May the Force Be With You (Halloween 2013)

Leia, Yoda, and Luke

After a couple of years of having a theme for Halloween, I think it might be this way a while longer. Especially since my oldest began plotting next year's costumes soon after he came in from trick or treating.

My parents came over to see the kids in their costumes

This year my kids were Star Wars characters. The theme was kicked off when a friend gave Buggy a Princess Leia costume. After that, the boys had to be Star Wars characters as well!  I ordered costumes for the boys and Bananas was Yoda and Boogie was Luke Skywalker. We procured light sabers from our next door neighbors and the costumes were complete.

Halloween started with a Halloween parade and party at Boogie's school. I dressed the younger kids and Buggy jumped right into the parade before the kids left the classroom.  Boogie was stuck holding his brother's hand and it made him very grumpy.  Bananas is little so it takes him more effort to keep up with the group and it made Boogie frustrated that he couldn't keep up with the group.  However, all was forgiven after the parade and once the sugar rush kicked in from the party.

We came home and I rushed to finish up straightening the house before our neighbors came over for dinner. I invited several families over to our house and I ordered pizza for the group. We ended up with 12 kids and 8 adults at our house enjoying pizza, salad, and juice boxes before we put on glow bracelets and necklaces and went out trick or treating. Along the way a few more neighborhood kids joined our group and we ended up with a large group of 15 walking around the neighborhood. I know from running in our neighborhood that the complete loop is a mile.

Getting ready to go to Boogie's party and parade with our neighbor Spider Man

The younger kids were getting tired halfway through, but the big kids hit just about every house.  I think Boogie led the way most of the time and had a blast.  Halfway through the neighborhood, Bananas began rubbing his eyes and he and Hubby headed home. I continued with the big kids. We were blessed with 70 degree weather and only a light rain.  Hubby and I truly enjoyed our trip around the neighborhood with our neighbors.  It was so nice to watch the kids have fun and chat with our neighbors.  Our schedule is so busy and jam packed that we rarely get a chance to see our neighbors and spend time with them.  Our night was so much fun and most importantly the kids enjoyed themselves.  By the time we came home, the rain came down harder and we didn't have a lot of trick or treaters. I'm glad the rain held out while we were trick or treating.

He's make a pretty good lookin' Luke Skywalker

We've done a theme for the last few years.  Two years ago the big kids were characters from the movie "How to Train Your Dragon." Last year all three kids were characters from the Narnia series:  King Peter, Queen Susan, and the Dragon. This year was Star Wars. Boogie is already thinking ahead for another theme...I'm thinking Firefly...Can't you see Bananas as the Hero of Canton?

Class picture

A Grumpy Luke with an oblivious Yoda and Princess Leia.
Fortunately, he lightened up once the party started :)

Halloween 2012

Greetings from Narnia!

How does Halloween sneak up on me every year? Seriously? I knew that it was coming I had some ideas for costumes. We thought about being Wild Kratts. The big kids already had the t-shirts I made for Boogie's birthday party and I could make one more for the baby or he could be a komodo dragon (we have a dragon costume. HA!). Daddy would be Jimmy Z and I would be Aviva.  I considered making us the Incredibles as we had the right number of family members and the costumes wouldn't be terribly hard.  But easiest would be for Boogie to be Saint George, Buggy would be Princess Hope, and Bananas would be the dragon.  Both big kids fought against it.  Boogie wanted to be one of the Avengers, and Buggy insisted on being the Incredible Hulk. Ugh!

Love the little kids expressions!

However, my sister-in-law saved the day a few weeks before Halloween by bringing a costume for Boogie and explained that her son had been King Peter from Narnia when he wore the costume a few years ago. As a result, Boogie broke out our Chronicles of Narnia audiobooks and listened to several books over again as he geared up to being King Peter.  Buggy was harder to convince and even up to the night before Halloween she insisted on being the Incredible Hulk. I even considered breaking down and buying her a "Hulk" t-shirt and buying green face paint, but my money saving side won out and I insisted she wear a princess costume we have had sitting in her dress up bucket. After Boogie put on his costume and I allowed her choose her own crown, she was down with being Queen Susan of Narnia.  As we already had a dragon costume, Bananas was the dragon from Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Boogie is King Peter and Buggy is a fairy in the school parade

Halloween celebrations began with an afternoon party at Boogie's school.  We had just enough time to pick up Buggy from school and eat lunch before we raced off to decorate Boogie's classroom. I met up with another Mom (also a former teacher) and began the set up. We had decorations and a craft project for the kids.  We worked well together and we were ready to go with the flow.  The kids came back before we were ready, but his teacher went with the flow and switched some things around. We gave the kids their craft projects and they made "stained glass" using halloween cutouts and tissue paper. A big hit, but a little more difficult than we had anticipated, but it all worked out. While L. and I worked with the kids, the teacher had the students dress in their costumes. There was a nice flow to the party so that we were able to work with the kids in small groups and everyone finished a projected and was dressed before the parade.  L. and I finished decorating while the teacher read two stories to the kids. I loved seeing the parade and watching my two kids go around the school. Bananas hung out on my back in a carrier and enjoyed the scene around him.  The party was a success and exhausting.  My little kids headed straight for naps as soon as we came home.

Bananas is very excited by getting Boots as  a treat.

We had a nice surprise from the Epitos who stopped over briefly to bring treats for the kids.  It was incredibly sweet for them to think of our little ones on an exciting day.  Each kid was given s small hand-held stuffed animal. Bananas was given Boots, the monkey from Dora the Explorer. He has slept with it every night since Halloween and loves it.  Buggy took Dots (a little ladybug) with her to her cardiology appointment, and Safari hangs out in Boogie's window next to his bed. Thank you Epitos!

Boogie had soccer practice on Halloween night, but I hate driving on Halloween with so many people out and walking about we skipped it.  Instead, Hubby came home early and we ate an early dinner. The kiddos put on their costumes and I made them sit through a ton of pictures. They were pretty good natured, but totally ready to go trick or treating with the neighbors.

I ended up going trick-or-treating with the kids this year. Usually I hand out the candy. Usually we have a little one that can't go out yet and I stay home with her/him.  But this year all 3 kids were rarin' to go.  Bananas walked to each house saying, "teet, teet, teet."When he got to the house someone would hold out the bowl of candy for him and he would dig both hands in and come up with one candy. I would ask, "Can you say, thank you?" and he'd nod yes. He'd finally sign "thank you" and blow kisses as he said, "Byyyyyyye" in a sing song voice.  The big kids went way ahead with the next door neighbors, but the other mom kept up with them as Bananas and I brought up the rear. He sat in the back part of our stroller so I didn't have to strap him in. I tried to bypass a few houses, because really how much candy does a 20-month old really need? But nothin' doin'. That little stinker would get out of the stroller while it was still moving and march himself up to each house and loved it!

Even though this is blurry, I love the sweet smile shared between my Mom and Mr. Bananas

As our group passed other families in the neighborhood, we ended up joining our groups and by the end of the night, there were four families all together:  13 kids and 8 adults. I really liked the sense of community and how we all watched out for each other's kids.  After 1 mile and more than 2 hours of walking the neighborhood I walked my kids home where Hubby took over and drove them to my parents' house for their treats. My parents love seeing the kids in their costumes and answering the door to them. I'm grateful that we live close enough where we can have that experience.  I stayed home for  candy duty.

Pumpkins lining our driveway :)

It was an amazing day filled with fun and exhaustion.  I am so blessed that I get to share these experiences with my kids. Boogie was so excited for me to come to his school and help out and that made my day even more special. I loved doing things for each of my kids that make them feel special and loved.  And, I'm glad that Halloween is only once a year ;)

Pumpkin Carving

One very well cleaned out pumpkin

With my Filipino relatives being here, my husband has been excited to share with them some American traditions.  He constantly wants to share with them new experiences such as non-Filipino food, taking the bus, carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, Thanksgiving....the list can go on!

The most recent experience he was able to share with them was pumpkin carving. Before Halloween we had picked up several pumpkins.  I'm not very creative and I remember when I was little and my mom not really into pumpkin carving because of the mess. As a result, I like the end product, but I'm not a big of fan of the process to get the carved pumpkins. On the other hand, my husband is very creative and doesn't mind a mess, so he enjoys this Halloween tradition.

Cleaning out the pumpkins and setting aside the seeds to roast them

One weekend before Halloween we invited my extended family over for breakfast and pumpkin carving.  Everyone enjoyed their time and I was pretty impressed with their creativity. It took the whole afternoon and everyone got into it. They listened to music, chatted, and were intensely focused on their creations.  I am so grateful for my husband wanting to share new experiences with my family.

My kids and their cousins with the completed products

Two Vikings and a Monkey

It seems every year we decorate just a little more for Halloween. Part of it is that we have children and there is a reason to decorate and of course, I'm not working so there is time to decorate.  And every year I start thinking about next year's costume.

When Boogie was born his Aunt M. bought him a sweet pumpkin costume. He wore it when he was a baby and Buggy wore it for her second Halloween. (Her first Halloween she was just 9 days old).  I had planned on putting it on Mr. Bananas this year, but Hubby found a cute monkey costume and he couldn't resist.

This year the kids had decided to be characters from their favorite movie, "How to Train your Dragon."  I did look online for any ready made costume, but I'm not one for spending tons of money on a costume that will be worn once maybe twice if I'm lucky. And when I say tons of money, I mean $20-$25 per costume. I know it's not that much, but for something only worn once and for just a few hours, I can't justify it.  So after looking at the crazy prices for the costumes I decided to improvise and make my own costumes putting together pieces from different outfits to make a costume.

The result was:

 "Hiccup":  green fleece pants, snowboots, a green shirt (I bought for $5) that I cut and sewed the "lacing" to make it look like the real characters shirt, a wide piece of ribbon for a belt, and a leather vest given to me by my SIL (Thanks, L!) to replace the v-neck sweater vest I was originally using for "hiccup's" vest, and a cardboard shield (that Hubby made after walking in the door at 11:30 at night from a week long business trip so that it would be ready for Boogie's Halloween parade the next morning).

"Astrid":  All the pieces I did buy, but I can use separately as pieces to real outfits she can wear outside the house.  1 "magic" shirt (that stretches to fit any kid any size), legwarmers for her arms, pleated skirt, wide black headband for a belt, black stretchy pants, boots,  an orange headband, and a cardboard battleax Hubby made the day of our October snow.

And of course, Mr. Bananas, had the only non-homemade costume:

For the Godparents: Love, Mr. Bananas

One of my favorite pictures, because of the look of delight on Buggy's face when Boogs held her hand in his school's Halloween parade.

I love Boogie's expression in this one.

Buggy grimaced like the viking she is in every photo!

"Tick o Teat"

A pumpkin for each kid:  Kitty cat for Baby #3, Buggy's Pig, Boogie's dog.

The kids had so much fun going trick or treating last night.  Boogie is 4 1/2 and knew what to expect. He was so excited to go out that he tried to put on his costume right after church.  I had to convince him to wait until after dinner. Buggy was with me when I bought candy to give out and she kept saying, "Ha-o-wee."  She also insisted that she would be a "fower" and definitely not a "dwagon."

I wanted the kids to carve pumpkins, but we are always so behind and I didn't have the energy to set it up.  However, our neighbors had found these cute plastic faces (kind of like  Mr. Potatohead pieces) and told me where to buy them. I bought a set and Hubby helped the kids make fun pumpkin faces.  He did carve one jack-o-lantern and Bug does not like it. Too "sca-wee."

A bear for Mommy and Daddy's Jack-o-lantern

After dinner the kids changed into their costumes. Boogs had no problem and Bug was excited to be a "fower."  After the kids were dressed my son looks at my daughter very seriously and said, "If Lolo (my dad) doesn't give us any candy, let's play a trick on him."  Buggy's response: "Okay" just as seriously.

The kids walked around the neighborhood with Hubby. I just did our cul-de-sac (4 houses since I'm not allowed to even do light walking around the neighborhood) and waited for them to come back so we could drive to my parent's house for trick or treating.

Hubby said when they got back that Buggy went up to each house said, "Tick o Teat," took her piece of candy, said, "Ha-o-wee is FUN," then said "thank you" and headed to the next house. Boogie ran from house to house with our neighbor and Hubby had to practically drag him back to the house.

They had  a ton of fun. When we got to my parents' house Buggy kept pulling out a piece of candy and hand it to one of us to open. I would say, "no, tomorrow." She'd pout, put back the candy and pull out a different piece and we'd do it all over again. She cracks me up.   She didn't realize that it was no to all candy until the next day. She'd already had a lollipop, fruit snacks,  and a mini candy bar.

Our flower and knight

We stopped by my friend K's house. I figured since we were already in the car, we'd take a detour on the way home and show off the kids and say hi.  By the end, I was pooped! And all I did was walk to a few houses, hand out candy, visit my parents and friend, and head home.

It was fun. I appreciated that Hubby enjoyed going out with the kids and that the kids had fun and nothing was too scary.  Good times had by all :)

Visiting my parents for Trick-or-Treating

My kids with my parents

Our "fower"