halloween 2013

    I’m so happy that my kids don’t really notice that Halloween isn’t done right around here.  Remember, I am a  “do it yourself” kind of mom around Halloween time.  In October I can never seem to get my act together to plan costumes too far in advance, let alone make anything coordinated, cute or crafty.  But somehow my kids still have the time of their lives (and I try not to be too grumpy).  I have to keep telling myself that our Shumway sort of Halloween is good for the kids, they have ownership, they make it what they want to make it.  That builds independence and character, right?  Still, I know deep down that Hazel – well really all of them -  would love it if I took a more active mom roll.  Sorry dears, maybe next year.    Here’s what they pulled together for the church Halloween party ^^.   In case it’s not obvious, they are all characters from Knight Rider (which they watched and loved during down days this summer).  Charlie and Saul are both Michael Knight, Em is his girlfriend, Hazel is the mechanic ‘Bonnie’ and Peter is Kit (the car….though he’s not pictured above with the cardboard black box/car that Hazel made for him).   They were so psyched about what they had come up with.  I heard them whispering before the party about how sure they were that they would win some serious prizes.   They didn’t win any prizes, but the pride of just thinking they would made them happy.  Peter spent a lot of Halloween week going to “Emmeline School” where Em would dress him up in almost every costume from the Halloween box in the basement.  When Em realized that all I was goign to do to decorate was drag out our old black snake wreath she took decorating our door into her own hands.  She made this sign on her own and put it up.  She has no idea what those letters say, but I think they came out perfectly spooky.  On Halloween day Em insisted on dressing as a princess for her dentist appointment.  She and Charlie both got their teeth all fixed up and ready for the onslaught of candy.  The kids carved their own pumpkins this year with only a little help from me.  It’s a messy ordeal, but I love this part of Halloween.  It keeps them so happy and busy for a whole afternoon.   We had our traditional black bean soup (thanks for the idea Saren) before going out to collect our candy.  Peter was psyched about every single minute of this night.  It made me realize that he’s really going to “get” the holidays this year.  Love that boy. Here they are with their pumpkins all ready to go out to trick or treat.  Hermione, Harry, Ginny and a monkey.    Our dear friends Therese and Penelope came to join us for Trick or Treating.  Hazel came up with this Harry Potter theme for the kids, borrowed all the costumes from Therese and then got everyone all and ready to go.  She is one helpful girl.   It was a wonderfully warm night.  I couldn’t get enough of that little monkey, prancing around, merrily pushing his way through the crowd to be at the front when the door opened.    We got home, had a quick candy swap and called it a night. 

All in all we had a good Halloween run.  And even though I know deep down that ten years from know I’ll ache for a trick or treating night with little monkeys tugging at my arm, I’m always pretty happy to pack up the (little that I have) Halloween stuff and shove it back into it’s box for next year. 

On to Thanksgiving.  I love Thanksgiving.