Monday, October 22, 2007

Hunting for Halloween . . .

I have always dreaded the week leading up to Halloween, maybe it's because of the number of people I'm getting ready for this big event and I emphasize, I'm getting them ready.

Jason has stated that he hates Halloween over and over, very out loud and verbally. I feel bad for him. Apparently he never trick-o-treated as a child. Can this really be true?

Maybe that's why he hates it, but he absolutely doesn't like to help with the costumes unless I beg, and it's such a big job. Going from Consignment store to thrift store, to Wal-Mart and back over and over until I find all the pieces and finishing touches to everyone's costumes. Then when it comes time to walk the small children around the block, he won't do it. He wants to stay inside the house and hide from everyone.

I used to make all the costumes. Anyone remember all those Cows. I made 7 cows and they were cute. I have since sold them to a Consignment store since I realized that most have grown out of them and no one wanted to wear the hot fur anymore. One year I made Scooby Doo for Caleb. He was 1 and didn't like the head on the costume, but he was cute.

I found a Mr. Incredible (from Pixar pictures) or is it (Disney) costume at our local costume shop tonight. It is size L and would look so awesome on Jason. I really should get it. He would look awesome in it. But would he wear it?????

I love to dress up. I find it fun. I love raiding the children's candy and finding all the Almond Joy candy bars inside and peanut butter cups too.

Maybe the one good thing about Jason never trick or treating as he states, is that he didn't get cavities until he was older. He has great teeth and for this I'm very grateful. But I do wish he liked this holiday more.

Of coarse everyone wants to be something different

Jared wants to be the Matrix, hope that changes tomorrow before I go looking, so gory. I looked some last week and then a lot today, but found nothing for Jared yet.

Brenden wants to be an army dude. I found all his stuff today at that store call 2nd Act. That is a costume shop/vintage store/consignment store. You can find literally everything in there. If you needed a purple wig and big red shoes, you would find them. Such a fun store.

Alyssa wants to be an angel. I found her a dress and a headband with a halo, so cute,now I might have to make wings since I'm having a hard time finding those. I found adult size angel wings, but they were bigger than Alyssa and made out of real feathers. EWE don't need those in the house, the cat might eat them.

Scott wants to be Dracula. I have the black cape, but need the fake teeth.

Daniel hasn't mentioned anything, not sure what's going on with him yet. Jason told him he's too old to trick or treat, but I told Dan he could dress up and take the little children around the neighborhood with me if he wants. I don't know if he will dress up or not.

Caleb said he's going to be a Matrix again. He was this last year at the Ward Trunk or treat party that is again this year at 5p.m. on Friday. Oh that's something else to do, I get to make soup or chili for the Trunk or treat event.

What is a Matrix? Does anyone know? Is it something other than a dude dressed in all black?


I have a ton to do tomorrow including shopping for food for Jared, and Alyssa's Halloween parties school. I'm the room parent for two classes so I have much to do before their Halloween parties.

What are you all dressing your children as?

22 comments:

Mike and Adrianne said...

I'm just glad I only have two kids to dress. I love Halloween. It's too bad Jason doesn't like it. It is one of my favorite holidays.

chelsey said...

I have to find Geoff's costume today also. He wants to be a clone from Star Wars. I'm thinking he'll be whatever's cheapest from Star Wars. Sarah found a beautiful ball gown from T.J. Maxx for $19 and with how many times she's already worn it, we're definitely getting our $'s worth. I found a mouse costume at Once Upon A Child for Jake for $10. and he looks hilariously cute in it. Brent and I haven't gotten into the whole dress up thing ourselves, but it might be kind of fun. We found out that our neighborhood really gets into Halloween here. They all decorate their homes like you would at xmas! Then the adults usually get warm cider from the houses while you're walking in the cold with the kids. Isn't that nice?? Several homes take their firepits out to the curb and have places set up to stop and get warm. It all sounds fun. We never really went trick or treating in our neighborhood in SL because of the neighborhood itself, so the trunk or treats were it. We don't need that much candy anyway!

Jason said...

Yes, it is true, I really dislike Halloween. I do not enjoy dressing up, I do not enjoy going door to door begging for tootsie rolls, and I do not enjoy having to waste money on candy and costumes. In a country that is already one of the most physically unfit countries in the world, do we really need one more excuse to stuff ourselves with junk? Are there really any redeeming aspects of Halloween or is it just a time to play dress up? I also find it odd that we feel the need to have church activities in conjuction with what is called the Day of the Dead in Mexico.

Despite what my dear wife thinks, I do have good memories of "trick or treating" when I was young. I am sure that Adam, Chelsey, and maybe Jess remember our tradition of reverse trick or treating in Nebraska. That was very enjoyable.

So there!

chelsey said...

We have several friends who buy back their kid's candy. I'm too cheap for that-- especially since you have to fork out the cash to buy candy to hand out! I certainly get the point though!

chelsey said...

We have several friends who buy back their kid's candy. I'm too cheap for that-- especially since you have to fork out the cash to buy candy to hand out! I certainly get the point though!

Jess and Jen said...

Our stake, and therefore ward, don't allow any church-sanctioned Halloween activities. So we hosted our own last Friday...

I never got into dress-up myself, but I love Halloween. I think one of the reasons is that it signifies that Fall is really here to stay and I love Fall.

Papa Doc said...

I vote that Jason wear his Mr. Icredible suit. I want a picture on the blog, too, soo now you have your assignment, Michelle. Get him to wear it. That would be truely incredible.

Dad Clark

Michelle said...

For not wanting to dress up Jess, can you explain the long blonde hair wig you are wearing a few blogs ago???? What is that for? You look quite adorable in it. Was it a play or a cross-dressing stage? Just kidding.
Jason mentioned he dressed up as a women once for Halloween, maybe that scarred him for life, not sure. Don't let Jason kid you about the candy, he raids the children's bags more than me, in fact one year he took the entire candy stash to work, he said it was for his co-workers, only later I heard he didn't share. I know he was hiding it all to himself. What is the buy back candy thing that some have mentioned? I'm curious. I'd love to do that to Daniel and Caleb since I know they will somehow end up with candy from our Ward's trunk or treat this Friday.

chelsey said...

The buy back candy thing is this -- parents offer their kids $ in exchange for the candy they collected trick or treating. That way the kids can use the $ to still get a treat of a different sort, like a new toy or something. And the parents don't worry about the teeth that are rotting in their kids mouths. The parents just toss the candy out I guess.

Jess and Jen said...

Well, the long hair picture was on my mission, and the whole two years was a very gay time for me...

Gag. I'm gonna barf. I've never dressed up with a complete costume. That night I was wearing a wig, lava-lava, t-shirt, long johns, and tennis shoes. Not really anything that goes together.

Papa Doc said...

Ok -- here's the real story about Jason and trick-or-treating. When he was two years old, he had beautiful, long curly hair. I put his hair in little pigtails with ribbons and dressed him up in one of my old dance costumes (sooo cute) and took him to the ward party. No one knew who this cute little girl was. And he looked just like a girl. Jim was mad at me when he found out what I was doing -- hey, it was Halloween and we can be whatever we want.
Then, when he was 16, he wore one of my formals (I still have it) to the ward party and he looked gorgeous -- I can't believe he was skinny enough to get it zipped up. That was his choice, not mine and he was old enough to know what he was doing.
When we moved to Nebraska, our neighbors were scattered all over and I really didn't want my kids to miss the dress-up and fun for Halloween, but I didn't think any neighbors would be expecting trick-or-treaters because we lived so far from each of them. So we came up with the idea of making a plate of goodies for them. I wouldn't let the kids take a bag and say "Trick or Treat" because I didn't want the neighbors to feel badly if they weren't prepared for little kids. Instead, the kids took the goodies up and said, "Happy Halloween." The first year a few families had treats but the next year they were prepared for us. Each child received their own separate BAG of candy from every family we went to. I believe the last year we did it we went to about 20 families. All the neighbors were so excited to have the kids come -- and my kids got more candy then than at any other time. And I didn't feel like they were being greedy because we were giving back something and bringing happiness to the neighbors. I wish we had continued to do that for the rest of our lives. I hate the greediness of Halloween and I hate it when the teenagers that are too old come to my door and grab hands full of candy.
By the way -- my marriage vows state this: "I don't do Halloween costumes."
Mom

LanceandNance said...

I love Nancy. And Halloween. And Radiohead's new album.

Lokodi said...

ok, i feel left out not commenting on this one. mom, you are a great mom. that was such a good idea to bring treats to everyone.

eva's going to be a lady bug this year. i'm having a huge halloween party at my house with about five families and all their children. then the very next morning, i have to get on a plane for the states.

i LOVE halloween. i don't know why, i just do. i love lance, and nancy, and radiohead too. :)

Lindsey

Jason said...

I was not 16!!! I wore Mom's black and white formal, high heels, nylons, etc... to a ward party in Nebraska when I was 11. Sister Gold thought I was Lisa Schwindemen (sp?). Lisa was a hottie so I must have been gorgeous.

By the way, Michelle, I did share all that candy with my co-workers. As a matter of fact, I didn't eat any of it. When you asked Marlan (my boss) if he had gotten any, his negative response was a result of him being in surgery all day long.

I also love Lance and I probably will love Nancy if I ever get to meet her, but my feelings for radiohead are so so. I prefer RHCP.

Mike and Adrianne said...

I love Lance and Nancy too. I haven't heard the new Radiohead album but I love when Lance sings Radiohead.

Jess and Jen said...

I think everyone loves Lance...if only there was enough of him to go around. I'm sure he'd probably fit in Mom's formal today.

I've only heard one of the new songs on Radiohead's album. Lance, did you download it for free?

Papa Doc said...

Any more comments? What is this. I guess Michelle should post more often.

I like Halloween, the candy and the fun. I am not much for dressing up right now, and Chris says that I am scary all the time anyway.

My worst Halloween memory is the one where Mom had made califlower for supper and she would not let me go to the Elementry School party until I ate mine. It was horrible.

Dad Clark

chelsey said...

Who doesn't like cauliflower? I love it! Good for your mom! Is that why you forced Jess to eat his peas? Perhaps you should've remembered having to choke down your own veggies.. he, he, he!

Love to Lance and Nancy!

Papa Doc said...

I like the big C right now. Raw and cooked. It think it was to me one of the exotic vegitable that I learned to eat for my beautiful wife.

Dad Clark

Jason said...

Cauliflower (raw and cooked) is almost as nasty as brussel sprouts. Broccoli on the other hand is quite good. So are peas, carrots, and corn. I also like a lot of asian veggies - especially stir fried.

Michelle said...

I have been gone all day and came home to all these comments. It's all so funny. Speaking of vegetables since this post turned into a vegetable commenting post, I am a room parent for Jared's and Alyssa's classrooms and as a room parent I get to plan the Halloween party treats. Every year parents who aren't even asked bring tons of cookies, cupcakes and other sorts of sugar stuff. I suggested to the other woman that I'm room parent with, that we do healthy treats like vegetables with ranch to dip in and peanut butter to dip in. We have been making baggies with carrots and celery cut up and then we will put whichever dip the children want on their plates. I figured that so much sugary stuff is brought anyway that we should do something healthy. It took us over 2 hours to cut up vegetables, but it's hopefully going to be a good thing.

Something Jason and I do every year before Trick or Treating is make the children have some vegetables with dinner, even if it's early. We tell them they can't go out trick or treating until they've had a good helping of vegetables.

By the way I love brocolli, tomatoes, califlower and asperagus. Brussel sprouts are not something I won't make for the family or myself. They smell bad when cooked I think. I was forced to eat them when younger.

And to add to part of my original post, I have finished all the costumes except for Daniel's costume, I need to find something today or tomorrow. I'm trying to talk Scott out of a vampire, but he's pretty set on it. He even wants fake blood on his face. I'm just wondering where he ever heard about vampires. Are those in Scooby Doo cartoons?

LanceandNance said...

Yes Jess,

I did download it for free. Would-a, could-a, should-a given some money, but didn't. I'll buy the album when it comes out. Okay, before you think, "yeah right, he won't buy it. He just got it for free," you might be right. You'll just have to wait and see. Feeling the love of the fam, by the way.