Halloween is always one of the girls' favorite holidays. While getting ready for bed after trick or treating, Staley said, "I wish Halloween wasn't just a holiday. I wish it was, like, once a month." They talk all year long about what they are going to be for Halloween. (In case you are wondering, Staley and her friend Lilian have already decided that they are both going to be sloths next year. I'm not sure where the idea came from or how they are going to pull it off, but it seems very fitting as I do believe that the sloth is Staley's spirit animal.) Anyway, Halloween came and we enjoyed it.
We kicked off our Halloween festivities with a trip to Ackerman Farms to pick out our carving pumpkins last week-end. You know, on that one nice fall day we've had for all of October.
Staley designed and carved her pumpkin all by herself this year.
Adelie drew her pumpkin face, but had me carve it for her.
Briggs wanted a train pumpkin, so Zach carved it for him and then he painted it.
And Zach carved his giant pumpkin this year with pretty great results.
We did not have any Halloween festivities this year that we attended prior to Halloween. I had told the kids that they should just choose from costumes, dress up clothes, or materials we already had in the basement, and they all seemed fine with that.
For his pre-school party (which was actually the day before Halloween), Briggs was a construction worker. Since I was working, Grammie came to his school for the trick or treat portion of the party.
She got to see him trick or treat around the room and then perform a little Halloween song with his class.
Then Uma came to attend the actual party later that morning. What a lucky boy to have such wonderful grandparents!!
Our pediatric in-patient therapy team decided to get creative for Halloween this year as well. Although I can't take credit for the idea or much of the costume preparation, I was a willing member of the Jamaican bobsled team.
We did win our department costume contest at the staff meeting, although we had to leave the bobsled in the office for the rest of the day as it wasn't very conducive for therapy sessions.
Staley and Adelie had their parties at the same time on Halloween. Although I didn't officially help at Staley's party, I snuck out of helping at Adelie's party to see Staley and her friends for a just a little bit.
I enjoyed helping out at Adelie's Halloween party. Luckily I was just in charge of the snack center and was not the brave soul using a heat gun with sugared-up kindergarteners.
It's always fun to see my kids at school with their friends.
After school and dinner, we then went trick or treating with Uma and Papa. Staley was the cutest little bumblebee I've ever seen. I've always loved this hand-me-down costume and was glad that Staley chose that for her Halloween costume this year.
Adelie, of course, insisted on being a mermaid. She wanted to be a mermaid riding a seahorse. I was glad that, at least for trick-or-treating, Adelie had the seahorse to cover up the fact that her mermaid costume is about 3 sizes too small. Unfortunately, she did not have the seahorse when she wore the costume all day for school. She also proudly wore the too-small costume (with the "fin" that only comes down to her knees) all day at school a few weeks ago for Homecoming week on career day, because if you are planning to be a mermaid when you grow up, what else would you wear?
Note to self: Add appropriately sized mermaid costume to Adelie's Christmas list. :)
And although Briggs was a construction worker for his school party, he switched things up and decided to be a fire fighter for trick-or-treating. The weather was really nice for trick-or-treating and we had a fun time walking around the neighborhood and stocking up on more candy than we know what to do with.
All in all, it was another happy, festive, and fun Halloween.
