We started a new family tradition this year for Halloween. This Halloween night the Great Pumpkin will make his appearance, Santa style, and trade the kids candy for a special surprise. Considering we racked up enough candy in less than an hour to give any adult a clogged artery, it will be a nice way to get the candy out of the house without complaints from the rug rats. They got to eat their fill tonight and save some of their favorites for later. The rest is going bye-bye. Dave dumped the loot on the living room floor after chillies were asleep and started sorting it to see what we wanted to keep. It instantly reminded me of trick-or-treating as a kid. Me and my brothers would come home and dump and sort the exact same way. Who can forget the trading and mandatory Dad tax too.
Jessie was excited about the Great Pumpkin idea. While trick-or-treating tonight she would stop every few houses and say, "This is going to be a lot of candy for the Great Pumpkin!" or "the Great Pumpkin will give us a big surprise for all this candy."Trick-or-treating was a new experience for Logan and Toby this year because we went to a party on Halloween night last year. We drove up a few blocks to say hi to Grandpa Dave and walk around his neighborhood. After the first two houses we trick-or-treated at, Toby looked at me and said, "Mom, this is fun!" By the end of that block, Toby said, "Mom, this is lots more fun than a Halloween party!"
Logan was a trooper. He walked most the way, even when his little bag was loaded down with goodies. His modus operandi was hilarious. He would walk up to the door with Jessie and Toby and when the homeowner would come to the door he would step UP into the house and stretch his cute little hands up with his bag. We kept reminding him to stay down on the doorstep, but he didn't get it. As soon as the candy was dropped into his bag he would turn around, stop, and fish THAT piece out of his bag to show Mom or Dad. "Look Mom, that lady gave me a loddypop!" (lollipop) he said. After a quick reminder to say thankyou he would turn around and say thanks then be on his way to catch up with Jessie and Toby who rarely looked in their bag until we got home.
I almost forgot- we even met the wicked witch while trick-or-treating. She lives on Bradley Street in Fremont and she is not afraid to drop the G#$ D@*$ bomb in front of innocent little kids. We made the mistake of letting our little ones walk up to the wicked witch's door in back of a group of older kids. The lady opens her door and immediately starts yelling at the older kids in front to get out of her flower bed. The dumb kids didn't move so she got even more belligerent. By the time all the older kids were leaving, Dave was left standing at her door with our sweet chillies while she continued to yell down her sidewalk. I walked up by then and she was still yelling at Dave about dumb parents not keeping their kids in line when in fact our kids and Dave were waiting patiently on her stupid walkway. We should have refused her dumb candy and made her apologize to our kids who were clueless as to what was going on. Toby summed it up best as they walked away, "Why did she do that, Dad? Why was that lady doing that?" Good question Toby. She shouldn't have been handing out candy at all. Yet another experience that teaches me that trying to be Christlike and turn the other cheek does NOT mean letting ignorant people walk all over me, or my sweet kids.
Here's a few pics from our ward Halloween party at church last Saturday. I think it was a success. There were a few things that went wrong and stuff I would have changed, but I'm always hard on myself, being 'in charge' and all. A HUGE thank you to all who volunteered to help with the food, decorations, preparations, set-up and clean-up. Jen and Sami- the food was awesome! Thanks for volunteering to take that big assignment. We had a salad bar, nachos, and potluck soup bar. People brought an amazing variety of soups; chili, chicken noodle, chowders, even jambalaya. Perfect for a cool fall evening.
We also had a ghoulish dessert contest which was so much fun. These are Denise's pumpkin with cream cheese frosting Mummy's. They were delicious and dairy-free which is a bonus for our family. Dad Bennett and Sam made rice crispy mummies that won a prize.
We had 2 bounce houses, a pinata, games, a costume parade/contest and trick-or-treating for the kids to round out the rest of the night. Dave and Tom made a sweet pirate plank and foam weapons for the Pirate Plank Duel that everyone LOVED. Thanks Denise for the idea. We didn't even get to the other little games we prepared for the kids because they all wanted to duel and time went by so fast.
As you can see, we were the clan from Peter Pan this year. Almost every year since Jessie was born we do a family theme for costumes. It's tons of fun and everyone looks forward to what we will come up with every year. This year, the Hansen's in our ward took the challenge to beat us for the best dressed family. They looked awesome! All the boys dressed like Elvis, complete with wigs and polyester jumpsuits, and the girls wore pink poodle skirts and cat-eye glasses. We both had fun with the friendly competition the week before the party, and even our little kids kept the costumes a secret. The contest judges graciously called it a tie and we both had to get on stage and do a mini-show as our characters. Me and the kids went across the stage singing 'Following the Leader' while Captain Hook chased us and Coop the Crocodile ran after him. The audience got a kick out of that. I didn't get a good family picture which is a bummer after all the work I put into the costumes. I might try to talk the fam into dressing up during daylight to get a couple shots.
Mom & Dad Bennett and Sam rockin' the Star Wars theme together.
Aunt Denise had a dual-purpose costume. With us she was Tiger Lily and with cowboy hubby she was his Indian. Thanks again Denise for all your help. We rock!
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