Spontaneous Trick or Treating

Another event that "snuck" up on us this year was trick or treating.  Okay, so not really... but if you remember, we didn't go last year.  I'm sure we had our reasons... but I can't remember what they were now.  I just know that none of the girls really cared if we missed it and Nolan didn't know what date it was on - until well after it was over.

So... this year the two older girls acknowledged that they were too old and didn't want to go and Melayna said if they weren't going, she'd feel silly so she guessed she didn't really want to go either.  Nolan was saying that he wanted to be a big black spider and so I started thinking through his costume and felt like I could make one easily enough.  But then one night Noel and I were talking about Halloween and whether or not Nolan would go trick or treating and we just decided that it wasn't really worth it to go out.  I would just wait until November 1 and then go buy candy at discounted prices to give to him.  The girls understood this and stopped talking about costumes and trick or treating.  We just sort of planned for it to "go by" once again.

But then....  about 4:30 on Wednesday, Nolan started talking about going trick or treating and how it was Halloween and he needed to get ready.  When Marissa and I broke the news to him that he wasn't going, he started crying.  He was still pretty sad about it when Noel got home an hour later so Noel said, "But you don't have a costume.  What are you going to be?".  Immediately Nolan went downstairs and grabbed his fireman costume from the dress-up bin and the two of them headed out.

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I tried to take a picture of him in his costume but he started running around me in big circles....

...until he finally got too dizzy and fell down.

Thankfully Gramie C took this picture of him while he was at her house.

They went to the standard three houses that we visit most years and came home with a large bag full of candy and whoppers and trail mix.  I'm thankful that Noel took him out even though neither of us had really planned to.  It certainly made one little guy pretty happy!

Halloween 2017

We had a different Halloween this year, but before I tell you about that, I wanted to share some fun pictures from years past.

Like this gem from about six years ago.  I think Melayna was four at the time.

Aren't they just dolls?

I can't find any pictures from the next year when I was a barefoot and pregnant housewife and Noel dressed as my truck driving hubby - but four years ago I drove this silly clan around.

These pictures are from three years ago...

(Probably the coldest year ever!!  But also one of my all-time favorites for costumes!)

We followed that year up with this one from two years ago when it felt like spring outside and we took our Mario bunch from house to house with their football playing brother tagging along.  (He had a helmet that year but refused to wear it!!)

And finally... last year's gang.  

Nolan wanted to be a fireman.  He was super excited about it and demanded that Morgan come with his as his dalmatian dog.  Marissa was an emoji and Melayna dressed up like a cupcake.  Except for Nolan's outfit, I think we threw the rest of them together the day before.

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So then this year came around.

Morgan and Marissa decided early on that they were "too grown up" to trick or treat and when I asked Nolan what he wanted to be, he changed his mind almost daily.  (First it was a fireman again, then he wanted to be a policeman.  Then last week he started talking about a character from Pokemon that I have never heard of before.)  

As for Melayna, she said she wasn't sure what she wanted to dress up as... in fact, she wasn't feeling very excited about dressing up at all if her older sisters weren't going to do it.  Noel and I looked at each other and shrugged and said, "Okay...maybe we just won't do it this year".   I mean, it sounds mean I guess, but Nolan doesn't know one day from another unless I tell him, so we just stopped talking about costumes in the hopes that he would just forget until after the fact.  And we ended up staying home as a family in our nice warm house eating dinner together around our dinner table and then we spent time helping the girls practice for their upcoming spelling contests and just sharing about our days.  I really enjoyed it actually.

Many thanks to our family and friends who still brought bagged goodies over to our house for us.  I mean, can you even beat that?  Getting goodies all while staying home?  LOL

After all, there's always next year...

Halloween 2016

As you know, Monday was Halloween and once again this year, our kiddos were excited and ready to go.  They love the trick or treating of course, but they love the whole process of thinking up a great costume and then helping to make it.  (We very seldom buy costumes from the store...this year is an exception).

Morgan decided to be a dalmatian dog after finding out that Nolan wanted to be a firefighter.  We just used white sweats and then pinned black circles to everything.  It is her last year as a trick or treater and she was really happy with the way her costume turned out.

Marissa wanted to keep it simple.  Emoji face from Walmart.  Black sweats.  

And we're done.  Yes!

This year, Melayna wanted to go dressed up as a cupcake.

Do you see the resemblance?  Her costume was the only one that required sewing thankfully.

I ordered Nolan's costume online because I know he'll use it over and over again as he pretends to be a firefighter.  

The firefighting duo...

Oh, why oh why can't I get them to pose seriously??

Happy Halloween 2016

The First of Our Costumes...

The girls have been talking about their Halloween costumes for a while now.  They have come up with different ideas and then changed their mind a couple of times.  Who knows what they will end up being by the time Halloween actually comes around.

Nolan told me right away that he wanted to be a fireman.  We offered up a few other suggestions but he held firm.  I have never really bought costumes for Halloween before but when I found a good deal on this dress-up costume online, I went ahead and ordered it for him.  He was thrilled when it arrived on our doorstep on Saturday.

"Get away from the fire....get away from the fire!!"