Halloween 2009

I realize how long it’s taken me to put up these pictures but at least I’m doing it now right, right?

Celebrating holidays when you have children is like reliving your childhood all over again.  It is so fun to create those traditions and show them what its all about.  This year I think Allie really understood the concept of Halloween. Last year I had to trick her to dress her up like a cat:

And she hated it! Every last second of it. and so did Ryan:

Of course, he was only 2 months old and didn’t know who he was, let alone what mommy was doing dressing him up in something so puffy and uncomfortable.

This year was different…for Allie. Not so much Ryan. He still didn’t understand why Mommy was dressing him up in something so puffy and uncomfortable!

First, the day of Halloween, we waited for while Ryan was napping, we carved pumpkins.  Allie didn’t know what we meant by carving pumpkins until we started.  She didn’t wanna touch the stuff, but she loved giving her input on how she wanted the face to look. Then she says her trademark line, “Mama YOU do it”. And like the whipped sweet Mama that I am, I did.  See?

Oh my stars, that is a horrible picture of me. As you can tell by my discarded orange shirt crumpled on the floor next to me, I got a little warm. I was working HARD!! So was Jason:

Actually, I told him to make a face just like his pumpkin. That’s what he came up with.  So dramatic, ain’t he?

Allie liked watching and directing because she’s done this sooooo many times before.

Here is the finished product that our Trick or Treaters saw when they came up to the door:

 

After Ryan’s nap, I tried so hard  to get pictures of my 2 stinkers sweeties together.

They weren’t having it.

at all.

In the evening, I redressed the kids in their Halloween costumes.

Allie was Dorothy:

She doesn’t look thrilled here, but trust me, she was. :) She still wears that outfit for dress up quite often.

Ryan was a monkey:

correction: a monkey who does not like cameras and will not wear his sweet little monkey hat. Or Trick or Treat. Or smile for Mommy. Because he hates this ridiculous puffy suit.  That’s uncomfortable.  But he had this adorable tail that I could not get enough of:

 

For dinner, we went to Gobbie’s house (Jason’s mom) like we always do for her yummy pizza burgers and small gifts. She always buys the grandkids gifts on Halloween…and Valentines Day…and Easter…and…well, anyway. We had fun.

Playing with Gobbie’s Halloween decorations

 

Jason dressed up like Jimmy Clauson from Notre Dame football. If you know Jason, you know his heart beats the Notre Dame song and bleeds that navy blue and gold. It has probably been his costume every year.

 

Ryan’s favorite pastime: Removing all of the DVD’s from the TV cabinets. And then walking away.

Opening Presents.

Such a grumpy monkey.

 

 

My Nephew Nathan.

After dinner, all the families when their separate ways. We headed back home, hoping to take Allie to at least 2 houses to test out Trick or Treating. This just shows how well I know my daughter because 2 houses is exactly all she could take. The first house was great, she knocked on the door…said Trick or Treat like we had been practicing… got her candy…on to the next house. In their front lawn is where she fell apart.  She wanted to walk on their lawn. This would have been fine, but there were decorative lights for her to trip on. So  because of the stupid lawn lights, she lost her mind and that was it for Trick or Treating. I didn’t even get a picture of it. Oh well…next year!

We went back to our house to pass out candy, drink my homemade apple cider and eat these awesome cookies that Allie and I made:

My family came over and helped us eat them. Which was good someone got to enjoy them because the next day ANTS got into what was left of them.  That was truly my Halloween nightmare *shudders* and another story.

We ended up getting 400 Trick or Treaters that night. Holy cow. It was insane. crazy. I can’t even begin to explain what it is like to not even be able to shut the door and people can’t turn around after they get their candy because there is sooooo many people behind them.  We have always gotten a lot of Trick or Treaters, so I have always made sure to buy enough candy.  I bought 4- 100 piece bags, ate maybe two and we ran out before 7. This year just took the cake. Other years couldn’t even hold a candle to the craziness we experienced. One good thing was that I was complimented 7 times for the good smells coming out of my house (my hot apple cider), asked 3 times if I was making pumpkin pie and asked once if I would let them have a glass.  I heard several comments from people telling others that it smelled really good.  I was just tickled that people noticed. :)