "You can't. You wouldn't match the rest of the family & that's just not going to work." Ironically Rachel took that as gospel truth and never brought up Cinderella again. Ben has already put in his suggestion for next year's theme...but it usually changes about twice during the year so I'm just going to file the suggestion away in my brain for now.