Halloween

The more children we have, the simpler the costumes. Great thing is, these kids were just as happy. Tanner was gone all day for our first Halloween celebration (our ward party) so I had to prioritize, which meant Eliza and I went without a costume. I let the big kids pick out their own costumes. 

Weeks before, Austin was saying that he wanted to be Batman. We have a Batman top but nothing else. Luckily the day of the party I was able to convince him that a pirate would be way cooler (I think the sword is what won him over) and thanks to our dressups, I was able to pull one together. The eye patch and mustache were my favorite. 

Chet knew he wanted to be a vampire bat and I was trying to figure out how to make his costume. After piano one day Chet had a costume that his piano teacher had made and said he could borrow. I wasn't going to complain about that. Chet wore it every day and got really good at being a bat. He even had the plastic vampire teeth but they made him drool all over the place so he only wore them for the pictures. 

Mariah knew she wanted to be a cat and with gentle guidance from me decided she wanted to be a "rainbow cat". That way I didn't have to make anything new for her costume either. I'm sure you all are seeing a trend here...

Earlier in the day we had to go to Sams Club to get cupcakes for the party so Austin skipped his nap. He was one sleepy pirate by the time we were heading to the church. 

The youth at our church did such a fantastic job with all the activities for the kids. There was a cupcake walk, slime making, ghost target shooting, and a Harry Potter room where the kids were each sorted, got their wand, made a potion and learned what their Patronus was. There also was Butterbeer. 

We carved pumpkins for FHE one night. 

 Mariah made an attempt at carving her own pumpkin but needed some help from me. 

 Mariah and Chet both wanted what they were going to be for Halloween carved in their pumpkin. And Tanner helped Austin pick his. Although his dad was a big influencer, Austin really is a fan of "West Virginnie". Whenever he sees their logo he points it out. 

 I dressed Eliza up Halloween night for this picture so one day she'll think I was a fun mom.We had just gotten back from the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh so I was in a little bit of a rush. But Tanner was able to be home in time to go trick or treating with us. Which hasn't happened in a long time. 

 Before we left, we had our first trick or treaters. When one girl saw the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups she said she was allergic to peanuts and began to walk away. Tanner said, "Hey Peanut Allergy! We have stuff without peanuts." Later on that night I saw a girl dressed up like a white, glowing jelly fish. I pointed her out to Mariah and said, "She's dressed up like a jellyfish!" Mariah replied, "No, thats peanut allergy.". We had a good laugh and then had to explain what a peanut allergy was. Maybe next time Tanner won't refer to someone by their medical issues. Someone's a doctor. 

Austin walked the whole time and at the beginning he insisted on carrying his own bag. But as it got heavier he handed it to Tanner and said, "you can carry it". 

 Their favorite part of the night was handing out candy.

The night of Halloween we let them eat as much candy as they wanted. The next day they picked out a handful of candy and then I told them they could trade the rest for a new book. I was planning on letting them pick out a book on Amazon but Chet said, "We can go to a book store and pick out a book?!" And after seeing how willing they were to give me their candy I didn't feel like I could say no. So we went to Barnes and Noble. It was really cute too see how excited they were. Chet and Austin each picked out $5 books until Mariah showed them other more expensive books (bless her little heart). Lets just say that was very expensive candy I bought from them. After looking the books up on Amazon and seeing that I could get them for  2/3 the cost of Barnes and Noble, I was able to convince them to wait two days for their precious books.  

This may be a new tradition, but next time we might go to the thrift store and pick out whatever book they want...