Halloween 2014

The Halloween festivities started the week before with our ward Halloween party on Friday, October 24th. Justin was out of town that week and I had a full day with just minutes between appointments to get the kids ready and out the door.  No time for pictures.  We did the best we could to pull some costumes together – some were definitely better than others.  Abigail opted out and just put on a Halloween t-shirt.  Carly and Jason both recycled last years Dorothy and pirate costumes.  Katie wore an old ‘Butterfly Princess’ costume sans wings so nobody knew what she was.  But Drew.  Drew was absolutely adorable in our old Mickey Mouse costume.  Seriously so cute!  He toddled around the church all evening wearing his costume and getting tons of attention.

The next Halloween activity was at Justin’s work on Wednesday, October 29th.  The event was from 3-5pm so only Katie and Drew were able to go. 

Katie was ready over a hour before we were leaving and looked so beautiful as Cinderella.

My attempt to get a picture of the two of them before we left wasn’t as successful since Drew had gone straight from crib to costume.  

This is the first year T-Mobile has put on a family Halloween event and it was so fun.  Each floor had different activities and decorations.  The kids were able to walk around and ‘trick-or-treat’ at many cubicles throughout the building.  

The kids got plenty of candy to tide them over until Halloween.  The next day while I was on the phone with my brother, unbeknownst to me Katie gave Drew two suckers to enjoy.  Such a sticky mess!

Katie was able to dress up for preschool on Thursday, October 30th.  She chose to be a pirate.  Yep, same pirate that Jason was just a few days earlier.

It was great that Halloween fell on a Friday this year.  The kids get home earlier from school on Fridays and it was nice not having the kids out late on a school night.

After our ward party we realized we didn’t have many costume options for Abigail and Jason so I took them to a party store and let them pick something out.  The majority of costumes for young girls were immodest and inappropriate; seriously, Halloween seems to be an excuse for girls dress skanky.  We narrowed Abigail’s options down to either a hippie or a penguin.  Now most nearly-13-year olds would opt for the girly hippie.  I love that Abigail decided to go against what would be most socially normal and felt completely comfortable to dress as fun and silly as she wanted.  She was an awesome, confident, fun-loving penguin.

Carly was happy to once again dress up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.  Love that she didn’t even ask for red shoes, again!

I was surprised that there weren’t many options for boys costumes at the store (unless you are into superheros or ninjas).  The best we found was a Mario costume that was about 4 inches too short in the legs.   Jason really liked it though and I figure since Drew can wear it in the future it would work just fine.

Katie had already attended three Halloween parties; in three different costumes so we didn’t know what she’d end up choosing for the main event.  I was glad we once again had a little Cinderella on Halloween.  

Though everyone thought she was Elsa from Frozen.  At first she’d correct them and explain she was Cinderella, but after a dozen or so times she was over it.

And my little Mickey Mouse!  Seriously, this kid melts my heart and I so wish he could fit in this little costume forever!  Getting him to stand still long enough to get the perfect picture proved to be quite difficult so I have about a dozen instead.

This is Abigail obeying my request to hurry and get out of the picture

When I was taking Abigail’s pictures she started jumping around and it was so cute to see Drew trying to copy her.

Then Justin started playing peek-a-boo with him.

I love the stage he is in – so cute!

Okay kids just one last picture with me and my trick-or-treaters!

The girls each went off on their own with friends and a goal to hit every house in our neighborhood.  Justin and I headed out with the three youngest.  After about 10 houses Justin went back to the house with Drew to pass out candy and Katie, Jason, and I walked around the neighborhood with a family that lives on our street. 

The family we walked around with has five young kids (not Mormon) and after about an hour they decided to call it a night.  I asked Jason if he wanted to head back toward home with them and to my surprise he said yes.  When we got home they changed into pajamas, ate candy, and passed out treats to the few people that ventured over to our street.

I got right to work compiling our 2014 Halloween stats.  As I kid I always sorted and counted my candy and I still love it.

By the time Carly and Abigail got home I was ready to help them sort through their bounty.  

I look at these pictures and yes, I realize it’s ridiculous how much candy they collected.  I’ll admit I even drove down the street during the evening so they could unload candy into the car to make room for more.  I’m an enabler.  And I’m 100% ok with that.

Halloween 2014:  1374 goodies, 38.4 pounds*

* Does not include candy collected at the T-Mobile party, Drew’s insubstantial collections from Halloween night, or the leftover candy we’d purchased to hand out