Trunk or Treat, Minnie Mouse, & Go Fish

Our church hosted a trunk or treat for the first time this year. Even though we have known about it for several weeks, our family didn't decide on our theme until last night! We put it all together in just about an hour after church today and everything we used came from our house - no additional purchases!

The giant suckers are part of my porch decorations for Christmas. The candy and jars were collected from around the house and in the pantry.

Minnie and Jason from Go Fish, with our porch ghost and Scooby jack-o-lantern. (Minnie costume purchased at a thrift store after Halloween last year. Go Fish track suit was a hand-me-down from friends. Total spent for both costumes: $15.)

 a blurry tiger...it was pretty windy and I was shivering! They even had it rigged up to ROAR!

 The rockin' Wright family

The winning car, as voted on by the children. Judging from the comments and kids who said they were going to vote for us, Miss M thinks we must have been a close second.

Finally at home again...posing for one last costume shot with the addition of Hudson "Super Dog".  Now excuse me while I go raid some trick-or-treat bags!

Fun Fall Frolics

Things are beginning to settle down in our home, now that October is over. It always seems like November is a time to recharge after the craziness of October and before the really hectic month of December begins. I will give you a little clue as to how to retain your sanity in December though - do what is important to your family THIS year. Don't worry about what you have always done in the past. I love traditions, but sometimes we keep them going past their prime. Besides, if you don't let go of past traditions there isn't room for new ones. With that being said, here are a few things that have been keeping us busy lately...
The weather and illness kept us from making our yearly visit to a local apple orchard, but we were still able to to squeeze in a trip to the pumpkin patch...
Mr C enjoying a ride on the horse swing
They both LOVED the tightrope this year
Miss M was brave enough to try the zip line again, and again and again! Mr C said "that's enough" after just one turn.I got to explore the tunnels with both wee ones this year. We made it up and through the biggest one...and I think my back is permanently stooped now from bending over. Mr C could clear all the braces and took off several times WITH the flashlight!

Big sliding fun
Through the fields on our tractor ride
Our final selection
Cupcake Daddy got in on the jack-o-lantern action this year...his Frankenstein interpretation.
I tried a new recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds this year - sugar and spice. I really like them better than the traditional salted variety. The recipe says "additional sugar, to taste". I added a lot of sugar for my taste! I also made a few caramel apples as well. A little apple smile (peanut butter with marshmallow teeth) makes a fun and healthy snack.
And finally, Halloween costumes! We made Miss M's mermaid outfit from Family Fun Magazine. Click here to see how we did it. Mr C wanted to be Kobe Bryant - his own idea! Never mind he had a great Lightening McQueen costume in his closet. Thankfully, he didn't notice that he looks nothing like Kobe and that his "costume" was entirely the wrong colors.You can't see his bag, but they both have matching stamped treat bags we made a few years ago.

Neighborhood Boo Game

Have you ever been boo'd? Not like at a sporting event, but with a surprise treat left at your doorstep by a sneaky neighbor? This game went around my parent's neighborhood several years ago and I decided to have the wee ones help me play in our neck of the woods. (OK, not woods but more like metropolitan area....)
The basics of the game are as follows:

• Prepare a few treats for neighbors. (We did 6 since we are starting the game.)
• Leave at their doorstep with a Boo note and directions. You can google boo game for ideas or I can email you a copy of the one we used.
  
• The neighbors are instructed to hang the boo sign from a front window or door.
  
• They also have two days in which to make two copies of the note and leave it with treats for two neighbors who haven't been boo'd yet.

That's it! We did some assorted Halloween candy for neighbors we don't know very well, homemade sugar cookies for the ones we do know, and a mug with teas for our diabetic neighbor. You could also do a single sunflower ($1 each at my grocery store this week!), a small potted mum, apple cider, even just some crisp apples!
We got caught by a few neighbors, but it was still fun! My battery was low so I didn't get any pics of the delivery, but here is what a few of the goodies looked like.

The poem I found to use reads like this, but if you e-mail me a request, I will send you the entire document with a friendly ghost, poem, and directions! A friend from church suggested including a halloween tract which made me think about including an invite to your church fall fest! I also thought that classrooms could do it within a school. If you boo your neighborhood, let me know how it goes!

Boo!
To our good friends on the street;
Our homes location made us meet.
You now have been Boo'd, but who would we be?

We'll never tell, it's a secret, you see.
We placed these goodies for you and yours;
Then we ran away fast, after knocking on the door!
Happy Halloween