Happy Halloween 2013

Happy Halloween y'all.

Pictures forthcoming if I ever manage to get the kitchen cleaned up from the pumpkin carving/candy bartering extravaganza that was our evening.

OK, 3 days later, here they are:

Brigham was a four-armed, 3-eyed mutant.  His fake arms are attached to his real arms with thread, so he can move them together.  It was pretty freaky looking.  He loved his costume, which made me really happy.  It didn't take me too long to put together-- just an extra black shirt that I cannibalized to make the four-armed shirt.
Brigham loves Halloween-- a kid after my own heart.  He begged me to get new Halloween decorations this year, since the ones we've had since he was a baby were too cutesy for him.  It was a fun project, and he heartily approved the outcome.  He decorated outside with spider webs and gravestones.  
He also pulled out an entire drawer full of candy that he had saved since last Halloween!   That kid takes saving to a whole new level.  Too bad it wasn't good after a year...

Joseph really didn't want to dress up this year.  But I'm not ready to have him grow up entirely, yet.  My last year dressing up was when I was 12, and he was going to dress up this year, gosh darn it!   Anyway, after lots of rejected suggestions, he agreed to be Batman-- as in baseball bat man.  :-)  I made the bat symbol with felt and sewed it onto a Salvation Army black shirt, and made another bat symbol for the back of his dracula cape.  He wore it willingly to the ward trunk-or-treat and got lots of comments.  I thought it was pretty clever.  I still remember the year he was a bat, and the next year when he was bat man.  Where did that cute little boy go??  Anyway, on Halloween night, he did NOT want to go trick-or-treating.  What??  No free candy??  But again, I was bound and determined to make him enjoy his last Halloween, so I MADE him put on his costume (which he strangely couldn't find until Ben picked it up from the floor of his closet), and MADE him go outside with us.  The other boys went to about 2 houses before he finally decided to go ahead and get some candy since he had to be out there anyway.  He and I went home a little early anyway, but I think he had fun.  He certainly got into the candy-bartering and trading afterward, anyway, which is half the fun of trick-or-treating.

Mosey knew what he wanted to be for several weeks before Halloween.  We're studying ancient history this year, and after our Egypt unit, he wanted to be King Tut.  I made the tunic and sash and bought the headpiece from amazon.  He had brown sandals as well but didn't want to go find them when we took the picture after coming home from trick-or-treating.  He is at a really great age for trick-or-treating enthusiasm.  Why can't all my kids stay nine years old forever??  I think it might be my favorite age.

And here are the three hooligans in all their Halloween-glory, right after video-chatting with Grandma Frandsen so she could see their costumes.  

We carved some pumpkins, too.  This is Brigham's.  He drew his out in meticulous detail before hand, and then spent about an hour and a half making it perfect.  I love it!

Mosey made a cat jack-o-lantern, to go along with his Egypt theme.  It was funny that Sola came to check it out right as I was taking pictures.  Wonder what she thought of it.

And anyone who knows Joseph is not surprised that this one is his.  He carved it out all himself, and then used about every knife I have to stab it in the face.  OK, then!  I'm trying not to be worried.  :-)

Here is my watermelon jack-o-lantern.  I bought a pineapple, but didn't have time to carve it because I decided to go trick-or-treating with Ben and the boys instead.  I'll have to do 2 next year.

So that was Halloween!  It was very fun, and now we have an enormous bowl of candy left over since we got exactly 3 knocks on our door with trick-or-treaters...  I left the bowl out on the porch when we went out as a family, but none was taken when we got back.  That's the sad thing about living around the corner on the very end of a small street-- no one even knows we are there!