Halloween Weekend

What a fun weekend! The Halloween festivities technically began on Friday with a dress-up day at work. I had found this wig I really wanted to wear and threw on an old costume to go with it. My sister-in-law, Shawna, came over in the morning to do my makeup for me. I was pretty proud of my throw-together-costume! It took many of my clients a few minutes to realize who I was. A few said that I should die my hair black for good. I think not!

This picture is with a girl that I have worked with for about 7 years now. Wow! I never thought I'd work at the bank this long!

Saturday Jeff had to work so the kids and I hung out for the day in wait of Daddy coming home so we could carve pumpkins. I wish I had a dollar for every time Connor asked if it was "time yet." As the evening drew near, Dominic decided to ditch us and go see a movie with a friend instead. He got a good start on his before taking off though. That left Daddy keeping a very unhappy, teething Emma Kate comfortable, while Connor and I carved his pumpkin.

Well...actually...I carved the pumpkin.

Connor watched.

And at one point said, "I'm bored. I'm going to go do something else."

Let me just say...I HATE carving pumpkins! This is my least favorite thing about Halloween. And a word to the wise...if you start something with your children when they are young (such as carving pumpkins, creating a scavenger hunt so they can find their Easter baskets, or writing notes from Santa) be prepared to do it EVERY year till they are OLD! Think VERY carefully about whether or not you want to do this EVERY year! Sometimes I wish that I would have started a pumpkin painting tradition instead. All that being said...I do love seeing the outcome of our (my) labor.

As you can see, Connor is still VERY interested!

The next day after church Dominic set out to finish his pumpkin. He worked for hours. He found a template of Malificent and the dragon from Sleeping Beauty. Seriously. This boy worked hard. But on the way from the kitchen to the front porch, it slipped out of his hands and onto the floor, cracking the pumpkin, and causing delicate pieces to fall out. He was devastated. I felt so bad for him.

Here's the part that stayed in tact. I think it still looks pretty amazing.

He also had another project going. He had decided that he wanted to be a nunn with a mask. He and I made a paper mache mask for him to wear which turned out pretty cool. He just had a hard time getting it to stay on. He was not having a good Halloween thus far.

Here's one of the tricky things about having a teenager and two little ones. The little ones are too little to do the fun haunted houses, etc...that Dominic likes, while Dominic could find many other ways he would rather be spending his Halloween than trick-or-treating with his little brother and sister.

The plan: We drop Dominic off at Nana and Papa's at 4:30 and head over to Jeff's sister's house for dinner and trick-or-treating with the cousins. Nana drops Dominic off at church at 5:30 to volunteer at the harvest carnival. We finish up by 7 to pick up Dominic and take him to his friend's house for neighborhood haunted houses and fun. Get little kids home and to bed and wait for a phone call to pick Dom up. (All this while trying to see at least some of the Giants game!)

Most of this went as planned, except we weren't done in time. So Jeff left early to take Dominic and came back.

We have gone to Jeff's sister and brother-in-law's house for the past few years. We really enjoy this time with them...and they get Zacharys's Pizza. Love it! Their next door neighbors and Jeff's parents join in the festivities as well.

Connor had a hard time deciding at the last minute if he wanted to be a cowboy (using an old dress-up outfit 2 sizes too small) or a policeman. He decided that he's be the policeman. He didn't have cowboy boots was his rationale. So he wore fireman boots with his policeman costume. Makes complete sense!

And Emma...well I get control of her costume. For a little while anyway!

I'm enjoying it while I can.

Here's my nephew Corben. He was a dalmation, while his older brother was a fireman.

Libby re-used her pirate costume. I had purchased a butterfly costume for her, but was out-voted by the boys. Just wait till Emma Kate can talk...the girls won't be out-voted anymore!

Bailey was a fire dog.

Uncle Nick took the radio with us so we could follow along with the game.

We had just passed a house with a big front window and noticed the family watching the game inside when we heard Posey hit his home-run on the radio. The guys went running back just in time to see it on the TV through the window. Good thinking!

My Kitty Cat started to get sleepy.

After getting back to the house, I ran out to the car for something. On my way back to the house I saw Bunga going through the boys' candy with them. It was a really sweet moment watching the boys with their grandma.

(I just wish I had a better camera for pictures like these.)

We had a great time this past weekend and we did make it home to see the Giants win the game. It IS hectic trying to coordinate everyone and make sure they all have a good time. But in the end, we're making memories. I hope that the kids all grow up feeling loved and look back at all of these times with warmth in their hearts. I did have to remind Dominic that in a few years he will look back and laugh at all the pit-falls that happened for him this Halloween.