Halloween Round-up

This year, we had our most amazing July 4th ever. However, this Halloween will not go down in the annals of history as our best Halloween ever. We had lots of fun things planned, it just didn't come together the way I had hoped. We started Halloween week out with a Sunday trip to the ER, one of Kyle's incisions is infected so we are back on an antibiotic that really makes him feel like crap. We also have some other medical stuff going on that is making my boys tired, cranky, and sleeping poorly. They feel awful and are out of sorts.

The last three days Aiden has asked to go to bed---even on Halloween night when he came home from trick-or-treating with a 102.2 degree fever (I had no idea until after we got home). Today, on this first day of November, everyone is in their pjs on the couch, chillin', at 10 am Kyle asked for quiet time...so naps in the morning it is. Something is off in our house for sure.

Tuesday, we meet our cousins at Gardner Village (a local boutique shopping area with historical/polygamist houses). They go all out on their Halloween/witch decorations. We took pictures there two years ago, and they turned out so well.

 Kyle was not interested in cooperating.

We took a break to call Nana and wish her happy birthday.

Getting toddlers to support Claire's month old baby head....in a word difficult! But boy was she cute.

 Aiden was the only one willing to sit next to this witch.....

Aiden had enough of his cape and mask, this one was only posed under promises of candy from the candy shoppe.

 After the candy shoppe! They were much happier. I was so glad we could do that because it reminds me of the candy shoppe Heidi and I used to go to as children at Cannon Beach.

This is the best picture we could get of all of us. I know that Heidi isn't looking, but the rest of us are---ish :)

That afternoon, Zoie called from the high school--they were doing a trunk-or-treat. We went over to trick-or-treat out of the high schoolers' trunks. Aiden was so into it. He took off his costume just a few cars in, but continued to trick-or-treat. When we were done, we had to walk back by the cars. Aiden kept running back to the trunks. I said, "We are done, Aiden." He said, "I trick-or-treat." As I was carrying him home, he leaned into me and said, "I so, so happy!" 

He is also in love with his plastic blue pumpkin and frequently takes Kyle's too. He fills them with toys and runs around with them. He loves pumpkins, remember his baby pumpkin from the store. He often gets it down from the table and over the month it has received quite a few bite marks all around it :)

That night we were invited to attend Mami & Papa's ward Halloween party. They had sloppy joes, which was a real treat. We love those, but of course my kids won't eat them. We had a good time and it was a perfect one hour visit. Aiden ditched his cape not very long into it :) per his usual. 

There were a few games we played and on the ping pong toss, Kyle won a goldfish. He named her meimei (not sure where he got it or how he is spelling it). Mami had some left over goldfish food. When we feed her before bed that night, Kyle looked at her in her mason jar and said in an awestruck voice, "Meimei you are so cool. I think you are amazing."

There was bowling.

It really was fun. We saw the bishop who married us and caught up with him. It is always such a good time and I wish that our ward did something like it.

On Halloween, Kyle had his preschool party. That was a fiasco in and of itself--when I dropped him off I saw they were decorating store bought sugar cookies. We talked with the teachers about how he couldn't eat them, but he could the frosting.

Evan picked Kyle up that day and when they walked in, Evan said, "Kyle ate some sugar cookie." I asked Evan if he had talked to the teachers about it. He said he had only noticed the partially eaten cookie when he walked in the door. I quickly called the preschool to find out. The director went down and talked to the teachers, they had everyone decorate a cookie (Kyle's was decorated for Evan) and take them out to put on their mat because they knew Kyle couldn't eat his. He was able to put some frosting on an oreo for snack because he wouldn't be able to go home and eat his sugar cookie. I asked Kyle if he had eaten his cookie while taking it to his mat....he said he had. I had to explain to him that when the teachers/parents/mom and dad tell him he can't eat something and not to eat it, he shouldn't because it will make him sick and we are trying to protect him.

Last night, we went to the neighborhood chili/hot dog roast. It wasn't as much fun as I had thought it would be. We then went to trick-or-treat. Aiden made it five houses and then wanted in the stroller. So Evan and Nate took him home. I convinced Kyle to do a few more houses, but he just wanted to be home. He didn't do a lot of houses last year, and he wasn't more into it this year. I wonder if he'll ever really like it.

We had more trick-or-treaters than ever before....but the best part was sitting around talking with Nate & Evan once the kids were in bed. I worked hard to do fun Halloween things with the boys, but it really fell off this week. Earlier this month, we made these lanterns.

I thought it would be something the kids could help me with, but it didn't end up being. However, we made so many and they helped pick out some candy, we filled them and gave them away to lots of our friends. We also had friends over and made cinnamon ornaments for Thanksgiving, then got back together to decorate them. Now, I need to get this Halloween stuff down and put up our Thanksgiving decor.


I just think after a month of preparing for the big night, it is just never as fun as the lead up.

P.S. After all our Halloween fun, we probably saw 8 other boys dressed in the exact same Spiderman costume. Luckily, I made Aiden's so he wasn't as copied...and the cape is reversible and can now go into the dress up box.