Halloween Week!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

We celebrated for days!

As I walked through crowds of costumed children at the Elementary School Friday morning, it occurred to me what I love about Halloween.

 It was the chance to pretend. The children were contagious with happiness, imagination, and excitement to get be whatever they wanted to be for a day. Little girls got to wear wings, wigs, princess dresses, and lipstick. Little boys got to be tough superheroes, or monsters. They were thrilled to be something or someone else! 

Here are some of the highlights of our week of fun!

• Julia wore a costume everyday-- all day! At preschool she was the Little Mermaid. My favorite part of the Halloween program was when her wig came off during the singing. 
• Julia was "Pinkalicious" Halloween. She told dad that she got to wear "jewelry, lipstick, and curls". I was so glad she chose this costume because the Ariel wig was a pain! 
• Sam and Rebekkah made their own bows and arrows with Gus's help. As you can see, we had a real Medieval theme going. Sam looked very brave and convincing. Rebekkah actually learned achery in P.E., and it is her favorite sport  now.
• Timmy was Percy Jackson at Scouts in addition to being a Vampire on Halloween. Although not pictured, Gus made him an orange "Camp Half-blood" shirt for the Scout party. We enjoy these books and recommend them to you. Surprisingly, lots of people recognized his character!
• Katherine went to the same party 3 times on Halloween night (as she is learning to find directions). She actually made it after coming home finally and seeing a real map. She won second place in the costume contest (thanks to Aunt Jen). She was gorgeous. We were afraid to let her leave the house alone.
• Rebekkah had planned for months to be Susan from Narnia and fit the part. She can now use the curling iron like a Veteran. 
• I was a pumpkin! I got to read Halloween stories to Timmy's class for their party! I read "FrankenFrog" and a story about an Alien who came to visit on Halloween. I read to 5 groups and was pretty hoarse by the end. I sure love to read to the kids though. 
• Gus (not pictured) wore an orange shirt that said "This is my costume!" Where was the camera?
• Sam mummified Julia at his class party. He was great with her.
• We had a wonderful time with the Abbotts while our kids went around the neigborhood on Halloween Eve. We had hot cider, cards, salsa and chips, and watched "Hook" when the kids came home. It was a treat for us! 
• An important "Thank You" note.  Halloween costumes were made possible by the dilligent duo, Aunt Jen and Grandma Lynda, who scoured the thrift stores and their costume closets for these fabulous costumes. Every year the seem to find exactly what the kids have be wanting to be! My contibutions were Tim's black pants, Julia's pink and green undershirts and the wig. Oh yeah!-- and the curls on 2 of the girls and their lipstick.
• Finally, I made tasteless chili on Halloween. This was not a highlight of the week. I think it won the prize for being most flavorless dish I've ever made. I kept wondering if I was sick or losing my sense of taste. It smelled fine, but no matter how much salt, spice, or extra tomatoes I added, it still tasted like nothing. I tried to eat it again this morning and threw in some of the left over Salsa from last night. I was amazed at the difference. If you ever have this problem... try salsa.