Halloween 2012 Recap

Yes, I know.  Halloween was almost one entire week ago already.  I assure you - I did have very good intentions of posting the Halloween scoop the day after.  However, sometimes life encroaches on the plans, and you can catch up on it in this post if you don't know what I am referring to.  As always, it's probably best for me to keep my plans firmly set in jello.

This year three of the four grandkiddos were dressed for trick or treating, in addition to son Caleb.

Cutest-in-the-whole-world 6-year-old twin granddaughters Tori and Brianna decided that this year they wanted to be pretty witches.  How do first graders decide who they want to be anyway?  There must be quite a lot of Halloween hype and chatter about it in those first grade classes, I think.

Daughter Rachel did some pretty artistic designs on the faces prior to donning the costumes.  I had nightmares throughout many of my childhood years about witches, and these two certainly were not looking like the ones that tormented my dreams, I must say.

Since it had turned out to be a fairly cold evening, lots of layers were put on before the outer costumes.  At one point during the trick or treating the girls told father Eric they had had enough and were cold and ready to head back home.  As the story goes, he exhorted them to tough it out a bit longer as HE needed more candy.  Slave labor, I say.

Here they are in their final garb:

Although the pictures do not show it, there were little sparkly LED lights showing from between the layers of their skirts.  Even the black cauldron candy buckets were in line with the witch theme.

Daughter Lindsay and her husband Todd also had fun this year with our other two grandchildren.  Since Jarrod is an eighth grader, he chose not to dress up, but just be on hand to enjoy Ellie's first year of trick or treating.  And her candy.

 He and I had a good discussion and agreed together about middle school boys who go trick or treating dressed as themselves because they are too cool to dress up  and show up at the door just carrying a plastic grocery bag.  I could take it one step further and suggest that there should be borough ordinances that prohibit such lame behavior.

Here are the two of them sharing some brother/sister time.

Ellie, 16 months old, loves loves loves her brother, and toddles all around the house calling for him when he is out of sight.  He is the best big brother I have ever seen.  He is just so good with her.  I think they are both just wonderful.

Ellie went trick or treating this year as a tiny cupcake, and here she is, ready to go.  I could just take a bite out of all of her cuteness:

And in case you need to see what's under there, she is all too willing to show you her lining too:

I hope she got lots and lots of candy.  I would certainly empty out my cupboards for these four kiddos, in a heartbeat.

Here's another outfit Ellie wore during the Halloween season to her "school." She's got the seasonal colors right.  (I'm told her teachers at her pre-school called her a mini fashionista.)

Son Caleb had an interesting event in the parking lot of the church he attends, "Trunk or Treating."  The members of the young adults group parked their cars, trunks loaded with candy, in a circle around the church parking lot.  Each one of them dressed up as a Disney or Pixar character.  The church provided candy for the approximately 700 neighborhood kids that came.

Here is Caleb, dressed as the old guy in the movie "Up."  One little boy said to him,  "Don't you know the balloons were attached to the house?  YOU NEED A HOUSE!"

Caleb is 25, see the photo, so I was astonished when I saw his transformation into the old guy.

All in all, a fun time was had.

Halloween came and went.

The costumes were creative.

I gave out 150 snacks and then ran out.

The kiddos had a ball.

They got lots of candy.

LOTS!  
Now if they would just give me all the Twizzlers and Reese's peanut butter cups.....