I'm not a huge Halloween fan. Never have been. I mean, I enjoy the costumes and the candy; I enjoy the pumpkins and the candy. And I really like the candy. But I just don't get into the decorating or the spookiness or the whining/demanding children high on the sugar from all the candy. I'm also a stick-in-the-mud when it comes to costumes. I rarely get excited over it, and I refuse to buy new costumes (unless it's really warranted). Last year we got more into it because Brandon's office had contests, etc. and we were invited to an awesome party. Here's a picture from last year:
Well, this year, I let the kids choose what they wanted, and here's how it went over:
#1: She is going to be a black cat. She's wanted to be a black cat for two months. She has been firm. So, she's going to wear black pants, a black shirt, and I bought the cat ears/tail at VoldeMart for 4 bucks. Easy-cheesy.
#2: This child has changed her mind EIGHT times in the last month. 8! So on Monday, I gave her the ultimatum: Choose now! And no going back! Luckily for me, she chose Snow White. This is good because we have the dress, the slips, the shoes, the black-hair-dye-spray-stuff, and I only had to buy some red ribbon ($1.47! Woot!).
#3: My son has a fickle mind like his older sister. First he wanted to be a Rainbow (how in the world do you make a rainbow?!). Next it was a Pumpkin. Then a Doctor. A pirate. A ninja. A superhero. Finally, I told him the Doctor costume was best (we had the scrubs, the stethoscope, it was comfortable, etc.) but he boldly declared that he wanted to be...A Robot! Yes, a robot! He was so excited and babbled on endlessly about the robot. I sighed, put myself into Super-Mommy mode and found a small packing box. We cut out arm holes and head holes and covered it in tin foil. He happily decorated it with "buttons to push!" while I covered a baseball cap with tin foil. He put it on, looked in the mirror, and Loved It.
Until it was time for preschool this morning.
Since he meets twice a week, today was the Halloween Party. When I informed him he got to wear his costume, he freaked out. Freaked. Out. Tears falling from his eyes, convulsions on the floor. I asked him why he didn't want to wear it, he said "It hurts my head to put it on!"
Sigh.
So, #3 went to preschool without his costume on. I took it anyway, explained to the teacher how he didn't want to wear it, and she told him we'd keep the costume "over here" and he could wear it later if he wanted to (she's so sweet; I really love his teacher).
Hopefully he'll wear it tomorrow night. If not, I guess he could go as the Tantrum-Thrower-of-the-Century.
#4: I think he might be a Dalmatian puppy. Or maybe a pumpkin. We have both costumes, so it won't really matter. I can decide tomorrow.
Brandon: He's in China, remember?
Me: I might paint some scary thing on my face. Or rat my hair. I'm really thinking about going as Cheryl with Bad Hair. Oh, and Bythelbs? Cheryl with bad hair is not hard to imagine. You just have to visualize me. With hair. So easy!
Yesterday I did the pumpkin thing. We bought whatever was left-over at Macey's grocery store, and carved away! This is a huge feat for me, seeing as I didn't want to and Brandon is usually the one to carve and gut. But I did it! We now have three beautifully carved (sort of gutted) pumpkins. I'm seriously feeling like Super-Mommy again. How could I not with the look of pure joy on my kids' faces as we hacked into those over-grown gourds? I just hope nobody destroys them (rotten teenagers with nothing better to do!!)
What are your kids wearing for Halloween? How about yourself? Do you adore Halloween? Do you hate it? What's your favorite/least favorite part? Do you carve pumpkins? Or smash them?
23 comments:
I'm bawling. Thank you for your comment.
Anyway Halloween. My boys love it. Love dressing up. My middle child is the only one who was wishy-washy and particular about his costume all 27 times he chose, for sure.
The two little ones (middle child included) are being vampires. I'm tempted to wear a 'team edward' t-shirt and call it good. But I won't. I've also been tempted to dress as an Italian vampire girl (fancy) and put a Volturi crest on the boys necklaces, but I won't do that either. I'm going as a punk, totally suitable says my DH. We had a Halloween party last weekend, I wore tattooed sleeves and the Bishop loved my look. Dared me to wear it to church, it'd scare my nursery kids though.
My oldest is super easy, he is going as a SWAT officer. He totally looks the part and feels ultra cool. Way better than the bloody gross zombie he wanted to be.
They got to carve pumpkins, twice. Once at the beginning of the month and once for FHE this week. Grandpa spoils them.
PS- WE're discussing conference talks over on Scripture Sisters. Come on over!
I love halloween - i just think it is fun. I hate the gouls, vampires, and dark representations...i wish everyone would dress in princess, 80's, feel good stuff :) Ben and I are going as Mario and Luigi - we are pretty excited! Nikki is going as Punky Brewster...i think - she changes her mind all the time too. For the past couple of years, I have always dressed as Mrs. Claus...I love that one!!
This year my kids are a pig, hobo Cinderella (which is essentially the pre-princess Cinderella), a hobo, and a garden gnome. My grand total for all for costumes was somewhere between $5-$10 for materials. Everything else we just threw together from around our house.
I don't dress up. I'm too lame. Or too cool. Or too lazy. Or whatever.
I have no strong feelings about Halloween. I guess mostly I think it's evil with all that candy shoving itself done my throat.
We do carve pumpkins. Every year. Pumpkin smashers are jerks. And lame. Lame jerks. We have a couple living in our neighborhood.
I was more into the costume thing when the kids were younger (so my older ones got much cooler things than the younger . . . oh well).
They kept changing their minds, too. We finalized costumes last night. I'll be glad when the holiday is over!
Costumes are an easy on for me my son HAS TO HAVE all the characters he loves to play them all year round! Know what he wants for Christmas? A full fledged football uniform. You know what he wanted as a present when he got his tonsils out this summer? A batman costume! So of course I make him wear them for Halloween plus #3 can just wear one of #2's old ones. #4 got a borrowed one and will be a bumble bee and #1 gets a borrowed one and is a witch! Fine by me! With her B-day just yesterday I think Halloween is just one more party this week.
With three boys, we usually buy one new costume a year, and then it gets passed down the line. They don't get to choose what they want to be...because I'm mean and OCD like that. I like knowing what they are going to be years in advance. :)
Anyway, this year the hand-me-down thing worked out awesome because they all ended up fitting into various superhero costumes. We'll have a Captain America, an old-school Batman, and a amazingly handmade Spiderman. I'm toying with the idea of being Catwoman (all black...slimming!) so that I can be a part of the cool superhero club.
DH loves Halloween, so we go all out on the decor, but none of the gory or dark stuff. Just smiling ghosts and plush pumpkins and such. :)
Congrats on spear-heading the pumpkin carving, you're brave!
I'm not crazy about Halloween. It used to be my favorite holiday. This year, I didn't want to get out decorations or buy costumes or anything. I have had my candy to pass out for weeks. ;)
My oldest is a jedi (I made the costume. $9 for material-woo!), my daughter is a witch from last year, and my son is being cowboy Woody. I refuse to pay for than $10 for a costume.
We haven't done the pumpkin thing yet. Tomorrow afternoon, I guess.
Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but I try to act excited because my kids love it. I really would prefer to make my kids costumes rather than buy them, but in the past if I find a screaming deal I just can't pass it up. PJ is a karate master, found a complete outfit at DI (for $10) and made a headband for him to wear with it. Miss Magoo is going as a butterfly. I found the wings and headband thingy at JoAnn's like 3 yrs ago after halloween for $5. I don't really care to dress up and hubby refuses to, though last year he dressed up as a delivery guy (he left his work clothes on, the kids loved it). As for pumpkins, we waited so long to get them this year they won't get carved which I'm good with. And about the pumpkins getting smashed, it makes me so mad that they do it, so we invented "the Pumpkin Fairy". She used to come the night before halloween and returns the pumpkins back to the pumpkin patch where their family is waiting for them. I just hated the idea of my kids seeing their beautiful pumpkins smashed in the street, I would rather toss them myself instead, and the kids loved that they were "going home". Now we leave a note to the fairy to leave our pumpins for one more night. The kids want to have them there for halloween night and we live in a neighborhood where pumpkins don't get smashed.
halloween...not my favorite, but fun with kids. my kids are being indiana jones, harry potter at school (for 3rd year in a row)AND anakin on halloween night (because he can't take lightsaber to school), buzz lightyear and a pumpkin fairy. i had to dress up for stake youth dance...i went as a wal-mart greeter (found the official walmart vest at D.I. for $2) complete with nasty hillbilly teeth, red wig....i looked terrible but that was the point!
Yea, I'm not a huge fan, and luckily my husband is even less of a fan than me, so no pressure. As for the kids costumes, well, I usually make them use something around the house, but my Motherinlaw has started getting them costumes like for Christmas (?!) so they have some cool ones to choose from. However, I"m sure you saw Will today in a sheet. Yea, that's because no matter how much I want him to put on the rockin Pirate costume from Meme, he's determined to be a ghost. Every year.
I like Halloween and I don't mind dressing up, but there has to be purpose...like a party. I just don't do it for fun.
The kids are going to be a Vampire (Maren) and a Transformer (Liam). We bought the costumes this year, but I only go to cheap places and we usually go half way through the month and get them on sale.
We are carving pumpkins tonight, but Don is at school until who knows when, so it will be me too...which does not make me thrilled because dumb me bought 4!
Grrr... long comment got erased. Shoot.
Lexie is a princess (from stuff around the house), Wayne will be Dr. House, I'm Dr. Cuddy, and Seth is either a pirate (because he has a pirate outfit) or our sick dying patient (in which case he'll wear... Jammies? I don't know...)
Oh, and on pumpkins: I hate carving them, always have. It's yucky and slimmy, makes a huge mess, and my carvings never look as good on the pumpkin as they did in my head. So this year I used a suggestion from Lexie's teacher: At VoldeMart (Cheryl, you're hilarious), they have they faces pieces, kind of like Mr. PotatoHead pieces, made for pumkins. I got a pack of animal ones and a monster pack. It's fun because Lexie can change her pumkin several times a day, and it makes no mess!
Halloween is okay. I don't dress up but I have fun getting the kids their costumes. I totally buy the costumes. I am not good at making them or just making things up that we have in the house. I actually did ask the kids what they wanted to be for halloween this year. Jacob is going to be Darth Vader and Alyssa wanted to be princess leia or padme, my sister sent me a leia cosutme that her daughter wore years ago. And becuase I like doing a theme for Halloween costumes, blayke is going to be yoda.
I have not done the pumpkin carving and we have not even bought any pumpkins, so I don't think that will be happening. I really should try to do that becuase the kids like it, but oh well.
Hey, Cheryl, totally off topic, but email me at lizzieturbo@hotmail.com, I want to forward you something my sister just sent me, it seems very much up your alley.
Cat, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pirate, Pumpkin. They all chose their costumes this year (well, except the babe, of course). We spent maybe $25 on sweats and tights (for tails and legs) for the older kiddos. Everything else was around the house. It was fun to make the costumes this year -- they're all very simple and cute cute cute.
We haven't carved a pumpkin and I feel like a jerk for it. But we'll get over it.
I never used to dress up but have had a total change of heart in recent years and now I LOVE it. Last year I was a poodle skirt girl, this year I'll be a witch. I'm excited -- I got everything on clearance last year after Halloween. Maybe $3 total. Awesome.
I'm not really into Halloween. It's more fun now that Boogers likes it but I'm not into spending a bunch of money on costumes. I'm all about using what we have around the house or borrowing from friends.
Well... it's 7:44 PM on Halloween night and I haven't seen a single person in a costume yet. I did see a pumpkin on somebody's desk at the office here in Shanghai. I could probably pass as a zombie since I've been up since 2:00 AM working on random crap to finish up the week of work. I'm waiting for room service to deliver... a hamburger! I had yummi sushi for lunch at a Japanese restaurant. Crazy good sushi and it was like $6. Yum.
After my hamburger and diet Coke... I will crash and burn and wake up sometime tomorrow and then be really brave and go see the sights without a guide. Shanghai is pretty freaking huge. But, I'll bring my camera and see what type of adventure I will have.
I just talked to the local branch president and got info for church on Sunday morning. Hopefully I can find somebody nearby who can go with me since the building is pretty far away.
Anyways... I hope you all have a fun halloween!
I love Halloween. Love love love. I'm not dressing up, though. My daughter (she's 17) is dressing up as some sort of sewn-back-together doll or something (like the character in Nightmare Before Christmas).
Hate Halloween. Is it over yet?
Halloween is my favorite. Love it.
The boy is going as the Grim Reaper and the girl is a witch. I am a pumpkin (since I have the body for it) and the husband has a skeleton t-shirt.
I always carve the pumpkins, because the smell of the pumpkin innards make the kids gag and throw up. I'd rather stick my hand into pumpkin glop than clean up throw up any day.
Oh, and BOO! You'll actually have to stop by my place to get your treat...
I love the creativity and imaginative play that is celebrated by Halloween. I really don't like the scare your pants off part of Halloween. I don't think I'll be dressing up...but will put Hubby in my scrubs and use the kids doctor play set so he can look festive while he takes Tinker Bell and Buzz Lightyear out to Trick or Treat. Pumpkins...we always carve them...but have found you have to be pretty close to the date to have decent looking pumpkins on Halloween when you live in warm weather! :) Happy Halloween!
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