If I'm making my carrot pumpkin, you know what time it is.
Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!
But first, the non-carrot pumpkins.
Our approach: adults carve, but kids must design. And, in the case of James, he has to smile like his design, too.
Patrick got pretty creative this year, but let me tell you: Carving near the stem is hard!
Elliott designed this winker and then left for a party. Only because it was a Halloween party, he got excused from the rest of the punkin fun.
Luckily, I have 317 children, so there's still plenty of fall wonder to go around.
Now the moment you all (my mom) have been waiting for...their costumes! Here are a couple of hints and the suggestion of assistance--
Have their themes figured out?
Before I reveal those two, Matthew had an announcement. He's no longer going by "Matthew."
Check out his rebellion shoes--
Yep, he dyed his hair and announced his new name is Mat Skullz.
I said, "OK, Dorothy Hamill."
I made the bad wig go away soon after, and his big baby mood improved. But LOOK OUT!
Why, yes, Elliott found a costume that allows him to dress sharply and carry a gun!
He's Bond. James Bond. And he admitted later he didn't identify himself like that even once. WAY TO BE TOO COOL FOR YOUR COOL CHARACTER, ELLIOTT.
He disappeared early to pre-party, trick-or-treat with friends and then count/sort/trade/gamble their spoils. It's very little fun. It's more like a job. If he's got another year of trick-or-treating rounds in him, I suggested he simply hand out campaign materials and ask for votes.
But let's get back to The Good Ones, shall we?!
Patrick, my favorite son, once said, "Mom! It's August! Shouldn't we be planning our Halloween costumes??" My heart nearly burst.
This year, he was super-sure he wanted to be his favorite contestant from American Ninja Warrior. I think I finally talked him out of it by telling him how much it'd slow him down if most every homeowner said, "I don't get it. What are you?"
And so, he listened to his mother and became the perfect scarecrow!
Eeek! We were so excited by how it turned out! We made the hat out of leftover felt and an outgrown baby shirt. (Big, messy stitches is my kind of sewing!) I made him a candy bag from burlap and handkerchiefs, and it promptly fell apart. (Whoops!) But, his makeup was all brown eyeliner and eyeshadow, and I kinda love how it turned out!
Also, because he's Patrick, he broke into a smile and couldn't even scare the crow that settled right onto his shoulder.
And then, there's James!
Hot dogs! PeaNUTS! POPcorn!
See, what happened was I bought a case of peaches at Costco and thought, "This box would be perfect for a food vendor at a baseball game!" The belt from Patrick's old Taekwondo uniform made the strap possible. James decided he needed a red bowtie--a fine point!--and the mustache. One well-intentioned neighbor opened his door and said, "There's Mario!" Ugh, dude. Check your context clues. (The middle bit reads, "CANDY accepted as payment--get it?")
The mustache was a good call, right?
Anyway, after we got those two squared away and photographed, I put the warm and cozy jack-o-lantern out for Matthew.
Aaaaaaaand that was as close as it got! He was burning up with a sudden fever and trick-or-treat didn't seem all that important anymore. :(
So, we made a quick appearance at our street's garage dinner party.
Isn't it funny that I caught the hotdog vendor eating his own inventory?
Along with her parents, the best pal from preschool (and of Wild Kratts fame) showed up, so I ducked inside to take care of Matthew. (He went right to sleep and appears to just have rising temp from teething.) Outside, adults kept trying to interact with James, but he clearly wanted to focus on candy. He started yelling, "WE RAN OUT OF POPCORN." and "I DON'T HAVE ANY HOTDOGS." Hahahahaha!
As you know, it's all over in the blink of an eye, and all of those play kitchen accessories fell right on off. So the friends came back, surveyed their haul and promptly moved onto Lincoln Logs.
Then, everyone got the dump-stuff-here memo. Our house became like a clown car as character after character made a spot in our messy house, and we passed beers to the adults who'd earned them.
And it was pretty dang perfect.
Happy Halloweeeeeeeeen 2017!
1 comment:
Oh boy, you knocked it out of the park again! Patrick's costume and make-up especially impressive--MUST you be so talented in so many areas, my dear daughter?! But everyone looked fantastic (and no surprise Elliott could pull off his with little adornment, just the essence of grown-up sanguinity. James was adorable but as usual his repartee is the most charming. And, sorry as I am that little Matthew became suddenly ill, those two photos of him in the wig are absolutely hilarious! I do hope it didn't cause the onset of the fever--nah, that's impossible. He's got the perfect mother in all the world. At least that's how it's lookin' from here! Thanks for sharing the joy and fun. GREAT all the way 'round!
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