Halloween

I am officially combining all October activities into a single Halloween post.  And mostly I am just going to post pictures, because I am so far behind in this recording my family's history thing that I am overwhelmed.  And I just don't seem to care too much about describing the stuff we did.  But I do feel the mommy guilt for not putting the memories down somewhere.  And journals and myself?  We just don't get a long too well.  Mostly because I lose them.  Every single time.

Isn't it funny how it takes me a paragraph to state that I will not be writing a lot?

I must tell you, however, that this year marked a big Halloween event in the Merrill household:  I did not make everyone's costumes.  I also did not take "Courtney Official" Halloween pictures.  Really, I cannot explain my laziness.  Except that we saw an "Army Guy" and fireman costumes at Costco for the low price of $20 and I jumped all over them.  Piper wanted to be a biker chick from Teen Beach Movie .... and my sewing skills- while they are amazing (just ask my heavily used seam ripper)- are not at the leather-jacket level.  I do score points for Adi's 50's girl skirt (and the twin one I made for her BFFL).  And the picture thing?  I planned on taking them a couple of times, but... it just didn't happen.

Anyway, now... onto to the pics!

First up: a trip to Vertuccio Farm.

Where we spent $50 to go down slides, swing, and play on a teeter-totter!

There was also a corn maze:

 And please do not ask about my children's clothing choices.  I am trying oh-so-very-hard to not micro manage their choices.

It is very hard.

Next up:  Mom's Annual Halloween Party.

I seem to have forgotten how to focus pictures.

See Mr. Wyatt down there in the corner?  He flatly refused (read:screamed his head off) to put on his fireman's costume.  So he went to the Halloween Party as a spoiled brat instead.  Wyatt: 1, Mom: 0.

  

Selfie!  I hate myself right now...

 
On the morning of Halloween:

Thank you, Walmart, for these awesomely cheap photo props!

For their lunches...

And, finally, Halloween night...

Wyatt decided that he would dress up as a Miner (aka: Daddy).  Luckily, Orrin had already brought him a hard hat, head lamp, and a safety vest.  I just sewed up the sides and bottom of the vest, and: wah-la!  A Halloween costume!  That he kept on!  Without crying!  It was a Halloween miracle!

Adi's best friend had a matching skirt, but she got to my mom's house just as we were leaving to go Trick-or-Treating, so I never quite got a pic of them together.  Sad Mommy :(

So there ya have it!  Halloween 2013!  Yeah- it's over!

This Was Halloween

On Monday, we had our Family Home Evening where in which we carved pumpkins.  Or attempted to. 

Orrin and I scraped the guts out while the kiddos were at school, or napping, whichever may be the case.

(Oh, and OP did most of the work.  What can I say?  He loves me)

 And then we carved.  Well- Orrin, Piper, and Porter carved.

 Adi carved a mustache on hers and then whined that it was too hard to finish the rest.

So OP did.

Wyatt watched a Halloween movie (after he threw his pumpkin on the ground three times),

 so Orrin carved his.

And then my messed-up hands gave out, so he carved mine also.

Such a good guy.

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the Halloween visited our home and left it so very prettily decorated.

Incredible work, right?  ;)

And yes, those are chocolate chip spider pumpkin muffins,

 Porter Pot really liked the decorations.

Well, everyone did. Except Wyatt.  He just wanted to throw everything on the floor.

This year, the girlies ditched the rest of us.  Piper went to her BFFL's.

 Adi went to her BFFL's.

Notice the matching costumes?

At the last minute, I whipped up Wyatt a new costume.  Because I felt guilty that not a single person would get his Doctor Who costume.

Hello, Clark Kent.

He refused to have the cape around his neck.

And the werewolf was stuck with us too.

And then we went trick-or-treating with Minnie Mouse.

There were quite a few people that really got into the holiday this year.

There was a person inside of that coffin right there in the bottom left corner.

Fun, fun night.  Once PG was tuckered out and begging to go home, I collected the girlies from their buddy's.

Happy Halloween!

Thank goodness it's over.