Halloween

Am I the only one for whom the whole Halloween thing kind of went sour this year?  I don’t know what it was about this year but it seems that nothing went right.  Not that it was bad, it just didn’t go the way it was planned.

Every year we have a Halloween party with Anthony’s side of the family.  And usually we do a separate one on my side.  Usually, not always.  This year, both were planned…

NEITHER of them actually happened. 

Everyone on Anthony’s side got the memo about their party.  I assumed everyone on my side got the memo for ours. 

WRONG! 

The night that we were supposed to have the party, a couple of family members showed up… with 2 large pots of chili and meatballs! 

Um, yeah, not embarrassing at all!  I felt about this big.  Luckily, we (the kids and I) hadn’t eaten yet.  Anthony was gone with H at a Ute game.  (He has season tickets along with his dad and BIL.  His dad was unable to use his ticket this past Saturday so H got to go in his place.)

So, the rest of us ate chili and meatballs.  I still felt stupid. 

With all the stress and overwhelming feelings I’ve had recently, it’s no surprise that I would forget to call them and let them know of the change in plans.  We had decided to get together TODAY, just before the trunk-or-treat at the church.  That didn’t go as planned either. 

I had about a gazillion errands I had to run today.  With five kids in tow, that’s no easy feat!  I attempted it but really only got about half of what I needed done.  This meant that I did not have time to get to the store to buy the fixin’s for Frito Pie.  My dad was kind enough to buy KFC instead.  {By the way, did I mention that my parents have moved back from California?  My kids (and I) are so excited!!} 

So, yeah, we had KFC.  But even before we were able to get to my Grandpa’s house (where we were all meeting), the kids needed to get into their costumes.  We got home from running errands around 5:15.  Anthony is usually home by then but not today.  We were planning to dress in our old Incredibles costumes.  The girls got dressed in their witch costumes while I attempted to gather the boys’ costumes.  B was going to be a hobo.  H had heard us saying to someone that he was going to be a ‘bum’ so she leaned down to him at one point and excitedly said, “B, you’re going to be a butt!”

Made my day!  I laughed amidst the stress of not being able to find the girls’ witch hats we had bought a few weeks ago.  (Seriously, that girl has some of the best one-liners.)  After searching for a good 20 minutes, I didn’t have time to paint a scruffy beard on B… he went as Tigger instead!  And yes, I finally found the hats.  The girls would have been devastated otherwise.  I can’t say that I’d blame them.

Another Halloween stressor… we totally forgot to carve pumpkins…

FORGOT! 

How does a mother forget to carve pumpkins?!  Seriously, it’s one of my favorite traditions of Halloween and I forget?  It couldn’t be that I have a new calling as a Relief Society teacher at church that was completely stressing me out until I got my first lesson out of the way… yesterday (a calling that I feel completely unqualified for), or that I have 47 busy bags to make for THIS Wednesday’s Busy Bag Exchange.  I’m not even close to being done.  Guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow…  It’s one of those things that I’m excited about doing and I’m glad I signed up but wasn’t expecting so many participants.  Just a bit overwhelming! 

Oh anyway, the pumpkins… it wasn’t until K said, “MOM!  We didn’t carve our pumpkins yet!!”  (They’re sitting on our porch.)

My reaction… “**GASP** We haven’t!  CRAP!”  {yes, I really gasped ;)}

We did this instead. 

The kids were slightly disappointed but hey, it’s a good change of scenery, no?  I think they turned out pretty cute.  And clean up was a breeze!  ;)

And to keep you from falling asleep, I won’t go into much more detail.  I’ll just tell you that Anthony got home just before we left for my grandpa’s house.  We didn’t have time to get into our costumes.  This is as good as it gets for me this year.  Does a fishy face count as a costume?

As for Anthony, he went as his day job… construction worker.  Stink and all!  No time for showering when you’ve got a trunk-or-treat on the line.  I mean, seriously!

 

Oh, and this past Friday, we were able to take a break from the stresses of our lives and play a little game of Curses with some friends.  Have you ever played that game?  SO fun!  But we’ve decided that the only way to play is with costume pieces!  I don’t think I can ever go back to playing it by the rules.  We tweaked them somewhat.  If you’ve played this and want to know how we tweaked it to make it even more fun, let me know.  HILARIOUS!! 

{Watching Anthony try to get those glasses on with ‘one inch arms’ was sooo funny!}

{Our friend kept forgetting to say “Yes Sir” every time his name was said…. Anthony got to give away his shells.}

And if you haven’t played it… you need to.  We’re always ‘game’ if ya wanna!  I’m so PUNNY!!  I crack me up…

Not so much?  Oh, sorry. 

 

 

Kit Kat Woes

Hi, my name is Brooke and I’m a sugar addict. 

I try to eat healthy, really I do, and I am {mostly} successful!  Do I get any points for that? 

I try to follow the 80/20 rule and trust me, I take FULL advantage of my 20… thank goodness for the 20! 

The other day, I bought some Kit Kats for our Halloween Bouquet and may have ‘accidentally’ left a couple out. 

Hey, I’m entitled, no? 

It was torture waiting for the kids to go to bed that night because those darn Kit Kats were calling my name the whole day.  TORTURE!!  And when it finally happened, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one of those packages (just one… but I wanted two).  I gave the second one to Anthony.  I’m the best wife ever ;)

Anyone else hide the good stuff and wait for the kids to go to bed to pull it out?  Does that make me a food hoarder?  If so… Hi, my name is Brooke and not only am I sugar addict, I’m also a food hoarder.  THERE!  I said it… Sheesh!

I feel better now.  Sort of.

Anyway, I pulled out the goods and opened the package to find a cutesy Halloween design on my Kit Kat.  What the…  I knew the package was Halloween-ish but didn’t realize the candy itself would be mutilated.  As I tried to break each piece away, look what happened…



UGH!  They don’t break like they’re supposed to!  So much for “break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar”.  We’ve got some serious issues here. 

And then trying to eat it was just all wrong.  Ok, so maybe I eat my Kit Kats funny.  But even Anthony who eats his Kit Kats the boring normal way said that the chocolate to wafer ratio was all wrong.  It just was!

So tonight, I had to buy some more, some normal ones.  No Halloween designs.  Had to.  And yes, we ate and we feel better.  Or at least I do. 

Random and silly, I know but I promise to have a less random post tomorrow.  Just had to gripe.  Thanks for hearing me out. 

Anything you’d like to share?  You’ll feel better, I promise… 

 

 

 

What Goes Around Comes Around

You might remember that my family Boo’d our neighbors the other day.  Well, technically, even though we started the Booing process, we had not yet been Boo’d.  Which means that we did NOT yet have a ghost in our window.  So guess what…

Last night, I came home with K (from her dance class) to three VERY excited kids (A, H, and C) asking if they could have a cookie.

Me:  Cookies?  We don’t have any cookies. 

Kids (jumping up and down):  Yeah we do!  We got Boo’d!! 

Me:  We did? 

Kids:  Yeah, just a few minutes ago!  So, can we have a cookie? 

At this point, I was giddy.  Yes, I think I was more excited than they were.  It was bedtime but I said yes to having a cookie because being Boo’d calls for celebration indeed! 

Even Anthony couldn’t help laughing at my perma-grin.  It was obvious that I was excited to see that it was working.  It’s been several days since we originally Boo’d someone so I have no idea who Boo’d us. 

We tore open the package and dove in.  I handed cookies to B and C…

And THEN I remembered that I needed to take a picture.  So, I snatched the cookies back up in a hurry (mean Mom moment, I know) to the detriment of my poor boys.  I packaged it all back up the best I could and snapped a photo.  Then I divvied out the cookies… again. 



Ok, so the cookies are lookin’ a little backwards and it’s not nearly as pretty as it was originally but you get the picture.  And we now have a cute little ghostie taped to our front door.  So festive ;)

Now, the question is, who do we Boo this time?  And what do we give ‘em? 

 

 

 

Halloween Bouquet & Booing Your Neighbors

This is risky!  I’m taking a huge risk by posting this on my blog.  If only I had a little more sense…  It’s one of those lines I should have stood in while in Heaven but apparently I didn’t. 

You see, I Boo’d my friend/neighbor the other day with this fun Halloween Bouquet.

 

Do you love it?  It’s not quite as beautiful or perfect as the ones that my Mom makes for my kids but it’ll have to do.  She started making these a handful of years ago for my kidlets every October.  My kids look forward to it every year.  Of course they do… it’s chuck full of sugar!

But see, I should have Boo’d someone that I was absolutely positive does NOT read my blog.  That way, I could share this with you and not run the risk of them seeing it on my blog and knowing who Boo’d them.  Ugh!  Silly me.  Well, too late for that.  I have to share and just cross my fingers that she (my friend) doesn’t read my blog.  If so, ummm HI!  It was us.  Sorry I ruined it!  I was smart enough not to choose the people that I know to read my blog.  Do I get any points for that?

Anyway, you know what ‘Booing your neighbor’ means don’t you?  If not, allow me to explain. 

You take a treat to a neighbor (or two) along with a printed ghost (to display in the window to represent the fact that they’ve been Boo’d) and a poem that gives instructions for them to follow (Boo two other neighbors that don’t have Boo signs in the window, along with copies of the poem and ghost).  But you don’t just hand it to them.  You set it on the doorstep, ring the doorbell and RUN!  The kids think it’s great fun.  Good thing too because I know for sure I’d get caught.  I’d either not be fast enough or I’d trip as I ran across the lawn.  I just know it. 

Well, when I went to find the poem online that you are supposed to use, I couldn’t find one that I liked.  I thought they were a little vague in their directions so I made up my own.  You can use it if you’d like to.  Nothing fancy.  Just something I whipped up last minute.

 

You’ve Been Boo’d!!

We like you well enough and all,

But now the season has turned to fall.

 

 Which means that ghosts and goblins are about,

They seem to have found you, there’s no doubt!

 

 Halloween will soon be here,

The ghosts like to spread some neighborhood cheer.

 

 Make two copies of the poem and ghost,

Within two days, or you’ll be toast!

 

 Display the ghost in your window and then,

No one will be able to ‘Boo’ you again.

 

Take two more treats to some ‘Boo’less friends,

Soon the neighborhood will be Boo’d from end to end.

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

I found a printable ghost here for the window.  I just wrote “We’ve Been Boo’d” on it and outlined the ghost in black marker to make it bolder.

I attached it to the bouquet and we did our thing… (you know, the knock and run thing.)  I, personally, did the wait and drive thing around the corner.  Go me! 

So, are you ready to make your own Halloween Bouquet?  It’s great for decoration {it wouldn’t last 5 minutes in my house} or for Booing or whatever you want to use it for. 

Here’s what you’ll need:  Desert Foam (is that a brand or is that really what it’s called?), candy, trinkets, wooden dowels, tape, garland, plastic pumpkin (or other container)



{I forgot to put the garland in the picture.  $3 Halloween garland from Target.}

Tape your candies and trinkets to the dowels.  You could hot glue them if you want to but tape is easier and won’t melt your plastic wrappers or your chocolate.  And you could even paint your dowels if you want.  I didn’t, but you could…



Cut the foam just enough so that it will fit in the bottom of your container.  Then use the excess to fill the front and back.  This will keep it from sliding around in the container as it gets heavy from all the candy and trinket filled dowels.  I had to use about 1 and 1/4 of the foam blocks.

 

Starting with the larger items first, start sticking your dowels into the foam.  Gradually work down to the smaller items.  Push them in as far as you would like.  Have fun with it!

 

The last step is to take your garland and just start weaving it in and out of the dowels to hide the bottom of the pail (no one wants to see the foam and a bunch of sticks…). 



So easy and what a great conversation piece too!  Great table centerpiece if you can keep your kids from trashing it. 

Mr. Pumpkin and I had a fun photo shoot before I sent him away to a new owner.

 

If you were the recipient of Mr. Pumpkin and you are reading this, I am so sorry!  And to all of my neighbors that read my blog, SSSHHHHHH!!!  Don’t tell!!  Maybe they won’t find out ;)

Happy Booing!! 

 

 

 

 

Unknown Traditions

We go out to my mom's house for dinner every Sunday evening. Certain things have become tradition; while at my mom's, we always watch America's Funniest Home Videos and playing a game of cards is almost always a given. I consider those "traditions". We also have other traditions for different holidays and such. But one such tradition was unknown to everyone... except my mom, apparently.

On Halloween, which fell on Sunday this year, we learned of this said tradition. As we sat there, eating our delicious soup that my mom had made, she casually mentioned to my grandpa that she always made chili every year on Halloween. My sister and I were sitting next to each other, across from Mom and Grandpa. We both whipped our heads around to look at each other as if to say, "She did?"

I don't know how to get the humor of this situation in a blog entry but just for the sake of having it written, I just have to. Kortney, my sister, and I laughed and laughed. My poor mom looked at us and declared that it was true. She always made chili on Halloween. I don't know where Kortney and I were every Halloween when this chili was being served, all I know is that neither of us remember chili on Halloween... ever! In an effort to get my dad on her side, my mom turned to him and said, "Didn't I? I made chili every Halloween."

We about died when my dad smirked and said, "Uh-huh, sure!" My dad's cousin and his wife happened to be there that night too. I'm pretty sure they didn't think it was nearly as funny as we did. But my poor mom was just fighting to make us remember this tradition and it just wasn't working. The next thing I know, I've got a breadstick flying at my head and birdie finger flying my way also. Oh Mom, I love you! She just happens to remember things that no one else remembers, and I mean no one else. She's so funny. Love her!

I may not remember the chili but my family has got some pretty fun traditions. I hope to get some of them written here. They mean a lot to me.

The Great Pumpkin Slaughter

Halloween kind of came and went this year without me even noticing really. Obviously, I saw all the costumes in the stores, the kids changing their minds every day about what they would dress up as, and the candy everywhere but for some reason, I just couldn't get into it this year. Our annual Halloween Party with Anthony's side of the family usually sets the tone for me but this year it was kind of half-hearted. We combined birthdays and Halloween together. But here are the details of our pumpkin carving for the year. Or, as we call it, The Great Pumpkin Slaughter!

Well, apparently, in the ten years I've been married, I haven't done Anthony any favors in the pumpkin carving department. Here I was thinking that I could just sit back, relax and hold the baby while Anthony helped the kids with their pumpkins. I had everything ready to go. Big spoons, pumpkin knife, and a cookie sheet (for the guts).

*Time to get started!*

So, what does Anthony do? After cutting the tops out (we always did the bottom so we didn't have to worry about the top falling in), he complains that the pumpkin stinks. It must be rotting! It wasn't, it smelled like.... pumpkin. Silly man! Then he has the kids "reach in and start pulling the guts out."

And they did. I looked at them and said, "What are you doing? Have I taught you nothing about how to carve a pumpkin?"

"I don't know. I guess not. What am I supposed to do?"

Crazy husband of mine! Doesn't everyone know that you scoop the guts out with a spoon? So, after putting the baby down, I gutted them all. Well, most of them anyway. They were all amazed at how easy it was, so much better than trying to grab all the stringy things with your hands.

My family, they're so.... lovable!! I love them all.


The finished products!