Halloween 2011-The Year of the Angry Birds

Yes I know it's February.  Why do you ask?

I have not done a great job of journaling the goings ons around these parts.  One reason: several weeks ago, my sweet dear Emma accidentally deleted ALL OF THE PHOTOS from her camera.

Guess whose camera I use almost always.

Guess whose cruise pictures were taken with Emma's camera.

Guess who had to go for a short drive after discovering that the entirety of our summer/early fall photos were gone forever.

But, I digress.

While recently looking for some other photos, I came across these super cute Halloween ones.

The older two peeps had basketball practice so I only had to make two costumes this year!  Emma really wanted to be an angry bird and she convinced JW to be the pig!

We had a great time trick or treating with these sweet friends.

And, the angry bird and pig were all smiles.

Halloween 2010

My kids were more excited than ever about Halloween this year! In the past, we have always spent Halloween at the harvest festival, but this year, we ventured out into the vast unknown world of "real" trick-or-treating!

We gathered with this group of goblins and ghouls, storming the neighborhood in search of treats! Cutest Buzz Lightyear EVER!!!

Gingy and Sandy...

Emma taking an important call...

Buzz tuckered out!

Our crazy clan wiping out a candy bowl...

The end...

Spooktacular Saturday

Our friends, the McKees, threw an AMAZING Halloween party on Saturday! The decorations were adorable, the food was both yummy AND well presented, and the activities were loads of fun!

Sadly, many of the guests cancelled at the last minute and were unable to enjoy this amazing night! Thankfully, our clan plus the McKees are enough to feel like a party regardless, so all of Stacey's hardwork did not go unappreciated!
Stacey not only planned the great food, the fun games, and the spooky decorations, she also made all of her family's costumes!
All of the kids were pirates, skeletons, and gypsies except....GINGY!!
Abbee fit in much better when Glory the "bakemaker" showed up!

My camera battery died before I could capture all of the great games Stacey had planned for the kids. There was "Pin the Spider on the Web, " a scavenger hunt, bobbing for apples (DOUBLE GROSS), and a hayless hayride!

Between the food, the fun, and the friends, this was a perfect party! Thanks, McKees, for hosting! We all had a spooktacular time!

Frightful Friday Festivities

In an effort to make the frightful, fun-filled festivities last FOREVER, we began our celebration of the candy consumption on Friday afternoon by carving some wickedly frightful jack-o-lanterns!

Every year is the same. The kids each choose their intricately detailed pattern, then get tired before they have even finished transferring the pattern. After which, they leave while Leigh and I sit for a couple of hours determined to finish only to hear the kids tell the neighbors, "That one is mine!"

Clearly, what they mean by mine is "this is the pumpkin I have chosen as the torture devise this year!"

Leigh and I stayed focused and finished each jack with amazing precision and attention to detail! After all, isn't that the true meaning of Halloween? Oh, wait. I forgot the true meaning is scary and demonic!

True meaning or not, here are the glowing jacks in all of their glory!

Halloween Sneak Peek

We had early dismissal today because, last night, a friend of mine convinced me that I should be stressed out because I had a few costumes to make before Halloween and Halloween was a mere 4 days away! So, the kids got the afternoon off, and Jenny came over to help me whip up a couple of Gingy costumes! (Thanks to Brody being sick. Sorry, Bro, to profit from your suffering but I appreciate it so much!!)

Someone is also being a skeleton! (I actually made two of these costumes too, but I made them last weekend because I don't always procrastinate everything!)


Now, I only have a couple of more Halloweenish things to cross off my to-do list!

Being able to schedule unexpected early release... reason number 5,352 why I love homeschooling!

Family Fright Night

Thursday, Leigh had the spooktacular idea to do a Halloween themed family night filled with tons of fun for the kids!


The night began with some face painting. Glory enjoyed painting my face as I struggled to paint her ever-squirming mug! (There is possible scarring from the force with which she dug her brush into my cheek.)
I painted three faces in the time it took Leigh to paint ONE!
Which might explain why her results were so much better!



Sarah's contribution turned Abbee into an eerie reproduction of Heath Ledger's Joker...Glory RAN FROM HER after this transformation!
Later, the kids each decorated their own "mummy" cupcakes. When they saw my Martha-esque examples, JP thought they were ghosts and JW suggested zombies. I'm not sure what the difference between a zombie and a mummy is exactly, but I'm certain that they did not resemble zombies. Zombies are just creepy. Emma and Abs revived my wavering pride when they each guessed correctly!

Glory had a meticulous cupcake decorating approach that alternated between squeezing the frosting and licking the tip! YUM!


Here are the fabulous results:


We were a little ambitious in our plans and ran out of time and energy before we painted and carved our pumpkins! At least we still have a couple of weeks before Halloween!

Here are a few other random pics from our night of fright:



A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO AUNT LEIGH FOR HER DOWN RIGHT AWESOMENESS!!