Prepare yourself for some excuses.
It does seem that the more prep that goes into an event, the less pictures I take. I'm not sure if I'm too worn out to properly document, or if I just want to enjoy the fruits of my labor first-hand, but Halloween...Christmas...really fun family trips...always seem to be light on the pictures. I'm just sayin'.
Still I did take a few. Let's proceed in birth order, shall we?
Meg from Hercules. Somehow Jordan's group settled on Hercules for a costume theme. She and her friend Rachel came to me with the ambitious plan to "sew" their costumes. From scratch. Without a pattern. Or any sewing knowledge of any kind. Well, Rachel had some sewing instruction from school. Jordan, not so much. I was as negative and disapproving and I could possibly be (about the sewing with no skills part). But these girls would not be thwarted. There were a few moments of frustration. And it's just possible that I re-threaded the sewing machine some 823 times. But they finished on time...and were quite beautiful if I do say so myself. Way to go girls.
On to daughter numero dos:
Maddie and her friends were m&m's. And aside from a brief trip to Hobby Lobby, this costume required essentially nothing from me. Thank you Madison. She and her friends attended the first half of the high school football game before returning home to trick or treat. By then it was pitch black outside and my mother and sister and I were sprawled on dining room chairs in the front yard. Sprawling and hooting and hollering are not conducive to additonal picture taking. Nor is the pitch dark. Still, lovely m&M.
And you've already seen my lovely young vampire. Not pictured here: long black fingernails (she had about three left by the end of the night) and a shirt with a picture of Becca and her vampire friends that said "Caution: We Bite." Iron-on printer paper is a marvelous invention. So is fake blood.
Aaaahhh. Gangster boy. Parker, along with three of our neighbors, dressed up as gangsters. In all honesty, they picked this costume completely for the tommy gun. Before trick-or-treating had even begun, Parker had a blister on his trigger finger. He is fierce.
Violence. And that's all I have to say about that.
As an added dimension to our Halloween festivities this year, we (meaning Sterling) constructed a Spook Alley on our front porch. The kids entered where Becca is standing...walked through the porch...and got their candy at the doors that lead to the sun room. It is the perfect spot for a Spook Alley. I think the builder should start billing this floor plan as the Spook Alley house. Perhaps I could work up some advertising literature for them. Then I could make some money...because this English gig really isn't all that lucrative.
The welcoming party...
Imagine this...enveloping darkness...strobe lights...a foggy mist (from a 1000 watt fog machine)...a life size body form completely encased in webbing. A bat flying overhead. A goblin racing towards you. You can't really tell from this pic, but it was pretty scary. And it's not just me sayin' it. Plenty of kids wouldn't even walk through. They just didn't need candy that badly. Good for them.
We covered the french doors and transom light with black plastic. In fact, our one downfall was not enough light. Next year I think we may replace the porch lights with black light bulbs. This was just a first run...we'll be back next year.
This morning...how happy we were to have an extra hour to sleep. In fact, we were sitting around, completely dressed, and still made it to church 20 minutes early. I know. We're weird. But while we were waiting, Parker was entertaining us with dress up remnants. I don't know why I find this so funny. But I do.
I love that kid...
So that's it. It's a wrap. I'm badgering Sterling to finish cleaning up the Spook Alley stuff. I'm badgering while sitting at the computer. I do not find that an effective way to lead, but I keep trying it nevertheless. Now...on to Thanksgiving...all food...no gore. It's a let-down really.
As I was out treating with the children on Saturday night, I began to realize that soon enough, all my kids would be "too big" for trick or treating and wouldn't need my costume services. A sad thought. But then I had a different thought that really cheered me up. A spook ally. Something really scary and fun and worthy of my creative time. And then, this morning I clicked onto your post. You're awesome.
Thanks for all the traffic! I'm still getting your leftovers!!
Posted by: Julie K | November 02, 2009 at 10:56 AM