Halloween Through the Years

I found myself feeling nostalgic tonight as we celebrated Halloween. I can't belive how quickly the boys are growing up. It is so fun to have family traditions and memories now. Here's a look at all of their Halloween costumes so far!

2005 - Ray as Elmo. He was so thrilled as you can tell!

2006 - Adam as an adorable clown. Ray in his first year as Thomas. We had to pin up his costume so he wouldn't trip.

2007 - Ray in his second year as Thomas. Adam was a hilarious chicken. He refused to wear the hat. He insisted on carrying two buckets. They plopped down on this yard and just laughed and took in the sights.

2008 - Adam as Tigger.... again refusing to wear the hood.
Ray in his third year as Thomas.

2009 - Ray as a (very serious and tired) racecar driver.
Adam as "BLOB" from Monsters and Aliens.
My mom had a blast making that one!

2010 - Ray as a lion.
Adam as Charlotte the Spider.
(Again, mom had fun meeting Adam's specific Halloween demands.)

2011 - Ray as Luigi and Adam as Mario.
Adam will probably insist on wearing his costume year-round.

I can't wait to see what the future years bring!  

Trick or Treat 2011

We had lots of fun trick-or-treating tonight!

The evening began with our traditional beggars night dinner --- bacon and eggs!

Presenting.... the Mario Brothers!

Of course Jon wanted in on the costume action.... so we made him a "question block" costume to go with the Mario theme.

As soon as we left the house we were stopped by the police!
They gave the boys tons of candy.

Adam let no house scare him. He kept assuring me that Mario is fearless.
(Luigi was another story entirely.)

The makeup artist (aka me) had strict instructions about exactly how this mustache needed to look. So glad I passed the test.







They always love coming home and passing out candy.



Ray was so excited because he got 12 Kit Kats (his favorite)!
He sorted and examined his candy.
I think he ate two pieces.

And then there's Adam.
His candy was in one big heap and he was trying to eat as much of it as he could get away with!
His favorite is bubble gum.

              Happy Halloween!

"Pumpkin School"

Jon had Thursday off from work and we had a great time doing "pumpkin school" as a family.

First, we washed off our pumpkins and we listed some adjectives describing the outside of the pumpkins.

Next, I gave the boys "pumpkin data sheets." They drew pictures of their pumpkins.

Using our pumpkins, we learned about estimating, circumference, weight, and bouyancy! We estimated the circumference of the pumpkins and then measured them with yarn and then measured the yarn to get the actual circumference. We estimated the number of lines around our pumpkins and then counted them. We estimated their weights and then weighed them. The boys both predicted that their pumpkins would float....

SURPRISE! Even though the pumpkins were really heavy, they floated! Ray immediately reasoned that they float because they are essentially hollow inside.

Next came the gooey part! We cut the pumpkins open and returned to our adjective chart. This time we listed words to descibe the inside of the pumpkins.

We dug out the goo and the seeds, washed the seeds, and then proceeded to sort them into groups of ten for counting. We were surprised that Adam's pumpkin, which was much bigger than Ray's, actually had far fewer seeds.

I roasted the seeds while Jon and the boys got busy drawing faces on the pumpkins and carving them. Ray was excited to actually be able to do a lot of the carving himself this year.

Here are their completed data sheets---

And here are their Jack-O-Lanterns ---





Adam informed me that his is actually a "Mario-Lantern."
Note the mustache and the "M" written on the "hat."

Earlier in the week I decorated my own pumpkins.... SPARKLY! :) (Gotta love all those Pinterest ideas!)

  

We've also been enjoying reading lots and lots of Halloween stories. "The Vanishing Pumpkin" by Tony Johnston and Tomie DePaola and "Too Many Pumpkins!" by Linda White are two of our favorite pumpkin stories.

Happy Halloween!

Our Boy Scout

Ray is now officially a Tiger Scout! He belongs to a pack at our parish. Jon has been taking him to the den meetings and pack activities and they're having a lot of fun already! Soon after Jon and I got married, his mother gave me his old boy scout uniform! So cute! It's so fun to see Ray following in his father's footsteps and to see their excitement as they participate in this special activity together.

A Fun Family Halloween Party

Last night we hosted a fun Halloween party for our family and some friends. We had a crazy good time! The kids (and some grown-ups) wore their Halloween costumes. My mom and I made some big pots of soup and everybody brought yummy food to share. The house and yard were decorated with really fun stuff given to me by my Aunt Ann. We played tons of good games. I got some great pictures of the fun, but there's so much I missed.... wonderful costumes, fun food, prize bags, silly games. Oh well.... I guess I was too busy "partying" but here are some pictures I did snap!

My beautiful mother arriving in style.... with her special Halloween harido! We think she should keep it all year!



We created this "tunnel of terror" and a "haunted house" under our playset. We had so much fun decorating it and the kids enjoyed playing in it all evening.



Halloween Jello Jigglers and a Jello BRAIN! These were the biggest hit with the kids!

"Mario" Cousins!

What a cute kittie!

"Mister Incredible!"

Blessed Kateri and Little Orphan Annie

A princess, a dancer, and a baby!

Crawling through the "tunnel of terror"

A power ranger playing the Halloween ball toss game

A beautiful princess!

Ray eating "dinner" in the "haunted house"

Lovely ladies --- mom and Colleen.
Thanks Mom for the yummy soup and cookies.
Thanks Colleen for doing all the dishes!
You both rock!

Eeeek!

Bingo prizes!

Playing Halloween Bingo

Face painting!
Thanks Pam!

Cheers!

Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin

Look who had more fun than anyone!

We gave lottery ticket prizes to any adult willing to taste the Jello brain!

Swinging princesses!

We had "Marios" everywhere!

Mummy!

I had many volunteers working to make a mummy out of me!

Another mummy!

One more adorable mummy!
Reenie, all this toilet paper will be in your trees one night very soon!

Just plain scary!

The party wrapped up by a performance by this awesome rock band!

Football fans getting ready for the big Buckeye game!

 We had a wonderful party, got the house cleaned up, and then enjoyed the best part of the night.... a nail -bighting  victory.... a huge upset.... the Buckeyes beat the Badgers! Yeah!

Today we were so worn out we were lazy all day.... but it was worth it.

Happy Halloween!