Halloween!

At long last, I am posting about Halloween. The celebrations started with a parade that when right down the street passed our house! It was so fun to sit out on our curb and watch. The boys played football with Dad while we waited.Um, Tab, you better watch out. Benton is coming for you and that kid is a bulldozer. They spent a fair amount of time jumping in the leaf piles.Waiting....waiting....waiting....Finally, the parade came. There was plenty of candy to start off the stash.Benton and Tab both had parades and parties at their schools. I forgot my camera at Benton's party. Bad mommy. But I remembered for Tab. He was thrilled that he got to lead his class in his parade with his teacher.Tab with his class.Next up was trick-or-treating. Poor things were freezing...Did I mention that it snowed a few hours after they got back. I suppose that is for another post. Then was the ward party. They had some fun activities for the kids. Here is Benton playing pin the face on the pumpkin. The end result.Tab also had a go at it. The kids were all lined up for a parade.Hobbes was a good sport.We finally got a family shot. Jason handed out candy from the Tee Pee during the trunk or treating.And close ups of the costumes. Every year I get a little bit more over the top. I do believe that this is the last year for this. Next year my mantra is going to be SIMPLIFY.

Tab and Benton. I used a pattern for their pants and tops. Then they each have moccasin like shoe covers, headdresses, chokers, chest plate type things (Tab took his off before the pictures.) quivers and bows and waist pouches used for "gathering". Daddy made their bows. No arrows, much to their dismay. I thought that would get a little dangerous. And the quivers...Paisley- I didn't use a pattern for her. She has her dress, choker, headband and feathers in her little braids.Hobbes- Doesn't he make the cutest Indian EVER? He just had a little headdress and his papoose. I love how the papoose turned out. It was so nice and cozy. I had wanted to make a cradle board but ran out of time. I can't imagine why! Then Jason. I used a pair of scrubs as a reference for making his costume. I worked out pretty well. He also had a choker, waist pouch,quiver and headband. He did NOT want feathers...lol.The quiver.
And finally, my costume. Again, I just used clothes I had as a reference for making a pattern for my costume. I had a necklace and headband, which I apparently took off before the pictures. No comments on how wide I look ok...I was a week postpartum. Just be happy I'm sharing at all.

Halloween Fun!

For the first time ever our entire family dressed up for Halloween. We had a lot of fun with it. I spent way way way too much time making costumes and loved every last single second of it.

Tab and Benton were pirates.Paisley was a pirate's wench.You can see her black eye shadow and red lipstick a bit better in this picture. For the record, she loved having the make-up put on. I'm a little scared....Jason and I dressed up as a pirate and wench as well.The wench's out trick or treating.Trick or Treating fun. The boys were a bit lazy when it came to walking between houses.We started out our festivities,by carving our pumpkins.
Tab actually did a great job cutting.Benton hated pulling the seeds and stuff out.Paisley wanted to help.Benton loved helping to cut also.Outside with their pumpkins.

Trick or Treat!!!!

"Smell my feet!!!!" (Don't ask where Tab learned that from... it only serves to enfuriate Jenny.

Our Halloween festivities began a few days before the big scary day with pumpkin carving. Benny was freaked out and WOULD NOT stick his hand into the "kucky" pumpkin to clean it out.
Tab, on the other hand, was eager to get his hands dirty. (Not to mention the entire dining room too!)
Here is Jason "encouraging" Benton to put his hand into the opened pumpkin to remove the guts.

Jenny and the "Cheesers" going to town on Mr. Pumpkinhead.
The finished products and their proud sculptors.

Next on our Halloween activities list was the ward Halloween party. Here are the kids in the costumes that Jenny made for them. Tab was a pirate, Benton was a prince, and Paisley was decked out in bats and foofies.
Ladies and gentlemen... In the flesh... Captain Slobs!
And, next up the handsome prince:
And last but never least, the little miss:
The ward halloween party was a great time. The kids loved the candy almost as much as mommy and daddy. Poor Paisley fell asleep while awaiting her second-hand sugar rush.
The highlight of the night for Jenny was that the boys won the "Best couple" award for their costumes that Jenny had made. That woman is talented... The boys spent the remainder of the evening playing with their prize beach balls.
On halloween day we "broke on through to the other side" of Michigan to spend Halloween day with the Guymons. It was awesome to hang out with them and catch up. While there, we visited an orchard that had an outdoor playground of sorts. The kids loved playing in the wooden train.
Here is the conductor of the "loco"motive:

The Guymons won the "man of the mountain" competition. Burly...
Here are the Guymons tearing up the zip-line.
When they got a few minutes to themselves, Sara and Jenny returned to their normal conspiratory habits. That is one sexy tractor, Benny! (He saw this thing and went berserk. Benny is enamored by anything "tractor!"

Way to work the camera Benton.
Jenny snuggling Miss Paisley.
More zipline action.
This was a cool goat feeder at the orchard. It is a little cup and pulley to bring food to the goat on the roof. The kiddos thought it was cool.
Here is Little Miss Bekah lounging around in the hay bale maze.
The cold finally won us over. (It was, after all, near freezing and we spent hours outside.) Benny was one of the first to throw in the towel and ask to be inside Daddy's down vest.
Next, we warmed up with some hot chocolate, ran home, ate some food, and hit the frigid outdoors again for some trick or treating. Here is Benny showing off his evening's spoils. (I see a few things in there that were mine shortly after he went to sleep! Thank you Benny!)
Also, a HUGE thanks to the Guymons for their hospitality. It is always awesome to hang out with them. We miss having them just around the corner and will always be able to find room for them nearby if they are willing.

This post, if you didn't guess, was published by Jason. Please stay tuned for your "normal" programming...