Halloween

This Halloween could have been a total bust if it weren't for a good friend of mine, Christa.  With everything going on right now (namely Brig's allergies, which I'll post about soon, and being hugely pregnant), I really started to feel like I was dropping the ball on this holiday. 

Christa spent some time at our house last week and asked the boys about their costumes.  Brig enthusiastically wanted to be the Hulk and Allen told her about his longstanding plan to be Inspector Gadget.  After finding out that I hadn't started on either of their costumes she kindly asked if she could take over the project.  I was more than grateful to let her.  The results were fabulous and way better than anything I would have come up with. 

Here she is in action working on Brig's costume a few days before Halloween:

Thank you Christa!!! 

Here they all are on Halloween:

Brig's best "scary" hulk face.  You should have heard the growl that went with this scowl.  :)

Inspector Gadget

(Check out his awesome hat!)

This brief case was a work of art!  Christa made the case out of cardboard so it would be light enough to carry and then hot-glued everything in.

Esmé had just woken from a too-short nap when I hastily put her in her costume...which is really just things we had in the dress-up drawer.  

Spinning round and round in her Princess dress. 

She wasn't scared of Brig but she wasn't quite sure what to make of him either.  :)

All ready to go...

Since it was pouring down rain (hurricane style) we decided to hit the mall before we went to our church for the annual 'Trunk or Treat'...

These pictures don't do justice to how incredibly over crowded the mall was.  Considering the weather I should've known that everyone else in our town would have gone to the same place. 

Allen wasn't diggin' the crowd.  Beyond the boring waiting, I think he was a little self conscious about how much attention his costume received.  He's not used to that many strangers talking to him.  :) 

The children waited patiently as the herd crowd moved slowly down the mall.  It took them 40 minutes to get 5 pieces of candy.

Esmé ate each piece of candy as soon as it was put into her bag.

After the mall we headed to our church.  Usually everyone parks in the giant parking lot and hands out candy from their decorated trunks.  Since it was still raining buckets they moved it into the gym...which was way too small for this activity.  

Allen was a little put out by the crowd (again), but the plethora of candy more than made up for that.  It only took a few minutes for them to collect tons of candy.

Esmé was in sugar-heaven and ate more candy than she has in her entire lifetime.

After the party we snapped a couple photos of Brig.  'Super Hulk' looked like he had a camo face.  :)

We tried something new this year and it worked brilliantly.  We really didn't want the children eating so much sugar but we also didn't want to deprive them of the candy-eating tradition that is Halloween.  So we decided to let them eat as much candy as they wanted on Halloween night and then trade us the rest of their candy (to donate somewhere) for a toy from the store.  We went to Walmart earlier that day to buy their selections.  Brig chose a giant package of playdoh and Allen went with a toy gun that makes cool noises.  So far they have enjoyed their toys and haven't asked for any candy.  Yay!

A few evenings before Halloween we carved some pumpkins.  I love documenting these precious times with our children.  Bradley and I are both acutely aware of how fast they are growing up.  *sniff*

 Check out his tongue.  He's always done this when concentrating.  :)

 He had to try some pulp.  :)

 Esmé was far too cranky to participate.  She mostly fidgeted on my lap making it difficult to take pictures. :)

 Our "Jack-o-lackers".  :)

We hope you had a safe and fun holiday.  :)