Throwback: Halloween 2016

Halloween was sort of a bust this year. Cold, wet, damp, drizzly...you get the picture. Not exactly prime, walking-around-the-neighborhood, stuffing your bag with candy kind of weather.

We typically order a jack-o-lantern pizza from Papa Murphy's and I bring it home and bake it up. But, alas, I have lost the love for a mediocre pizza that costs me an arm and a leg. We got wind that Chipotle was the primo spot to be on Halloween instead, so we all dressed up and headed out.

It took a bit (or rather, a LOT) of work to face-paint 5 children, myself, and my husband. But when a "boo-rito" is up for grabs at a mere $3 each, you do what you gotta do.

 Hattie was a butterfly princess for Downtown Elk River Trick or Treating, Lily was a princess.

 

 Ella was a deer for both Downtown Trick of Treating and Halloween night.

Ben was a lizard (and yes, it took forever to get all that green cleaned off his face) for both events. 

Cora was my little owl. That costume took over 100 "feathers" glued to a t-shirt.

Candy Math the day after Halloween...enjoying the "spoils".

We ended up donating 7 pounds of candy to Operation Smile. The local dentist office pays $1 per pound of candy, so each kiddo got a buck that they put in the offering plate at Awana. The candy gets shipped overseas to our troops.

**We went Downtown Elk River Trick or Treating the Friday before Halloween. It was amazing. The sun was shining, the weather topped out around 70 degrees. It was heavenly. If Halloween was like that every year, I might get a bit more excited for this holiday.

Halloween 2012

I can not believe that Halloween has come and gone already. It seems like it really wasn't that long ago that I just packed up their costumes from last year...thinking "wow...a whole 'nother year til we do this again". And now...come and gone...just like that. Time passes so quickly...and the kids grow up so fast.

Nana, Jason's mom, took the kids out for some costume shopping. They had a blast doing that with her and they got to pick exactly what they wanted to be.

Lily chose a cowgirl.

She really, really, really wanted pink cowgirl boots to go with her outfit, but those babies just aren't cheap. Besides, it was cold enough out that she ended up with boots on her feet.


Cora chose a lady bug.

I would melt everytime she said "ladybug" in her little 2 year old vocabulary. She loved the outfit so much that she wore it all. night. She didn't last as long as the 3 big kids and wanted to come home to hand out candy with mom...but there was no way she was taking that outfit off until it was absolutely necessary.


Ben chose a pirate.

The sword sealed the deal. A costume...with a sword. Sold. He ended up with a lot of "loot" by night's end. He also couldn't resist saying "aarrrgg" every. single. time. I asked for a picture.

And Ella, she chose a bee.

She was a little pokey (as usual) at the supper table so she was scrambling to get herself ready. Unfortunately, that resulted in me not getting a solo pic of her. But here she is, in all her bee glory. And of course Ben with his usual "arrrggg" face. Gotta love a boy in character.

I had some excited kids. And cute. Ready to tackle the neighborhood in search of as much sugary candy as they could get their little hands on.

Oh my...and this is before the sugar rush.

Jason got the four-wheeler hooked up to the trailer and strung lights around it. The neighbor kids joined us and Jason drove them all around the neighborhood.

They had a blast and were sad when the evening had come to an end. But on the plus side...oodles and oodles of candy to eat, play with, sort, and set up a candy shop. I even snuck some out and made a few math games with them. Oh...and get this...they ended up with 9 full size candy bars and 3 KING size ones. Sounds like a sugar coma, doesn't it?!?

Here are our pumpkins. My brother, Jamie, was down for the weekend and he and Jason became carving masters. We ended up with:

A traditional pumpkin, and an angry bird,

A puppy, an angry bird pig, and Winnie the Pooh.