Dressup for Grownups

Ryan and I partook.
We dressed up.
We went out.
We didn't trick or treat.

I don't make it a habit to match Ryan for Halloween.  We don't even do couples' costumes.  But this year, when I told him I wanted to be the joker, he asked "Heath or Jack?".  I said, "chic Jack".  He told me it'd be cool to be Heath.  So, that is how this came about.  It was easy, and except for my jacket and shirt, we had all the stuff.
My second choice was Honey Boo Boo.  But, I didn't have my tutu yet.

Shane was this LMFAO dude.  I have rights to this photo since those ARE my tights, and I am pretty sure he isn't wearing underwear.  Plus, he probably farted in them.

I gave 200+ pound Eric a piggy back ride just because I am nice. 
He had a harder time than I did.

 

He dressed as Big Tex, the aftermath.

 

 Ryan and I were very good about jumping into character for photos.  See Exhibit A.

 

 Exhibit B.

 

 But, then the sibling love came out and I did a booger check.

 

 And we raided Mark's car.  For what?  Goggles, perhaps.  We don't know.  We were hiding... but no one was seeking.

 

 Kyle found us.  But, he didn't want to play.

 

 Casey played, though.  I don't know what his costume was, but I am sure it had something to do with a stuck out tongue and a Cowboys cup.  Judging from my expression, it was horrifying.

 

 One last booger check and we left.  (I think Ryan might be gambling in the background here.  I never saw a cent of his winnings, nor did he mention losing.  Hhhmmm...)

 

This is what happens when locked up in doors with children all day every day - let her out on a full moon night and she's a feral beast without a need for alcohol.  Though, I did have some yummo whitetrash wine in a plastic cup.  Lambrusco Riunite all the way, baby.

 

Candy please, but hold the PCP.

Remember when we were little and our parents would plead with us to check our candy before we ate it and never, ever eat anything that had already been opened.  "There could be drugs in there!", they'd warn.  Now that I am older and actually know how money and business work, I don't think any drug dealers are going to give free samples to pint-sized Barney dinosaurs or tweenaged zombies.  What's the payoff?  Its not like they'd get to witness them running in circles to chase their hallucinated tail or see them licking their elbows (my kids can and do).  Still, would it even be obvious?  Maybe they'd cook dinner and not lick their elbows, then it'd be totally out of the ordinary.
You'd be safe to bet that I don't worry about drugs in my kids' Halloween buckets.   
As we went around the neighborhood collecting perfectly legal ways to get the kids high (sugar), the kids were dressed up accordingly.  I guess in a way, CK was dressed as a dealer - the Johnny Depp version of Willy Wonka, the dealer of all candy dealers.  His lab chemists, Taylor Rose and Maven, went as old-school Oompa Loompas. 

They were the cutest bunch I saw all night, in my totally unbiased opinion.

Ryan stayed back to man the house and pass out candy.  My mom and I rotated stroller shifts.  I lost count as to how many times Taylor Rose fell out of or off of the stroller.  Here she is about to bite it:

There comes a point when these incidents are so ordinary that we (as in, those who are around her all the time) just keep going and don't pay any attention to the passersby who are staring in horror as we just ignored our little child plummet to the ground from a moving transportation device.  Sometimes they run over to help her up.  They never quite make it soon enough because she bounces.  Quickly.  As soon as she hits the ground, she pops back up, makes a funny noise, and hops (literally) back over to us.  Sometimes she goes right back to doing what she was doing before that made her fall, or other times she run to me and sits on my foot with a tight grip on my leg as I walk.  (Imagine a koala-bear-on-a-tree type thing) I prefer the first option because then, at least, I can keep my pants up.  Other times, people will holler at me to let me know what just happened, as if it'd even be possible NOT to know.  She is not a subtle child.  Everything she does is widely known. 
I can remember some details from a few of her many falls on our four street walk.  Once: she fell forward out of the rear-facing end of the stroller (its a tandem one), was almost stepped on, and then fell again as she was trying to get up.  Another one: she stepped into the ONLY hole a guy had in his yard (the meter hole).  Then:  She fell chasing after Christian - this one counts at least 12 times.  Also:  She fell picking up candy off of the ground.
So, anyway, we rotated shifts.  The excitement wore off on the second street, but we pushed it to four streets.  It was fine that it didn't last long.  One of Tay's falls was so ridiculous - I asked where Tay went, turned left, and hit her in the eye with my camera.  Oops!  I turned the other way, only to hit her in the other eye with my camera.  She stood there with both hands over both eyes, blind, as she stepped backwards and fell over the curb, still blind - that, after laughing in uncontrollable mute hysterics, we realized we really needed a potty break.  We finished up the loop around and came back home with our stash. 
It.was.alot.  I mean, we still have 95% of it.  I sent CK to school with a gallon-sized Ziploc bag full of candy THREE times, and we still have tons left over!  I guess I will take one for the team, bite the bullet here and single handedly ingest the remains.  My family will surely thank me.

We gave Maven a piece of plain non HFCS chocolate.  She really liked it!

 We really liked giving it to her, too.  Because then we could all laugh at this:

(She has strong gag reflexes like her momma and sibs)

I also have pictures galore. 
Here is my collection of Tay pics, as I attempted to get her to just look at me:

My mom held Maven up for me so I could get a shot of her whole outfit. Maven looks thin to me in the shots.  Poor baby girl.  She had an ear infection and wouldn't eat much for almost two weeks.

 CK kept his entire costume on until he reached the neighbor's house, who live directly across the street from us.  Then, bit by bit, he removed an article of clothing until he was down to just a button up and jeans.  (Hello, Texas weather!  Its fall!)  I always secretly snarl at the kids that come to my door without a costume. I felt it was my obligation to explain his costume to every homeowner, but I gave up after a few uninterested glares.  So, I bet he got some snarls that night.

 

Halloween Preparations for the Sluggish

We spent a bit more time preparing for this holiday than I actually had available.  I mean, I am one busy gal these days.  I know, I know, everyone says that.  But, really.  I am... cooking almost every meal (why, oh why, don't we eat frozen pizza or sandwiches around here?), being an obsessive neat freak and organization nerd, school with CK and Tay, laundry, Christmas shopping, regular out of town trips, social events, cutting/coloring/styling hair, crafts, blogging, family time, nursing a baby, photography, babysitting at church, teaching Sunday school, and dealing with any other mishaps that happen in between my routine chores.  I am wearing thin.  I actually went in to have all of my blood-levels checked because I thought I was anemic.  The results all came back fine, so I think it may just be lack of sleep.  Not counting our one kid-less vacation, I have not had a night where I didn't wake up at least five times in over four years.  I can't sleep well when I am pregnant from being so sick, then there's the baby wakeups (the girls don't sleep through the night - still now), then there's CK with his nighttime leg cramps, and any other things that might come up in the wee hours.  I would still like to have my hormones checked to rule that out.  Though, I am sure my hormones are a mess due to milk-making.
AAANYWAY
We took the kids and went with Mark, Nikki, and Kelli to Green's to pick the perfect pumpkin.  (That, my friends, is alliteration at its finest!) 

 

 

 

 

We took the pumpkins home to have our way with them.

 

 

 

This is Kelli's masterpiece:

 

Mark and Nikki actually carved their pumpkins.

 

 

We took the seeds home with us so I could give roasting a whirl.  They turned out FANTABULOUS! 

 

I let the kids separate the seeds from the guts for me.  My intention was, even if no seeds survived the genocide of the slop, at least it kept their little hands busy for a while. 

In doing so, they dropped about 7/8ths of the seeds in the grass and on the porch.  There is a silver lining, though.  We now have randomly placed pumpkin plants in our yard!

Our finished product, aka front door:

I just noticed that I never did take a picture of my pumpkin.  With blue, green, and silver glitter and glue, I made huge polka dots all over my Cinderella pumpkin.  I then painted a funky "M" on the front.