Halloween

 Halloween in our house is quite the big deal.  It is my all time favorite holiday what with all the dressing up and the scaring others.  However since having kids and since they are still quite small I have found that I am decorating very mildly.  One of the things I would love to eventually do is run and operate a haunted house.  I love to do the scaring but I hate to be scared.  It's odd I know, but that is just the way  it is.

Claire was really into it this year.  She was excited to dress up and be someone else for a day and of course to get a ton of candy and covet it.  She told me what she wanted to be months ago and never changed her mind.  She wanted to be a fairy and that is what she was.  Ben on the other hand didn't care so I let Claire pick out his costume which ended up being a blue dinosaur.  

Claire got to dress up at a school party the Thursday before Halloween.  All the little girls were dressed as princesses with the exception of one who was a pony, and the all the boys were dressed as some character from Toy Story.  Claire, before getting out of the car all dressed up, made sure that I or Ben would not be accompanying her to the party as she wanted to have a good time with her friends and not with us.  Typical.  She is always afraid that we are going to come in, stay, and cramp her style.  This does not bode well for when she is in high school.

This year Halloween was on a Sunday and Travis decided that the congregation should dress up for the service.  What a fantastic idea!  It really spiced the service up and made it fun.  He came down the aisle with his Vader head on and his collar on.  Darth Pastor!  The congregation loved it.   My mom came over for the weekend and was Bobo the western clown and I was a witch.  Claire was so happy to be dressed in her costume and be at church that she was not her typical shy self.  She was bold and spoke to most anyone who talked to her which is unusual.  She really came out of her shell.  Ben on the other hand was his typical happy and outgoing self and charmed the pants off of anyone who noticed him.

Trick or treating was a blast for the kids.  They jammed down dinner and were ready to go in an instant.  Travis had a wonderful time taking them all around the neighborhood and reported back that most people told him that our kids were the cutest and most charming.  Claire was very polite and spoke up and Ben was, well, Ben.  We were also the best house in the neighborhood this year again with the new addition of our bubble fog machine!  We had at least 300 kids and adults come to the door and then lingering to take pictures in the driveway or just play with the smoke filled bubbles.  It made me proud to hear all the wonderful comments and hear that we were the talk of the neighborhood!  Yes I think I will toot my own horn on this one! Toot toot!!  Travis also had a great idea to make the piano in our front room look like it wanted to eat children that came to the door.  It was a huge success with the black lights we had put around and the kids loved it.