Halloween

Tonight was our final opportunity to wear the costumes.  Our street has a block party that we stop in at.  Maybe some year we'll actually be able to sit and chat with our neighbors, but we're not there yet.  They grabbed handfuls of candy (all of the neighbors just bring up bowls of candy and hang out...it's like a huge buffet!), ate a sucker (it's a slow candy!), waited for a few minutes while we chatted, then started with "let's go...can we go get more candy?  candy? more?  trick or treat?  candy?"  Oh well. 

Here are a few more pictures of the boys in costume :)

 

This picture turned out great, and it was super easy because I told each kid to stand on their own stone.  I will keep that in mind for future pictures....

Like I said, I can't decide if they're cuter from the front or back in these costumes! 

This is Z and our neighbor, Skylar.  They are both in kindergarten (but she goes full day).  The two of them are great pals, and spend a ton of time together.  They are out riding bikes together ALL the time, and playing, and making up stories and who knows what else.  They are a great pair...she is not super girly (which I love!).  It is kind of nice to have a girl, and not a boy, since 2 or more boys can get loud and nuts (yes, I have experience).  From her mom's perspective, she is glad to have a boy for Skylar so there aren't catfights all the time.  And the two of them don't let each other boss the other around...they are a good pair.  :)  We are grateful to have her so close...she keeps Z entertained!  She is a pirate. 

Eating suckers and waiting patiently for us :)

I love these kids.  So cute. 

Checking out their loot! 

And, WHEW!  That is Halloween 2011.  Went to Target later in the week and got 9 costumes for $60...they will work for at least the next 2 years.  Hope the boys still agree to them! 

Ghouls in the Garden

This is the second year we have gone to Ghouls in the Garden at MoBot, but the first year we brought the littles.  Considering it was right at naptime, the boys did great. We didn't take a wagon, and they walked fine...slowly, but fine.  There is a route set up, and all the workers dress up and decorate the garden and hand out candy.  You just can't go wrong. 

The fountain was dyed red because the Cards won the World Series on Friday (so fun!  We had a great time watching, but it wasn't anything blog worthy.)  Z thought it was like blood...not quite, buddy.   

Here Z is telling (mumbling) his joke to this pirate. 

I can't decide if they are cuter from the back or front. 

This woman was showing them her raven (fake). 

The kids liked this MoBot mascot more than most of the other characters dressed up.  They all happily gave him five and hugged him. 

We stayed for about an hour and didn't even attempt the Children's Garden (it was crowded and way past naptime).  As we were waiting for Nate to get the van, it started to sprinkle...our confirmation it was time to go!

Pumpkins

I love to carve pumpkins.  Well, I love the idea of carving pumpkins.  I have such fond memories of carving as a kid, so of course I want to pass those on.  Lucky for me I have a husband who is willing to go along with my shenanigans.

Z has never been really good with the pumpkin guts.  N, either.  Neither of them really like to get their hands too dirty...actually C not so much either.  Most days this is awesome, so I don't have kids digging in mud.  Carving pumpkins though, I wish they would get over it. 

We got 2 pumpkins this year...next year we might have to get them each their own.  But for this year Nate chose an easy geometric pattern for the little boys (triangles!).  Z chose a tougher one, but he and Nate worked it out and got it carved.  Z did as much as he could and Nate finished up.  Next year I think if we choose an easier one Z will be able to do most of it on his own. 

Trunk or Treat

Here begins our weekend of costumes! 

Our church's Trunk or Treat is always our Trick or Treating trial run.

Z decided months ago to be a vampire, so I asked Dorothy to make him a cape, and it turned out great!  I talked him into getting some black hair spray, and he was excited for the face paint.  As we checked out, he asked "will my hair stay black forever?".  So I joke and say, "YUP!", and he says, "but why do you want my hair to be black?"  He still doesn't quite get sarcasm...and it almost cost me his black hair.  When we got home it took some major convincing and me coloring a strip of my own hair black in order to get HIM to let me dye his hair!  He finally gave in though, and it was so fun to see him with black hair!  In fact, when I went to pick him up at the end of the night (we had a church meeting after Trunk or Treating) I didn't even recognize him from the back, and left to go look for him elsewhere.  :)  I started to do the paint, but I was terrible at it, no big surprise there.  Nate took over and did a MUCH better job. 

As far as the little boys costumes...wow, it took some work to get them.  Z was a dragon when he was their age, so of course I recycled his costume.  I had a friend who let me borrow a green one for N, and I figured I could get the last one from Old Navy.  But when I started looking (3 weeks before Halloween, so I wasn't totally procrastinating!), there were none online.  And none in ANY Old Navy in the state.  And I lost 2 bids on Ebay for costumes.  Seriously?! I finally checked on CraigsList, and found one cheap that was about 35 minutes away.  So off I went.  I'm glad I got them all...but I didn't love that I had 2 green and 1 red.  I like them either to all be the exact same or all different but coordinating (if only Old Navy had made a yellow one!).  At any rate, they were still super cute :)

I insist that Z tell a joke on Halloween...I am hard core St. Louis like that.  This year it was:  What is a vampires favorite candy?  A sucker.  So he would walk up to the trunk (or door on Halloween), barely look the person in the eye or say Happy Halloween or Trick or Treat, and he would mumble out his joke and answer...and most of the time the adult had no clue what was going on.  We're going to have to work on delivery!  He was great at saying thank you, so that was good.  The little boys clearly couldn't do a joke, so I was content with them just saying Trick or Treat and having them look the adult in the eye and say thank you.  Next year, though....

Stuckmeyer's

An old couple friend of ours came in town for him to go to a conference, and they stayed with us along with their 2 boys (one almost a year older than the little boys, the other a bit over a year younger).  We had a great time catching up and visiting and the boys had a fun time playing.  We went to Stuckmeyer's pumpkin patch one day and a park the next.