Happy Halloween! ~2018

Halloween Day is always so incredibly hectic.  I plan and I plan and I plan.  I collect and I collect and I collect, but I NEVER have time to put things ALTOGETHER until the DAY OF and that makes the day slightly stressful.  I recall dripping sweat for the last 4 Halloweens in a row.  My kids have had costumes for weeks and pretty much months, but the day before Halloween they informed me that they couldn't wear them.  Jax had an inflatable costume.  He wore it to his Fall Festival at school, but he said it would be too difficult to really enjoy trick or treating.  Lilah had the most hilarious and comfortable costume, that she also wore to her school's Fall Festival, but she didn't want to wear the gigantic mask.  She feared it interfering with her fun. So YOU GUESSED IT... the DAY OF Halloween, I was standing in the Halloween Store, trying to piece mill what they had left, to help create my kids' costume desires.  

Lilah wanted to be a Zombie Cheerleader.  It was a pretty simple costume.  Obviously, she already had her cheer uniform and pom poms. I purchased a long sleeve, white t-shirt from Wal-mart and socks (featured below) from the Halloween Store.  Our local party store sold me some fake, washable blood, and an axe headband that made it appear as if Lilah got axed.  

I used my company's Snow ShadowSense and Onyx ShadowSense to create the dead look. 

Of course, she played the part to a T.

Jax wanted to be the clown from the movie "IT". With only a one day's notice, before Halloween, I was truly limited on options unless of course I wanted to pay $59.99 for the exact "IT" mask. So... close enough.   

Same deal: I purchased a white, long sleeve shirt from Wal-mart, splattered fake blood all over it, and hot glued clown buttons to the shirt. Our local party store, Fun Times, supplied the clown buttons and red helium balloon.  

Pretty creepy!

Well aren't they just the cutest twins ever!?

Tyson claimed that he wasn't going trick or treating. AH...NEGATIVE.  He wasn't going to sit home, on Halloween, night and play playstation.  I gave him the option to pass out candy or come with us. I didn't force him to dress up, but if he was going to collect candy, he had to wear something other than civilian clothing.  He wanted to wear his regular clothing and carry his book bag around.  He said, "I'll just go as a teenager!" I told him that was fine, but it had to be TEEN WOLF.  I picked up a self adhesive, instant werewolf patch. LOL! He wasn't crazy about it. This is a hard stage for him. He is turning into a young man, but still desires and should be able to enjoy being a kid. Doesn't he look so thrilled? This was the ONLY photo he would give me. 

It's always fun seeing all of our friends dressed up!

The day was so hectic that I didn't even have time to put on makeup or even consider costume for myself.  Darren always says I look like a drug addict without my makeup on, so when he walked through the door, after work, he said, "Are you going as a heroin addict tonight?" HYSTERICAL.  Shoot, that works!  So we joked and said we were dressed up as Meth Addicts. "This is your brain on drugs."

It was the night of the Zombies.  Sort of like a Zombie Apocalypse.  Haha.  And leave it to Darren to create comedy out of comedy.  He was trying to give this poor guy CPR.

Because our kids are still "trick or treating" eligible, we have to leave our candy out on the front stoop.  We leave it up to the parents and kids to follow the honor code.  

Halloween didn't seem too crowded.  Darren even mentioned that it seemed quiet and vacant.  

We came home and ate dinner together.  The kids sorted their candy! Jax created a hidden picture for me, in Lilah's sorted candy!

NOW... what to do with ALL OF THIS CANDY!? Sometimes we trade it in to a local dentist's office for cash.  But... as my kids get older, I am not sure they will fall for that. I pray I can keep my hands off of it. 

I hope your Halloween was filled with laughter, great memories, and you arrived home safely.

I Franken Love YOU!

I am quite "frankly" obsessed with putting smiles on my kids' faces when they open their lunch boxes or snack bags.  When I spotted this darling, Halloween faced, bubble tape gum, I couldn't resist buying them. I decided to add a little Halloween love/humor by creating a tag to attach. Click here, "I Franken Love YOU!", to print your own.  

The twins received the mummies and Ty received the frankenstein . I didn't want him to be embarrassed so that's why his catch phrase is a little more adult-like.  I loathe the work freakin, but felt, this on the whim phrase that I came up with, fit the occasion and the message I was trying to drive home was that "I love you!"  I think doing these sorts of things shows.  Click here, "Your Mummy Loves YOU!", to print this tag.  

When you print these tags that I am offering, you will have to cut around the circle or you can use a circle cutter, that's what I did. The tags themselves are not proportionately sized. I was in a HUGE rush.  So... I hope you don't judge the quality and just appreciate the free gift.  LOL!

Bloody Cupcakes!

A few weeks ago, I found these Wilton's finger toppers at Walmart.  I had to have them. 

I picked up some BubbleCake cupcake minis and some red food dye....

Then, I went to town designing some FUNNY and GROSS cupcakes for my kids' afternoon snack.

I thought they would squeal "EWE!" or "What the heck?", but instead they immediately wasted NO TIME eating them.  I have always said, "With my kids, the gorier the better!" 

It definitely did NOT stop them from digging in.  Hehe.  Oh and by the way, they said the fingers were not tasty at all.

Boo Brownies!

I signed up to bring Mrs. Scott's 3rd grade class a sweet treat for their Halloween "non-party".

I decided to make some ghost brownies. love the way these turned out. I baked a simple brownie mix, using a pan that individually bakes one brownie at a time (12 to a pan). I love that pan.  I borrowed it from a friend and I have been looking for one for our home. After the brownies are FULLY cooled, pour some melted frosting onto each brownie.  Using the standard size marshmallows and Wilton's "food writer markers", draw two eyes and a nose.  BOO! Your ghosts are now created. Stick your ghosts onto the melted frosting. In no time... the frosting will re-solidify.  Keep in an air tight container.  

I love them.  They are so BOO-tiful.  Both Lilah and Jax said that so many of their classmates exclaimed, "You have the best mom ever!" Those brownies were sweet, but not nearly as sweet as their appreciation and comments.  

Halloween Pretzel Rods!

I am always trying to come up with something NEW to give out for each holiday and/or to my children's classmates.  

These pretzel rods were SIMPLE and so impressive.

Ingredients:

Pretzel Rods

Wilton Candy Waffers

Halloween Embellishments

My favorites was Mr. Frankenstein and the Witch's finger.

I snuck these into my kiddies lunch boxes and they were so excited.

What did you make for your Halloween festivities?

Halloween 2017

This Halloween, I allowed my children to dress up in what ever way their little hearts desired.  The "holiday" really snuck up on us and every time we went out looking for costumes, we either found nothing worth buying or the costumes were way overpriced.  I just felt that spending $60.00 x 3 kids was financially irresponsible. With that being said, it seems almost backwards that I did offer my kids a $50 bill EACH to skip dressing up altogether and head downtown for a yummy dinner and a treat to The Candy Store.  It didn't matter what temptation I threw their way... they wanted to do what every child in America wanted to do... trick or treat.  I decided to just accept it and to appreciate it because after all, they won't desire to do this MUCH LONGER.  Needless to say, as my children get older, capturing the moment/event gets harder.  It's DARK and my kids RUN from house to house.  SO... this is all I've got people.  

Above: You will see that my children did get some goodies in their lunch boxes and the school teachers got some awesome gifts as well.  

A little something goes A LONG way.  I just gave them a little draw string bag, note, and their favorite "pack" of gum, Ice Cubes, along with a Halloween pencil.  I made the note below.  Click here, if you would like to use it.  

I laid out some SMALL goodies for them when they returned home from school. AGAIN, a little something goes a LONG way.  My twins SQUEALED.  Ty had practice, so he didn't see this until close to trick or treating time.  

Jax got to work FAST. He used his play foam and created a heart for me.  So sweet.

I made the below printable TOO! Truly something to think about and something to beware of. I am realizing MORE THAN EVER that people are NOT truly who they proclaim to be sometimes.  

Lilah was Miranda Sings at one point, for a Halloween Party, but she felt like it was TOO MUCH to be Miranda for Halloween.  Her hair needed to be dyed and straightened and she just wasn't up for it.  SO... I allowed her to be a very simple unicorn.  Short and sweet.  

This will go down as the year that I gave up complete control and let my kids design their own Halloween costumes.  I'm really not sure what to call them other than embarrassingly weird, but they were so proud and happy.  In the end, that's all a mom really wants... for her kids to be happy, right?

I left our trick or treaters a little note that asked to politely take TWO pieces of candy, so everyone has a chance to trick or treat at our home.  

We went trick or treating with the Harris family and the Schoonover family. It's kind of a tradition at this point.  The Harris family goes for a quick 45 minutes, lol, and the Schoonover family meets us when they leave and then we finish up the night with them.

These two are so adorable together.  Just like sisters...

I didn't dress up per say... but I did have on some adorable Halloween leggings on and sported a FUN, spooky, Halloween lipsense combo: Blackberry and She's Apples LipSense.  

Anyone who knows Darren, knows he loathes candy of all kinds. He out right thinks candy is DISGUSTING.  GROSSSS! He does love to organize it though, so ....

I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween.  Until next year...