Halloween

I really dislike Halloween.  It seems like a hassle to me.  The idea of spending a ton of money on a costume that gets worn once seems ridiculous.  And with seven kids, the amount of candy we're left with after trick-or-treating is disgusting.  However; I know my kids love it, and I loved as a kid, so I try my best to help them come up with reasonable costumes that please them without breaking the bank.  And then I help them eat the candy and we gorge ourselves for a couple days.  Serious sugar detox follows.  All in all, I'm always happy to move into the Thanksgiving festivities.

 

Sariah, the clown.  

At parent teacher conferences we learned that just before deciding on her costume Sariah's class had a big discussion about how it's not good to be a "class clown" and how the class needed to be more respectful in general.

Apparently Sariah didn't quite absorb the lecture.

Seth wanted to be a princess.  We compromised and I spent $20 on this "prince" costume when we saw it at Costco (don't call him a knight).  He was quite pleased with it and wore it all month long.  Best $20 I've spent in a while.  

In case you're wondering, that's a dragon on his face...

Ammon was a recycled duck but only long enough to take this picture.  He could not be coaxed into wearing a costume even on Halloween night with the bribery of candy.

Liam wanted to be a motorcycle biker dude but motorcycle helmets are spendy.  I finally convinced him to go with a borrowed Harry Potter costume that I'd failed to return to a friend a couple years ago.  He agreed on the conditions that he could have glasses and black hair paint.  Sold!

Meilani was prepared to have me make her an elaborate fairy costume but when I told her she'd have to pitch in on the supplies, she quickly settled on my old hula attire.  Lots of people thought she was Mother Nature, or Eve.

Eli could not decide on a costume this year despite hours of searching on pinterest.  He finally settled on a mad scientist the night of our ward's trunk-or-treat and we quickly borrowed the lab coat from a friend.  He wanted somehting unique but in the end there were two other mad scientist in his class at school.    

Ruby, also not a fan of the dress up yet.  This is the best I could get of her in our recycled flower costume.  I did have to resew the flowers on a new hat, but it's still cute, round two.  I realize I had a lot more time to make creative costumes when I had several less children.

Seth's Joy School party.  They were cute singing their little songs for us moms.  Seth was pretty pleased to be the prince for all his little princess friends.

Giving his princess a ride on his trusty steed.

Guarding his ladies.

Waiting for the Halloween parade at school.

Seth kept hitting Ammon, aka "the dragon," with his sword.  Ammon wasn't such a fan.  Seth was de-sworded.

Ruby girl, kicking it in her seat.  It was freezing.  She ended up snuggling with some of my mommy friends.

Halloween night Grandmom and Auntie came for dinner.  Meilani and Grandmom stayed behind to pass out candy while the rest of us went trick-or-treating with friends.

Earlier in the month Ben and I went to an adults only party.  With Ruby in tow we went as Rock, Paper, Scissors.  We were only an hour late as I was still getting our costumes together.