Halloween recap

This year Halloween was a little different because my kids school had all of their Halloween festivities on Friday :0)

Usually this would mean that I would be staying up late, working on costumes Thursday night instead of the night before Halloween, however, CJ is too old to go Trick-or-treating (plus, at 6'4" he looks even older than 16) Brielle wasn't allowed to wear a costume for school, and Max decided to use one of CJ's old costumes.

This meant that I only had to make one costume!!

I was excited about this, because Aaron's costume would be super easy. (I may or may not have thrown it together Friday morning)

Apparently, it was also super difficult to understand. No one in our neighborhood could figure out what he was.

Here it is, can anyone guess what his costume is?

I will be quite impressed by the first person who guesses correctly.

Max's costume was perfect for him because...

1) It's his favorite food

2) It was already made and I didn't have to do anything.

3) It was padded so every time he tripped (because the costume was a little big on him) the padding would break his fall.

There is a hole for his face, however, he was being shy.

CJ stayed home and handed out candy. I wanted him to dress as a vampire, but he was being a bit of a party pooper.

He also handed out too much candy* because we ran out!**

The best part of the evening was when we had one piece of candy left and Max waited at the door to pass out the last piece.

A large group of kids came to the door and Max waved around the package of Whoppers and said "ONLY ONE OF YOU IS GETTING CANDY!!" He dropped the candy in the bucket of the little girl at the front of the group, then turned the candy bowl upside down "SEE! IT'S ALL GONE!" Then closed the door.

Due to the fact that I didn't need to make costumes yesterday, I was able to make some treats. A friend posted the link to this recipe for pumpkin muffins on Facebook, and I knew I had all of the ingredients,*** so I decided to make them.

They are FABULOUS! Pumpkin with cream cheese filling! MMMMM!

They were really good! They even looked good, and with my track record of making really ugly food, I felt that this was an accomplishment.

I didn't realize until last night that I accidentally put twice as much pumpkin in the recipe than it called for. I guess I just assumed that I should use a large can instead of a smaller one. They were really moist and delicious, so I think I'll double the pumpkin every time I make them.

I do have on bit of helpful advice if you decide to make these delicious muffins. When you are mixing the pumpkin/sugar/eggs on low speed in your electric mixer, be sure that when you turn the mixer off, you actually turn it off and don't accidentally turn it on high.

You will end up with pumpkin all over yourself and almost everything in your kitchen.

Trust me on this one.

*We had more kids come to our house this year than ever before. I think this was due to the really nice weather and the dozens of carloads of kids being brought to our neighborhood from who knows where. Apparently, when a few of the neighbors start handing out full size candy bars, and word gets around.

**The candy I don't like ran out. The bag of Three Musketeers was left untouched in the kitchen.

***Not really, I ended up going to the store halfway through making these to get salt, pumpkin pie spice and powdered sugar.

Proving to myself and everyone else just how insane I really am

Alternate post titles..........

"Because apparently, I don't have enough to do"

"Thirty days of drivel"

"nablopowhatintheheckwasIthinkingmo"



Yes, for the third year in a row, I have signed up for Na Blo Po Mo.

I have recently started on a work project that is the largest that I have ever done. The due date to have everything finished is the end of November, so I decided that I needed to write every day to have a little balance in my life.
I suppose I could have just washed the dishes instead, but after much careful thought* I decided that writing a post every day for a month would be better for my mental state.

*Ok, and by "careful thought" I mean I looked at the sink full of dishes, then turned the laptop the other direction so I couldn't see the dishes anymore.

Out of sight, out of mind, right?


So now my biggest problem is coming up with stuff to write about for 30 days. I have quite a few posts in my drafts folder, but for some reason, I just can't seem to finish them. I'm sure that Facebook has had nothing to do with this.

Side note: I tried to log on to Blogger three times before I realized that I was using my Facebook password instead of my Blogger password.

Another side note: If you are writing something on Facebook that you don't want someone to read (who just happens to be one of your FB friends) DO NOT WRITE IT ON FACEBOOK!
I recently read a conversation between two of my "Facebook friends" that I'm pretty sure they didn't intend for me to see. Nothing bad, just some information that they omitted in previous face to face in real life conversations.
Seriously people, WE CAN READ EVERYTHING THAT YOU POST ON YOUR WALL!

Rant over.

Halloween was fun. Brielle dressed as a cute witch, Max was the cutest Oompa Loompa that you've ever seen, Aaron was dressed as a food fight, and I wore the same costume that I do every year and dressed as a sleep deprived mom who stayed up all night finishing her kids costumes so they could wear them in the school costume parade.
(I actually did wear a costume when we went to the neighborhood pre trick or treating dinner. I went dressed as the underside of a restaurant table) (I wadded up pieces of pink felt and attached them to the front of my sweatshirt) (gum)

I will post pictures of the costumes as soon as we figure out how to get the pictures into the computer. Apparently, my camera and my computer are no longer on speaking terms, and the teenager is at this very minute going to great lengths and spending large amounts of time working on it to get the pictures transferred.

Either that or he's taking a nap.


Hey, I just had an idea!

I can have you vote on what you would like me to write about!

1. The new adventures of Naughty Bird (Yes, the stupid bird is back)
2. Halloween - The Oompa Loompa with an attitude
3. Max and the imaginary races


Leave your vote in the comments.

Leave your vote in the comment section

Would you like some fries with your Snickers bar?

Here's a question.
What is the age at which your kids stop trick or treating?

CJ's last year was two years ago when he was in 7th grade. He hadn't really planned on trick or treating that year until he found out on Halloween night that some of his friends were going and he decided to go with them.
Since he hadn't planned on going, he didn't have a costume ready, so while the rest of us were at the neighborhood "pre-trick or treating pot luck dinner" he was home, improvising a costume for himself.
He took the huge alien head from one of his old costumes, and tied it to the iPod costume that he had worn the year before.
He went as an "iAlien"

This year will be Brielle's last year. In our neighborhood, 13 seems to be the age where the kids stop going out to collect candy on Halloween.

Does it bother you when older kids come to your door? Teenagers? Adults?

I remember quite a few years ago when a couple showed up at our door with their 2 month old baby dressed as a cat. The parents each had a trick or treat bag.

What kind of candy do you hand out?

Some of our neighbors really go all out for the trick or treaters. One older couple down the street from us has their house fully decorated for Halloween. She dresses as a witch and he dresses as a vampire, and not only do they hand out candy, but they have hot cider and donuts available for everyone.
Another one of our other neighbors always hands out full sized candy bars, and some give out juice boxes.
I think my favorite was the time the dental hygienist down the street handed out toothbrushes.

A friend of mine really doesn't like it when teenagers come to their door on Halloween, and she has come up with a great solution.
All year long, her family saves up all of the ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, Arby's and Horsey sauce packets that they get at any fast food restaurants that they go to, then on Halloween night, when an older teenager comes trick or treating to their door, they very stealthly give them a ketchup packet instead of candy.
She told me how one year, the Sunday after Halloween she was walking in the hallway at church and overheard a conversation between some teenagers. One of them said "I couldn't believe it, somebody gave me ketchup in my candy bag!"

What are your plans for Halloween?

What are your kids dressing up as?

Max wants to be and Oompa Loompa, but I can't find a green wig. We do, however, have an Elvis wig, so I'm trying to talk him into being "Elvis-loompa"

He's not buying it.

More Halloween, just in case you haven't had enough

For two whole weeks before Halloween, I was swamped with my regular work, so I wasn't able to start making costumes until Wednesday night. I won't go into details, but two days and not much sleep later, I finished costumes for my nieces and for Brielle and Max. Aaron wore his tornado costume from last year, I just added some small farm animals on it to make it more realistic.

Here are my nieces, the Queen of Hearts and Oscar the grouch.

I can't believe my brother wanted his sweet little two year old daughter to dress up as Oscar the grouch. He says that she's grouchy. I don't believe him, whenever she's at my house, she is a sweet little angel. I told him he was full of it, and he said "You don't live with her."

I haven't been able to get the pictures of my kids in their costumes into the computer. I have to have the teenager do it for me because when I try to load them into the computer, I just can't seem to get them to work, and no amount of yelling at the computer will make it work.

It's just nicer for everyone involved if I don't need to be bothered with all this technical stuff.

We had a great Halloween. When we got up Halloween morning, we carved our pumpkins. This was Max's first year to really get into this pumpkin carving thing.

I cut open his pumpkin and he got to scoop the guts out himself, then he drew the face on his pumpkin, and I helped him cut out the pieces. He decided to make his a surprised face.

I got this brilliant idea that this would be the year that I actually roasted the pumpkin seeds. After we were done carving, Max helped me pick out the seeds from the pumpkin guts. After we got all of the seeds out (which took forever) he ended up playing with the pumpkin guts for over an hour.

Sometimes it just doesn't take much to entertain that kid.

Just so you know, I will not be roasting pumpkin seeds again, it was way too much work and as it turns out, nobody in the house will eat them.

A family down the street always hosts a "pre trick or treating" dinner. It's always a great way to start the night. This year we had spaghetti, everyone brings part of the dinner and the kids have a short parade around the block.

CJ didn't go trick or treating this year, he stayed home to hand out candy so me and DH were able to go together to take the other kids out to collect candy.

CJ did a great job with the handing out of the candy. He layered the big bowl of candy with all my favorite candy in the bottom, then the next favorite until my least favorite candy was on top so it was handed out first, so when the night was over, my favorite candy was left!

The kid is a genius. And I'm sure his method had nothing to do with the fact that his favorite candy is the same as mine.

Max was dressed as "SUPER MAX!" and yes, you must yell when you say that. I taught him to show his muscles when he said that and then point to the sky and do a little hop/jump to the side, kind of like he was about to fly away. He practiced this for several days before Halloween, and it really paid off. Whenever someone would ask him who he was, he would immediately drop his candy bucket, show his muscles, yell "SUPER MAX!" and hop/jump away.

He was hilarious.

Until the time that he hopped on the wrong foot, tripped and fell and hurt his knee. He immediately came running over to me to kiss his knee, I guess even superheroes sometimes need their mommies.

We lucked out because the weather wasn't very cold. Even though he protested, I made Max wear his warm pajamas under his super suit. I carried his warm jacket and kept asking him if he wanted to wear it and he just said "No, I'm not really really really cold yet." Apparently, he was only really really cold.

He was really excited about the trick or treating until we nearly got to the end of the block when Max announced that he wanted to go home because he had enough candy. The real reason was that his bucket was too heavy to carry. I offered to carry the candy for him, then he was fine.

Really, I feel that I earned the stuff that I got from the Candy Tax.

I couldn't believe how many people came to trick or treat in our neighborhood that don't live here. There were many carloads of people bringing their kids to get candy, and in a way, I don't blame them, some of our neighbors really get into Halloween and many of them give out really good candy. I didn't recognize probably 90% of the people roaming our neighborhood on Halloween night.

However, they didn't get the good stuff from our house, it was all in the bottom of the candy bowl.

So far, the kids have all paid their "candy tax" to me. I caught Brielle trading Max a tootsie roll for a Hershey bar, and all of her tootsie pops for all of his Twix. Someday he will catch on to this.

I've been making a list of things I need to do tomorrow. For some reason, when I have a ton of work to do and have been concentrating on finishing the work for my business, things around the house seem to fall apart, and I now have a bunch of stuff to clean up. I have several loads of laundry and dishes just waiting for my attention, and that is in addition to the Halloween costume making mess that is still overtaking several rooms in our house. I did get the pumpkin carving mess cleaned up, so I should get some sort of credit for that.

My big goal for the week is to get the refrigerator cleaned out.

I will not be posting pictures.

Now that Halloween is over...............

Dear children,
It has come to my attention that you received quite a bit of candy from trick or treating last night. It is now time for you to pay your "candy tax" for this year.

Taxes will be as follows:
ALL of the Three Musketeers.
1/2 of all Reese's peanut butter cups
1/2 of Hershey bars, or if you wish, you may substitute Milky Way bars.
In addition, any Butterfingers or Almond Joys donated to me will receive a tax credit.
If you do not like nuts, I will just assume that you will be handing over the peanut M&Ms. No tax credit will be given for these, however, they most likely will put me in a better mood, which is always beneficial to you.

You may feel that these taxes are unfair, but let me point out that I did sacrifice many hours of my own sleep to make your costumes, and the cuteness of said costumes most likely earned you extra candy at certain houses. (I know this to be true after one neighbor gave Max three big handfuls of candy while saying "You're just so cute that I think you should have extra candy!)

Thank you,
Mom


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Yes, I'm still here. Miraculously enough, Brielle was the only one in our house to get sick with the flu. I've been so busy with work that I kept saying that I didn't have time to get sick until November 1st. (which would be today.........)

So far I'm feeling OK. Except for this stupid cough that I have developed over the last few hours.

I have signed up for NaBloPoMo, so I will be back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day..........


Also, last night, one of my kids received a candy bar "Snickers CHARGED"
It has caffeine in it.
:0D
I've never been a big fan of the Snickers bar, however, I may just have to rethink this.

Halloween

Good news!

Max has finally decided what to be for Halloween.



"SUPER MAX!"



And yes, you must yell when you say that.



For two whole days he has said that he will be Super Max. As we were discussing this yesterday, I told him that I would make him a really neat costume. There would be a cape and a mask and tights...................



"NO! I don't want to wear those!"



"You don't want to wear what?' I ask.



"NO TIGHTS!" he says.



So then I ask him "Do you even know what tights are?"



He looks at me blankly and says "what are they?"











Yesterday, we went to Wal Mart and while we were there we looked at all of the Halloween decorations and some of the costumes.

Max saw a Pirate costume.

Today he says he wants to be a pirate. I got excited "Oh Max, I can make you the cutest pirate costume! You can have red velvet jacket, I can make you some boot s to go over your shoes and you can have a parrot on your shoulder and an eye patch, and a really cool sword..............



He looks at me like I'm crazy and says "I didn't want one like that, I wanted one that you buy at the store."



Then I explained to him that in our family I always make the costumes. Yes I know I'm insane, my kid wants a $14 store bought costume and I'm going to force him to wear something that I've made.

I've always made my kid's costumes and I'm just worried that someday, Max will look back at the Halloween pictures and wonder why he was the only one who didn't get a costume made by mom. By the way I look at it, I'm just saving him a few years of therapy.





I think I might have convinced CJ to dress up for Halloween. Due to the fact that he is 14 and looks 17, he won't be going out collecting candy, but instead he will be staying home passing out candy, and he might have figured out that since me and DH will be taking Max trick or treating, then he will be home by himself.



Just him and the big bucket of candy.



I told him if he dressed up, he could enjoy some of that candy.

I will be putting together a really cool vampire costume for him.

*********************************************



Question of the day.

Chimichangas. Finger food or not?


Please leave your answer in the comments. I'm having a bit of a disagreement with my greasy fingered children.

A bunch of random stuff because I can't organize my thoughts well enough to write an actual post.

This week we decided that Max has a brilliant career ahead of him as a personal trainer.

Why, do you ask?

Friday, Max asked CJ to do some pull-ups on the Iron Gym. CJ humored him and did one chin up, then started to walk away.

Max ran after him and yelled "NO! Come back! I wanted you to keep doing them FOREVER!"

Max has spent the last two weeks begging me to walk on the treadmill. Each day when he reminds me, I tell him that I'm too busy right now but I'll try to do it later. (and yes, blogging counts as being busy)

Later in the evening, he will come up to me and say "Mom, you didn't walk on the treadmill today, and I wanted you to walk on the treadmill! You need to go walk on the treadmill!"

And I will tell him that it's too late because it's bedtime and maybe I'll walk on the treadmill tomorrow.

Then he cries.

I have to tell you, having Jillian from Biggest Loser yell at you in the gym would be bad, however, it's nothing compared to the guilt felt knowing that you've just caused Max's big brown eyes to fill with tears.

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I really love the smell of my new Scentsy pomegranate/orange wax melting thingy.

I also really love the smell of a roast and vegetables in the crockpot.

The two smells together..............not so much.

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Speaking of smells, has anyone noticed that the April fresh scent of Downy has been changed? I really liked the old scent, the new one doesn't do much for me.

Why did they change it?

Why hasn't there been a huge outcry with email petitions circulating to change it back?

Why can't these people at Procter and Gamble just leave well enough alone?

Why can't they understand that IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT?

As far as I'm concerned, this should be bigger than the whole "Old Coke, New Coke" fiasco.

I am currently looking for a new brand of fabric softener.

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If I seem a bit testy today, it might have to do with the weather.

It's getting cold, and I don't like being cold. Plus, I now have to make sure that all of the offspring are wearing coats and shoes and socks before they leave the house.

That's a whole lot more clothing to keep track of.

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Max can't decide what costume he wants for Halloween. At first he said he wanted to wear his crab costume from last year, causing me great happiness due to the fact that I wouldn't need to make him a new costume, however, in the last week, he has changed his mind several times.

First he said he wanted to be a puppy, then he said he wanted to be "Super Max" then he said he wanted to be Snoopy, then he said he wanted to be Jay from Men in Black, then he said he wanted to be a spider. Once he even said he wanted to be Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride. (Seriously, he does the cutest impression "My name is Inigo Montoya, you keeel my father now PREPARE TO DIE!")

Aaron will be wearing his costume from last year, and Brielle has a really cute costume idea that will be unveiled at her school Halloween party. (sorry, I've been sworn to secrecy)

CJ will be staying home handing out candy. I told him that he would be dressed as a vampire to do this, but instead, he will be dressed as a teenager who refuses to dress up for Halloween. I'm pretty sure he will eat all of the Reese's out of the candy bucket while we're gone Trick-or-treating with Max.

I suggested that CJ and Max dress up as the Jolly Green Giant and Little Sprout. CJ refused to do this, even before he found out that there would be tights involved.

Actually, he has never even heard of The Jolly Green Giant, I had to show him some of the old commercials on YouTube. (yes, this makes me feel incredibly old)

I will be dressed as a really tired mom who stayed up the entire night before making her kids costumes. I wear this costume every year.

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Speaking of feeling incredibly old, does anyone remember that television commercial for Imperial Margarine where someone would eat the margarine and a crown would appear on their head?

I can't tell you how disappointed I was when that never happened to me.

What ever happened to truth in advertising?

I'm sure some advertising executive, somewhere, thought that this would be a really great marketing campaign that would sell a ton of buttery spread, however, they obviously didn't realize that somewhere a little three year old kid would be devastated that she never got the stupid crown...............

On a related note, one of my main goals in life at age three was to find a way to fool Mother Nature. (seriously, it was!)

Also, there was also a few times where I might have tried to start an argument with the tub of margarine.

I'm beginning to wonder if I watched too much TV when I was three.

I think I'm also beginning to understand why I only buy real butter?

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Kid quote of the week

"You really know you're famous when they start putting your face on underwear."

Day after Halloween - sugar withdrawls

Halloween is now officially over, and I actually got some sleep last night so I can now type coherently.

First, I will describe the steps of my Halloween costume making process.

#1. Spend the entire year before Halloween trying to come up with really great ideas for a costume.

#2. Spend about three months before Halloween designing the costume and trying to figure out the best way to put the costume together.

#3. Spend the day before Halloween running around to different fabric stores to get the necessary materials to make the Halloween costume. Be sure to go to the grocery store and buy an entire case of Diet Dr. Pepper.

#4. Stay up all night making the costume.

#5. Move your kitchen table next to the wall so you can have more room on the floor to make the costume.

#6. Leave tons of fabric scraps all over the floor of the family room, bringing the total numbers of rooms covered in costume making crap stuff to three.

#7. About 4:00 in the morning begin wondering why you're doing this in the first place.

#8. Notice that the burns on your fingers from the hot glue are really starting to hurt.

#9. Decide that you are indeed crazy and should probably be committed. Preferably someplace quiet where you can relax and get some sleep.

#10. Finish the costume just in time to wake up the kids for school. When one complains that they think it's too early to get up and that they are very tired, say to them very sweetly...........








"DON'T EVEN TALK TO ME ABOUT BEING TIRED!!! YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE REALLY TIRED!! NOW GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED AND GET READY FOR SCHOOL!!!!"

#11. Notice that you might be getting a tad bit crabby and decide that it's probably a good time to drink another can of Diet Dr. Pepper.

#12. Notice the huge pile of empty cans of DDP on your counter and wonder if it's bad that you drank that much.

#13. Notice for the first time just what an incredibly huge mess you made all over the house while making the costume.

#14. Ignore the mess and take a nap.

#15 go to the school costume parade and get there just in time to see your kids run past you before you get your camera out of the bag.


I managed to get a picture of the costumes before the kids went trick or treating.



These are not my children in the costumes. They are paid actors.

The costume on the left is a tornado. It is not dryer lint. It's hard to see, but I glued little cars all over it. I wanted to put some little plastic cows on it too but all I could find were some little plastic lizards. I decided they could look like alligators. Brielle has a flying monkey doll (from the wizard of OZ) that I was going to use, but she couldn't find it. Next year I'm adding some small telephone poles and fences to it.
CJ wouldn't let me get a picture of him in his costume. He decided at the last minute that he would go trick or treating and threw a costume together himself. He combined his iPod costume from last year with his alien costume from the year before and went as an iAlien.

These are my darling little nieces.

Random things about this Halloween.

I noticed a big drop in the amount of Three Musketeer bars being handed out this year. What's up with that???
My kids know that the Three Musketeers are the ones that they are required allowed to give me.

We have a rule in our home that the kids aren't to eat candy out of their siblings buckets. However, if they leave the candy laying around it's pretty much understood that I'm allowed to eat as much as I want.

It really bugs me when my kids eat the candy and don't throw away the wrappers. Especially when I'm looking through their bag start to grab a peanut butter cup only to discover that it's an empty wrapper.

Last year, Max really surprised me when I took him trick or treating. I thought he would get tired and want to go home early, but after every house he would look at me and say "MORE CANDY! I GET MORE CANDY!" and on to the next house we would go.
This year after three houses he wanted to go home. He said "Why we are also going so long way from our house?" (we were one street away) I forced him to finish the street. When we got home he sat down to eat his candy and fell asleep. I guess it was really tiring to walk around in a crab suit.


In the last post, I wrote about how fascinated Max was with the moldy pumpkin. What I didn't mention was how he was making this annoying siren sound every time he lifted the lid.

WEEEEEOOOOOO WEEEEEEEOOOOOOOO WEEEEEEEEOOOOOO

And then he would run around the kitchen making the siren sound and then would stop for a moment to tell me that "THE PUMPKIN DID ALSO POOP IN IT'S PANTS AND IT NEEDS IT'S CARS TAKED AWAY BECAUSE IT DID ALSO POOP IN IT'S PANTS!!!! WWWEEEEEEEOOOOOO WEEEEEEEOOOO WEEEEEOOOOOO..........
In retrospect, I probably should have put him to bed earlier.

Here are the kid's Jack-o-lanterns. Left to right CJ, Aaron, Max and Brielle. Max drew the design and I cut it out. He says it's a mad pumpkin.

This morning, DH told the kids that he would take them swimming today if they cleaned up the costume making mess I made all over the house.
And the regular mess they made in the family room.

They are at the pool right now.

And every one of them have left their Halloween candy on the kitchen table;0)

Pumpkins!

Last night at 9:30 we decided to carve our pumpkins.

We have a rule about picking out pumpkins. We tell the kids that they can have any pumpkin they want as long as they can pick it up and carry it.

Most of the kids will choose a reasonably sized pumpkin except for Aaron. He chooses the biggest one he can find, then struggles to carry it around.

We cut the tops of the pumpkins, lifted the lids and scooped out the seeds and pumpkin entrails.
When Aaron opened his, the entire inside of the pumpkin was covered with mold.

Eeeeewwwwwwwwwww.

Fortunately, we had bought an extra pumpkin so Aaron was able to carve one.

But Max was fascinated with the moldy pumpkin. He kept lifting the lid to check out the insides.
Finally, he said "That pumpkin did also poop in it's pants, it also needs to have it's cars taked away."
And yes, this was cute the first 40 or 50 times that he said it, but after that it got a little old.

I have more to write about Halloween, but I'm too tired so here's a fun video.

Enjoy!!