My Adventures: Halloween Week

I think I might say this every year, but Halloween is becoming more and more fun every year. I love all the holidays this time of year, but I am loving Halloween. It takes a lot of work and it sometimes sneaks up on my, but I haven't missed it yet and I love it. This year was even more fun than last year.

As per our annual Halloween traditions Gaupo and I started watching Halloween movies toward the beginning of the month. We actually did a good job at watching most of them. I didn't watch Earnest Scared Stupid this year, but Gaupo did and we didn't watch Casper, but all other we watched which is pretty good. We even got some kid ones and watch those with the girls. It was so great. Also, as our Halloween traditions go we made goulish food all week. Sadly a couple of Gaupo and I's favorite meals the girls don't like, but for the most part we have found what our family likes and it is so good. So, here they are.

The traditional kick-off meal. Autumn Sausage casserole. (Eaten on Mon and Wednesday)

Spider Sliders. (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Jack-O-Lantern Cassadias. (Thursday)

Pumpkin shaped pizza. The kid one. (Friday)

Stuffed pizza in the shape of a pumpkin-Adults. (Friday)

Trick-or-Treat Turnovers. (Saturday)

Dirt Cake. Dessert on Sunday

The girls thought this handed needed candles. (Monday)

Meatloaf hand. (Monday)

Molded Mac-n-Cheese and Worms (Tuesday)

Also, as most people do on Halloween we get dressed-up and go trick-or-treating. My girls started out wanting to be Maona (Kylee) and Maui (Tia). Then they moved on to being a ghost (Tia) and a star (Kylee). Finally, they settled on Toothless and Stormfly. Both are dragons from the movie How to Train Your Dragon. The girls insisted that I dress up too, and that is really where the idea for their costumes came from, but it was really cool and fun. I went as Astrid one of the main girls from How to Train Your Dragon. You definitely have to use your imaginations with our costumes and most people didn't know what they were, but the girls loved them and we had fun. Plus it was easy to make them warmer as this year it was really cold on Halloween. Anyway, we went trick-or-treating. We went up the street and into the neighborhood at the top of the hill and the girls filled their buckets. We have so much candy. In a lot of ways I understand why my parents just had us stay on our street and not go door-to-door because there is so much candy it is crazy. They love and they enjoyed dumping it out, sifting through it, and then eating way more than they usually get in a whole day. I did have to stop Tia because she would have made herself sick, and Kylee says she might throw-up tonight, but we will see. I think she will be okay. Anyway, it was a really fun night. I wish Gaupo could have been home to hangout with us when we got back and handout candy instead of being some of the slightly lame ones that just leave a bowl out, but hey at least I did that.

Kylee Back.

Kylee Front.

Tia Front.

Tia Back.

Tia and Kylee.

Tia, Me, and Kylee.

Tia and her candy stash.

Kylee and her stash.

Kylee and Tia together.

I love this holiday because I feel like it is one that Gaupo and I have kind of made out own. Neither one of our families is super into it. They both let us dress up and go trick-or-treating, but much more than that we didn't do. Gaupo's family I think did a bit more, but not too much. However, he is the reason it is celebrated so long here. However, I love it. I love that we have traditions that stay the same and change. Making Halloween meals is a lot of work, but it is fun and the kids look forward to it. We usually invent our costumes, which I think is fun, but in a lot of ways I don't know if that one will be able to hang on because it just isn't the cool thing anymore, but I will do it as long as my kids enjoy it. This year we read The Best Halloween Ever as a family and it was fun to gather and read a book together. Our traditions cause us to gather at night and want to be home and partake in these things and that is what I love. I love that our family spends time together. We make memories like blowing into the rootbeer that has dry ice and carving pumpkins and laughing at the kid (Tia this year. It has been Kylee in years past) who can not stand the thought of putting their hand in the pumpkin to clean it out. Then laughing more when they squeal with disgust when they actually try it once. I mean none of this stuff is big, but its fun. It makes being a family a true delight. I love that my family gets to celebrate and play together. So, I will always be grateful to Gaupo for really urging us to celebrate Halloween when I was originally, so opposed to it.