Happy Halloween!!!

It seems like this year Halloween just snuck up on us. It didn't help that the flu worked it's way through our family and with all the buzz about swine flu, I spent most of October paranoid of what symptoms belonged to which virus. By the time whatever illness we had worked it's way through all of us (with the exception of Jack), two weeks of October had passed by. Thankfully the house still got decorated and everyone was well for Halloween.

I'm always amazed when I see or hear about people carving their pumpkins a week or two before Halloween. Are ours the only ones that would be moldy or start to shrivel up? So like always, we wait until the last possible moment. This year it meant Halloween morning. It's tradition for the kids to looks through a bunch of pattern books that we have accumulated over the years and pick out their favorite. Then dad works his magic. It came as no surprise when Sage found herself in a debate between "the castle" and Minnie Mouse. Each night she prays that we'll travel safely on our Disney cruise. Granted that cruise isn't for a few more months but clearly Disney is on her mind nonstop.

You can see the "goop" affects everyone differently...



Clearly it's more fun to throw the goop rather than put it in your bucket...



The beautiful work of dad:



Every year I dream of the three kids going as some sort of theme for Halloween. This could include Star Wars, superheroes, cowboys and a cowgirl, etc. Sadly, I don't think that day will ever come. Ty seems to be interested only in the costumes that have lots of gear. This could include built in muscles, masks, swords, arm pieces, etc. This year, that meant Bumble Bee from Transformers. Connor is more of a less is best type of person. He doesn't go for masks or too many extra things to put on. So for him Captain Underpants was right up his alley. For those of you who don't know who Captain Underpants is, he's a character in these chapter books that Connor LOVES reading. This costume would have consisted of tighty whities and a red cape. Yes, that was it. Simple! Now, granted I would have been all over this idea considering the cost would have been next to nothing but I knew that this would not be weather appropriate for Seattle. Thankfully, he then decided on an Air Force pilot. Sage had a hard time deciding on what to be. Every trip we made to Target she would beg for a different costume. Once she stated begging to be some pink pony/unicorn type thing, I knew I could talk her into anything as her mind just kept changing. During the past few weeks she has picked up this "cowgirl" accent she likes to do. I persuaded her into being one for Halloween. Once she got past it being a "boy costume", she was ok with it.



Can you say "Sleepless in Seattle"? Well, that was what my night would be like following all this candy. Sage had taken off the wrappers to a dozen or so suckers and taste tested each one within a few minutes of getting home. We have a rule that goes into effect the morning after Halloween and that is that for each piece of candy they eat, they have to eat something healthy. I think Connor's skin should be turning orange any day from all the baby carrots he has eaten...



Ty was born to trick or treat. He has more energy and desire than anyone. Connor on the other hand, always tells us he's going to trick or treat "all night" but we laugh when after about 30 minutes he asks what time it is because he's concerned it's getting close to bedtime. This year it was 7:15 when he hinted he was starting to feel tired and his bag felt "heavy". Sage continues to crack us up as she runs behind the boys screaming "don't ring the doorbell yet". In the end, Ty outlasted everyone.

So after two days of life, the pumpkins are tossed. In loving memory...



Halloween 2009...check!