Halloween seems like a thing of the past but in actuality it took place only 5 days ago so I really am not that late in writing about Halloween of 2013. Ghost and goblins go right along with the 'holiday' that takes place every year on October 31. The thing that is out of place is the scrooge but he showed up two holidays early in the form of a mom that really found a disliking for everything that represented Halloween this year. In the past I enjoyed picking out coordinating costumes and buying our favorite candy way to early which meant having to rebuy the night before Halloween because mysteriously holes would appear in our first bags while sitting on the top shelf of the pantry. This year there was no said joy in costumes or candy for this momma.
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| Minnie, Spider-man, Hello Kitty |
The thought of spending $40 per costume to wear for one Saturday costume party, one school costume parade and about one hour of trick or treating just didn't seem to fit in our budget because when you have 7 kids that totals $280 plus tax. I would much rather spend that money on gallons of paint for the kids bedrooms or new shoes for the big girls and the little boys or even a date night for Paul and I. Thankfully we ended up spending way less. Natalie did get a $40 costume from the Disney store but I did get it on sale and she being the princess she is will get a lot of use out of it. My house will also always have a sparkle to it with the amount of fine gold glitter that falls from it if even the slightest breeze catches it. Drew wanted to be Spider-man of course. Thankfully Costco and their amazing quality Halloween costumes came to the rescue and I think we spent $18 or so on his. This also means when Drew and the girls play dress up he has more choices than just princess dresses and tutus. Aubrey of all things asked to be an Easter bunny. Since we already had Scrooge at our festivities it seemed fitting to invite another holiday to join us. Aubrey's costume was totally free because it was one that my brother, sister and I all wore when we were about Aubrey's age. Grandma Pat is now on a mission to find pictures of all three of us in it. It may take a while because that was the day in which people actually had to take their roll of film in to print out pictures and then place them in a photo album for safe keeping. I am so glad digital pictures came around before I had kids! I decided to not go with costumes for the babies this year because I knew they would not be walking and again it didn't make sense to spend money on costumes when I knew they would spend the majority of time strapped into their strollers. I had seen a onsie on Etsy that I liked so I asked a fellow twin mommy if she could whip them up. She had so much free time she even made the girls skirts to go along with their 'Boo' attire. Yup she is a mom to six daughters and has time to sew, run, volunteer at every school function and host the most amazing themed parties at her house. I hope to be just like you Briana when I grow up.
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| Yup this is as good as I got on Halloween of a group shot! |
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| This one was a little better at our local Moms of Multiples Halloween party. |
And since we are talking about costumes let's talk about why boys, after they reach the age of 8, find the need to dress in costumes that scare little kids. Have you ever taken a child of 2 or 3 years of age out trick or treating? As soon as they see one kid with a full mask on the toddler can no longer walk and must be carried the remaining of the evening and will cry at every masked face that comes near them no matter how many times you explain that there is just a kid under it. Maybe I am being naive but I really don't think I will allow any of my boys to dress as zombies or other scary Halloween figures in the years to come. If they can't find a costume that is not scary to young children then they have reached an age they no longer need to go out trick or treating.
The morning of Halloween kids wake with an excitement that mimics Christmas morning. I feel especially bad for teachers on days like these. An hour of this excitement is enough for me and these poor teachers have 20-30 of these hyped up kids for an entire day. When the bell rings at the end of the day the first question they ask when loading into the car is can we go trick or treating? Those 3 hours of waiting for the sun to start setting takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r. And I think all moms fail in getting their kids to eat on Halloween but boy do we try hard to get something of substance into their bellies before the overdose of candy begins. Finally it gets dark enough, which this year took even longer than usual because of 'fall back' not happening until after Halloween, and we can finally tell the kids it's time.
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| School costume parade |
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| Some mummy fun. |
This is the part that really bothered me this year; we tell kids to go out and get all the candy that you can but tomorrow we are taking it all away! So pretty much what we are doing these days is spending a fair amount of money on candy because if you haven't bought bags of candy recently, it is not cheap. Kids bring it home. Sort it. Eat a couple of pieces before the sugar rushes kick in and the parents tell the kids it is bedtime. Then when the kids go to bed the candy is once again sorted by the parents and the majority of it ends up at mom and dad's work, dentist offices that pay cash for each lb turned over or other convenient candy drop offs. I am very lucky that this part of Halloween does not bother my kids at all. It was actually really cute when the kids got home from getting their fill of candy and finished their allotted 4 pieces we asked the girls to pick out what they wanted to bring to school to send to the military men and women. Natalie picked out about half of hers and placed it into a plastic grocery bag. Aubrey took her entire bucket and poured it into the bag and as she handed me the bag said, 'Here you go mom. They can have all of mine'. As we walked up the stairs hand in hand Aubrey in a very timid voiced said, 'Mom I know I said they could have all of my candy but would it be okay if I kept a couple of pieces'. These are the moments I just love the innocence of kids. We did keep a handful of candy in each kids buckets and they even talked daddy into a piece for breakfast the next morning before school but since then their candy has just sat on the counter. No one has really asked for any. No one has taken any without permission. They just really don't care about it. Tomorrow it will all be put in one ziploc and it will be given out as special treats here and there or a late night snack for daddy when he has a sweet tooth. Once the candy is placed into the ziploc bag Halloween is officially over in the Lesnau house.
| Disclaimer: No wine was sipped by this 5 year old. She was just becoming grandma's best friend. |
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| The loot. |
Halloween I could do without you but since I know you will return next year and my kids really do enjoy you I will try to get out of my Halloween funk. I am going to try my hardest to find some awesomeness in Halloween of 2014. I think I am doing a pretty good job already because I do have coordinating costumes for all in mind. I am going to keep it a secret but if anyone has a scarecrow, tin man, lion or some red shoes they no longer need, feel free to send them.
