Happy Halloween!

From Sir Javi and Pippibella to you and yours, Happy Halloween! Let the sugar coma begin! (We'll be slaying dragons and acting impulsively on purpose rather than to drive each other crazy. How about you?)

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Getting the spirit

We didn't do much to celebrate Halloween last year except for trick-or-treating. This year, I have two children who beg to make crafts and a holiday that begs you to use your imagination. So we did.

We painted pumpkins.

And turned them into Frankenstein and Potato Longstocking.

And rather than carving anything (and probably cutting off a finger), we made Halloween-themed lanterns. Not pictured is the Frankenstein lantern  that will be finished up on Thursday (because football practice sucks up most of Javi's free time over the next two days).

Want to make the lanterns with your crafty kiddos? See my post at From the Monkey Bars for a step-by-step!

What fun crafts are you doing this week?

***This post is part of the 30-minute blog challenge.***

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My baby bumblebee

Last week, I decided to get a headstart on the holidays by searching for cute, used costumes for the kids.

[I have wasted spent more than my fair share of hours on a homemade costume. Okay, it was just once, but it involved three sets of hands, lots of blood, an exasperated husband (because I forced him to make a chestplate from felt), and Javi's weight in fabric glue.]

Javi decided he wanted to be a werewolf.* I decided that (since I'm Team Jacob) Billy should be a daddy werewolf so they would be a matched set. Naturally, that led to looking at pages and pages of werewolf costumes (they even make one for men on the ... larger side).

It became a family activity. We all sat together on our comfy red couch and looked at cheesey werewolf costumes on the Internet. Until Bella (rudely) reminded us that she's two years old and werewolves are scary.

Every three images she'd scream. And yell "dat ebil, mama!" And then cry because we were looking at the pictures without her. So three more images would pass before she screamed again. We rode that rollercoaster for a while and then closed up shop to put the kids to bed.

I didn't really think about it again until the next morning. I went in to get Bella up and her first words to me were: "No where-da-woold, Mama. He ebil. Daddy a bumbabeed." And there was such conviction in her voice and in her eyes, that I simply said, Okay baybell. Daddy is a bumblebee.** And she said (in her mogwai voice), "Yeah. I da bumbabeed, too."

And so she is. My sweet Bay picked out her own costume for the first time in her short, amazing little life.

Now I just have to convince her that, no, she can't wear the wings without putting on the whole costume, and, no, she can't wear the costume every day.

* Javi has now decided to be a skeleton (and I have found and ordered an affordable option). He will glow in the dark ... and possibly explode with happiness as he does so.

** I told Billy I'm going to find him a yellow and black striped shirt and bumble bee antenna, and make a black stinger to put on the back of his black pants. He told me he couldn't think of a less manly costume. I beg to differ.

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Scary Halloween

When Javi was four, he began calling Halloween "scaaaaaaarrrrry Hallllloooooweeeeeeen" in a very spooky-for-a-kid voice. He hasn't done that this year, leading me to believe he really is 7-going-on-17... Even though he did act like a big kid while carving his pumpkin. It was sweet to see him acting his age for once.

But both children seemed to enjoy the holiday. Javi originally was going to dress as Rey Mysterio, but decided at the last minute he wanted to be a spooky ghost. So, I bought face paint and spent 30 minutes doing him up. I think it took him a good 10 minutes to start complaining. The paint made his face tight, the paint was on his lips, he didn't want any red on his face, the paint was in his hair ... and it went on and on. Unfortunately, he didn't shake it off until after we visited Aunt Jean and Grandma's houses - and both ladies are big Halloween buffs, so I think he disappointed them with his whiny, I'd-rather-be-anywhere-else attitude.

However, Ms. Bella Mouse played up the trick-or-treating. She is a firm believer that all children should have as much candy as they can possibly fit in their mouths. She's a fan of Junior Carmels, candy bracelets, suckers, nerds, gummies, and M&Ms, thought I doubt she'd turn anything down. Well, except a popcorn ball. She scraped it off her tongue the one time her dad tricked her into trying it.

After visiting Grandma and Aunt Jean, we came back home to meet up with Nana and Poppie, who hung out with me and Bell while Javi and Dad went around the neighborhoods in our area. Bella loved handing out candy. She tried to hug and love every little person who came to the door. Also, the children loved her light-up shirt and socks and Nana's red, sparkly horns.

I'm glad we got good use out of all the costumes laying around our house, and hopefully the house will return to normal soon. Please let me know if you need 6 or 7 lbs of candy ... we can make a deal!

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At the No Scare Fair

We took Javi and Bella to the "No Scare Fair" yesterday, which is an annual Halloween event held by the Stephens Center. You pay $3 per person for entry and then go down "Trick or Treat Lane" (where they hand out awesomely huge candy bars in some places and clearance rack chips in others - it's a pot luck). After trick-or-treating, the kids can color a face mask, visit a fortune teller, dance to the kid-appropriate music, and listen to a story teller. There were also several performances by Magetsi 4-H club and The Dancer's Workshop.

Javi was over it by the time we finished trick-or-treating and would've been perfectly content with going on home. Bella, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with trick-or-treating.

However, she ran right up on to the stage during "Thriller" and had to be forcibly removed so that the story teller (aka Mayor Cornelia Olive) could read The Big, Spooky House. Javi convinced Bella to sit down during the story by supplying her with an endless stream of Scooby-Doo gummies.

After the story teller, Magetsi 4-H club performed three traditional Mexican dances and The Dancer's Workshop performed two jazz numbers. Bella spent that time trying to sneak onto the stage. We distracted her by introducing her to a Minnie & Mickey Mouse sibling duo. She loved them both and ran around with them until she could go back on stage.

The other Minnie is only 20 months old (two months older than Bella), but she looked like a 3 year old to us. Her legs were bigger than both of Bella's put together! Little Mickey was 15 months and about the same size as Bella. Just goes to show you - kids come in all shapes and sizes!

Today after a healthy breakfast and snack, we allowed Bella to get a taste of what she's been trying to eat since we got home yesterday: a red Charms blowpop. Do I need to tell you that my entire house is covered in red, sticky smears? I took the sucker away from her after she had it in her eyebrows, hair, behind her ears, all over her face and on her clothes.

She threw a tiny tantrum, but was a-ok after I told her it was time to jump in the bath. That's the solid-gold, works-every-time tantrum-ender for us.

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