Happy Halloween

Halloween lasted all day long for us. Actually, more than that since we attended the carnival at the church on Wednesday night. Those photos will have to wait for another post. This is all about our Halloween Friday.

It started early with a kindergarten costume parade at 9:00am. The kids were supposed to wear/bring their costumes to school in the morning. For whatever reason, Todd did not want to bring his Indiana Jones accessories on the bus with him. At the last minute, I let him get on the bus in his brown pants and tan shirt, not looking like much of anything since the accessories make the outfit. I told him that I would bring the stuff to school when I came for the parade. I showed up about 3 minutes early. I had been hoping to get there earlier than that, but figured it would take a while to get a bunch of kindergartners dressed and organized. Besides, how long does it take to put on a hat and shoulder bag? Imagine my surprise when I saw that they had just started the parade--early!

Todd's teacher had put a cowboy hat and bandanna on him, and though I offered to pull Todd out of line for the 10 seconds it would take to change out the accessories he wasn't interested. He was perfectly happy to be a cowboy (just like another friend in his class who came sans costume).

I had no idea that the kindergartners were putting on a 30-minute show following the parade. It was such a nice surprise. They were so cute singing all their Halloween songs. Here, Todd and his classmate stand up for the cowboy verse of one song:
Nine little cowboys saying "Yee-haw!"
Saying "Yee-haw!"
Saying "Yee-haw!"
Nine little cowboys saying "Yee-haw!"
For this is Halloween

After the parade and show Ryan and I returned home to finish baking the sugar cookies I signed up to bring for Todd's class party at 1:00pm. It was a fun little party. Ryan was excited that he could stay and play on the playground with Todd's class for recess before leaving for the day.

We had some time to relax when we got home before heading out for our evening activities. We decided to go to Oma's house and show off the costumes. On the way over, the boys came across a "bad-guy" tree that needed to be whipped into shape.

These whips that I made are no longer soft, harmless toys. Ryan has figured out how to control it better. Look at how he gets the whip wrapped around the tree. We had to establish the rule of no using the whip close to people. They usually remember, but unfortunately for me, when they don't remember it doesn't feel so good.

Trick-or-treating at Oma and Poppa's door:

Like (grand-)father like (grand-)son. These two are like peas in a pod. They both loving playing games and other quiet, thinking activities (puzzles, Legos, etc.) together.

I consider the boys lucky to have an active grandmother who is so much better at sports than their mother. Oma puts me to shame. Here, Ryan warms up at the plate:

The pitch:

Rounding the bases:

After a beautiful afternoon with Oma and Poppa, including an impromptu dinner, we headed back home to go trick-or-treating on our street. The boys had a great time going up and down our street. I'm so happy that we didn't skip out on that part of Halloween. I think the neighbors were happy to see the boys. I had one neighbor who sincerely thanked me for bringing the boys by. We have such few young kids on our street, that most of our neighbors know the boys or at least recognize them from playing outside.

Here the boys pose with Mr. Bones (so named by them two years ago). Our across-the-street neighbor really decorates for Halloween and Christmas. The boys were so excited when they saw Mr. Bones set up at the beginning of the month. The first time that our dogs saw Mr. Bones two years ago they wouldn't stop barking at it. This year I don't think Mr. Bones elicited a single woof.

It only took us about 45 minutes to do trick-or-treating. After that we went to OrangeFest, an activity open to the community every Halloween. It is hosted by a local church, and we have attended the past three years. Each year it gets bigger and bigger. Ryan poses with the crash-test dummies and looks like he just witnessed a crash himself judging by the expression on his face. Todd was too shy join in the picture, even though I offered to go with him.

The boys played some carnival games--bean bag tosses, that sort of thing--but what Todd was looking forward to most was the inflatable slide. Unfortunately, because there were so many people there, the lines were bigger and the boys only went on the slide once.

They did get to try another inflatable, an obstacle course which they loved. I could not believe how quickly Todd climbed the wall. He was halfway up before I got there to take a photo.

I did not realize how much Ryan was looking forward to getting a glow stick until the night was almost over and we still had not been able to find one. Donna had to stop by the grocery store on the way home and saved the day by coming out with a bright glow stick for Todd and Ryan. The boys got everything they wanted this year! They were so happy.

They had fun with Daddy when we got home, playing games with the glow sticks in the front yard. They would throw it high into the sky and call it a shooting star as they watched it fall. There was a little glitch in the game when one of the sticks landed in our neighbor's tree. Fortunately, it was easy to spot and was not far from the ground. One of their favorite games to play with the glow stick was spinning it around and around in the dark.

We will never dress our dogs for Halloween (or anything else). This year's joke, however, was directed at Sandy. Ryan had wanted to "take Sandy for a walk" (inside the house) a few days before Halloween. Surprisingly, Sandy cooperated and let Ryan put on a collar. Since the collar is really Copper's, the joke was that Sandy was dressed up as Copper for Halloween. And there were a few times when the disguise fooled me!

Hope you had a happy Halloween as well.

Now that Halloween is over, I can't believe that the other big holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Anniversary, New Year's) are just around the corner. Would you believe they started playing Christmas music at Walmart this weekend? Don't get me started! That's too early for even me, who loves Christmas music.

More Dress-Up

I thought I was successful in creating Halloween costumes that the boys could enjoy all month long (and then some) this year when we put together our Indiana Jones costumes. Todd showed me another Halloween costume that has gotten its share of playtime.

This was my first attempt at sewing a Halloween costume (it's an alligator, in case you were wondering), and one of the few projects I had attempted to sew independent of any outside help. Todd wore it when he was three years old, and because I had made the hood so big, he can still wear it. Todd put it on (out of the blue) the night before last and wore it all night long (including sleeping in it).

This little boy just makes me laugh sometimes. Last night Ryan put on pajama shorts for bedtime. Then, he decided that shorts were too cold and he changed into warmer PJ's--the first time these have been worn this season. Rather than putting his shorts away in the dresser like I had asked, he decided that they would make the perfect "sleeping hat". He was so excited when he woke up this morning and found that his "sleeping hat" was still on!

Another thing that Ryan did that made me smile last night was the way he said his prayer. Ryan has a lot of "conversations" in his prayer. He likes to tell Heavenly Father about what he did, what he wants, what he thinks is funny, stuff like that. Last night he said something like, "...and I love Mom because...'cause...Hm. Hm. Hm...'cause she puts me to bed and leaves the door open like that" (surely pointing to the door at the same time--I had my eyes closed).

The Pumpkin Patch

Best thing to do with your little "blessings" in a small town in the month of October? Take them to a pumpkin patch! Ours is put on by a local church, and it is a big hit with our family every year.

Our visit to the pumpkin patch included:

1. Trying to re-attach "magic leaves" to an oak tree.

2. A self-portrait. (I obviously need more practice. Consider yourself warned.)

3. Heavy lifting.

4. Being forced to pose in the cardboard cut-out photo op.

4. Jumping and, even better, falling in the bounce house.

5. Running in the empty petting zoo area (the animals had a previous engagement).

6. Looking at, petting, attempting to feed, and holding the animals. (We had to come back this weekend to see the animals. The boys did not want to miss it.)

7. Exploring the fire truck. Thanks to the firemen who took their time to explain the gear to the boys!

8. Trying to re-attach a broken stem to a pumpkin. (It didn't work.)

9. A photo with Mom. (At least one of us is happy to be in the picture.)

10. Nice smiles for Mommy? Yeah!! Thanks for a great day at the Pumpkin Patch. Let's do it again next year.

Being Indiana--The Hat

Perhaps you have been able to tell that the favorite superhero around our house lately is Dr. Indiana Jones. Both boys are dressing up as Dr. Jones for Halloween. They decided on that early this month. I have already made their whips and bag, bought their brown pants, found one hat that will work (from Daddy), and on Wednesday our neighbor let us borrow their hat.

Ryan wore this hat all day yesterday, and he's not even that much of a "hat person". He had on his brown pants and a white shirt and often had the bag and/or whip with him. It was so cute. Above, he plays with his Indiana Jones Legos. Ryan brought me the DVD case for one of the Indiana Jones movies and asked me to read it. "Look, this is "R". What does this say?" I would tell him "Raiders . . . of the Lost Ark." He kept asking me to read the word "Raiders" throughout the day. Mildly obsessed?

This morning Ryan told me that he wanted to wear his Indiana Jones pants again. I told him that they were in the laundry, since he wore them all day yesterday. He said he really wanted to wear them, because they make him look cool. I may try to do a quick load of laundry so he can wear them again (and look cool).

This is the most use I have gotten from a Halloween costume ever! I love it.